At our local club meeting yesterday a young magician was discussing some popular new magic. I took interest and began talking with him. It came out eventually that he had downloaded the magic illegally. I immediately was put off and showed my disgust. To my surprise a couple others that were there defended him. The question came up "Well how else are we supposed to learn it?". The answer is simple, by buying it. The biggest argument to that is that magic is expensive. It is only expensive if we are not wise with our money.
I would like to share a few tricks that can help you be more wise with your magic investments. They are not in any particular order.
1. Do your research. There are various forums, such as this, that offer review sections as well as web shows such as the Wizard Product Review that give reviews on magical products. Watch the trailers and make sure you have a good idea of what you are getting before you get it. Talk to other magicians or talk to people on line who might have some insight to the product.
2. Buy a book and live with it for a year. This is advice from Jon Racherbaumer. Sometimes we think it is necessary to learn a thousand things to become proficient in magic this is not true. If someone could learn and perform every sleight and routine in the Royal Road to Card Magic they would be a great magician. This goes for any of the classics such as Bobo's Coin magic, 11 Steps by Corinda or even Erdnase.
3. Look for books or DVDs with lots of material on them. When I was 7 or 8 years old I got a book called My First Magic Book. This book gave me a whole show, it had patter and a set classic self working tricks that all came together to make one show. Starting out I used this show in all of my childrens performances. It really got me going with a great start. Look for books and DVDs like that as opposed to one hit wonders. Things like the Daniel Garcia project, Fuction 9 or even a book like the Definitive Sankey are full of good varied magic that give you lots of things to choose from. A dvd like what I stated above is going to give you oodles.
4. Keep and eye out for the classics and free give aways. Jay Sankey offers a free trick about every couple of weeks on his wbsite. Some are junk but every once in a while there are some real gems. All you have to do is sign up for his newsletter and he'll let you know when a new trick comes out. Also check out the free sections on the various sites, theory11, Vanishing inc, the Wire and Ellusionist all have a handful of free downloads that may have some great hidden gems.
5. Look out for contests. It's amazing how many things in my magic collection I have won from contests. all of the websites I have mentioned have contests on a somewhat regular basis. They are very generous.
6. Go to the library. There are tons of great books at the library with lots of great tricks and effects. There is tons of info out there.
7. Watch others perform. Don't steal effects, lines or acts. There is a ton of knowledge out there to be found in watching the greats of the past. With Derren Brown on Hulu, David Copperfield at the library and a library of performance on youtube you have no excuse not to see what good magic looks like. As you do your research on other performers you can see what works for others, effect wise, patter wise, character wise and other wise.
8. Go to the local magic club and make friends with the old guys. I have recieved many beautiful props and books from old magic friends. They are very giving and generous. I have beautiful coin shells, a copy of Bobo, a few other books and a card to wallet all for the price of friendship.
9. Only buy what you can afford. I have a job besides magic. I have limited myself to only buying things with the money that I make from magic. It takes discipline but I try not to dip into the funds I earn from my regular job. If you have to chose between paying rent and buying more magic you may need to sort out your priorities.
10. Don't buy what you wont use. This is the most important to me. Before you buy anything ask your self and be honest, will I use this? I had to laugh when at a club meeting a very traditional spoon bending, hypno mentalist showed us his new purchase of Dresscode. From my point of view I could never see how he could tie in that trick in the middle of his weekly seance. I'm sure it sits at the bottom of his magic drawer. I am so hesitant to buying new magic that I have to make sure that I have a specific place in my routines to add said effect before I buy it. It usually takes me months to decide to even buy it or not.
To close, keep this in perspective. Magic is a relativity cheap hobby. For the price of a t-shirt you can buy a dvd with 10 tricks, for the price of a movie you can buy a classic book. We don't need to buy new golf clubs, baseball bats, grip tape, guitars, we don't need to get our decks of cards tuned. Even a small stage show could cost less than building a classic car.
I would like to share a few tricks that can help you be more wise with your magic investments. They are not in any particular order.
1. Do your research. There are various forums, such as this, that offer review sections as well as web shows such as the Wizard Product Review that give reviews on magical products. Watch the trailers and make sure you have a good idea of what you are getting before you get it. Talk to other magicians or talk to people on line who might have some insight to the product.
2. Buy a book and live with it for a year. This is advice from Jon Racherbaumer. Sometimes we think it is necessary to learn a thousand things to become proficient in magic this is not true. If someone could learn and perform every sleight and routine in the Royal Road to Card Magic they would be a great magician. This goes for any of the classics such as Bobo's Coin magic, 11 Steps by Corinda or even Erdnase.
3. Look for books or DVDs with lots of material on them. When I was 7 or 8 years old I got a book called My First Magic Book. This book gave me a whole show, it had patter and a set classic self working tricks that all came together to make one show. Starting out I used this show in all of my childrens performances. It really got me going with a great start. Look for books and DVDs like that as opposed to one hit wonders. Things like the Daniel Garcia project, Fuction 9 or even a book like the Definitive Sankey are full of good varied magic that give you lots of things to choose from. A dvd like what I stated above is going to give you oodles.
4. Keep and eye out for the classics and free give aways. Jay Sankey offers a free trick about every couple of weeks on his wbsite. Some are junk but every once in a while there are some real gems. All you have to do is sign up for his newsletter and he'll let you know when a new trick comes out. Also check out the free sections on the various sites, theory11, Vanishing inc, the Wire and Ellusionist all have a handful of free downloads that may have some great hidden gems.
5. Look out for contests. It's amazing how many things in my magic collection I have won from contests. all of the websites I have mentioned have contests on a somewhat regular basis. They are very generous.
6. Go to the library. There are tons of great books at the library with lots of great tricks and effects. There is tons of info out there.
7. Watch others perform. Don't steal effects, lines or acts. There is a ton of knowledge out there to be found in watching the greats of the past. With Derren Brown on Hulu, David Copperfield at the library and a library of performance on youtube you have no excuse not to see what good magic looks like. As you do your research on other performers you can see what works for others, effect wise, patter wise, character wise and other wise.
8. Go to the local magic club and make friends with the old guys. I have recieved many beautiful props and books from old magic friends. They are very giving and generous. I have beautiful coin shells, a copy of Bobo, a few other books and a card to wallet all for the price of friendship.
9. Only buy what you can afford. I have a job besides magic. I have limited myself to only buying things with the money that I make from magic. It takes discipline but I try not to dip into the funds I earn from my regular job. If you have to chose between paying rent and buying more magic you may need to sort out your priorities.
10. Don't buy what you wont use. This is the most important to me. Before you buy anything ask your self and be honest, will I use this? I had to laugh when at a club meeting a very traditional spoon bending, hypno mentalist showed us his new purchase of Dresscode. From my point of view I could never see how he could tie in that trick in the middle of his weekly seance. I'm sure it sits at the bottom of his magic drawer. I am so hesitant to buying new magic that I have to make sure that I have a specific place in my routines to add said effect before I buy it. It usually takes me months to decide to even buy it or not.
To close, keep this in perspective. Magic is a relativity cheap hobby. For the price of a t-shirt you can buy a dvd with 10 tricks, for the price of a movie you can buy a classic book. We don't need to buy new golf clubs, baseball bats, grip tape, guitars, we don't need to get our decks of cards tuned. Even a small stage show could cost less than building a classic car.
