How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

How to Learn Coin Tricks? – Advice for Magic Beginners

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How to learn coin tricksDavid sent Dominic Reyes this question:

‘I love card magic and most of the tricks I do are card tricks. Actually, all my tricks are card tricks.  I would like to learn some coin magic as its so impromptu, and not many people carry a deck of playing cards around with them. Nearly everyone will have some change on them. I have tried to learn, but I never give it enough time and would rather learn a card trick. Can you suggest where to start and what to learn please.’?

That’s a great question David and it shows you are really thinking about your magic as a whole, rather than just a bunch of random tricks.

It was a problem that I faced many years ago when I was building my act. The only difference is that my problem was in reverse. I started out with a single book – Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic which I discovered in a local book shop. I spend the next 2 years focused solely on learning coin magic. After that, I had a great range of tricks I could do, but no balance to my act. I needed to introduce other forms of magic, but the prospect of starting at step one again, just left me cold. Because of this, I delved deeper and deeper into coin magic, branching out to include coin box work, shells and flipper coins. The process took me from the core sleights to more extreme coin magic from coin guys like Curtis Kam. Great fun, BUT  it really hit home for me when I would meet with other magicians and session with them. I’d perform my best coin magic, but then sit quietly, feeding very inadequate as they showed off their latest colour change or flourish.

The embarrassing situation had to be put right, so I made a commitment to start right at the beginning and learn the fundamentals of card magic. It was slow going, and SO tempting to forget about the cards for a while and pick up my coins for some practice, but I knew that would not help me in the long run. To this day, I’m better at coin work that cards technically, but I now have a balanced skill base to work from.

Content over Style.
I’m a coin guy, your a card worker etc. No, no, no, we are both magicians. The tools of the trade don’t define the tradesman when it comes to magic. Never forget that the whole purpose of being a magician is to perform magical feats and entertain people with them. It’s the content of the trick, not it’s props that are important.

A playing card changes to another playing card, A coin changes to another coin. It’s the same trick. Limiting yourself to only one set of tools to perform the magic is a disability rather than an advantage.

Choose the magic tricks you learn because they fooled you really well and because you found them  entertaining, and think you could make them even more so. Don’t choose them, just because they use a particular prop you use for your other tricks.

Your study should be like a funnel.
The Merchant of Magic training courses teach that your magic practice should be a funnel. Beginners need to be exposed to wide a range of new areas of magic. New tricks to master, are added one at a time, based on the style of magic the act needs to follow.  Specialisation is something to think about adding later on, once you have developed as a performer and have created and mastered balanced close-up magic sets and acts to use.

When you start to learn hot to do magic, keep your options and mind as open as possible. There is no need to close doors in your practice. Play with card magic, have fun with rope tricks, master the cups and balls and add in some coin work. As you do this, specific tricks will jump out at you, to work on and make part of your ‘working sets’.

Moving backwards to go forwards.
For David, like myself some years ago, there is a hard decision to be made. He needs to make a commitment to step backwards and become a beginner again. It’s a bit like  running around in a maze. You can run through it at fast at first, following any path you want, but sooner or later, you will need to double back on yourself if you ever hope to find the centre. Starting back at step one, isn’t really going backwards. It’s actually moving yourself forward far more than most people do as you understand the bigger picture of where you want to be in the end.

Coin magic is easier than card magic. 
When you started to learn card magic, you are faced with an endless range of sleight of hand to master. It’s quite daunting. But slowly you pick up a move here, a sleight there and build on that knowledge. The great news is that coin magic is much easier. Coin work gives you fewer choices.  Just follow these steps to start you off:

Step 1 Good tuition.
If you learn well with a book, pick up Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic you can find it at most good magic shops and even your public library can order a copy in for you for
free.

If you prefer DVD’s, I would recommend the David Roth series Expert Coin Magic Made Easy.,  It’s a three part DVD or download set that starts at the basics with volume one and moves you slowly to intermediate and then to advanced coin work. A cheaper single disc option is the Michael Ammar Introduction to coin magic DVD. Either of these DVD’s is a perfect first step.

Step 2 Focus on the Core Sleights.
Coin magic has far fewer core sleights and card magic. Phew!! You learn those core moves, and then use them to create your routines. I recommend starting to learn the classic palm right from the start. It takes a while to master, but you can practice it everywhere you go as you just need to be holding a coin. When that is coming on, learn and practice the following:

Step 3 An Endless One Coin Trick.
As you learn these core moves, start playing with creating a coin coin routine, when a coin is placed in your hand, and vanishes is produced from somewhere else only to vanish again and appear in a new location. Create a circular routine you can endlessly run through. Build in as many of the core sleights as possible into the routine, so you practice each one every time you run through the routine.

Step 4 The Drill
Once you have an initial one coin routine, you need to practice it. We recommend running through it 20 times twice a day for 20 days.  After the 20 days change it around and run the drill for another 20 days.

Coins can be with you wherever you go, so you can practice magic right under your friends and families noses and they need never know. When I started out, I worked part time in a showroom, and my desk was right next to the showroom window. That made a perfect close-up mirror and the boss never found out. Find interesting places to practice, but seriously, don’t get yourself fired for practicing.

The calling of the playing cards.
Your playing cards will hate seeing you do this. After all, they have had you all to themselves for a long time. The good news is that there is no reason to switch to coin magic completely. Just run through your coin routine at least once, before you pick up your deck of cards. Consider it a warm up for your fingers.

Very soon, you will fall in love with the progress you are making with your coin work and will start to add in a couple of short coin tricks into your close-up sets. Your coin work will give you some powerful impromptu tricks you can perform, but it will also improve the entertainment value of your card magic as you will have a much more balanced act.

 

DO THIS: Do you have any advice about adding coin magic to David’s act? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below:

Finding It Hard to Perform Magic in Front of a Crowd

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Performing magic for a crowd

‘I’m 14 and have been doing close up magic for just over a year. I find it hard to perform in front of a crowd. I really need help with this.’ – Kieron

 

That’s an awesome question Kieron, and one that we get asked a lot, so you are not alone there. We call it close-up magic, but often, there is nothing close-up about it. You start off showing a magic trick to a couple of people, and before you know it, you have a huge crowd all around you. Pretty scary stuff.

Part of the anxiety is stage fright. That never really goes, but does decrease over time as you get used to it. The key is experience. The more you expose yourself to those kinds of situations, the more used to them you will become. The best way to face this is to get out and perform as much as possible.

Due to your age, finding good venues for your magic can be tricky, but community events, fetes and charity fundraisers would make ideal practice gigs for you to become more used to performing for the public. Contact a few local organizations and ask if you can attend for free to perform.

Ideally perform for the general public, with your parents also attending. Preferably in front of non-magicians so you can get ‘real’ feedback. If your school has a drama club or there is a local theatre group in your area, we highly recommend that you join. You will learn so many valuable skills that will transfer directly to your magic.

Putting in the time to go out and get experience will REALLY pay off whilst you are a young magician. Far more than any private practice can bring you.

We recommend that you read this advice from Ben Williams:

Overcoming nervousness for magicians.

A great technique from Seamus Hayes

Breathing exercises before performing often help.
If you have a lot of anxiety, there is a “Tapping” method, which may help you…

“Could you believe it if I told you that you can tap yourself out of an anxiety? Yes, actually tap away your anxiety.

Anxiety about your golf stroke, anxiety about your performance at work, anxiety about achieving your personal goals, anxiety about your family, anxiety about being bullied, anxiety about how you appear to other people, anxiety about coping, in fact anxiety in whatever shape or form it raises its head may be eliminated through focused tapping.

Consider the following. There is a rat in a box on your desk. Notice how the thought alone can create a reaction.
Now, do the following while thinking of the rat on your desk:

1) What is your anxiety?, is it fear? Is it panic?…
2) Rate the intensity of the anxiety between 0 and 10 (10 being the most intense).
3) While tapping on the “collar bone” repeat 3 times “Even though I feel this anxiety I totally & completely accept myself”
4) Now, while Repeating the Words “This anxiety”, tap 7 times

a) Above the eye,
b) Below the eye,
c) On the collarbone
d) Under the arm, (about half way between the belt line and the armpit)

5) Rate the intensity again. In most cases the intensity has decreased.

Will this simple technique work for everybody? I have witnessed, in my own practice, a lady who had not done exams for over 30 years, release severe exam anxiety in less than 30 seconds with this simple technique. In a few cases, no immediate result seemed to occur, however comments like “I feel calmer”, “I feel more in control” or “I feel less tired and full of energy” surface in conversations days later. A small percentage of people need a longer version to achieve results, however, persistent work always facilitates some change for good.

Philosophers and Psychologists have always recognized the fact that thoughts influence behavior. In the case of the rat above, if you have a negative perception of a rat, as you think about the rat, you will reflect your thoughts in your body as an emotion (anxiety, tension, fear…): Your body’s energy has been disrupted in some form. Focused tapping or pressure on acupuncture points restores the balance to the disrupted energy. By tapping on these pressure points, you begin to separate the emotion from the thought. By thus doing, you increase your control over the situation. I have seen people, who suffered great anxiety at the sight of a mouse, actually hold the mouse in their hand without any negative emotion within minutes.

Is this simple method “off the wall”? Users of reflexology and acupuncture will easily understand the philosophy behind this simple technique. Chinese Medicine, from which this technique comes, has been successfully treating the “whole person” for centuries. Today we call it Energy Psychology. It blends in easily with today’s lifestyle. It’s free, easily applicable and within the personal control of each person who may choose to use it.”
– Seamus Hayes  – Source http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Hayes2.html

Do you have some advice that would help Keiron and others like him who are facing fear of performing in front of a crowd?  Please post your advice in the comments section below:

Hands Too Small for Sleight of Hand Card Tricks?

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Magicians with small hands

Do you have tiny hands? Are you finding it difficult to perform sleight of hand because of this? The truth is, the size of your hands doesn’t matter at all, it’s a myth. Everyone finds learning complex sleights like the pass or card palming, tricky at first. It’s very easy to blame the difficulty on something (anything) other than your commitment to practice.
There are loads of world renowned magicians who have small hands and have not let it stop them:

The truth is, the size of your hands doesn’t matter at all, it’s a myth. Everyone finds learning complex sleights like the pass or card palming, tricky at first. It’s very easy to blame the difficulty on something (anything) other than your commitment to practice.

Let’s look at a few ways that you can overcome having hands too small for sleight of hand magic.

Small hands = more practice.
If you think have have hands too small for sleight of hand magic, think again.. The simply truth is that you need to put more work into your practice. All the established magicians with hand or arm disabilities or small hands tend to agree that more practice is the answer. Slow things down and work on the move you want to master. It may take you longer than someone with larger hands, but every technique IS achievable. Focus more attention to the details of your angles and pacing.

You have infinite choices
There is no reason why any move or sleight should be set in stone. That’s a common misunderstanding people new to magic tend to make. They think that just because a move has been in print, it has a ‘correct’ way to be performed. This simply isn’t the case. Each move you learn should be adapted and developed to your own style and abilities. The goal is not perfection of method, but rather perfection of the effect.

‘It’s not cheating to change and adapt moves’

 

“I know the Thumb Cut is difficult for short-thumbed people like me. Skip it if you have too many problems. In fact, one of the reasons I invented the L Cut and Extension Cut was that I found it easier with my stubby thumb…” – Cestkowski’s Encyclopedia of Playing Card flourishes

 

When you are trying to palm playing cards, try using different palms to see which one is more suitable for you. Change around any of the moves in the magic trick to fit you better. The goal is to fool people with the trick, not pass an examine on how closely you followed the method used by the first person to publish it’s instructions.

Having trouble doing a classic palm with small hands? Switch to a tenkai palm instead and just watch your angles.  Need to perform card to wallet? Use a mercury card fold

Choose your coins.
For your coin magic, you shouldn’t have a problem. One of the great features of coin magic tricks is that you can use whichever coins you feel most comfortable using. Experiment with moving down from dollars to half dollars. If you need a smaller coin that’s good to palm, the UK 2p coin has a great squared edge that makes it one of the easiest coins to classic palm.

Bridge size bicycle playing cards
Another popular option for your card work is to use Bridge Size Bicycle Playing Cards. These are narrower than poker size and can be much easier to palm. If you prefer to use these, you may have to adapt any card gimmicks that you use to be in bridge size, as most card gimmicks are supplied in poker size card stock.

Misdirection and audience management.
One of the most common problems faced by magicians with smaller hands is a playing card poking out when they try to palm a card. If this happens to you, just use your most powerful weapon: Misdirection.  
Make sure you talk to your spectator and wait for the moment that you have their eye contact before executing the move. Use offbeat moments when you need to do a card magic pass. One of the rules of magic is that a larger action covers a smaller action. Bring your hands up from your waist to your chest during the off beat moment during the pass. If your spectators eyes are not on your hands, it doesn’t matter how much of a flash you make when you do a move. Focus on controlling the audience’s attention and you will be delighted by the results.

DO THIS: Stop using the excuse of having hands too small for sleight of hand magic. Make a commitment to revisit the magic tricks you have previously dismissed as not suitable, and see how you can adapt them. Practice and rehearse palming and your pass like crazy and study all you can on misdirection. If you increase your effort, and change your frame of mind, you will quickly discover that you don’t have a disadvantage after all.

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Do you have any tips for people who think they have hands too small for sleight of hand tricks? Let us know how you get on in the comments section below: