How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

The Magic is Not in the Props Magicians Use

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How_to_do_Magic_TricksHow do you present  the ‘magic’ happening within your performances? Some magicians perform tricks and some magicians perform magic…

 

Master magicians seem to define magic with every movement they make. The performance is enchanting and for a few moments, even their fellow magicians forget to think about the methods.. I’m sure you can think of several famous magicians that have that effect on you. What do they have, that you could use to create a similar impression on your own audiences?

It’s NOT the tricks they choose to perform.. It’s not the props magicians use.. It’s the way they present the tricks!

I really believe that you can learn a lot from watching as many famous magicians perform as you possibly can. You will learn SO much from doing this. Obviously, the secrets to the tricks will not be revealed. Don’t worry about searching for ‘method’. The tricks in and of themselves are not important for the point we hope to highlight here. You can learn so much from the performer.

Look at the way the performers conduct themselves, their posture, their pacing and timing, and the way they focus the spectators’ attention at times when needed. Forget the props magicians use.. Instead notice how they PRESENT the magic and give it meaning.

Studying showmanship is vital to your magical studies because it allows you to create the magic in a spectator’s mind, not the method for the trick. The presentation is more powerful than the method. Self working card tricks can be just as powerful as complex sleight of hand if you apply the right presentation.

DO THIS: Next time you are packing your pockets full of magic tricks, spare a moment to think about how you will perform them to maximize their potential. Try not to rush through your tricks if you don’t immediately get that amazing reaction; these things build. Your spectators can  be blown away time and time again by the same effect as they are reliving the moment in their minds. It is tough to remain silent or bring the focus back to yourself at a time like this, but it is worth it! Always make the most out of your performances, be confident and believe in your skills, and you will only improve the magic.

Best wishes

Dominic Reyes

 

 

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Is a Magic Book Better Than a Magic DVD

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Both sides have convincing arguments. It’s a debate that has been raging in the magic community since the 1980’s with the appearance of the first magic video’s. How do you know which is better? Should you learn from a magic book or a DVD?

 Is a Magic book better?

 

  • The magic book fans argue that you develop your own unique style and presentation from a book. Magic books teach you the techniques, but don’t turn you into a clone of the author.
  • Magic books offer the best value for money. Packed full of magic tricks they can be a treasure chest of new material.
  • They are easy to reference. At any time, you can dip into a magic book and learn something new.
  • They look awesome on your bookcase (OK, that’s not really related to learning magic, but it’s  a real plus).

 Magic DVD better.

  • A DVD shows you the full routine in detail exactly as the creator of the magic trick  performs the trick. You see the full presentation, timing, misdirection and audience control in a way a magic book simply can’t show you.
  • A magic DVD can be paused, and you can jump to sections as you learn the material.
  • You don’t need to keep a magic DVD propped open as you learn from it.
  • They are more portable and can be backed up (copyright permitting).
  • They tend to focus on fewer tricks, often just one per DVD, which helps you focus in on  learning the trick rather than jumping from new trick to a new trick.

Both sides of the argument have compelling points. Whether you decide to invest in a magic book or a DVD, will depend on your own preferred style of learning.

The team at the Merchant of Magic often suggests total beginners start with a magic DVD. They feel that seeing the trick performed helps to make it easier to learn, compared to text and illustrations only. Once the student has the basics under their control, books make a great recourse that will deepen their knowledge.

What do you think? Is a magic book better than a DVD? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below:

Should Magicians Give Purpose to Magic

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I believeIf you really could perform magic, what would you do? Would there be a purpose to magic you perform?

As magicians we spend the majority of our time losing and finding playing cards, making small predictions, or having things vanish and appear around us. The tricks lack any purpose other than to entertain and amaze. What is the point of making a coin bend in a spectators hand or making a ball vanish from under one cup and appear under another, followed by the appearance of some lemons under the cups? Great magic, but utterly pointless. We can increase the power of our performances by giving a purpose to magic.

Creating purpose to magic we perform has been one of the ‘themes’ of the second series of Dynamo Magician Impossible. Let’s look at a few examples:

  1. Dynamo is talking to the DJ in a nightclub. However, the club is packed and he can’t get out past the crowds. What would he do if he really could perform magic? He would simply fly over the crowd to the exit. That’s exactly what he did.
  2. Dynamo visits HMV to meet his fans. It all gets too much and he needs to escape. What would a magic user do? Simply disappear. That’s exactly what he did.
  3. Dynamo watched a street performer and wants to reward him. He notices the performer has images of money printed on his clothes, so he turns one of the pictures real so he can give the performer a tip.

Dynamo used magic to solve his problems. That’s the purpose of magic shown on the show. How can you design your magic tricks to be useful in this way?

Purpose to Magic

I expect you may feel going from table to table entertaining people would be quite a low priority for most true magic users. So why WOULD you be an entertainer?

Perhaps, to make people believe again?

Most people believed in magic when they were kids, but then life got in the way and they came to believe what the world told them, that magic was just pretend. Could making people question this belief, be the real role of a magician?

“What would I have to do right now to make you believe in magic?”

If you ask that question whenever you next perform close up magic you will start to notice you get the same sets of answers over and over again.

  • Make a bottle of wine appear
  • Turn this £10 note into a £50 note
  • Fly
  • Make xxx disappear
  • Bend a wine glass
  • Read my mind like Derren Brown

If you collected all the questions over a period of time you will get a group of the most frequently asked questions, many of which you could have tricks ready to perform.

There would also be some answers which you couldn’t do. For example: “Make a tiger appear” or “Make my wife disappear” but it would be easy to create a set of funny answers for each of those suggestions.

You could  construct an act which allows you to perform most of those requests. You would then simply pick a suggestion from the group that ‘hits’ and actually DO it for them. Powerful stuff!

When asking the group, you ideally want to get suggestions from several different people at the table. This way you will be likely to hit upon a request that you can actually do. If you don’t get a ‘hit’ you can turn it into a joke or an aside, as you move into your normal routine set. Don’t tell them you intend to perform their suggestions until after they give them, so you have a perfect ‘out’ by changing the subject if a hit doesn’t happen.

If you decide to try this out please let me know how you get on. You can do this in the comments section below: