How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

Why People Give Up Learning How to Do Sleight of Hand Magic

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Quit learning magic

By Dominic Reyes

 

Why most people give up trying to learn how to do magic with sleight of hand.

I recorded this short video about the most common reasons what most people tend to give up trying to master sleight of hand. I've worked with a great deal of magic students over the years, and the same reason springs up every time. The magic secret is that it's easy to get past this phase, as long as you realise that you have falled foul of this way of thinking about your magic and your ability to master it.

So many people begin new hobbies every day. The vast majority give up in the first few months. That's quite normal, as the pleasure of the new wears off. Some pople push past this and their abilities suddenly shoot up as they reach the turning point of their learning curve. It's all about sticking with it and not judging yourself too much. It's not a race or competition. Learning magic is a slow gradual process that builds up over time. 

I'd love to hear about your experiences learning sleight of hand. Did you find the process easy? Way it hard for you. How did you motivate yourself to keep going? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

If you would like more help with your study of magic. I recommend joining our newsletter. You will get tips and advice over time to help you stay motivated with your practice and stop you giving up, just before the real progress in your techniques is discovered.

 

Effective Magicians Patter – The Different Types of Patter Within Magic Tricks

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Magicians Patter

By Malcolm Duff

Magicians Patter is the name given to what you say as you are performing a magic trick.

Magicians Patter has many elements – each with one or more different purposes. If you watch a magician and listen to their patter you will find that you can categorise each piece of the patter according to it's purpose:

Instruction

The easiest form of patter to spot is “Instruction”. You are telling the spectator to do something.
“Pick a card”, “Think of a word”, “Hold out your hands”, “Don't take your eyes off of that card”, and so on.

Question

This is very close to “Instruction” but subtly different. The patter is intended to obtain some information from the spectator.
“Would you like to see a trick?”, “Could I ask you to sit over there?”, “Does anyone have a business card?”, “What is your date of birth?”. This category also helps with misdirection and suggestion. “Did you see it jump?”, “Do you feel it getting lighter?”, “Wow! Can you believe what just happened?”.

Statement

A good one. You make a statement about what you just did or what you are about to do. The statement may or may not be true. That is the point. People, for some reason, are more willing to accept that a statement is true than they are to immediately doubt that statement. People – eh?

“Right. So we now have a shuffled deck.” (No we don't)

“That card was randomly chosen by you.” (No it wasn't)

“So I moved the ball from that cup to this cup.” (No I didn't)

“Now, this part is a bit difficult.” (No it isn't).

You should mix true statements in amongst the false ones otherwise the spectator(s) will soon be running you out of town. I find it fascinating that you can get away with telling fibs even though you announced that you are performing a “trick”. Oh! Statement – like Question (and also Instruction) – helps with misdirection and suggestion.

Timing

This is very useful for a performer. It's one of the 7 habits of successful magicians. If you know your patter you can use it to time your “moves”. You may have noticed that as you are performing, you are having an internal dialogue with yourself (who else?). “How am I doing?”, “What 's next?”, “When should I do that?”, “Am I going too fast/slow?”. Your patter should tell you what is next, where you should be in the magic trick, where and how you should manipulate a prop. I do not mean that your patter should explicitly tell you these things. No. Just that it provides the rhythm of the trick. It stops you going too fast or slow because speech needs to be said at a speed that allows the punter to take it in. Sure, there are magic tricks that go way too fast or slow – but they are part of the effect for that particular trick. Generally, your patter establishes and maintains the speed of the magic trick.

Story

I have left this to the end because if you pick up nothing else from patter, picking this up will improve your performance no end.


You are an entertainer. That is what you are doing.


Your magic trick should have a story, a narrative. Something that “brings in” the audience to better experience the thrick. Nothing too weird – “These four Jacks went down the pub” is fine. Just build the story step by step until the spectator is engrossed – not only by the trick(s) – but also because they are now very, very far away from what they thought was even possible. You created that world – now they are living in it.

Finally, you can tell how important patter is by performing whatever trick you like – in front of a mirror – whilst saying nothing. Didn't work, did it?

So. Go learn your patter – it will get better the more you practise it. Same as everything else in your life.

 

Related post: Magicians Patter – How to Avoid Being Boring

What is the Difference Between a Magic Act and a Magic Show?

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What will be in your magic show?

By Dominic Reyes

 

Ed asks: How do I build the magic tricks I already do into a working act I can use for gigs?


If you've been learning magic for any length of time, it's likely that you have already built up a range of magic tricks you can perform sufficiently well to perform to spectators. If you don't feel that you've reached this stage it means that you need to carry on practising and rehearsing until you've gathered together a collection of magic tricks that are at the stage where they ready to be performed. However, putting together a commercial act isn't just about mastering a group of random magic tricks. You have to add some organisation to the magic you are going to perform if it's going to be suitable for performance to the public. An important part of this organisation is grouping together your  magic tricks into acts and then those acts built into a show.


The difference between an act and a show.


For magicians, an act is a small group of magic tricks which work well  together. It consists of openers, bridging tricks, and closers. The magic tricks flow well together, building energy and excitement at a steady pace, and reach an exciting climax. Essentially, the whole act should contain all of the elements of entertainment that are found within each individual trick itself. This unifies the collection of magic tricks into a group that works well together. A typical magic act may only be about 10 or 15 minutes long.


A show is a collection of acts. In exactly the same way that the tricks are organised together within an act, the acts are organised in the same way to form a show. The show adds a larger story arc that is delivered through it's acts.


An example of this is the new magic TV series Killer Magic. In the TV magic show, 5 magicians compete to perform magic tricks in front of each other. Each magician takes turns to perform a trick and the other magicians award points for the tricks performance.


The TV show is divided into acts. Each magicians trick is performed and then feedback and points are awarded by the other magicians, that's one single act. Now another act starts as the next magician performs their trick. After all the acts of been completed, the lowest scoring magician has to  perform a magic trick as the finale to the show. The last magic trick is the final act. Each of these acts are presented together to fulfil a common purpose; choose a winner for the show. In this way, the collection of acts produces a greater meaning than the sum of their individual parts.


Using acts in close up magic.


Close up magicians build small acts for different parts of their bookings. They use short, fast resetting, angle proof, and punchy magic tricks for walk around conditions. For magic at the tables, magicians choose magic tricks that will engage a large group of spectators in a slightly different way than the magic tricks they've used for walk around. They grouped together magic tricks into balanced acts that are suitable for each of these working conditions. The acts may only be 5 or 6 minutes long, containing 3 or 4 tricks. Because magicians will be performing to various groups through an event, they may build together many acts that are suitable for each working condition. Having different acts for the same type of situation allows the magician to perform magic to groups that may be close to each other without having to worry about repeating a magic trick. Because the magicians are performing to small groups for a short period of time and then moving on to another group, they don't need to think too much about show construction. However, sometimes the magicians will be asked to perform from a longer period of time to a fixed group of spectators. That's when show construction  becomes crucial.


Building a magic show.


If you wish to perform magic on the stage, as part of the children's magic party, or as an after-dinner entertainment, you need to start thinking about  building a larger set of magic tricks that will play for anything up to an hour. Constructing a show is about grouping together your magic acts around a common theme. You need to think about the story that will be the framework to your show. Once you have a story, that has a beginning, middle, and an end, you can choose magic tricks that will fit into a group of small acts that create the show. It's important that you've choose the story first before you select the magic tricks which will tell the story. Random unrelated magic tricks can't easily be put together to create a show. If your magic tricks are not presented in acts that come together to tell a great story, the show will seem wrong to your spectators, it will lack something. Even TV magic shows which present a series of random magic tricks divide them into acts which communicate a greater message. For example, Dynamo Magician Impossible presents magic tricks that are unrelated to each other, each magic trick is an act, tied together by a story of how Dynamo grew up and found inspiration for his magic.


Do this:


Think about some stories you would like to tell.

  • How you grew up and discovered magic.
  • What it's like being a magician day-to-day.
  • How you used magic to overcome an obstacle in your life.
  • How magic was used in the past to swindle people.
  • How you discovered a unique magic item.


Write a short story on the subject that you have chosen. What magic tricks could you use to communicate each part of that story? Choose one or two  magic tricks for each part of the story.


Thinking about how you present magic tricks is just as important as practising the mechanics and performance of the tricks themselves. Good magic is not performed in isolation. You probably already know enough magic tricks, the real skill comes in using that magic to entertain people. Building your magic into an act and then each act into a show will help move you forward far more than learning another magic trick ever will.