At the bottom of this page, you will find a form to complete. I'm going to ask you to set a goal for your magic practice for the year ahead. If you complete the form, the team at the Merchant of Magic will try to provide you with free help and support to achieve your goal.

There is a common reason that many beginners lose interest in practicing to become a magician. They become disappointed in their progress, which makes them feel like a failure.

Through the tuition that my team provides at the magic shop, I noticed that the best way to push magicians past the ‘quitting point’, is to teach them about setting practice goals for their magic.

First, I want to explain why setting a goal is so important to your development as a magician. Let's start with a question:

Do you do it?

Do you set yourself defined goals for your development as a magician? Most people don’t plan the future, preferring to work on their existing material, and building up their magic knowledge over time in a random undirected fashion. Most magicians start training with a distant, undefined aim of becoming a skilled magician some time in the future. That’s fine if you simply want to dabble at magic training, but if you want to get the most out of your practice time, then setting a goal can be a very powerful aid to your development. A goal gives you an aim, and a direction of focus.

It is an expression of your WILL to make something you want really happen.

Goals provide direction. Without choosing a goal, you run the risk of never setting your sights on what you actually want from your magic practice. A goal is a conscious decision to make something YOU want happen. Without goals, it’s easy to work hard, yet end up making nothing happen at all. Lack of direction may lead you to be forever jumping from one unfinished magic trick to the next, endlessly failing to commit to true mastery of any magic skills until all you experience is a sense of disappointment, failure, and loss of interest in the practice.

The good news is that it is easy to avoid this situation. To avoid feeling like you are not making the progress you deserve, let's look at some easy steps for setting — and most importantly achieving your goals as a magician.

Just little steps at first.

I highly recommend that you start off with a small goal. Choosing something too big can make it seem impossible and unrealistic. Feeling that you have set an impossible goal for yourself can lead to you giving up way before you reach it. Even a journey of a thousands miles starts with just a single step. I know it’s tempting to say something like “I’m going to master sleight of hand with cards!” Just remember that a card expert is made one trick at a time. Instead, why not start with a smaller goal, like mastering the Elmsley count, or building a working three shells and a pea routine, and then add to it once you have achieved it?

Don’t over complicate the issue.

Be careful you don’t confuse the issue by only looking at the distant future. There are actually two main kinds of goals: short term and long term.

Long term goals are the bigger picture. It may be something that you want to achieve in a few years time. Long term goals can often be broken down into a series of short term goals that eventually complete the long term goal. The secret of success is to define a long term goal, then break it into a series of short term goals that will lead you to the long term win. That way, you don’t over complicate the path to achieving what you want. For example, a long term goal might be : Master sleight of hand with playing cards. That’s a very complex goal as it has so many parts needed to achieve it. Keep your magic practice simple, and take things in stages. "My first goal is to master a convincing double lift technique" As soon as that goal has been done, move on to the next short term goal: "I will learn to classic palm playing cards"

Choose a long term goal, and write it on a piece of paper. Now start listing the short term goals that are needed to complete the long term goal.

Be Realistic.

Pay attention to your own strengths as a magician, and face your limitations at the same time. If you are a very serious person, a long term goal of becoming a comedy magician, may not be realistic. You may find it much easier to be successful as a serious mentalist or card cheating expert. It’s great to dream, but be realistic in the dreams that you decide to put into practice. Understanding your own natural abilities, and finding goals that compliment them is an important part of the development process.

Don’t be a dog that chases parked cars.

Are you picking goals based upon what you want, or what other people think you should do? Make sure that the goal you decide to work towards is really what you want to make happen. I studied to become a Clinical Psychologist. Everyone told me I would be great at it. I went to university and began working towards that goal. It was only after several years training that I came to realize that it wasn’t MY choice of the future I wanted. I loved magic, and wanted that to be my life. I made the commitment to find work as a magician and build a magic business. By selecting my dreams — and not those of my friends and family — I achieved that goal, and feel so lucky to wake up each day to do something I love.

Remind yourself regularly.

Setting a goal is just the beginning. It’s easy to spend an evening making lists of your short term goals, then putting that list away forever. Once you have defined and set a goal, make sure that you find ways to remind yourself regularly about it. Carry a list of your short term goals in your wallet or bag, make it your screen saver, the home screen of your smartphone, even write it on your bedroom wall! Make sure you are reminded of your goal every single day. Some magicians write their goals on a playing card and keep that in their pocket wherever they go. Each evening and morning when they unload their pockets, they find the playing card and get reminded of their goals.

Keep the list moving.

Short term goals often come together to form a long term goal. Make a list of your goals, and group them together. Break your long term goals into achievable short term goals and place them in order that you can work on them to complete the larger objective. The long term goal may be to learn the cups and balls to a performance standard. The short term goals would be the individual steps needed to make that happen, including buying a cups and balls set, mastering loading and stealing, mastering the misdirection, perfecting an interesting presentation, developing the timing etc etc.

Make it happen when it needs to do so.

It doesn’t matter how many goals you set, where you write them down, or how often you think about them. Unless you pick ONE short term goal and start working on it, it’s all for nothing. Look at your list of goals and decide which is the most important to you. Remember that the longer a goal stays unactioned on your list, the more time it will take to achieve it.

Setting a goal is really about setting a deadline. Without a time limit, there is no motivation to work on the steps needed to achieve your goal.

Get Help by asking the right questions.

Nobody can do everything themselves. Find help from people that can move you closer to your goals. By defining each step as a goal, it becomes easy to know exactly which questions to get answered, or what form of help you need. I often get asked “Which magic trick should I learn next?” That question is not very useful because it has no goal attached to it. Asking “I want to be known as a mind reader, which trick should I work on next?” allows me to understand the goal behind the question, and the advice I give is much more valuable because it has a direction towards the goal behind it.

One year from now.

I maintain that taking the time to sit down and list your goals, is one of the most positive steps you can make to becoming a successful magician. It applies to all aspects of magic, from learning new tricks, right through to marketing your services. As you put this into practice, and see the result is having on your focus, and the speed of your progress, you will never look back!

Which magic goal would you like to set for your magic? What would you like to have achieved in magic one year from now?

Magic tricks too hard? 3 Ways to Get out of a Magic Rut

by Merchant of Magic 1 Comment

By Ben Williams

Magic tricks can be hard work. The process of studying, practicing and performing magic tricks can be a lot to take on. More often than not it can result in hitting a brick wall and losing the motivation to carry one and persist.

If it is no longer enjoyable then why continue the process of learning, practicing and then performing your magic tricks?

There are a few reasons why you may feel like this and we can identify these reasons and what to do to overcome them so that you can once again happily go about performing your magic tricks to your family and friends.

Sean writes:

‘I’ve been doing magic tricks since I was 7, but I feel as if I’m not going anywhere. I have put too much money and devotion into learning my magic tricks and I was wondering if you could recommend anything to help me get better?’

It may feel as if you have hit a bit of a rut with your magic tricks, we have a few suggestions to help get yourself out of that rut and keep it fresh:

1) REMEMBER
Firstly, try to remember what made you begin learning magic tricks in the first place. Remind yourself of the feeling of amazement and excitement when you first saw a magic trick that seemed impossible. Hold onto this feeling and use it as motivation, it is a positive feeling that can help re-vitalise your hunger for this art form. Maybe dig out some old DVDs or video clips of some magic tricks that once inspired you and re-watch them, try to capture that spark that was once ignited. Change your emotions when you think of magic tricks to that of excitement and ambition, as opposed to frustration and helplessness. This is stage one – reclaiming your passion.

2) FEEL
Next you may find that the magic tricks you are performing don’t feel right or suit your style. This can result in nervous and uncomfortable performances. This is a common issue but it is important that once you have identified you are experiencing this issue that you address it. Ask yourself honestly what magic tricks you would like to perform then you can focus your attentions on that area of study. However it is also important to be realistic with your goals and to make sure your goals are achievable. There is no point trying to attempt advanced gambling sleights if you have not learned the basics first. If you are focused and patient, then results will come. Look at your own strengths and weaknesses, what makes you comfortable and what makes you uncomfortable. When you are honest with yourself about this, you will be able to make positive changes and improvements to technique and confidence will come. This is stage two – being honest with yourself in order to set achievable goals.

3) PLAY
Once you have re-invigorated your passion for your magic tricks and identified what magic tricks you want to study it is time to put this into practice. You should feel sparky, willing to persist and have a more positive overall mind set towards your magic tricks so now is the time to look at your practice regime. If you have a practice routine that is fun and enjoyable for your magic tricks, it can make a world of difference.

If you find that you are struggling with a certain magic trick or sleight then it is important to return to the book or DVD where you originally learned it. Re-watch the tutorial to see if there are any obvious mistakes you are perpetuating, sometimes all it takes is a finger tip to be in the wrong place and this can make a certain move or magic trick impossible.

If you are sure you are performing the sleights correctly then it is just a matter of practice. Your practice sessions do not have to be long and laboured, in fact, they should be the opposite, quick bursts of a few minutes practice regularly. Do 2 – 5 minutes of practice in the morning and a couple of times throughout the evening rather than extended periods of practice. If you have a deck of cards by your bed, near the TV, in the kitchen, wherever you may find yourself regularly so whenever you have a moment of downtime you can pick up the deck and do a quick 2 minute practice run. This will help to keep your practice sessions vibrant and will ultimately be better for learning and remembering the motor skills involved in performing your magic tricks. This is stage three – keeping your practice sessions fresh.

If you follow these three steps, then you should be well on your way out of the rut you are experiencing! All that is left to do is to find a willing spectator and perform! Also remember, spending loads of money on magic will not automatically make you a good magician. It is great to have knowledge, but the great magician inside of you needs focus and drive to flourish. Being focused and driven is easy when you have fun and enjoy what you are doing.

Ready to be a Professional Magician? – Performing Magic Tricks to the Public

by Merchant of Magic 2 Comments

When will YOU be ready to start being a professional magician?

James asked MoM:
‘I have turned down about 30 odd gigs because I don’t feel I am ready for close up. When I go for it, I want to be perfect.What would you say is an adequate menu of magic tricks for professional magicians? What do you include? Obviously I do not intend to rip off anyone’s act. I just want to get an idea of what sort of standard is expected’

Dominic Reyes: That’s a great question James. I’m really surprised you have turned down 30 gigs because you don’t feel you are ready to be a professional magician. If your getting requests to do gigs, it sounds like you are impressing people with the magic you are doing and would like to hire you as a professional magician. It’s just that you don’t feel you are ready. The truth James is that you will NEVER get to the point when you feel 100% ready. It just doesn’t work like that for most people.
You can keep practicing for years, tweaking your act and magic tricks. Perhaps, only showing your close up magic tricks to family and friends, or you can take the leap that all professional magicians must take, and try out doing a proper gig. You have to draw a line on your practice at some point, and give it a go. It’s a scary decision, and one that is very easy to put off, but you have to do it sooner or later if you ever want to perform as one of the professional magicians

To make it less scary, agree to do a gig that’s a long way off. That will feel like you have given yourself time to really work on act construction, before the ‘big day’. You probably still won’t feel ready when the date arrives, that’s totally natural, but by then it’s too late to back out. Once you do the gig, I’m sure you will be kicking yourself for not doing a gig sooner.

I’ll pass you over to Ben Williams to discuss act construction:

Ben Williams: The magic of professional magicians should be direct and easy to understand, long phased magic tricks are not great, not everyone loves magic or wishes to sit through a long process.

Your magic tricks should reset very quickly or be automatically reset through the performance.

Make it fun, if you have fun with people half the battle is over.

If you are performing magic tricks at tables you need to be able top present the magic to EVERYONE, it is no good doing something small and close up that the whole table can’t enjoy as one.

Here are a list of great magic that professional magicians could do:

Professional magicians Walk-around Close Up Magic Tricks: