A different way of learning.

Oct 10, 2015
20
19
I've never known any magicians personally. I have only ever seen a handful of performances of magic that were not on tv. I have all the support that I could need from the people around me, but the only advice that they are able to give me is "practice, practice, practice". I understand the role and importance of practicing as a magician, but I came to this forum as a resource for a new magician to get advice from people who have been down the road. Things to try, videos to watch, books to read, material to research or lesser known resources to utilize.
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
Kyle:

.We can give you a lot of advice, but it is pretty much useless unless we know more about you and what you want to do with magic. That is, our advice would be different if you are looking to perform for your friends at school, do magic for strangers in a public area, do walk-around magic at restaurants, do parlor or stage shows or perform tricks for your grandchildren.

So tell us a little about yourself, how long you've been learning magic, how you've been learning magic, what you like, where you want to perform, what resources you already have (books, DVDs, props, etc.) and what your budget is for your continued learning.
 

Nurul

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2013
239
186
Birmingham, UK
I've never known any magicians personally. I have only ever seen a handful of performances of magic that were not on tv. I have all the support that I could need from the people around me, but the only advice that they are able to give me is "practice, practice, practice". I understand the role and importance of practicing as a magician, but I came to this forum as a resource for a new magician to get advice from people who have been down the road. Things to try, videos to watch, books read, material to research or lesser known resources to utilize.

The forum has a plethora full of endless information on things to try, videos to watch, books to read, material to research or lesser known resources to utilize.
They have a search function available, but, as RealityOne said, you would have to state what it is that you're actually into :)
 
Oct 10, 2015
20
19
I am a late bloomer. I'm nearly 30 years old and just began actively practicing magic a year ago. The desire for building up my magical talent came from my 7 year old son. A very "every-day" sleight of hand trick left him with a sense of wonder and amazement that I just had to recreate. Card tricks are a little harder for a 7 yr old to follow, so I started with everyday object magic. That lead my boy to want to try his own magic so we started buying little starter kits for kids, and every time we go to the library he would check out a kids magic book. In essence, his drive fueled my drive. I have purchased a handful of tricks. Torn and restored transpo being the latest. A set of sponge balls. Aberdeen thread. Dress code. I have picked up bits from a couple beginners books & some online videos, but I have found myself wanting to perform for more than a 7 year old. I worked up some courage and pulled off two or three small tricks at a gathering of a dozen or so friends and decided right then that was what I wanted. To be able to perform in any social setting among friends, family, or strangers.... and for a 7 year old. A large part of me wants to build my talents for myself, but I feel an even stronger urge to do so for my boy. To be able to teach and build him up in something that he takes such an interest in would be far more fulfilling.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DominusDolorum

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
Kyle:

I also began learning magic because of my then 6 year old son. A number of years later, I'm still here.

I think that every magician need to have two books: Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic and Scarne on Card Tricks.

Mark Wilson's book has a little bit of everything - cards, coins, bills, rope, cups & balls, mentalism, make-it-yourself and stage magic. It is a good way to get a basic understanding and to see what interests you and your son. As others know, my only criticism is that Mark teaches to point at the hand where something is supposed to be and to me that is actually drawing attention to the fact that you have just done a false take or put. There also is something to be gained by reading the entire book -- you get a strong sense of how different types of magic work. Pretty much every concept in magic is in there.

Scarne on Card Trick is a hugh collection of self-working card effects. Some decent, some good and some great. There are a lot of classics and great tricks in there such as Calling the Cards, the Upside Down Cards, Nomenclature, Do as I Do, Swimmers (a better version of Poker Player's Picnic in Royal Road), Hit the Deck (your son will love that one!) and The Betting Card Trick.

Another great book is Joshua Jay's Magic: The Complete Course. Where the effects in Mark Wilson's book are more classic, Joshua Jay's book is much more updated and uses modern props.

There are some great magic books for kids. Richard Kauffman's The Knack Magic Tricks is a great book. Richard is the editor of Genii Magazine and publisher of a number of amazing books. Joshua Jay's Big Magic for Little Hands is a great book too. Karl Fulves has a couple of books for kids - Easy to Do Magic Tricks for Kids and Easy to Do Card Tricks for Kids. I don't have either of those books, but I suspect they are like anything else by Karl Fulves - a lot of material with some great gems burried inside.

Once you get beyond general magic books, there are a number of paths you can take. There are magicians that want to focus on card tricks, those that want to focus on effects with every day objects, those that want to focus on coins, those that want to focus on classic props (sponge balls, linking rings, cups & balls, etc.), those that want to focus on mentalism, etc. So a couple of suggestions along those lines:

Card Tricks - Roberto Giobbi's Card College Light, Lighter and Lightest (routined self working effects) or Roberto Giobbi's Card College series - true sleight of hand with cards. The first two books are great to start with.

Visual Card Tricks and Everyday Objects - Paul Harris's Art of Astonishment series or (for more money and getting less effects) the True Astonishment DVD box set.

Coins - Eric Jones' Metal DVD and Bobo's Modern Coin Magic. Also check out the website coinvanish.com.

Classic Props - Beyond what is in Mark Wilson's book, L&L has the World's Greatest Magic series with great DVDs for the classics. For cups & balls (which can be done with ordinary cups, check out Michael Ammar's DVDs and for sponge balls, check out the Sponge Ball Toolbox DVD. Karl Fulves has a book on Self-Working Rope Magic.

Mentalism - Bob Cassidy's FundaMentals, Anneman's Practical Mental Magic and Fulves Self-Working Mental Magic.

My list of fun props you may want to consider (many of which may be great for your son):
  1. Thumb Tip (they also come in children's sizes)
  2. Invisible Deck
  3. Stripper Deck
  4. Svengali Deck
  5. Cheek to Cheek Deck
  6. One-Way Force Deck
  7. Thumb Tip Blendo
  8. Scotch and Soda (or Captain and Coke) Coin Set
Finally, your son may be better able to work with Bicycle Bridge Sized cards than the standard cards.

Good luck and enjoy.
 
Oct 19, 2015
317
220
Kyle:

I also began learning magic because of my then 6 year old son. A number of years later, I'm still here.

I think that every magician need to have two books: Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic and Scarne on Card Tricks.

Mark Wilson's book has a little bit of everything - cards, coins, bills, rope, cups & balls, mentalism, make-it-yourself and stage magic. It is a good way to get a basic understanding and to see what interests you and your son. As others know, my only criticism is that Mark teaches to point at the hand where something is supposed to be and to me that is actually drawing attention to the fact that you have just done a false take or put. There also is something to be gained by reading the entire book -- you get a strong sense of how different types of magic work. Pretty much every concept in magic is in there.

Scarne on Card Trick is a hugh collection of self-working card effects. Some decent, some good and some great. There are a lot of classics and great tricks in there such as Calling the Cards, the Upside Down Cards, Nomenclature, Do as I Do, Swimmers (a better version of Poker Player's Picnic in Royal Road), Hit the Deck (your son will love that one!) and The Betting Card Trick.

Another great book is Joshua Jay's Magic: The Complete Course. Where the effects in Mark Wilson's book are more classic, Joshua Jay's book is much more updated and uses modern props.

There are some great magic books for kids. Richard Kauffman's The Knack Magic Tricks is a great book. Richard is the editor of Genii Magazine and publisher of a number of amazing books. Joshua Jay's Big Magic for Little Hands is a great book too. Karl Fulves has a couple of books for kids - Easy to Do Magic Tricks for Kids and Easy to Do Card Tricks for Kids. I don't have either of those books, but I suspect they are like anything else by Karl Fulves - a lot of material with some great gems burried inside.

Once you get beyond general magic books, there are a number of paths you can take. There are magicians that want to focus on card tricks, those that want to focus on effects with every day objects, those that want to focus on coins, those that want to focus on classic props (sponge balls, linking rings, cups & balls, etc.), those that want to focus on mentalism, etc. So a couple of suggestions along those lines:

Card Tricks - Roberto Giobbi's Card College Light, Lighter and Lightest (routined self working effects) or Roberto Giobbi's Card College series - true sleight of hand with cards. The first two books are great to start with.

Visual Card Tricks and Everyday Objects - Paul Harris's Art of Astonishment series or (for more money and getting less effects) the True Astonishment DVD box set.

Coins - Eric Jones' Metal DVD and Bobo's Modern Coin Magic. Also check out the website coinvanish.com.

Classic Props - Beyond what is in Mark Wilson's book, L&L has the World's Greatest Magic series with great DVDs for the classics. For cups & balls (which can be done with ordinary cups, check out Michael Ammar's DVDs and for sponge balls, check out the Sponge Ball Toolbox DVD. Karl Fulves has a book on Self-Working Rope Magic.

Mentalism - Bob Cassidy's FundaMentals, Anneman's Practical Mental Magic and Fulves Self-Working Mental Magic.

My list of fun props you may want to consider (many of which may be great for your son):
  1. Thumb Tip (they also come in children's sizes)
  2. Invisible Deck
  3. Stripper Deck
  4. Svengali Deck
  5. Cheek to Cheek Deck
  6. One-Way Force Deck
  7. Thumb Tip Blendo
  8. Scotch and Soda (or Captain and Coke) Coin Set
Finally, your son may be better able to work with Bicycle Bridge Sized cards than the standard cards.

Good luck and enjoy.


Kyle....you are always giving us newbies great ideas and information, but you really outdid yourself on this post....I had to copy this post and put it in my 'Magic Information' file for future reference! Thanks for taking time to let others learn from your experience.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: KyleB10
Oct 10, 2015
20
19
Kyle:

I also began learning magic because of my then 6 year old son. A number of years later, I'm still here.

I think that every magician need to have two books: Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic and Scarne on Card Tricks.

Mark Wilson's book has a little bit of everything - cards, coins, bills, rope, cups & balls, mentalism, make-it-yourself and stage magic. It is a good way to get a basic understanding and to see what interests you and your son. As others know, my only criticism is that Mark teaches to point at the hand where something is supposed to be and to me that is actually drawing attention to the fact that you have just done a false take or put. There also is something to be gained by reading the entire book -- you get a strong sense of how different types of magic work. Pretty much every concept in magic is in there.

Scarne on Card Trick is a hugh collection of self-working card effects. Some decent, some good and some great. There are a lot of classics and great tricks in there such as Calling the Cards, the Upside Down Cards, Nomenclature, Do as I Do, Swimmers (a better version of Poker Player's Picnic in Royal Road), Hit the Deck (your son will love that one!) and The Betting Card Trick.

Another great book is Joshua Jay's Magic: The Complete Course. Where the effects in Mark Wilson's book are more classic, Joshua Jay's book is much more updated and uses modern props.

There are some great magic books for kids. Richard Kauffman's The Knack Magic Tricks is a great book. Richard is the editor of Genii Magazine and publisher of a number of amazing books. Joshua Jay's Big Magic for Little Hands is a great book too. Karl Fulves has a couple of books for kids - Easy to Do Magic Tricks for Kids and Easy to Do Card Tricks for Kids. I don't have either of those books, but I suspect they are like anything else by Karl Fulves - a lot of material with some great gems burried inside.

Once you get beyond general magic books, there are a number of paths you can take. There are magicians that want to focus on card tricks, those that want to focus on effects with every day objects, those that want to focus on coins, those that want to focus on classic props (sponge balls, linking rings, cups & balls, etc.), those that want to focus on mentalism, etc. So a couple of suggestions along those lines:

Card Tricks - Roberto Giobbi's Card College Light, Lighter and Lightest (routined self working effects) or Roberto Giobbi's Card College series - true sleight of hand with cards. The first two books are great to start with.

Visual Card Tricks and Everyday Objects - Paul Harris's Art of Astonishment series or (for more money and getting less effects) the True Astonishment DVD box set.

Coins - Eric Jones' Metal DVD and Bobo's Modern Coin Magic. Also check out the website coinvanish.com.

Classic Props - Beyond what is in Mark Wilson's book, L&L has the World's Greatest Magic series with great DVDs for the classics. For cups & balls (which can be done with ordinary cups, check out Michael Ammar's DVDs and for sponge balls, check out the Sponge Ball Toolbox DVD. Karl Fulves has a book on Self-Working Rope Magic.

Mentalism - Bob Cassidy's FundaMentals, Anneman's Practical Mental Magic and Fulves Self-Working Mental Magic.

My list of fun props you may want to consider (many of which may be great for your son):
  1. Thumb Tip (they also come in children's sizes)
  2. Invisible Deck
  3. Stripper Deck
  4. Svengali Deck
  5. Cheek to Cheek Deck
  6. One-Way Force Deck
  7. Thumb Tip Blendo
  8. Scotch and Soda (or Captain and Coke) Coin Set
Finally, your son may be better able to work with Bicycle Bridge Sized cards than the standard cards.

Good luck and enjoy.
Wow! A plethora of knowledge! I can't thank you enough. I can tell you right now that we will be making a special trip to the library very soon! Also my sons birthday is next month, there are some great ideas for not only him but for me as well. I think I will use his birthday party as my first "social setting" with friends and family. I know he would love that. I appreciate the pile of references and look foward to learning from them and being able to guide him along the way. This is definitely not the last you will see from me here. Many thanks.
 
Sep 26, 2015
70
132
27
I would also like to recommend Jay Sankey. He has some free effects as well as effects you can buy. He has a lot of material that uses everyday objects. You may want to start with what reality one recommended though. Jay Sankey is a great guy to learn from. A lot of experience in magic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KyleB10
Oct 10, 2015
20
19
I would also like to recommend Jay Sankey. He has some free effects as well as effects you can buy. He has a lot of material that uses everyday objects. You may want to start with what reality one recommended though. Jay Sankey is a great guy to learn from. A lot of experience in magic.
I have seen some of Jay Sankey's work/videos, he's great! Seems like a great teacher. I have some sort of weird complex though that makes me feel like I'm cheating when I watch explanation videos online. So I'm really excited to grab a few of the books mentioned by RealityOne. I will definitely be scanning through everything I can though!
 
Searching...
{[{ searchResultsCount }]} Results