Speaking as a beginner myself, my number one piece of advice, honestly, is to stop looking for
free tricks. If you're really interested in magic, you're going to have to invest some time and money. Start with books like RRTCM and Expert Card Magic to build a confident foundation in a wide variety of common sleights. RealityOne has an excellent list of suggestions
here. Once you've gotten that foundation, you can start looking at some of those specific tricks that bridge the gap between beginner and intermediate. Torn and Restored Card Transpo by David Williamson is a fantastic trick, and if presented right should get those killer reactions you're looking for. French Kiss by Wayne Houchin is another phenomenal effect that's easy to learn, and people freak out. Both of those aren't too difficult, but have a huge impact, and the prices are incredibly fair. Really, just look for tricks that suits your style and excite you. Theory11's quality is top-notch, it's hard to go wrong.
To address your other question of being "caught" while performing, I'd make two suggestions. First, most sleights aren't meant to be completely invisible. They are meant to pass unnoticed, but that's because to the audience, the moment should be unimportant. Their attention should be directed anywhere
but your hands when you're doing something they aren't meant to see. Make eye contact, say something. Whatever fits the context and draws attention in a natural way. Directing a comment at a spectator and looking them in the eye is a good basic form of misdirection. If we make that natural, no one cares what our hands are doing. Where we look and what we say becomes much more interesting. Which leads into my second point. It sounds like you may be approaching your performances the wrong way. As magicians, we aren't trying to "trick" the audience. The audience shouldn't feel that their goal is to "catch" us. Our goal, as performers and as audience, is to experience magic
together. If we build up a connection with our audience, misdirection becomes natural. When we're present with our audience and really connect with them, they can't help but connect with us in return, and that's what makes magic work. Magic doesn't happen in your hands, it happens in their heads. And the best way to help your audience get there is to clear everything else out of the way. Allow them to stop focusing their attention on your hands, let their focus naturally go where it's needed, and magic will happen.
Apollo Robbins has a great Ted Talk on the art of misdirection, and there are numerous other resources available out there.
Astonishment is Our Natural State of Mind by Paul Harris is a fantastic article that every magician should read. Pretty sure the article has been made available for free online, I think someone on Ellusionist got permission to post it? Anyway, hope that helps. Best of luck!
