magic tricks Archives

Studying Close Up Magic – How Not To Fall Into The Trap

I received a question today that gets asked quite often, so I thought I would answer it on this blog instead, so as to get your opinion too.

The Question:

‘What do you think constitutes a true magician? Using 100% gimmicks 100% of the time, is something that feels a bit disingenuous when calling myself a magician. What do you feel is the perfect balance between real sleight of hand and gimmicks when performing close-up magic?’

Well, my answer tends to be that I don’t think it matters AT ALL. The method really isn’t important and focusing attention and time on it is actually one of the traps that stop people learning to become a magician.

ASK YOURSELF THIS:

Do you want to be studying close up magic or to become a magician?

The two options are actually quite different, but their paths both lead through the doors of a magic shop, so people can often end up switching to the wrong path along the way.

Magicians are made one trick at a time. I recommend you choose a magic trick because it looks amazing and because you feel it would suit you. Then learn it and study any sleights needed to perform it perfectly. If it uses only gimmicks great. If it uses hardcore sleight of hand that’s great too. The world’s top magicians only care about how amazing and entertaining their magic trick looks, not the method. If fact, they work hard to find a method that is as easy and direct as possible.

Knowing lots of sleights and techniques doesn’t make you a magician, it makes you an encyclopedia.

What makes a surgeon? Would you call a surgeon a fraud for using the latest medical equipment? Should he or she insist on only using a scalpel and a piece of wood for the patient to bite down on? No, quite the opposite. I want my hospital to use every piece of the latest equipment possible to get the job done as well as possible. The surgeon’s job is to fix people. Your job as a magician is to amaze and entertain people. It’s the end result that defines the job title.

What magical powers would you like to have?

Definition of magician

noun

a person with magical powers.

a person who performs magic tricks for entertainment.

From Oxford Dictionaries

I couldn’t find any reference to a person that knows lots of magic techniques and moves in the definition anywhere. Only someone with magical powers and someone who entertains with them.

Instead of collecting moves and sleights in an endless cycle of studying close up magic in general, decide what magical powers you would like to have. Do you want to be able to fly? Would you like to be able to read peoples minds? How about being able to move objects just by wishing it? Go ahead and choose your powers, then search for magic tricks that would show those powers to your audience in the most entertaining way possible. Once you have that, you can then learn the methods to allow you to perform just those tricks only. That’s one of the real secrets of magic.

I hope my answer helps
Dominic Reyes

Have I missed something? Do you disagree? Do you have any suggestions that would also help someone studying close up magic? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below:

Six Free Magic Tricks From Jay Sankey

by Merchant of Magic Leave a Comment

The Merchant of Magic has been granted permission to teach you 5 free magic tricks from Jay Sankey, taken from a collection of Jay Sankeys back catalogue, plus a sixth trick that remains unpublished.

The magic tricks you will be taught in the ebook range in skill level, so there is something for people new to magic right through to advanced card workers. The tricks use Bicycle Playing Cards, coins, bank notes and everyday objects. Some require a little set up before they are performed, others are impromptu and can be done anytime and anywhere.

Four years ago Joshua Jay and Andi Gladwin started a project to help Jay Sankey clear out his huge back catalogue of magic tricks. That’s no small task, Jay Sankey has been creating new magic tricks and lecturing on magic around the world for many many years. It’s a huge body of work.

The goal of the project was to strip out any average tricks and bring all the most popular creations under one roof. They didn’t expect the project to take four years to complete, but Jay’s creative output is unmatched in the world of magic, with new releases coming out at an impossible rate. In order to pick the best magic tricks to include, Andi asked ten highly respected magicians including Richard Sanders, David Regal and Rune Klan to pick their ten best Sankey tricks. They featured this in the collection too, so readers can see just how important Sankey’s work is to some of the most creative magicians in the world.

“This project is the largest, most comprehensive collection of one person’s magic ever released at one time. And the material is so, so, so good” – Joshua Jay

The collection has now been completed in three massive tomes. Each book is hardbound, fully-indexed, and printed on treated paper in fantastic two-color rendering. Thousands of crisp photographs were also added. The free ebook contains five free magic tricks from Jay Sankey, contained within the collection and also gives you the content list for each book in the collection.

Spider Pen Pro – Recommended by Magicians at MoM

by Merchant of Magic 6 Comments

After several delays, the Spider Pen Pro was finally been released by Yigal Mesika, and we are sending them out to everyone who has pre-ordered. The Pen has to be one of the most hotly anticipated releases in many years, with magicians all over the world, reserving them months in advance and discussion forums going crazy about what the new electronic ITR Pen will feature.

Magicians researching patent applications from Yigal suggested it would have some type of ‘toe switch’ but that turned out to be a red herring. The Pens are finally here and the first reviews in the magic community seem to be glowing with praise for the device:

I received mine this weekend and have had a chance to play with it. It is amazing! In my opinion Yigal has turned the Spider Pen into a tool that is as practical as Loops. The automatic shut off is a dream come true as I used to unscrew the battery on the old spider pen to keep it from draining. Now SP pro is just ready all the time with a stronger AAA battery. The tension is tight and steady, the body and clip of the pen will last a very long time and if the thread breaks, its easy to fix. The dvd is well produced and teaches some very nice handlings for floating bills, though I will be using this primarily for subtle PK effects. This is the perfect ITR! It was well worth the wait. WOW!!! – Ran Pink – The Magic Cafe

The Spider Pens have arrived in the shop and the MoM team called in extra staff to get them all out to customers as fast as possible.

ITR’s have always been a love hate topic with magicians. The magic tricks possible with them are stunning, but using one can be a real pain, and many magicians are put off by the unreliable nature of the gimmick. The original spider pen added new features never before seen in an ITR device, but the plastic casing and small batteries caused many to stop using it. Much of the popularity of Spider Pen Pro is the addition of new soul technology to improve this many times over and the use of a metal pen using normal batteries. It’s nice to see Yigal developing the device to include the latest advances is tech, as well as building in a vastly improved build quality.

Spider Pen Pro Features:

The first electronic reel with no buttons or switches
Powered by an electric micro motor
No noise – completely silent
Operates with one AAA battery that will last you easily over a year (one performance a day, battery not included.)
Walk up to 35 feet away from floating objects
Constant perfect even tension
No springs or rubber bands
Changing the spool is as easy as 1-2-3
A real writing pen with refillable ink
Made of premium quality steel with a chrome finish.
Exchangeable pen clip – easily swap for another color
Locking Method- Levitate and animate even heavier objects
Comes with a DVD running approx. 60 minutes shot in HD.
The only Magic Device with 3 patents
MADE IN THE USA

Please let us know your thought on this and any advice you would like to share in the comments section below: