How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

How do Magicians Force Playing Cards – Questions and Answers

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How to force playing cards

Paul sent us the following question about how to learn to force playing cards:

'When reading instructions and finding something like 'use a force of your choice' or 'control the card to the bottom of the deck'. In theory, I know what both of those mean, but I'm yet to find a resource – particularly for forcing – for learning techniques that seem genuinely convincing.

Can you suggest something to me from which to learn some convincing forces and also a good tutorial on card controls? Thank you!' – Paul H

 

Paul, You're not along getting frustrated when you come across the phrase 'use a force of your choice' or 'use your favourite force'. We think that a magic tricks instructions should explain at least a basic force if the magic trick requires it.

The good news is that there are loads of ways to learn how to force playing cards correctly.

Solution 1 : Download this Magic Hands Tuition Download : Essential Forces

Solution 2 : Learn from a DVD. There are many good DVDs that cover the basic forces. A good one that will teach you a large range of controls, as well as the right way to use a hindu and riffle force is Born to Perform.

Solution 3 : Learn from a book : Just like DVD's there are a huge range of magic books that will teach you the basic forces. We tend to go with the most highly regarded source for beginners to learn the core sleights of card magic The Royal Road to Card Magic

You have a huge range of forces to choose from, but we would sugest learning and mastering the riffle force as your first project. Follow that up with the Hindu Force, before moving on to work on mastering a Classic Force over time. Thise three forces should provide you will all the technique you need for almost any force condition.

 

Why a Magicians Audience is Smarter than You Think

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Smart magicians audiences

By Dominic Reyes

I'm sure that this doesn't apply to you directly, but it's an observation that I sometimes see amongst magicians. As people start to learn magic and develop their skills, they can develop a strange view about what the public understands about magic, and what will fool them. 

The more magicians study magic, the more they grow to think that the public is stupid.

Have you ever a magician say:

"Nobody ever catches me when I do this.."

"Your spectators will not notice this…"

Become aware of these sayings, and you will start to hear them more and more as you talk to magicians. You will also start to see them mentioned in magic trick instructions (Usually during a weak point in a magic tricks method).

I have no idea why this happens, it could just be human nature. As magicians gain experience and knowledge, it's easy for them to develop a feeling of self importance, and an overly relaxed attitude about the observational skills of other people.

One of the biggest pitfalls to becoming a successful magician is fooling yourself that your audiences doesn't have the intelligence or attention to detail to spot parts of the mechanics used in magic tricks. The temptation is to ignore the small details. It's as if magicians feel that they have superhuman perception that 'normal people' don't have. Trust me, if you can spot the discrepancy or error in a magic trick that you have recorded in performance and watched back, some of your spectators will also notice it. They may not point it out, or become distracted by the flow of the trick and move on, but they HAVE noticed it.

On the  whole, people are very clever. A group can have intelligence that is greater than the individuals that make up that group. Assume your audience is highly educated, clever, and very hard to fool. Find the weak points in the method of every magic trick you perform, and work on changing them to remove the faults. It doesn't matter how small or hard to spot a fault in a magic trick may be. If there are clues to the secret of a magic trick, someone WILL spot them eventually and call you out. Your goal is to tweak each magic trick to reduce that chance as much as possible. Anything less than that is taking a shortcut and compromising your potential to perform the trick as best as you possibly can.

 

How to Get Work as a Teen Magician – Problems and Answers

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Magicians answering questions about learning magic

Seth is a teenage magician who is not sure how to get work performing magic. He asked the Merchant of Magic community for some advice:

My name is Seth and I am letting you know what I am struggling with right now in my magic career.  First of all, I am 14 years old and have been doing magic for a few years now.  I have performed and placed in a few talent shows in my area.  The problem I am having is getting gigs as a teen magician.  If you could help me with this I would really appreciate it.

 

HI Seth

It's great news that you are looking to advance your magic away from private practice, and start performing for the public, but you need to look at the larger picture. There's no rush. At your stage of training, you are still quite young to get much commercial work. The key goal for you is to focus on developing your 'performing style' and technique as you build up sets of working material. There's plenty of time to turn your passion into a business. I don't know you personal situation, but it's likely that you are being supported financially by your parents. That's a situation you only get for a small part of your life ( unless you have a trust fund), so use this time to relax about getting an income from magic. You have no bills to pay, so magic can just be about learning and discovering who you really are. That will push your magic forward far more than any new magic technique or sleight.

That being said, experience is also very important. How do you get experience performing for the public, if you have difficulty getting paid work? For many young magicians, the answer is focusing on magic clubs. At magic clubs (you can be a member of more than one) you can perform in competitions, network with the magic community and take part in open evenings and dinners organised by the club. It's a great way to develop your knowledge of magic and get experience performing for a live audience. Becoming well known in the magic competition world is also a possible gateway to further oppotunities as you become well known.

Another avenue to explore is the volentary sector. Contact local fund raising groups and introduce yourself. Perform at local charity events and nursing/ community homes to gain experience and get your name out locally.

Remember that there is no rush. You can build in paid performances over time, perhaps to suppliment your later study if you decide to go into further education. I funded my university course and lifestyle while a poor student by starting to take on paid gigs. That may be a more appropriate time in your life to start generating an income from you magic. It's very important that you concentrate on your school studies. Perhaps add courses that relate to magic and the performing arts. Also, build as much knowledge as you can about sales and marketing related subjects. Business studies is a good course to consider. You have plenty of time to work on sleight of hand over the years, but only have a small window of time to get the best grades you can with free education.  If you perform magic commercially, you become a business owner as well as a performer. Any skills you can learn that will help you there, will give you a competative edge.

Good subjects that relate to magic:

  • English
  • Maths
  • Design and Realisation : Woodwork, Mental and plastic work
  • IT
  • Drama
  • Science
  • Business Studies

There are a lot of magicians who neglected their studies to focus on sleight of hand. You have the chance to get great grades, and be taught subjects that will help you in the creative and business side of magic right now, sleight of hand can be added later.

Keep practicing!

– See more at: https://blog.magicshop.co.uk/2013/12/get-work-teen-magician-problems-answers.html#comment-3937

HI Seth

It's great news that you are looking to advance your magic away from private practice, and start performing for the public, but you need to look at the larger picture. There's no rush. At your stage of training, you are still quite young to get much commercial work. The key goal for you is to focus on developing your 'performing style' and technique as you build up sets of working material. There's plenty of time to turn your passion into a business. I don't know you personal situation, but it's likely that you are being supported financially by your parents. That's a situation you only get for a small part of your life ( unless you have a trust fund), so use this time to relax about getting an income from magic. You have no bills to pay, so magic can just be about learning and discovering who you really are. That will push your magic forward far more than any new magic technique or sleight.

The chicken and the egg.

That being said, experience is also very important. How do you get experience performing for the public, if you have difficulty getting paid work? For many young magicians, the answer is focusing on magic clubs. At magic clubs (you can be a member of more than one) you can perform in competitions, network with the magic community and take part in open evenings and dinners organised by the club. It's a great way to develop your knowledge of magic and get experience performing for a live audience. Becoming well known in the magic competition world is also a possible gateway to further oppotunities as you become well known.

Your community.

Another avenue to explore is the volentary sector. Contact local fund raising groups and introduce yourself. Perform at local charity events and nursing/ community homes to gain experience and get your name out locally.

Use your school.

Remember that there is no rush. You can build in paid performances over time, perhaps to suppliment your later study if you decide to go into further education. I funded my university course and lifestyle while a poor student by starting to take on paid gigs. That may be a more appropriate time in your life to start generating an income from you magic. It's very important that you concentrate on your school studies. Perhaps add courses that relate to magic and the performing arts. Also, build as much knowledge as you can about sales and marketing related subjects. Business studies is a good course to consider. You have plenty of time to work on sleight of hand over the years, but only have a small window of time to get the best grades you can with free education.  If you perform magic commercially, you become a business owner as well as a performer. Any skills you can learn that will help you there, will give you a competative edge.

Good subjects that relate to magic:

  • English
  • Maths
  • Design and Realisation : Woodwork, Mental and plastic work
  • IT
  • Drama
  • Science
  • Business Studies

There are a lot of magicians who neglected their studies to focus on sleight of hand. You have the chance to get great grades, and be taught subjects that will help you in the creative and business side of magic right now, sleight of hand can be added later.

Keep practicing!

Hope this helps you

Dominic Reyes

 

Do you have any advice for Seth? How should he start out getting experience as a magician? If you faced the same problems as Seth, how did you overcome them?

Share your ideas in the comments section below: