Learning from Magic Books: Do I Need a Practice Timetable?

learn from magic books

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.

Magic Trick Difficulty Levels – Are They Deceptive?

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

Is it wise to pay attention to magic trick difficulty levels in magic shop trick descriptions?

Dominic Reyes talks about the dangers of focusing too much on the difficulty levels on magic trick descriptions. An easy rated trick can often be just as hard to master as an expert trick. Should magic tricks be rated for the level of ‘effort’ required? Would that be a better indication of the true work required to master any trick?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below

Magic Tricks Difficulty Level Easy – Why That’s Wrong

by Dominic Reyes 2 Comments

Difficulty Level Easy - WRONG By Dominic Reyes

If you read that a magic tricks difficulty level is easy, don’t fall into the trap this guy did..

On the whole I hate magic forums. If I didn’t have to post on them as part of my job, I’d avoid them. Why?.. Because usually they are just a place where great magic tricks go to die.

Don’t get me wrong, the magic community is a great asset for magicians, and sharing ideas can really help. But there is just so much bad advice on most threads when it comes to performing.

I can live with the ego’s, pent up resentment, lost ambition, and armchair experts. I just get mad when beginners read advice from other beginners, that is plainly wrong and could set their magic practice backwards.

Here’s just such a comment I read on a popular forum:

XXXXX writes: ‘Difficulty: Easy: That to me states no practice required.‘

XXXXX is a regular customer of MoM, so I was pretty surprised to read this comment. I know that he likes to ‘troll’ on the reviews section of forums, playing the popular game ‘expose a tricks secret through 20 questions’, or posting comments designed only to annoy. I assumed the post was probably just there to wind people up, but a real beginner might actually think this guy (with a lot of previous posts) knows what he is talking about..

Just so YOU don’t come across that post and take it seriously. Here’s what he could have written:

Difficulty Easy: That means the mechanics of the trick are easy to learn, or that the props are easy to operate.

I’m sure you can probably word it better than that. So perhaps leave a comment in the section below. Anyway, the point is that ‘EASY’ DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN SKIP PRACTICE..

Luckily a magician quickly replied on the forum thread: ‘If you want novelty gags then that’s a different thing. Magic takes practice.‘

Without sufficient practice you will, at best, give an ‘average magicians performance’. YOU are better than that..

If a magic trick is described by a magic shop as easy. It’s to help magicians that need to choose tricks that are not complex, dependent on sleight of hand, or assume advanced dexterity or misdirection/audience control skills. That does make them a great fit for beginners, but it doesn’t refer to practice at all.

Never attempt to perform a trick to the public on the day you learn it. I urge you to practice the method and get comfortable & confident as you turn the trick into a solid routine over time. You must drill, and rehearse every trick, it’s presentation, timing, context within your act, meaning within your performing persona, etc etc.

This takes time and effort. If you would like more information on this. Please read this free copy of the book Approaching Magic Practice.