Learning From Magic Books: Do I need a Magic Practice Timetable?
Ali writes: Do you have any tips and advice on how to set a plan or timetable whilst learning from magic books? How many times should I practice and rehearse one book?
Hi Ali.
I love the sound of your passion for magic! You want to consume every drop of knowledge from the books you read.
I’d like to ask you a question in return: What is your long term goal in magic? Are you working to build sets of working material to form acts, or are you trying to learn as much as possible in general? If it’s the second reason, you may lose out from having no focus.
If your goal is act creation, you should be searching for material from lots of different sources. Picking effects to work on because they are right for you and your act, rather than because they are all in the same book. I would not advise anyone to study ‘one book at a time’ but I do recommend ‘one trick at a time’.
Choose the material you want to perform, then study just THAT. Everything else is a distraction until that ONE trick is mastered.
So.. As far as a timetable, I would say you need to read each magic book you own in order to understand what the effects are, whilst making a note if they are right for the sets of material you are putting together. This is a ‘searching stage’ of your study. Once you have a collection of effects that can form performing material, choose ONE effect and work just on that.
Over the years that MoM has given private coaching to students, we have found that the 20/20/20 method gets the best results. You can learn the 20/20/20 practice drill method for free here.
