The Best Magic Tricks of 2018 – 2019

Every year it seems that the standard of magic being released is getting better and better. More innovation and time is being spent to bring top quality, useable magic to market. 2018 has been no exception. We have had so many brilliant and creative new tricks pass through our hands that picking the top ones has been a real challenge.

How the award winning magic tricks are selected.

MoM is a magic shop and market place for magicians. So, right from the start, we should point out that we stock most of the items that have won a best magic tricks award. However, Merchant of Magic is a ‘whole of market’ magic shop, with over 27,000 different magic tricks on sale. Merchant of Magic accepts no payment from manufacturers for listing in this award list. We have not included many items that are produced by The Merchant of Magic, so as to be as impartial as possible.

The winners of a best magic trick 2018 award are chosen from these sources of opinion:

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

The list is in no particular order.

Static Marker

Static Marker has consistently sold out within days of being restocked. This has been one of the hottest sellers of 2018 without a shadow of a doubt. A versatile prop built into a working Sharpie. Perform Haunted decks, Moving objects, PK ring or even give a spectator a simulated electric shock on their finger tip. There is a reason this has hit our top trick list… Find out more

Rubik’s Cube in Bottle

Take a Rubik’s cube, show all sides and give it a twist, bring out a glass bottle which the cube could clearly never fit into. Somehow fit that cube into the bottle right in front of your spectator. You read that correctly. That is exactly what this can do. No switching, no ditching. The cube you have just displayed is inside the solid glass jar… And yes, the cube can be signed! Rubik’s Cube magic has exploded over 2018 and this really is as good as it gets! Find out more

Winner’s Dice

Winner’s Dice has been another repeat sell out effect. Winner’s Dice is one of those tricks that is so cunning and well engineered that you can’t help but grin the first time you use it. We played with this for a while before launch and loved every second of it. Imagine asking a spectator to name any number from 1 to 6 and then throwing a dice for it to land on that exact number. Then to do it again, straight away with a different number, or to have the dice rolled 4 times and have it to predict your spectators pin number… Find out more

Balance

Joshua Jay has done it again. He has constructed a work of art, twisted in magic, narrated by a heartfelt story. 6 ordinary items are inspected by any member of the audience, they are then piece by piece built into an impossible object. Defying gravity, physics and plausibility these objects balance in an ever increasingly impossible way… F ind out more.

Cheese Smile

Cheese Smile was the app of the year in our eyes. Any named playing card appeared in a photograph taken of your spectator. The real photograph saved in your camera roll depicted your spectator holding their freely named card, pinched in between their fingers. No need to force any cards, or even have a deck of cards to hand. This impossible souvenir only used your phone and their imagination… Find out more.

Rainbow Deck

Rainbow deck is a collectible, it is a magic trick, it is elegant, simple and self working. Constructed from 52 collectible decks of cards, it could be framed and hung on a wall. Or it can be performed as a mind blowing feat of wizardry. Either way our customers have gone mad for the Rainbow Deck, and it’s not hard to see why… Find out more

Deformer

Deformer is a cunning utility device for the metal benders out there. It allows for cutlery or keys to have very complex bends put in them in a very simple way. Deformer allows you to stay cool whilst pulling off some normally very strenuous bends. Knives, forks, spoons and keys all bend like butter in your hands with Deformer! Find out more.

Principia

Principia was by far the hottest selling book of 2018. We could not hold this on our shelves at all. Each new batch that came in was sold before we knew what was happening. Principia is our very favourite kind of magic book: the kind of book that you pour over every page, trying out each and every piece of magic inside. EVERY single effect in the book is practical, fun and radically new… Find out more.

Which of the 2018 best magic tricks have we missed?

We’ve missed out a load of great magic tricks released in 2018! Everyone is so different, and we have probably missed the trick that you discovered and have loved performing.

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 2017

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2016

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2015

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2014

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2013

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2012

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:

– See more at: https://blog.magicshop.co.uk/?s=awards#sthash.tyryUAI5.dpuf

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:

– See more at: https://blog.magicshop.co.uk/?s=awards#sthash.tyryUAI5.dpuf

How To Make Money Doing Magic

by Merchant of Magic Leave a Comment

Make Money Doing Magic Magic is an awesome hobby—and for a lot of us, the enjoyment we get out of it is more than enough to keep us satisfied!

But did you know that there are actually a lot of creative ways you could earn money through magic?

Here are three simple ways you can use your magic skills to pay the bills!

No1 Paid Gigs

This is the most obvious of all the methods, but it’s definitely worth mentioning. This is the most common and ‘tried and tested’ way to earn a very decent income through magic.

Here’s how it tends to work…

You build yourself a website that lets your prospective customers know a little bit about you and what you can do for them. This isn’t as hard as it sounds, and if you really don’t feel like doing it you can always hire someone else to do it for you.

You can learn all about how to make your own website to promote your magic here…

Alternatively, you could create some business cards to hand out next time you’re out performing magic. The most important thing is that you have SOMETHING for your potential customers refer to—whether it’s a website, business card or even a Facebook page.

The next step is getting your name out there—ask your friends to spread the word and consider setting up a few paid ads to get things rolling. Once you get a few gigs under your belt word of mouth should start spreading and you’ll naturally get people coming to you.

What type of gigs should you be performing?

There are a few different types of paid gigs magicians tend to go for (and they each have respective benefits and disadvantages).

Restaurants

This is a good starting place for magicians looking to start making their way up the paid gigs ‘ladder’. Performing at restaurants is a good way to get used to performing magic to unfamiliar crowds, and since you’ll generally be ‘table-hopping’ anyway, you’ll be performing for small groups at a time. Make sure to hand out your business card at the end of each performance!

Weddings

Weddings tend to pay nicely (of course they do—it’s a wedding!) so if you can get yourself a few of these booked then you’ll do very nicely for yourself.

A great tip for getting weddings booked is to attend ‘wedding fayres’ which are usually venues where couples can check out all the different kinds of things they’ll need for their wedding and how much they’ll cost. For example, photographers will often be in attendance at this event—looking to secure a few events.

You can do exactly the same thing as a magician (and chances are, there won’t be many other magicians there to compete with). This is your chance to impress the couples and pitch your value as an entertainer at their function.

Here’s a free ebook about marketing yourself for weddings

Corporate Events

This is a style of show where businesses will pay magicians to come in and present lessons and motivational ideas for the employees through the medium of magic. Or sometimes, it’s just purely for entertainment.

Either way, it’s a good atmosphere to perform in and often pays nicely!

Busking

If you’re not quite ready for paid events like we talked about above, you might benefit from getting your start on the streets.

Street magic and busking are less of a ‘step up’ from casual magic, but they still provide you with the chance to earn while you perform.

Check out this resource on getting started in busking!

No.2 Create Your Own Magic

If you know a thing or two about magic and have a creative flair, you can earn money through creating your OWN effects or gimmicks.

There are plenty of magic shops and companies that will then pay you good money for your efforts! Or you could create your own website and sell your effects exclusively through there.

Here’s a great blog post published here at the MoM that teaches you all about creating original and unique magic tricks.

No.3 Affiliate Marketing for Magic Shops

The other two ideas we’ve discussed so far have been pretty standard. But here’s something you might not have considered…

Affiliate Marketing.

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing sounds complicated, but it’s really quite simple. You can earn money by promoting OTHER people’s products (all you need is a link).

How does this relate to magic?
Well, as it happens, you can become an affiliate of the Merchant of Magic here.

That means you can get a unique link for EACH of our products that will enable you to earn a commission whenever somebody clicks through your link and buys the product.

For example, if you made a YouTube video performing one of your favourite new effects, you could drop a link in the description that would take people to the Merchant of Magic to buy that same effect (which would earn you a commission!).

This approach definitely won’t work for everyone, and I’m sure many people would find it easier to go with the more traditional method of performing at paid gigs and functions, but it’s definitely worth considering if you haven’t yet done so.

So there you are! Three simple ways to earn some extra cash through nothing more than performing magic!

Do you have any questions we didn’t address? Feel free to get in touch with us.

About the author: Benji is a hobbyist magician from the UK who also runs a magic site over at thedailymagician.com.

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Top Three Trick Decks For Beginners

by Merchant of Magic 1 Comment

Sleight of hand is great.

But sometimes, it’s nice to have one or two tricks in our repertoire that don’t take ANY difficult moves. It’s even better when these easy tricks are some of the most powerful effects your spectator will ever see.

This is exactly what you can accomplish using gimmicked decks…

Now, there are a whole bunch of different gimmicked decks out there. That means that there are also, inevitably, a lot of BAD gimmicked decks. These are the trick decks that would never stand up to a real close up inspection, or perhaps have VERY limited angles. You want to avoid these!

So how do you know which trick decks are genuine quality? That’s what we’re going to explain in this blog post. You’ll find out three of our favorite tricks decks for beginners – and whether they’re right for you.

Let’s get into it…

Trick Deck No.3: One Way Force Deck

The One Way Force Deck is a regular deck of 52 cards. The cards are completely normal, and so is the deck.

Here’s the catch…

All the cards are the same.

That’s right. Every one of the 52 cards in the deck are identical. For example, my One Way Force Deck is made up entirely of the Queen of Hearts. Now, I know what you’re thinking…

Isn’t this the oldest trick deck in the book? Nobody is going to be fooled by this.

Buying a One Way Force Deck might not sound like the best idea you’ve ever heard, but here’s why it actually is…

It’s all about HOW you use it. You need to be subtle with it. In my opinion, you shouldn’t use the One Way Force Deck as the ‘main’ effect. Instead, use it to support and strengthen other effects.

If the One Way Force Deck is the ‘main’ deck you use, people are more likely to want to examine it, or check it out. But if you only introduce it for a certain part of the trick, they’ll usually forget about it.

Here’s an example…

Imagine we were performing an ACAAN (Any Card At Any Number) routine. There are a few stages to this effect. First, the spectator selects a card. Then, they select a number. Their chosen card is then found at that number.

Let’s imagine you only have ONE deck to use for this. In most cases, you would need to force a card using sleight of hand. Now imagine you brought the One Way Force Deck into play instead. Here’s how you could present it…

You show the spectators an ordinary deck of cards and ask them to hold onto them – so you can’t do anything to them. Little do they know, the card you are going to force is already in the desired position.

Next, you introduce another deck (this one is the One Way Force Deck). Now, this makes sense. The spectator is holding on to the other deck – so of course you need to use another one! There’s nothing suspicious about it.

You spread the deck face down on the table and ask a spectator to touch the back of one card. This is a real free choice (not like it matters when all the cards are the same!). Once they’ve touched that card, you remove it from the deck and place it on the table. Now you gather up the rest of the One Way Force Deck and remove it from the effect.

That’s it.

It’s as simple as that. Now you can carry on with the effect as usual – forcing a number or using sleight of hand to manipulate where the number they choose lands. The key thing is that you’ve strengthened the ‘pick a card’ of the routine without raising any suspicions.

That’s how the One Way Force Deck should be used. Not as the main deck that does all the work, but as a support to the other aspects of your magic.

Here’s where to get hold of a one way deck

Let’s get into the next pick…

Trick Deck No.2: Stripper Deck

The Stripper Deck was the very first trick deck I ever received, and it definitely played a big part in getting me ‘hooked’ on magic.

It’s a very versatile trick deck that is almost invisible to spectators and can be used in hundreds (more like thousands) of different ways!

Without revealing too much, the Stripper Deck is for all intents and purposes a regular deck of cards, only you can alter each card in a certain way to make it immediately discoverable in the deck, even after shuffling. This process takes about a second to do and can be done right in front of the spectator’s eyes.

Once you’ve mastered this move (and it really is very easy), a whole new world of card tricks will be opened up to you.

One of my favorite uses of the Stripper Deck is as a ‘safety’ net.

What I mean by this is that I perform my card magic as usual, but using a Stripper Deck to give me an ‘out’ if I need one. So if I’m doing the Ambitious Card Routine, and I realise I messed up – I can very quickly and easily find the chosen card if I’ve been using the Stripper Deck function (and nobody will realise that I messed up!).

The Stripper Deck can be operated through ‘feel’ alone so it also opens up a whole range of possibilities – you could perform with your eyes closed, with your hands behind your back, or even with a blindfold on!

I would definitely recommend checking out The Stripper Deck

No.1: The Invisible Deck

I feel like I’m ALWAYS talking about The Invisible Deck, but that’s for good reason. The Invisible Deck is one of THE most powerful effects in magic, and it’s so incredibly easy!

The magician places a deck of cards on the table, and promises that he isn’t going to touch them one. He then invites a spectator to think of ONE card. They really can think of absolutely any card in the deck – it is a completely free choice.

Once they’ve they’ve decided on their card, the magician asks them to say it aloud for the first time. Let’s say it’s the King of Spades.

The magician slowly reaches to the table and opens up the deck of cards that has been there the WHOLE time. He carefully spreads through the cards to reveal that they’re all face up…apart from one. The one face-down card is removed from the deck, and the magician lies it flat on the table. He reminds the audience that they really could have thought of ANY card. He turns it over to reveal that it is somehow, impossibly, the same card that the spectator named!

This is an absolute game-changing effect for any magician. It’s a great opener card tricks, and just as competent as a closer to your performance. And better yet, it’s one of the easiest effects you’ll ever perform.

Check out The Invisible Deck

I hope you enjoyed this list of the top three trick decks for beginners! All of these decks are great investments for your magic.

About the author: Benji is a hobbyist magician from the UK who also runs a magic site over at thedailymagician.com

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