How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

The Magic Secrets Exposed to Magicians – It’s All a Point of View

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Take a look at this Rubiks Cube’s magic secrets exposed for all to see… One of the great things about being a magician is having the ability to fool another human being so badly that they actually question reality. Just think about it for a second, how powerful is that!

Broken down, this ‘fooling’ is accomplished by a combination of different skill sets and elements that when brought together paint a picture that isn’t entirely true. As the magician you obviously have access to all of these bits of information, you know the sleights, the psychology, the misdirection; a spectator of course doesn’t. A spectator has only the viewpoint that you allow them to see, a distorted image of the truth.

With the limited amount of information you allow the spectator to have, they have to paint their own picture of the reality before them. If you perform your magic correctly they should not have the vital information that will reveal the true situation. Just as in this video, it is only when the creator wants to show you the truth that your brain ceases to be fooled.

What we can learn from this:

There is a trap we can fall into though, if you begin to see everything from your angle it can then sometimes be hard to see the spectator’s angle any more. It may seem obvious that you never put that coin in your hand, from your angle you may even be able to actually see that the coin was never put in the other hand. Yet you must sell the image that the coin really IS in your other hand. It may not fool you but don’t forget that it will fool others who don’t know the secrets. Try to remember back when you first saw magic and how it fooled you, I bet it was a simple magic trick that you can’t believe you didn’t figure out!

Remember what your spectator sees is totally different from the truth, sell the whole picture to them. Don’t worry about what you can see, worry about what you are making them see.

 

How To Start Learning Magic Tricks With Coins

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Magic Tricks With Coins Colin writes:

‘Coin magic really interests me from an “immediate and no set up” perspective, and I have Bobo’s book (from you) but those primary conceals, etc, are a nightmare to learn – any ideas?’

It’s a sad fact that so many magic beginners are put off from trying to learn coin magic. They find the learning curve at the beginning far too hard. Most magic coin tricks that don’t rely on gimmicked coins force you to face up to a big scary monster called ‘sleight of hand’. With so many magic tricks available that have special devices (called: gimmicks), It’s never been easier to  bury your head in the sand and pretend that sleight of hand doesn’t exist.

What’s wrong with that? Well, it means you have to be a consumer of other people magic.
Mastering at least some of those core moves is an incredibly valuable way to use your practice time. Being able to perform a few killer tricks, just with the coins in your pocket means:

  • Freedom from being dependent on expensive props and gimmicks.
  • You can perform at a moments notice, wherever you are.
  • The ability to borrow objects (the coins) from a spectator and create magic with them.
  • You gain a set of utility moves that allow you to  create your own unique routines.
  • You gain balance within  your act.

 

Here are a few quick tips that will help you speed up the learning process:

Choose the right coins.

If you are in the UK, then a good coin to start with, is the UK 2p coin. It is easy to palm. The small and  sharply defined edge makes it easy to grip. For a larger coin, go for the UK £2 coin as it has a good size and edge. The down side with the £2 coin is it’s thickness and weight, which can slow down progress. The 2 Euro coin is also a good choice, and for magicians in the US, the half dollar is the most popular choice.

Commit to practice everywhere.

One of the best features of coin magic is that it can be performed just about anywhere. In fact, you can practice moving a coin in and out of a range of palms and concealments, without even having to take your hand out of your jacket or coat pocket.

Start right away with the Classic Palm.

It’s one of the hardest to master, but it’s also the king of all coin moves. The sooner you start work on the Classic palm the better. Dan Watkins has produced a great free guide to a good classic palm here.

Palm – Pass- Vanish.

The ideal first set of sleights to focus on would be one from each of the categories of coin magic. We suggest choosing the classic palm, then a good pass, such as the shuttle pass, and finally a decent vanish like the retention of vision vanish. By choosing just one move from each of these categories of sleights, you work on just three sleights at a time. Because each is from a different category of sleights, you can combine them together to create a number of full routines.

Transfers and Transitions.

It’s also important to work on how you get into and out of each move. Once a coin has been vanished, you will want to move it over to another concealment, and this transfer needs to be undetectable. In the example of the retention of vision vanish, the coin will be in a specific position after the vanish has taken place.  Practice how you  go into classic palm from that position.

Use a cyclical one coin routine for practice.

There are several cyclical one coin routines in print that use the core moves and run through a series of productions and vanishes. David Roth teaches some excellent one coin work in his books and DVD’s. Once you have a few moves, choose a routine that you can drill and practice it every day. The routine repeats endlessly, so there is no sense of a start or ending. These routines tend to cause people to practice much more as there is an automatic flow into running through it ‘just one more time’

Slow motion as you go through the moves.

Fast is not deceptive in sleight of hand. It’s confusing and suspicious. IN practice, it’s also the quickest way to make very little progress. Your goal is to teach your fingers the movements and touch needed for each move.

The slower you go, when running through the moves, the more you can check that each movement is perfect. Don’t make any deliberate effort to speed up. Speed will happen over time on its own.

When to use a mirror and when not to.

Mirror work in coin magic IS needed to check that your angles are correct and that a placement is exactly where it should be. However, once you have that move perfected in front of a mirror, you will need to start practicing without one. There is a danger that you will become dependent on the visual feedback the mirror gives you, and will not have confidence that a sleight looked correct unless you are able to see the move happen yourself. Make sure you practice in front of  a mirror at first. Once you have the placement and angles, it’s time to practice it ‘blind’.

Don’t hide the action.

Most coin work requires you to hold a coin at the fingertips and manipulate it. A common mistake that beginners face, it that they tend to put too many fingers in the way. The fingers that are not holding the coin could hide all the actions. This might look fine from their viewpoint (behind the trick), but for the spectators, it’s confusing and suspicious. Any unused fingers  need to be out the way of the action. If your hands are palm down, whenever possible, the palms should be visible to show there is nothing hiding in your hands. Your fingers should be just a little apart. A hand that looks as if it could conceal something is often thought to BE concealing something, even though you may know it’s totally innocent.

Watch your eyes are not giving it away.

It’s so hard to stop the truth from showing in your eyes. Especially if, you are used to only practicing in front of a mirror. Many beginners find that they half close their eyes when performing a sleight. It’s almost as if they don’t want to see that the move has happened. That, if they can’t see it, the spectators won’t be able to see it either. Moving away from mirror practice to rehearsal will help remove this tendency.

Image courtesy of  Jin Thai

Nervous Doing Magic Tricks? Do You Have Analysis Paralysis?

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Nervous doing magic tricks

By Dominic Reyes

Ah, yes, do come in. Close the door behind you and take a seat.

Now, your test results are back from the lab, and I’m afraid I have some rather bad news for you. I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but the results show you are suffering from Analysis Paralysis…’

Question: Do you have any close up magic tricks you constantly practice, but never show anyone? If you perform regularly, do you take a few tricks to most gigs but never perform them?
Here’s a short fable from Aesop:

The fox and the cat.

One day a cat and a fox were having a conversation. The fox, who was a conceited creature, boasted how clever she was. ‘Why, I know at least a hundred tricks to get away from our mutual enemies, the dogs,’ she said.

‘I know only one trick to get away from dogs,’ said the cat. ‘You should teach me some of yours!’

‘Well, maybe some day, when I have the time, I may teach you a few of the simpler ones,’ replied the fox airily.

Just then they heard the barking of a pack of dogs in the distance. The barking grew louder and louder – the dogs were coming in their direction! At once,  the cat ran to the nearest tree and climbed into its branches, well out of reach of any dog. ‘This is the trick I told you about, the only one I know,’ she called down to the fox. ‘Which of your hundred tricks are you going to use?’

The fox sat silently under the tree, wondering which trick she should use. Before she could make up her mind, the dogs arrived. They fell upon the fox and tore her to pieces.

A single plan that works is better than a hundred doubtful plans. – Source

Just like the fox, many magicians find they have too many choices, and spend too long considering or analysing a routine or their performance before first trying it out. They are victims of a common problem called: Analysis Paralysis.

Analysis paralysis happens when we over-thinking a situation or problem. Spending too much time thinking about a trick, practicing and adjusting the trick or routine so that a decision to perform it is never made. The over thinking, in effect, paralyses the performer.

Because a magic routine can easily become over-complicated, with too many performance options, it’s easier to put it on hold, rather than try it out and change any parts of it, should a problem is found.

As we work to become better magicians, we are always striving for the ideal or “perfect” performance. It’s the fear of making any decision which could lead to a bad performance, when some unknown better solution or technique could be found.

Now, if you have explored more posts on this blog, you may well be thinking: ‘Hang on, many of Dominic’s posts urge me to keep practising and to slow down my learning to improve my sleight of hand. ‘ Yes, that’s true, and I still think most magicians would benefit from not rushing to perform a trick within a few days of receiving it. Analysis Paralysis isn’t about rushing to perform. It’s about finally making a decision that a trick is ready.

Chances are you have a few tricks that are already mastered and ready to go, but you keep working on them, practicing and tweaking the presentation in your practice sessions. In reality, they have been ready for months, but you haven’t ‘drawn a line’ and consciously labeled them as ready to go.

If you do have some tricks that are ‘on hold’ like this, unless you commit to trying them out, they will never be completed.

DO THIS: The next time you perform your magic, give one of these tricks a go. At the end of your normal set is usually the best time to try out a new trick. Once you have shown everyone your main tricks, you can relax and revisit groups of spectators that were particularly receptive to the magic. By this time, you have nothing more to prove. The trick’s presentation won’t be as good as it will be after your 100th performance, but it doesn’t need to be.

You are ‘breaking it in’ with a crowd who are already impressed with you, and on your side.

Every show that passes with that trick still in your close-up bag is an opportunity wasted. You know that you will kick yourself later on, when the trick has made it into your core act that you took so long to try it out.