Beginner magician tips

Jun 16, 2019
6
1
hi all, i started in card magic only few weeks ago

I practicing with sone false cuts (if you know any, and want to tell me names, i appreciate it, i doing Sybil at most), cuts with 1 hand dividing deck in 2 and 3 parts, duck change, and few other things like herman pass and the same but the pass that top part of deck go to the bottom (and i find it easyer).

I seen a pass where 1st card change with a flick, but in fact you grab only 1st card to the side of the deck and grab with palm or put bottom. I don’t know the name, do you know or just understand what i mean?

In any case, can someone help me with tips, moves, tricks and all what a beginner can needs? I really appreciate everything!

Thanks at all
 

JoshL8

Elite Member
Aug 5, 2017
409
393
WA state USA
I found that some moves I was avoiding or didn't think much of in the beginning were quite foundational and took some time to make look good. For instance holding a break surprised me in how I had to get used to holding it in a way thats not obvious and I underestimated how useful an injog or crimp can be. What seems important to you early on might not be later on especially because when yo are new you start to get lots of new information that will change your view.

A few books that are cheap and cover the basics on up to expert are Expert at the Card Table or Royal road to Card Magic. Both have moves, controls and tricks in them and can be found for about 10-15 bucks each. Some fo the older patter is useless but you can change that to suit yourself. If you wanted to spend about 35 bucks you could get an Art of Astonishment book and get tons of great card magic and more...money magic etc. Some Karl Fulves self working books are cheap (10ish dollars) and its good to have a few self working tricks at your finger tips.

Vanishing inc. has a free book that is a collection of essays on magic theory etc. that will let you get a flavor for other authors and some of their ideas too. Learning how to frame your tricks not as puzzles or showing off will help you in the long run, this free book gives you some ideas on how to do that.

Simple doesn't mean bad...simple tricks can be very entertaining....it's you that makes them entertaining.

Where ever you find your information find a trick or two you like. A version of Chicago Opener is usually a good one, or a 'do as I do' can be fun. Learn the sleights for the tricks you want to do specifically that way you don't end up learning moves you never use. Record yourself and or use mirrors to practice, practice with your patter/dialogue. Write down your script. Practice the full trick/routine/act HUNDREDS of times....your mileage may vary but you should be able to do the trick on "auto pilot". If you haven't got near this many practices you probably haven't figured out areas where things may go wrong and what to do when it happens.

Once you practiced your known tricks enough to auto pilot them take em for a test run, start with people you know. Your timing and patter will likely change after some interactions with people. This is good because you will make lots of small changes that make the performance better especially when you start out. You will grow lots from these interactions if you take criticism well and review it best you can yourself afterwards. Wash rinse repeat.



I think the flick change you describe is the Cardini Change, I could be wrong. Color changes can be fun ways to reveal someones card but they are not really tricks themselves. Find a few other ways to produce someones card. By that I don't mean a bunch of other color changes (but learning them can be fun) I mean like transpositions, impossible locations (card to pocket,wallet etc.) or a production tied to a story (I sometimes use two coins to produce the card from the deck). That way if you find a find a card trick you like you may be able to use other productions at the end to mix things up or tie it into your patter better.

As for false cuts and shuffles etc...Most of the time you don't want their attention on the cards. Being causal when you hold cards goes a long way...learn to be casual with them. Just keep practicing and learn a decent false riffle shuffle that isn't flashy. This can take months or years..don't get discouraged. Moves I couldn't do after a few months of practice were put on the back burner while I did other things but when I revisited the moves I was able to pick it up rather well.
 
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WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
Are you learning from YouTube? That would explain why you don't know the names of the moves you're talking about.

If so, my first piece of advice is stop doing that. The tutorials on YouTube are generally quite bad, poorly credited, and you will develop habits that you'll have to put twice as much effort into unlearning down the road.

Pick up either The Royal Road to Card Magic book (About $8-$15 on Amazon for a hard copy), or the first two volumes of Card College (About $35 each), or if you prefer videos, How To Do Miracle Card Tricks is a solid beginner's course that covers all the basics - about $35.

Whichever you choose - study it. Ignore all the flashy releases until you've thoroughly worked on the basic foundation skills (I spent 8 months on Royal Road).
 
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Sep 29, 2018
94
48
I practicing with sone false cuts (if you know any, and want to tell me names, i appreciate it, i doing Sybil at most)
Do you want to do false cuts which appear flourishy?

Look up the Honeycomb by Chris Ramsay on You Tube.
I suspect that Expert Card Technique has some false cuts...I'll need to confirm that later though.


I seen a pass where 1st card change with a flick, but in fact you grab only 1st card to the side of the deck and grab with palm or put bottom. I don’t know the name, do you know or just understand what i mean?
You might mean the Erdnase Change, deducing from the ''side of the deck'' and ''grab with palm'' phrases...but it might even be the Cardini Change like JoshL8 says, because it changes with a ''flick'' and has to be ''put bottom''.

In any case, can someone help me with tips, moves, tricks and all what a beginner can needs? I really appreciate everything!
Get the Complete Idiot's Guide To Street Magic, by Tom Ogden. It's rarely recommended here and I have no idea why.

And if you can't, then get Royal Road to Card Magic, or Modern Coin Magic by JB Bobo, depending on whether you're focussing on cards or coins right now. You do not want to end up with 10 books and not having read any of them well enough. Believe me.

But I still suggest Tom Ogden's book for now. The patter, effects, methods, everything is up-to-date. And there's loads of advice on setting up a character and overcoming fears and doubts. My favourite section is where they provide a bit of history about magic as well.
 
Jun 16, 2019
6
1
Thanks everyone! I follow Chris Ramsey youtube videos, and a couple of other people, like a russian mate and a young italian guy, famous here.

I hope to find these books in my language (italian), cause my english is almost bad, and i can miss understand some (a lot in fact) of technic words. I used Google Translate for “Flick”!
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
You do not want to end up with 10 books and not having read any of them well enough. Believe me.

Much better to have over 1,000 books even if you haven't read them all.

I hope to find these books in my language (italian), cause my english is almost bad, and i can miss understand some (a lot in fact) of technic words. I used Google Translate for “Flick”!

I believe Card College by Roberto Giobbi is translated into Italian. Giobbi speaks multiple languages fluently and the book has been published in most of those languages.
 
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Sep 29, 2018
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Much better to have over 1,000 books even if you haven't read them all.
That's easily arranged, I do have 10 magic books and haven't read any cover to cover, except Bobo's, RRTCM and Tom Ogden's.

Now that you mention it, I do think that having books allows us to look up a method or effect quickly, without having to first buy the book, wait for its delivery or something, and then see if the book has that method, and see if we can do it.

I was merely drawing from Darwin Oritz's Next Book Syndrome.
 
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Sep 29, 2018
94
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like a russian mate
If you're talking about Russian Genius, while I do not want to promote any hate, I will tell you that he a) doesn't credit creators of moves 2) Isn't thorough with his teaching, that is... he won't mention the source, he won't mention finger positions explicitly, etc.

Chris Ramsay, Xavior Spade, when these guys teach something, they teach EVERYTHING about that move or effect, and also suggest books, which you can pursue for more knowledge. And they ask for proper permission to teach and provide much much more information about magic than just tutorials.
 
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Jun 16, 2019
6
1
Anyway, i started with Card College 1. Will be delivered tomorrow!

I hope it’s a good choise.

I seen Royal Road, but i think should be 2nd or 3rd book (2nd probably will be Card College 2), because it need a good preparation or will be not mastered properly.
 
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May 16, 2019
11
4
I just started with Card College and I am halfway through Volume 2. I realized how great the books are and ordered 3 to 5 as well. After 20 years of not practicing any slights, these books are getting me way further than I ever got when I was 20 years old. I decided to get them based on information I found in these forums from RealityOne, so thanks for that! You were not wrong.
 
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Jun 26, 2019
7
4
64
Addison, Kentucky
If you are a card guy..books, books, books....read and learn. The best information given above was PRACTICE. Goodness, the Temptation is to run through something a few times in the first time you think you got it perfect go out and show somebody. Don't! If you can't perform the trick practically blindfolded then you don't need to be doing it for anybody yet. That's been the hardest thing for me always. But when you take the time and you put in the effort it's so worth it when they're just completely dumbfounded and you've been perfectly clean the entire way. Invest in mirrors or if you're a techy person set up a GoPro and video yourself. I've actually changed over to the GoPro just so I can watch it over and over again. I found myself watching the mirror too much and not focusing on my presentation. But that is just my personal preference.

If you can hook up with any practicing magicians in your area that would be wonderful. Learning it from someone face-to-face is always best.
 
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