Are magicians making a mistake by focusing on the latest magic tricks?

I was in Mexico last month and went to see a magic show that totally shocked me. I learned a valuable lesson that I'd like to share with you:

It's way too easy to forget about classic magic tricks in favour of the latest releases. Turning your nose up at the classics can be a big mistake for magicians wanting to build an entertaining act. A magic trick being brand new, is no mark of quality. The real test of a great trick is how it has performed over time with audiences.

As you browse most magic shop inventories, you are presented with the latest magic tricks first. They are the tricks that magic shops need to sell because they are in their 'promotional release phase'. As a trick gets older, it drops down deeper into the magic shop catagories and can easily be over looked unless a magician is specifically searching for it. It's a strange way of helping magicians. In fact, it's often set up like that to help magic manufacturers, creators, and the cash flow of the magic shops.

We all like to see what's new and check out the latest magic tricks, but it's the job of a good magic shop to highlight the very best tried and tested tricks, rather than those that are hot this week?

There are so many great magic tricks that get pushed to the sidelines by magicians that don't tend to perform much. Sponge balls, rope tricks, jumping playing cards, silk productions.. These tricks don't have the hype and marketing of the lastest releases, but they have already proved their worth. If you use your own presentation and develop a fresh way to present them, each trick can become the highlight of your act because the impact of the 'effect' is so strong.

In order to address this, good magic shops will often have a Highly Recommended Magic Tricks section to showcase magic tricks that have proven their worth over time. These sections don't just list the latest magic tricks, they only feature tricks that working magicians use time and again because the tricks get great results from audiences.

3 Questions to Ask When Choosing Magic tricks

by Dominic Reyes 2 Comments

By Dominic Reyes

I'm going to let you into a little secret. This is a technique professional magicians use when they wade through all the new magic releases, to pick out the gems.

When selecting magic tricks to perform to the public, there are several factors that will guarantee you great reactions. Three of these factors are:

Will the trick produce a strong visual image?

Does the trick cause an emotional reaction?

Can the magic happen in the spectator's hands?

We all collect magic tricks that we like to learn and perform, but that's not the same as the much harder process of picking a small selection of tricks worthy of a position in your 'working set' Asking yourself questions like this when choosing magic tricks can help you identify the 'workers' from the tricks designed to entertain only magicians.

To give you an example of tricks that fit these three essential components. I recommend you watch these performances for Changeling and Wishbone. Seriously, I strongly recommend that you take a moment to watch these performances. take a few moments RIGHT NOW to check out the videos.

Changeling is a perfect example of visual magic happening in the spectators own hands. When the UK bank note transforms to another note all by itself, you get a huge reaction from spectators. That's magnified several times over when it happens in their own hands.

Wishbone is the latest release from Paul Harris Presents and it's a lovely effect that uses everyday objects, happens in the spectators hands, but it also creates an emotional connection between two spectators. I recorded a video a while back about asking spectators to hold hands whenever you can. Wishbone takes this principle and builds it into the trick itself, creating a shared momento that highlights the connection between two spectators and all that could lead on too..

How Long Should a Magician Take to Practice a Magic Trick?

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

By Dominic Reyes

Stephen writes: 'I want to develop my first magic act. How long should I aim to practice a magic trick before it's ready to be performed?'

That question has a very simple answer.. It depends.

There is no set time scale for any magic trick to be ready. The time it will take you to get the trick to a performance standard is different for each magician and each trick. However, My good friend Steve Shufton told me some simple advice that I would like to pass on to you now..

Whilst writing the instructions for the mind reading magic trick Ps I Love You Steve wanted to include a section about how long the magic trick will take to learn. He explained that the more experience you have in magic, the more you will understand the value of practice. PS I Love you is very simple to learn. You could start performing the magic trick in just 15 minutes. Many beginners will learn the trick and do just that, but in doing so, they are making a huge mistake. Experienced performers understand that the success of a magic performance has little to do with the simplicity of the method. The strength of the trick comes from the performance, and that comes from the skill and effort of the magician.

Do This: Don't assume that a magic trick that is easy to learn, should take less time to become performance ready. Use the extra time you gain from a simple method, to work on the presentation. Don't rush out and perform a new trick right away. Take you time…