How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

Magician of the Month – October 2021

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Liam Ying

Congratulations to Liam Ying for winning this months magic competition at the Merchant of Magic shop. On Saturday 26th September, magicians from around the UK visited the shop to show the magic shop team a specific performance routine. This month it was ‘ The Ambitious Card’.  

It was great to see so many magicians traveling down to take part. Judging the winning routine was a difficult task, but Liam did a fantastic job and we are delighted to present him with this award.

 

We asked Liam to share a little about his journey into magic:

How long have you been studying magic?

I’ve been teaching myself magic for nearly 3 years now.

What lead you to discover it, and decide to begin your practice?

It started shortly after my daughter was born, I was suffering from anxiety and I needed something to keep my mind occupied during parental night vigils, and this was perfect to immerse myself in.

I’ve always had a fascination with magic, even from a young age but only until recently did I want to try it myself!

How did you begin to learn?

I started watching some tutorials on YouTube from magicians like Daniel Madison, Alex Pandrea, Xavior Spade, Chris Ramsay and started buying decks of cards in the bucket loads! I love collecting cards, and I’ve amassed quite a collection now! 

It’s quite common for magicians to stumble into magic from Youtube, and many of the channels do a great job of introducing new magicians, but often the content can lack depth or structure… How did you progress your study?

I started reading a lot more books and The Royal Road to Card Magic has been essential for me.
Since then I’ve started performing as a side little trope when I stream on Twitch (under the name Synyster Graves) and I’ve really started to enjoy performing in front of the camera!

So you mainly perform on camera, rather than live in person?

The walk-in at Merchant of Magic shop in Bishop’s Waltham was the first time I’ve performed something in person to someone who wasn’t on twitch, or family! My wife has been very encouraging, helping me learn and critiquing how I do things when I feel I’m ready to perform on stream too!

What advice would you give to someone thinking of beginning to learn magic?

I really believe it’s never too late to begin learning, and it’s turned into a fantastic and fulfilling subject to get really into! I’ve tried to document my journey into it on the YouTube channel Synyster Graves so I can always look back and see how I’ve progressed! But as a tool to help contain my anxiety, it has given back to me more than I ever could have hoped for!

Liam, congratulations once again for winning Magician of the Month. You should definitely look to start performing at live venues and events in the future, and we wish you every success with your magic!.

Want to enter the competition for Magician of the Month – November 2021?

All ages and levels of ability are welcome to enter. Visit the magic shop on Saturday 30th October from 11am-4pm and show us your favourite Halloween themed trick. It can be anything you like, as long as it’s spooky. Everyone that performs their trick will receive a surprise magic gift for taking part, and we’ll pick one magician to win Magician of the Month. Good luck!

The Best Magic Tricks of 2018

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Best Magic Tricks Awards 2016

The Best Magic Tricks of 2018

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… 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

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2017

by 4 Comments

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2016

The Best Magic Tricks of 2017

2017 broke the mould for new innovations in magic. There were hundreds of fantastic tricks to work through but some just stood out against the rest.

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 2017 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.

 

Light Paint

Lightpaint

Lightpaint has never managed to stay on our shelf for more than a few days before it completely sold out. This was a real highlight and brought an elegant marriage between a “pick a card” trick and a “borrowed phone” trick. A card is selected and lost in the deck, the spectator is handed a blank card to hold whilst you snap a photo of them ON THIR PHONE holding the card. The selected card appears on the blank card they are holding in the picture…  Find out more

 

 Captive

Captive was the brainchild of Jimmy Strange early in 2017. Straight away we knew that this little pen trick would hit big. A PK effect where an isolated Sharpie lid falls over under test conditions AND it also comes with a bonus PK spinning Sharpie too…   Find out more

 

 

 

The Gift

The Gift sold out before launch. There was a global shortage for this trick which caused riots, chaos and the crash of Wall Street… Well maybe it wasn’t quite that bad, but we were inundated with requests for this before, during and after it’s global sellout. This is the perfect trick for tables and it’s simplicity is such an asset to it. A square gift box is set on the table and a deck of playing cards is removed from it. The playing cards are freely dealt one by one onto the table by your spectator who can stop whenever they like. Once they settle on a card you pick up the box and open it to reveal a folded piece of paper predicting the EXACT card they stopped on… Find out more

 

Tarantula II

Yigal Mesika released his vastly improved Tarantula 2 in 2017. This comes with a fully rechargeable USB battery, which means the longevity of your Tarantula gimmick is vastly improved. No more fiddling with batteries or worrying if you’re going to run out of power mid performance, Just pop the USB charger in and let it charge. No more fiddly on off buttons. The reel is on a constant recoil – like the Spider Pen, for a relaible levitation experience. Yigal teaches a plethora of amazing levitations and animations using the Tarantula 2… Find out more.

 

 

 Marksman Deck

Luke Jermay wins with this deck. Literaly. The Marksman Deck is poised to become THE go-to marked deck for magicians. Meticulously developed by acclaimed mentalist Luke Jermay, the Marksman Deck has been designed with the professional performer in mind. It’s not JUST a marked deck: with one glance at the back you’ll know the card’s identity, the one after it, how far away the mate is, and FIVE other hidden features. Find out more.

 

 

Lolli Hero

Who loves lolly pops? Who loves Superheroes? Steve Rowe does, and so do we! Steve has literally blended two of our favourite things into one amazing magic trick. It’s really simple. You get your spectator to focus on their favourite super hero, you then put a lolly pop in your mouth and chew it. When you take the lolly out of your mouth you have somehow bitten it into the face of their hero… Find out more.

 

 

Tru

Rubber band magic is usually done in your own hands. Tru can be done in your spectators hands. Well Tru their fingers anyway… This is a multi phase ungimmicked rubber band routine where rubber bands penetrate both your own and your spectators fingers. Menny has worked and crafted this simple idea into a masterpiece. You really need to check this one out… Find out more.

 

 

 

Offworld

Offworld blew us away. We were all familiar with and enjoyed a good Out of This World, but then came along Offworld and POW. We were stunned. This quickly became a favourite for us to demonstrate in the shop and lots of you thought it was great too. This is a face up out of this world where your spectator names the colour of the next card in the deck, they are right 100% of the time. Red, Red, Red, Black, Red, Black, Black… The cards are dealt off one by one to show the colours named. This is a visually stunning demonstration of your spectators psychic ability. Find out more.

 

 

Which of the 2017 best magic tricks have we missed?

We’ve missed out a load of great magic tricks released in 2016! 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 2018

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