Good tricks? Best way to practice?

[Hirano4Ever]

hey everyone, ill give u a bit of my history with magic. i started out as a little kid (around 6 or 7) and i loved getting the little magic kits and what not. but then i lost interest about a year later. and now that im 15, i got back into it. so i learned 5 pretty good tricks, The Two Detectives (from expertvillage.com), Hit and Run (from magicalmaniac77 on YouTube), Card Under My Coin (also from magicalmaniac77 on YouTube), The Biddle Trick (from Oz Pearlman's DVD "Born to Perform"), and the ACR (also from Oz Pearlman's DVD "Born to Perform"). and i loved those tricks, but i only practiced them for like 2 or 3 days before performing them for my friends at school. and that made things horrible cuz i was insecure and wound up teaching them a lot of those tricks.

so getting to what i was going to ask, does anyone know any good techniques for practice? or something like that.

and also, if u know any good tricks i should look into for the future, please let me know those. thanks so much,

-Todd
P.S. thanks for taking the time to read this all

 

[conman16x]

Well I've definitely been there. I've also been doing magic since I was VERY young. I think I got my first kid's magic set for christmas when I was about 7 and then I got my first magic book, Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic (which I would still recommend to this day as it will teach you all of the basic building blocks of all different types of magic). I'm 21 now and I still love performing.

As for practicing, I would say there is no substitute for spending lots and lots of time in front of a mirror. When I'm perfecting a trick I will practice for at least a full hour in front of the mirror daily for at least a week before I bring it out and perform for spectators. I know how tempting it can be to just learn the basic moves for a trick and then run out and try it on people. But being a good magician is all about lots of patience and lots of practice. You really have to break a trick down and practice every single move over and over and over and over again until you can do them without even thinking about it. And doing your practice in front of the mirror will let you see it as others will so you can really perfect all the angles. I know all of this can be tedious, but it is absolutely worth the hard work as it will make you look and feel SO much more confident when performing.

As for good tricks, of course most every trick sold at T11. I also love anything that can be done with as little preparation as possible such as Sinful by Wayne Houchin, or a good levitation like Balducci or King's Rising.

 

[Hirano4Ever]

thanks for the advice

Well I've definitely been there. I've also been doing magic since I was VERY young. I think I got my first kid's magic set for christmas when I was about 7 and then I got my first magic book, Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic (which I would still recommend to this day as it will teach you all of the basic building blocks of all different types of magic). I'm 21 now and I still love performing.

As for practicing, I would say there is no substitute for spending lots and lots of time in front of a mirror. When I'm perfecting a trick I will practice for at least a full hour in front of the mirror daily for at least a week before I bring it out and perform for spectators. I know how tempting it can be to just learn the basic moves for a trick and then run out and try it on people. But being a good magician is all about lots of patience and lots of practice. You really have to break a trick down and practice every single move over and over and over and over again until you can do them without even thinking about it. And doing your practice in front of the mirror will let you see it as others will so you can really perfect all the angles. I know all of this can be tedious, but it is absolutely worth the hard work as it will make you look and feel SO much more confident when performing.

As for good tricks, of course most every trick sold at T11. I also love anything that can be done with as little preparation as possible such as Sinful by Wayne Houchin, or a good levitation like Balducci or King's Rising.

thanks for the advice much mahalos

yours truly,
Todd H.

 

[conman16x]

Last night when I was typing I was very tired and having a hard time remembering what some of my favorite cards tricks were, and I also forgot that this message was in the Card Magic forum.

When it comes to card magic I think one of my favorite comprehensive DVDs is easily Born to Perform Card Magic by Oz Perlman ( http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=618 ). For a lot of my life I didn't do very much card magic, but this DVD really changed my outlook. It gives you ALL of the most important moves and sleights that one should know to be a good card magician. It also includes 4 of the best classic standby routines, all of which I still perform on a regular basis.

The included routines are the Ultimate Transpo, the Two Card Monte, the Biddle Trick, and the Ambitious Card. Even if you already know one or all of these routines I would sill HIGHLY recommend getting the DVD if you're really serious about becoming a better card performer. Oz's teaching is so great and you will definitely benefit from everything he has to say.

It was easily worth every penny for me.

 

[adjones]

//My Review of BTP//

 

[quick_trick]

If there's anything on this site I can reccomend it's the Card Fundamentals Vol 1 and 2. You'll probably know most of the basics but you will learn a lot of theory as well, Aaron Fisher is a great teacher and covers EVERYTHING you need to be performing the basics perfectly. Also pick up the book The Royal Road to Card Magic, it covers everything you need to get started in card magic and more tricks than you'll ever need/remember.

As far as practice goes, pick 2 or 3 fundamental sleights. eg. 1 control (highly reccomend the overhand shuffle control to start with), 1 change (definatly the double lift) and 1 visual change (erdnase change). Practice these till your hands hurt. Then practice them some more You really have to feel at home with a deck of cards and be able to do your 3 sleights without looking at your hands.

If you've mastered the overhand shuffle control, move on to the pass. Which you'll find in many card books (and really bad youtube tutorials).

I hope that helps a bit!

 

[Rmana]

As for practice, just keep doing it and wait more than a few days before bringing it out to your friends and whoever. I know, you learn something and are excited to do it, but just take your time with it and don't rush to perform. Magic isn't just a bunch of moves, it's how you present them that people will remember.

I think a week is a good amount of time... work on your moves and just as importantly, work on your patter. I've had people do stuff for me and just be so confused as to why they were doing things. Like the ACR for example, if you're going to cut a card into the deck, explain that to people.

Johnny Carson, a magician (in case you didn't know), once said that the key to performing is tell people what you are going to do, do it, and then explain what you just did... I don't know what that means exactly, but it relates somehow to patter.

 

[jackal422]

Research is the key

The best thing to do is come up with a theme with ur routine..... what is it a black magic theme... comedy perhaps or mind reading.... whatever it is do the research for the tricks that blend into the routine and lets face it be original

 

[A 07 5P4D35]

The best way for me to be comitted to practiceing magic is to get up a little earlier. Check out chicago opener or red hot mama.

 

[Ahmed Fouad]

The Best way for me to practice is either to my brother because he's into magic like me so he corrects my mistakes or just try performing to your family as they would not mind if u mess up a trick