I’m often asked about the skill level of different magic tricks the MoM sell. I usually give a brief summary of the technical moves and try to label it as Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. That satisfies the questioner, but it secretly annoys me for this reason:
You already know this, but anyway… As with all magic tricks that use sleight of hand, it’s going to need a commitment from you to put in regular practice over a long period of time. It’s a ‘project’ for you rather than a quick fix trick to play with.
Sometimes, when people ask ‘How difficult is it?’ they really mean ‘Will this require any effort from me?’
It involves holding a coin or some playing cards and slowly repeating a series of moves over and over again until it becomes smooth and second nature. The movements are easy as long as you can hold a coin or some cards in your hand. No trick or technique is difficult to do, IF you do it over and over again until it’s second nature. It’s all about deciding you are prepared to give it consistent, regular attention to drill the methods.
I’ve found the key for building up speed is to slow it right down during the practice drill phase. Slower the better. Allow speed to develop all by itself. Slow means that you will hardwire the best technique right from the start.
As far as giving up… The enemy of practice is ‘choice’. Most practice effort ends before it gets results because people jump to something else instead.
The answer may be to commit to just ONE item for a period of time as you drill it. Just pick one thing you REALLY want to learn and set that as a goal. Then drill it (perhaps 20 times, twice a day, every day for 20 days, then assess and repeat)
There’s no getting around the fact that stuff like this is skill development. It takes effort and time, but the rewards and feeling of excitement as you develop makes it totally worth it.
If you would like to learn more about this, there’s a free ebook on magic practice here
I highly recommend you read this post on motivation and effort
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