How to do Magic Tricks

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Openers – 3 Recommended Card Magic Tricks

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The best magic tricks that are opners

Card magic tricks can be an excellent choice for the first trick you perform for your spectators. The first magic trick is often called an ‘opener’ by magicians.

The card magic tricks to use as openers need to have several important qualities:

  • The card magic tricks need to be fast.
  • They need to be visual and easy to understand.
  • The card magic tricks must be stunning to get peoples attention.
  • They should be easy to perform, so nothing can go wrong.
  • The card magic tricks should set a strong and consistent tone for the act.

The team at the Merchant of Magic have hand picked 6 card magic tricks that they feel would be an excellent choice for an act opener.

If you would like to find out more about using card magic tricks as openers, check out this article: How to choose Card Magic Tricks  that Make Good Openers

 Great Card Magic Trick Openers:

The Invisible Deck

A deck of bicycle playing cards that allows you to perform a wide variety of magic card tricks to your spectators.

Imagine having an invisible deck of playing cards become a visible deck and proving it by also having the freely selected invisible playing card instantly become visible as well. With the invisible deck you can get a spectator to call up a friend who somehow names the one playing card you have turned over in the bicycle deck prior to the call. There are many, many other uses.

 

The Ambitious Card

The Ambitious Card

It’s been said that the Ambitious Card may be the most magical thing you can perform with a deck of cards, and with this DVD and the classic routines and performers it offers, you’ll never be at a loss for yet another way to make the spectator’s card come to the top of the deck as if by magic.

Identity

Identity

Approach anyone complete stranger and have a card selected, marked and then shuffled fully into the deck of cards. Next, you simply make a series of random marks on the back of any indifferent playing card. Those marks VISIBLY JUMP from card to card, finally VANISHING COMPLETELY. The cards are slowly spread to show the marks on the back of one card… It’s the spectator’s signed selection. ANOTHER impossible kicker… You offer the card to the spectator to keep. But to make it unique to them… You just give the card a shake… THE MARKS ON THE BACK OF THE CARD MAGICALLY AND VISUALLY FUSE INTO THE SPECTATOR’S VERY OWN NAME!

 

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The Top Opener Card Tricks For Magicians

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Opener Card TricksCard tricks can be a great choice for the first magic trick you perform for your spectators. The first magic trick is often refereed to as an ‘opener’ by magicians.

“Your opening effect must achieve two very important goals. First, it has to win over the audience. Second, it should set the tone or the rest of the act.” – Strong Magic Darwin Ortiz

Card tricks that will be used as openers need to meet some requirements:

1. The card tricks need to be fast.

Trying to perform multi phase tricks with a long build up before the magic happens can easily switch off your spectators attention. You have the groups attention, so your tricks should create a magical event as quickly as possible.

2. Perform visual card tricks.

Card tricks that have a strong visual element work really well. This captures the audiences attention. Visual tricks require less thought from the spectators, who will not be as engaged in your performance at this point.

3. Make sure it’s amazing.

These first magic tricks need to hit them hard and show them something totally impossible. People will judge the quality of your whole act, by the first magic trick you show them. Make sure the magic tricks you choose as openers, establish your skills and demonstrate how entertaining you are.

4. Easy to perform card tricks.

When you approach a new group of spectators, you will be doing several things at once:

  • Introducing yourself
  • Setting the tone
  • Assessing the group dynamics
  • Defining your performing conditions
  • Setting pace
  • Capturing attention
  • Establishing control

Using card tricks that are easy to perform as your first tricks, gives you one less thing to worry about. If you are ‘breaking in’ new material, it may not be wise to use them as openers, until you are very comfortable performing them.

5. Set a good tone for the rest of the performance.

The card tricks you use as openers will set the tone for the rest of the ‘set’. What is your magicians persona? Which card tricks would help to communicate this to the spectators. Choosing tricks with a comedy presentation, before moving into a dark mentalism act, wouldn’t flow correctly and will confuse the spectators. Build each of the tricks into ‘set’s that have a common theme and select an opener that sets the tone and style of the whole act.

Here are some suggestions for good openers. You can learn them from most good magic shops:

The Invisible Deck
The Chicago Opener
Stand Up Monte
Identity
Ambitious card
Satisfaction Guaranteed 

Using Sleight of hand.

An alternative to structured card tricks, would be to perform some card flourishes and manipulation as an opener. This would establish your skills and grab attention. With card tricks, magicians are fighting against the “Card tricks Uncle” cliche. Performing some flourishes, or a demonstration of sleight of hand can establish your credibility right away.

Performing a series of colour changes would also be a great way to capture attention and set a pace for the rest of the card magic.

 

NEXT:  The 5 Best Sansmind Tricks Every Magician Loves