Here's a quick shout out about a new book on showmanship, practice, and the bare bones 'in the trenches' business of turning your magic into a profession.

Jamie D Grant has been there and done that. Jamie's new book: The Approach – A Complete Guide to Becoming a Working Magician is stuffed full of practical advice and tips for working magicians. It's not a normal magic book. No tricks, presentations or routines. Just very short, to the point chapters covering a whole range of practical tips to improve your experience of performing magic tricks to the public.

As with most magic DVD's or books, it's only a matter of finding that one little bit of business that makes the whole book or DVD worth owning. If you already perform to the public, much of this will already be understood, but it's the extra little bits of advice and experience that you may not have discovered that make this a gem for professionals

For beginners, this is a quick shortcut to gain the life experience only gained from years of gigging. If you are still in that limbo point, of planning to do a public magic gig some time in the future, this book may give you a push to take that step.

Adding Focus and Direction to Learning Magic Tricks – Review

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

We just received this feedback from magician Bill Richards about adding focus to learning magic tricks:

I must say that I am incredibly pleased with my decision to follow the sleight of hand for beginners training course, and even now after just four days of practice I can unequivocally say that although there is a far more left to learn and master than I could even begin to imagine, I do feel that I have improved, which I think is mostly down to the focus of my practice sessions; without guidance of course it is far too easy to pick up a trick, have a go at it, not be able to do it as well as would be preferred, put it down and reach for the next trick which sounds like it might be a little easier, or more interesting etc. This I think is the main benefit provided by such a course, focus, and being instructed by a professional as to what to do in those focussed sessions, how to go about practicing, how much time to spend, what to practice, etc.

I really like Liam’s presentation, his explanations are clear and concise, and his demonstrations are clean and precise. This first DVD set is, I think, something which I would not have selected to view and study had it not been presented to me.

Bill! You hit the nail on the head my friend. The course is all about focus. The truth is that nothing contained in the course is particularly unique. It's all material that is available individually on DVD's. In fact, you can order the individual DVD's that make up the course as stand along products. The value we add comes from attempting to slow down the learning and focus the student on working through the material in a systematic way. It's the follow up emails, coaching, and performance reviews that are offered over the 3 months that are the real secret to the results the course is achieving for magicians that take the time to work through it.

Every day the team at the Merchant of Magic supply magic DVD's and new tricks to hundreds of magicians all across the world. It's a constant stream of new material being snapped up by magicians hungry for the 'next new thing' in magic. Even though we are in our second decade of supplying magic tricks, it still amazes us, how quickly magicians move on to the next magic DVD to be released. They simply can't be learning all this new material, and it often feels like collecting more than magic training.

This first course, on sleight of hand, was an attemto to see if magicians would be prepared to work on a focused program, to learn the classic, core techniques in card magic. We hoped, with the right encoragment, we could get magicians to make a commitment to just one technique at a time, and really put in the work to master it, before moving on to something else. We know from the personal tuition that we offer to magicians on a one 2 one basis at the magic shop, that so much more progress can be made by slowing down the learning process. Once a core move has been REALLY MASTERED, thats the time to add applications for the move. In doing this 'directed learning program' a whoe range of new magic tricks open up to the student, once they have the technical movements mastered.

Keep up the great work Richard!

Best wishes as always

Dominic Reyes

Best Magic Tricks of 2013 Awards

by Dominic Reyes 14 Comments

The Best Magic Tricks of 2013

Creativity seems alive and kicking in magic, with a record amount of magicians choosing their best magic tricks to hit magic shops in 2013.

Most new magic tricks become popular for a short time as magicians try them out, and see if they will make the grade for their acts. Usually the magic tricks end up in storage and forgotten. So, let’s take a look at the best magic tricks to be released in 2013.

How the award winning magic tricks are selected.

The Merchant of Magic is a magic shop. So, it’s only fair to point out that we also supply most of the items that have won best magic tricks awards. However, the best magic tricks are just a few out of over 21,000 magic tricks that the magic shop supplies. The magic shop receives no payment from manufacturers for selection of the list. We have specifically left out any items that are produced by The Merchant of Magic.

The winners that have won a best magic trick 2013 award are selected from the following sources of opinion:

Customer feedback.
Quanity of sales.
Level of returns.
The views of magic shop demonstrators.
Reviews and feedback from magic forums.
Real world testing by professional magicians.

The Best Magic Tricks of 2013 Winners.

The list is given in no order. Each of these magic tricks have won its place as the top most recommended magic tricks launched in 2013.

Envy-Lope – By Brandon David and Chris Turchi

Envy-Lope has become on the the staple card magic tricks being performed by working magicians across the world. A signed playing card is lost in a deck of cards. Instantly the deck transforms into a little white envelope, containing the spectators signed playing card. A simple plot, visually stricking magic and an easy method has made this a winner with working magicians.

Clean Cash By Marc Oberon

A blank piece of paper, transforms into a £20 with just the wave of the hand. If a magician could do real magic, this is what they would do! Marc Oberon has invented a unique method for this popular magic trick.It’s a winner because he has managed to remove any unnatural moves. The magicians hands are clearly seen to hold only the paper. For working magicians who don’t want to use the traditional gimmick/prop for a bill switch, this is a great addition to their magic trick sets.

Sharpie Through Card by Peter Nardi

Peter Nardi took Rob Bromley idea for the Cigarette Through Card magic trick, and has greatly improved the method, making this practical and fun to perform for professional magicians. Sharpie through playing card allows you to easily stab a signed playing card with a normal Sharpie pen and then hand both items out completely unharmed! This magic trick is in the working magic cases of many performing magicians.

Glance by Steve Thompson

One of the best book tests ever invented. Glance allows you to perform one of the most impossible, memorable feats of mentalism with an object everyone has heard of and read before. And with Steve Thompson’s clever new system, you don’t need to fish for any clues about the word before revealing it. Glance is amazing in both engineering and design. Take a quick flick through the magazine and you will be amazed by the craftsmanship of the wording and layout.

Ace by Richard Sanders

Two joker playing cards are openly placed onto a spectator’s hands and two jokers are placed into the magcians hands. The magician just touchs his jokers to theirs, and all the playing cards transform into aces! Ace by Richard Sanders uses a very simple sleight of hand technique with a clever gimmick, so it’s ideal for total beginners to magic. It’s a wonderful moment, when the playing cards transform.

Electric Touch + By Yigal Mesika

Electric Touch Plus allows you to use the force of electricity so you can deliver an electrostatic shock that will course through your body to your finger tip. Imagine reading someone’s mind and they FEEL the thought leave their mind as if it were zapped from their body. Electric Touch + was a major improvment on the original device that was a massive worldwide success with magicians. The range of uses and the reactions it gets from spectators has made this a winner with magicians around the world.

Any Word – By Ben Williams

Literally ANY word a spectator can think of can be predicted in a clean, impossible fashion and the best thing is that Any Word requires NO SKILL what so ever to perform. The spectator at the end of the routine really feels as though you had influenced them to think of the word that is predicted.

Over the past three years Ben Willaims has honed this routine into a well oiled machine that devastates every spectator that witnesses it! He has performed this amazing piece of mentalism in casual settings, in loud working environments, one on one, in front of large crowds, he has even performed it on RADIO!

The Clarity Box by David Regal

In typical David Regal style, we have a practical and stunning addition to any table, or stage magicians act. A wonderfully crafted prop that is hard to find anything wrong with it! A folded playing card that has been on display in a CLEAR BOX, IN FULL VIEW the whole time is tipped out to show it is the spectator’s signed, selected playing card! The Clarity Box is appearing in magicians working acts around the world and it’s performance ‘in the trenches’ shows just how useful this item is to working professionals.

Tiny Plunger by Jon Armstrong

This funny little prop is the star of the magic trick! The tiny plunger holds onto to a thought of number of playing cards, locates a playing card selection, and a whole range of amazing plunger feats! Originally invented Mathieu Bich, and expanded by Jon Armstrong and Garrett Thomas, Tiny Plunger is that rare prop that is both comical, amazing, and magical.

Which magic tricks missed out?

This list should be longer! There’s a few magic tricks missing from the list. They are the ones that YOU like best!

DO THIS: Let us know which trick you think should be added and make sure you tell us why. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below:

Related Posts:

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2014

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2012