Travel by Jordan Victoria – Free Bonus Tutorial Video

Travel by Jordan Victoria – Free Expanded Tutorial Video

Jordan victoria created TRAVEL and it's been a worldwide hit with magicians. The 'perform anywhere' instant 'copper silver' style routine for playing cards is perfect for table hopping and street magic. However, there was a lot of material that Jordan taught Sansmind (the producers of the product) but was missed out of the instructional footage for the DVD. So Merchant of Magic has a bonus 23 minutes of extra tuition from Jordan on how to get the best out of TRAVEL, tips for making your own gimmicks, and some crazy additional handlings.

New to TRAVEL by Jordan Victora?

Here's the demo trailer of Travel so you can see what all the fuss is about: Be warned though, don't drink anything hot whilst you watch the video.. you'll spit it out all over your screen!

You can order TRAVEL here.

Already own Travel by Jordan Victora and want the extra tutorial?

No problem. You will need a password to play the video. The password is sent to you when you order the product.

The First Magic Tricks a Magician Should Learn

by Dominic Reyes 2 Comments

How to pick the first magic tricks a magician should learn

Mark writes: 'I found you book on magic practice helpful, but I don't know which tricks to start work on. How do I choose my first effect? Any help?'

There are so many magic tricks to learn. The magic shop stocks over 20,000 tricks.. How does a beginner know where to start? The answer isn't to browse through the shop until you find a trick that fools you. You're not the person you want to fool.

Here's a short video from Dominic Reyes about choosing the right magic tricks to start learning magic:

When you are a complete beginner, the first goal is to understand HOW you are going to perform, rather than what you will be performing. You need to find your style. Will you be serious, funny, mystical, urban, classic, polite, cheeky..? Until you have an understanding about the style that suits you, and the audience that you will entertain, it's very hard to practice the presentation of any magic trick.

It's a good idea to choose self working tricks when you first start out. Easy mechanics, means that you can move on to presentation as quickly as possible. Presentation is the KEY to good magic practice. The mechanics can be drilled, but your performing style needs to develop through performance. If you learn a few easy to do tricks at the beginning, you can start performing to your family and friends, and in doing so, discover a presentation style that fits YOU.

This discovery stage also extends to the fields of magic that you can choose. Will you be a card mechanic, a coin worker, a jack of all trades..? There's so much to learn before you even try to practice your first sleight of hand. Taking the time to understand how you will present your magic, will naturally point you in the direction of the first 'harder' effects you will want to tackle.

How to Win the World’s Best Magic Competition

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

How do you win the World's best Magic Competition?

Ask Shin Lim! Shin has done immensely well this year, not only being crowned as FISM Card Magic Champion but also amazing everyone and 'Fooling' Penn and Teller on their hit show 'Fool Us'. Big congratulations go out to Shin for achieving these titles, his videos were shared and went viral across the internet on news sites and You Tube, clocking up millions of views in under a week.

The real secret to Shin's success is practice. You must practice and plan your magic, Shin's routine was no accident. It didn't all fall together by some miracle or someone handing it over to him. He perfected each move and method through repetative training sessions that hammered each move directly into both his long term memory and muscle memory. If you wish to learn more about effective practice sessions then check out this article: Magic Practice Techniques

Music and verbal silence

Another factor that has been widely discussed is Shin's use of music and verbal silence whilst performing. By simply watching Shin perform you can follow every bit of magic that is occurring. His performances do not need explaining as it is all clear to see. His timing is very well structured, he does not rush anything. He pulls focus at the correct times leaving you enough time to follow along with him so that your brain is not trying to catch up all of the time. He gives you a moment to register before a magical moment occurs and also afterwards, this allows you to enjoy and appreciate every moment of magic. Next time you are practicing make sure to allow for pauses to let that magic moment sink in.

We have been fans of Shin's work for a long time now, he has released some great products to the magic society, here is an interview we did with Shin before his release of Flash Deck Switch. Shin talks about his history in magic and practice sessions