How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

How to Store Your Playing Cards

by Merchant of Magic Leave a Comment

As a magician, your playing cards are the tools of your trade. As a card collector, you invest in beautiful decks that are true works of art. Either way…  Keeping your playing cards safe and in good condition is a top priority. 

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to look after your playing cards so they are ready to go when you need them. Here are some easy tips on how to store your decks like a pro. 

Keep them in their box

Playing cards come with their own card case called a Tuck Case. Although these cases are often as decorative as the deck themselves, they have a valuable job to do.

Whatever you do… Resist the temptation to simply wrap a rubber band around your deck of playing cards and think that’s a job done right. The rubber band will not protect your deck from bumps and scuffs, and can also apply uneven pressure to the middle of the deck causing it to bow or warp. 

Playing cards that are left out of their box and also take on moisture like a sponge. They are paper.. so need to be kept dry to prevent them from warping. If you lose their tuck box. Keep them in an airtight container to ensure they stay at their best.

Storing your playing cards in a card clip or card guard

The next level of card storage, and a must if you intend to carry your cards in your pocket through the day, is a good playing card clip or guard. There is a wide range of card clips and guards to choose from. From the basic plastic or metal clip, through to beautifully decorated and covered clips. They all do the same thing: Protect your cards from being dented from a drop, and keeping them pressed and in shape as you store them. 

Playing card display cases

There’s a wide range of excellent playing card display cases and protective boxes on the market. These are often made from acrylic, perspex, or wood. As well as showing off your decks to the world, they are a great way to reduce dust, UV and humidity from going to work on your collection whilst on display. 

Heat & humidity are your enemies

Keeping your cards away from excess heat or cold is fairly easy to do. Direct sunlight is never a good idea, as it can heat up the deck and also fade the colours over time. 

The hard part is humidity. Store your playing cards in the driest and coolest part of your house. 

Keep your card collection away from the bathroom and kitchen and make sure the area is well ventilated. If you have a large collection, you could even research using a humidifier in the same room as your collection.  Whatever you do… Don’t store your card collection in a box in the shed or garage. You may have a nasty surprise when you open the box after a few years of storage in a damp area…

Have fun with your cards

Collecting cards is a fun hobby and can become very profitable if you manage to collect and store some rare and limited edition decks. However, it’s important to remember that they have a purpose… A reason for being. They’re designed to be used, spread shuffled, and played with. Rather than just buying decks and storing them away, play with them! Learn some card magic tricks to perform to show off your cards and entertain people at the same time! It’s their reason for being and it really is a great feeling to crack open a new deck… 

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Filed Under: how to do magic tricks Tagged With: playing cards

The 3 Best Magic Books for Kids

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

Peter writes:  I’m looking for some advice on magic books for kids. She’s 10 years old and very bright, but not very handy. I used to do a lot of magic some 50 years ago, and am now showing her some of what I remember (and still can do with my arthritic 65 year old fingers). 

Hi Peter,

Great to hear that you are passing on your love of magic to your daughter. It’s a great hobby for her to get into, and a nice break from screens and apps…  I think a good way to go is to pick one of the more modern texts on card magic. Royal Road to Card Magic is great but it way written so long ago that it’s hard going for most people, let alone a younger magician. One of the best magic books for kids who want clear, clean, simple instruction. This book that will teach her a range of excellent magic is this one:

Magic The Complete Course – By Joshua Jay

The magic book is well written, easy to understand, engaging and fun. Best of all.. The card magic taught within it is a brilliant foundation for her to develop further if she wants to become a card magic expert. 

They become classics for a good reason.

For a classic book that is stuffed full of magic she will love, Including 9 some excellent foundation level card magic) this book wins a place on our ‘must have magic bookshelf’:

 

Best Magic Books For Kids - Mark Wilson Course
Mark Wilsons Complete Course in Magic

Mark Wilson was one of the worlds most respected master magicians. The magic book is a complete and comprehensive magic “teach-in” with over 300 classic tricks from sleight of hand to levitation are explained in full detail within this impressive 503-page magic book. It’s one of the best card magic books for kids, and you’ll be dipping into it yourself too. 

Choose a series of magic books for kids.

The card college series of magic books stand out as THE core series of sleight of hand magic with cards.  This book is a perfect first step into a series she would be reading, and learning from for years to come:

Card College Light

Card College is the  world’s most acclaimed card magic books course and Card College Light, focuses entirely on professional caliber card magic tricks requiring no manipulative skill.
The book is intended for everyone who has always wanted to perform card tricks, but who didn’t have the time necessary to learn complex routines, or the years necessary to master difficult techniques. So, yes, this book is certainly great for your 10 year old and will naturally push her softly towards developing sleight of hand skills as her confidence in magic grows.

But what about if visual learning is more her thing?

A good download course on card magic could also be an option:

 

Easy Card Tricks Complete Course With Sean Heydon – INSTANT DOWNLOAD

Sean Heydon has a great reputation in the magic world for his card magic, and this beginners series of tutorial videos will teach your 10 year old some brilliant magic at her pace. She can watch the videos online anywhere and work through each lesson. 

The online card magic course teaches 9 of his most powerful card tricks that anybody can learn, as well as some extra moves and card magic secrets that all card magicians should master.

 

I hope these suggestions for card magic books for kids will help you and your 10 year old to learn some great magic and best of all, to have fun together. Giving someone help to fall in love with magic is a gift for their whole life, and I wish you both many happy hours amazing each other.

Best wishes

Dominic Reyes

 

  • 6 Free Magic Tricks From Jay Sankey
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  • Cloud of Smoke Free Ebook
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  • How to Break In Playing Cards
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Filed Under: Card Magic Tricks, how to do magic tricks

Learn Magic Card Tricks Even If You Have No Time To Practice.

by Merchant of Magic 2 Comments

learn magic card tricks in just 10 minute practice sessons.

Jason writes:  The things I struggle with are finding the time to practice and learn magic card tricks correctly. How do you make time?

Yep, there never is enough hours in the day. Magic very quickly becomes an obsession and there are plenty of magicians out there that commit many hours daily or weekly to their practice of card technique. Good for them! Many burn out over time and drift away from their practice, but a few keep going and go on to become masters of the art.. The good news is you DON’T need hours each day to learn magic card tricks… well, you do need some time, but not hours…  just 10 minutes, twice a day…   that’s all!

WHAT!?! 

It’s really true… I’ve been training magicians for the past 20 years and in that time I’ve discovered something very useful for anyone starting to learn card magic. You see, A funny aspect of skill learning is that we humans get more benefit from short frequent practice sessions than we do from long ones. Most of the benefit from a session happens in the first 10 minutes. After 10 minutes it’s a case of diminishing returns, as our attention decreases and fatigue from repetition builds up. 

It’s exactly the same with fitness training.. Back in the day, fitness coaches told their students to do at least an hour of cardio.. But research slowly discovered that the gains from each workout came from the first 20 minutes of the session.. Many trainers knew this, but ‘customers’ wanted an hour long session to get their moneys worth and to perceive ‘value’. As this changes and research into training developers, the popularity of HIT training reduced effective training sessions into much shorter workout sessions. The same applies when we learn card magic. We can capitalise on this by practicing in short ‘micro sessions’ of just 10 minutes, with several hours between sessions.  

10 minutes in the morning and 10 at night.. Everyone can get up 10 minutes earlier if they put their mind to it. 

 

It’s easy for beginners to learn magic card tricks 

Starting to learn magic card tricks can be a bit like starting a New Years resolution… It starts well, but simply doesn’t last. A process of short regular magic practice sessions every single day is infinitely better than none.

Quick sessions are easy to ‘fit in’ to daily life and therefore less likely to be skipped. Feeling pressure to take time out for a long period of training can lead to avoidance and excuses because of guilt that builds up.  If you start associating feelings of inadequacy and guilt with your magic practice you’re not going to be able to do it as easily.

Tell me more about how to learn magic card tricks with short practice sessions!

If you’re interested to learn more about this, I’ve written a book on techniques and practice drills for learning sleight of hand. You can get a free copy of the book  here: ‘approaching magic practice’ 

Hope this helps you 

Dominic Reyes

 

  • 6 Free Magic Tricks From Jay Sankey
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  • Approaching Magic Practice Ebook
  • Approaching Tables Ebook
  • Recommended For Magic Beginners
  • Cagey Tutorial
  • Choose Magic Set Kids
  • Cloud of Smoke Free Ebook
  • Double Lift Project Free Download
  • Duplex Free Magic Download
  • Epoch Free Magic Tutorials
  • Electric Touch Free Ebook
  • False Shuffles and Cuts Magic Download
  • Faster Than Light - Magic Download
  • Finger-Exercises
  • How to Break In Playing Cards
  • How to Learn Magic Tricks
  • Tips for Leaving a Magic Gigi
  • LSQ Ebook - Free
  • Magicians Fees Ebook
  • Mistakes in Magic Ebook
  • More Icandy
  • The One Minute Magic Business Ebook
  • Pitfalls Magic Family and Friends
  • Safe - Free Magic Ebook
  • School of Cool Free Download
  • Sleight of Hand Beginners Course
  • Split Free Magic Video Download
  • Self Working Card Tricks Vol 2 Download
  • Sweet 360 Free Magic Download
  • The 80's Called Download
  • Self Working Card Tricks Vol 3
  • Think Tank Free Magic Download
  • Turnover Pass Free Download
  • Self Working Card Tricks Download
  • Understanding Misdirection Free Ebook
  • Watch It Free Ebook
  • Wedding Exhibition Guide for Magicians
  • Confidence For Magicians
  • The Indian Shuffle

Filed Under: how to do magic tricks Tagged With: Practice magic

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