The Complete Guide To Buying A Magic Wallet

Buying a Magic Wallet We recently received this question from one of our readers, Mike:

“There are so many different magic wallets on the market, that I don’t know which one to buy.

Actually, I mostly like the small wallets cause they look minimalist. I want to buy a wallet, which is easy to load with, for example a signed card

(card to wallet trick).

So the question is:

Which small wallet has a good quality and is very easy to load?
Is it better to buy a wallet that can only load cards or is there also a good ‘card to wallet’ with which you can do other beautiful magic like:
- Peaking
- Switching
- Forcing?

I hope to hear from you. Thanks you very much.”

Great question. Magic wallets have always been a fascinating topic for me; the idea that you can take an ordinary everyday object that looks completely nondescript and use it for the most incredible magic tricks is just amazing.

However at the same time, I appreciate that magic wallets aren’t cheap. Especially if you’re looking for quality.

What’s more, there’s A LOT of them. There’s almost too much choice when it comes to magic wallets; how do you even know where to start?

Today I’m going to give you the complete lowdown on purchasing your first magic wallet, depending on which effect you’re looking for.

Best Magic Wallet for Card to Wallet (Palming)

The classic versions of the card to wallet have always required palming, and it’s a solid choice if you know how to do it.

Plus Magic Wallet There are a lot of great wallets that accomplish the card to wallet effect using palming, but a tried and tested choice would be the Jerry O’Connell Plus Wallet.

This wallet isn’t cheap but it is often hailed as the ‘best magic wallet of all time’. It goes one step further than the majority of magic wallets out there in that not only does it enable you to load a signed card into your wallet, the signed card can appear within a sealed envelope inside the wallet.

This wallet also allows you to do more than card tricks as works with objects like signed coins or rings.

This leather wallet is really high quality and whilst the price point is higher than some of the others, anyone you ask will assure you that the wallet repays you time and time again within your performances.

Within your question, you mentioned that you wanted a smaller wallet that would easily pass as an everyday wallet. Luckily for you, the Jerry O’Connell Plus wallet comes in two sizes; you can buy either a Small or Large. The dimensions of the Small wallet are 150mm x 98mm and the Large sizes at 170mm x 100mm.

Real Mans Magic WalletIf you don’t have the funds for this wallet at the moment, you might want to consider the Real Man’s Wallet. It fits your requirements of being small and minimalist and the effect is great, but the price is much lower. I know a lot of magicians who vouch for this wallet and also use it for everyday use, so it’s another safe bet.

Best Magic Wallet for Card to Wallet (No Palming)

Palming is an absolutely vital skill for magicians, so I wouldn’t advise you to shy away from learning it. However, I understand that sometimes it’s just easier based on certain situations to have an option that doesn’t require such technical sleights.

Fortunately, there are plenty of magic wallets that don’t require palming. One of the most popular of these is the Mullica Wallet.

The Mullica Wallet lets you perform an incredible card to wallet effect with zero palming required. However, that doesn’t mean it’s sleight free! There are a few sleights you’ll want to know to get this trick working, but palming is not one of them.

You can check out this wallet here. In terms of pricing, it’s slightly cheaper than the previous wallet but not by much.

If you want to work up to a palming dependent method but start out easier, you could try the BMK Wallet. This wallet combines the methods used by three performers, Balducci, Mullica, and Kaps. There’s both a palm method and non palm method available.

However, some magicians have noted that the BKM wallet is perhaps a little too big for them; in that case you might be better using the Jerry O’Connell Plus Wallet I mentioned earlier as it also combines both palming and non palming methods.

Best Magic Wallet For Peeking

Wallets can also be used to great effect as a peeking device, and there’s plenty of products that offer this function.

My favorites are the Stealth Assassin Wallet and the Telethought wallet. Both of these are the perfect wallets for mentalists, but one is considerably cheaper than the other.

The Telethought Wallet

Imagine this: The magician presents an ordinary blank card and invites a spectator to write down ANY word they want on it. Once they’ve done so, the card is inserted face down into a wallet.

Despite the wallet staying in full view the whole time, the magician is able to reveal the exact word recorded on the card. This effect isn’t limited to words; the spectator could draw a picture or even write down a phone number!

Without revealing the method, it’s safe to say that this wallet utilizes an ingenious gimmick that is completely invisible to the spectator.

Like the others mentioned, this wallet is available in both Large and Small sizes (although the Small is considerably cheaper).

The Stealth Assassin Wallet.

The Stealth Assassin Wallet is a classy looking ‘Gentlemen’ style wallet that fits your hip pocket. It might not look quite like your everyday wallet but the effects that you are able to perform using it makes the unusual look definitely worth it.

In terms of size, whilst not as small as the other wallets mentioned, it isn’t overly large and can definitely pass as an everyday wallet.

This wallet uses a couple of different methods, including the wildly popular ‘Sight Unseen’ working, only within a wallet this time.

The Stealth Assassin Wallet is slightly harder to find online than the Telethought wallet but it is available at Magic Shop here.

Best Magic Wallet For Switching

Switch wallets make a great addition to packet trick routines; especially when you don’t want the audience examining your cards.

You perform your routine, and once you finish you pack the cards back into your wallet. Suddenly (but inevitably) a member of the audience starts clamoring to see the cards. With a sigh, you remove the cards from the wallet and let the audience inspect them for as long as they want. There’s nothing to see; you’ve already switched out the cards.

This one was a bit harder to come up with ideas for.

Why?

Well, the majority of magic wallets are designed primarily for either peeking or loading an object. Switching seems to be less of a priority and as a result there are fewer options on the market for it. However, there are a few solid products that are available to you; here’s my favorite.

Shogun Wallet

The Shogun Wallet is incredibly simple yet fooling. The wallet looks like a completely ordinary leather wallet but in fact enables you to switch out cards, packets, bank notes and pretty much anything you can imagine. The product description of this wallet describes it as ‘devious, yet innocent’, and I’d be inclined to agree.

All In One Wallets?

If you’ve been reading through this and feeling like you wanted a wallet that performed ALL of the features we’ve been discussing; card to wallet, peeking and switching, you might want to consider buying an all in one wallet.

Rather than spending hundreds on each individual wallet, you can buy a wallet like the Infinity Wallet that has a whole bunch of features packed into one wallet.

The Infinity Wallet is a multipurpose wallet that includes:

– Card to Wallet

– Peeking system

– Switching

– Multiple Outs

– Index System

That’s a lot of super useful features; in fact, this wallet alone would give you enough tricks for a full stage routine! I would definitely recommend this wallet for someone who wants a magic wallet but isn’t sure which type would suit them best.

You can have a play around with this one and get a feel for the different utilities; once you’ve spent a while performing with it you could go on to buy another wallet that specializes in the function you enjoy most.

For example, if you find whilst using this wallet that the card to wallet trick works wonders for you, you can come back and buy a specialist wallet for that very effect, such as the Jerry O’Connell one I mentioned earlier.

Finally, the original question also asked about forcing. Whilst there is not as many options for this, I did manage to find a wallet that looks like it could fit what you’re looking for in that regard here.

I hope you found this post useful in making your mind up on which wallet is best for you! Please feel free to follow up with any additional questions you have.

You may also find interesting:

The 6 best magic wallets reviewed

What’s the best magicians wallet for me?

TINT – Magic Review – Is It Any Good?

About the author: Benji is a hobbyist magician from the UK who also runs a magic site over at thedailymagician.com.

Which Magic Tricks Should Professional Magicians Use?

by Dominic Reyes 2 Comments

Which Magic Tricks

Andrew writes:

Hi guys, do you have any articles on which magic tricks professional magicians should use?

Hi Andrew,

I’ve written quite a few articles over the years that talk about which magic tricks I use myself, or that are recommended by other working magicians… But I’ve not made a specific list of material for professionals. After reading your question, I thought about why I hadn’t published anything on the subject.. I think it’s because of one main reason:

Almost ANY magic trick can be great material for a working magician. It depends on the performer, venues, audience, and the style of the act/set. To decide if a trick is suitable, we have to consider lots of factors about the performer and the situation.

Is the magician a children’s entertainer?
Does he or she perform is restaurants or busy bars and clubs?
Is it material for a stag or hen night group?
Will it be stage or parlor?

A magician might perform for any of these audiences and the magic tricks presented will be different in each case. It might be the case that you perform in several different environments and for a range of different clients. If so, then you will need to build together collections of effects into sets for each set of demands.

The close-up magician

Lets assume that the magician does close-up, performing in venues like bars, restaurants, and parties. Now that’s been narrowed down… It’s easier to examine some of the core features of magic tricks that make them good for professional use.

Before I start to point out ways to narrow down your selection of material, I need to point out that any trick can be a winner for professional performance.. IF it’s been worked on so that weak or impractical parts are ironed out and the magician can perform it in an entertaining way. It’s more about the showmanship and entertainment value from the performer, than the trick itself.

Is the trick Interesting to people that don’t care about magic?

I know… It’s very strange, but most people in the world really don’t get excited about the idea of learning magic tricks.. They’re interested in being entertained and might want to find out the secret out of mild curiosity, but that’s about it. The fact that magic ‘reveal’ TV shows tend to get low ratings is proof of this. People want to be entertained by magic, rather than educated about it. Remember this when choosing which tricks to add to your set.

YOU ARE NOT THE SAME AS YOUR AUDIENCE. You might like a trick because of the method as much as the entertainment value of the effect. Its vital to pick tricks for their entertainment value above all else. When looking at new tricks try to put yourself into the mind of a none magician… Show a performance to a few none magicians and watch their reaction. If it’s entertaining and you think you could perform it well… it’s probably a great magic trick for professional use.

However.. Most tricks need some specific design aspects to make them easy and practical for working conditions:

The demands on material in close up conditions

So.. I put forward that ANY trick is a good choice for a professional IF it can be presented well. But there are some tricks that are much easier to perform professionally than others. These tend to be called ‘Workers’. There are a few features to look for when deciding if a new trick can be a worker. Most of these will already be designed into a trick before it comes to market, but a few will require some thought and effort from you to adapt your material to meet these needs. The most useful features include:

Visual with lots going on.
Repeatable so you can move around the venue and perform the effect several times to different groups.
Quick reset times between performances. You need to get it set up again fast as you move between groups.
Good angles for performing in closed up crowded conditions.
Easy to follow plot so it can be understood by people that have been drinking and are in a busy environment.
Easy to adapt/stop/start as your audience are interrupted or distracted.
Easy on the pocket space. You are likely to be carrying a lot of stuff, so pocket management is essential.
As little risk as possible for maximum reward. The technique should be the bare minimum to give you the perfect effect. Every move that is not needed should be removed to reduce the likelihood of failure and the maximum focus on delivery over mechanics.

The most popular ‘workers’ for magicians

That’s why it’s hard to list which magic tricks are best for professional magicians. There are so many, and they depend a great deal on the individual performer and how they present the magic.

I could just list a few items that almost every working magician uses:

You can download a free tutorial for the Anniversary Waltz here

But… do you REALLY want to be a clone of everyone else? Pick a few unusual effects that you enjoy watching being performed. Make them workers with your presentation and some effort to perform them. You only stand out by working away from the crowd…

The first steps to becoming a professional magician

The 3 Best Openers for magicians

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2017

by Dominic Reyes 4 Comments

The Best Magic Tricks of 2017

2017 broke the mould for new innovations in magic. There were hundreds of fantastic tricks to work through but some just stood out against the rest.

How the award winning magic tricks are selected.

MoM is a magic shop and market place for magicians. So, right from the start we should point out that we stock most of the items that have won a best magic tricks award. However, Merchant of Magic is a ‘whole of market’ magic shop, with over 27,000 different magic tricks on sale. Merchant of Magic accepts no payment from manufacturers for listing in this award list. We have not included many items that are produced by The Merchant of Magic, so as to be as impartial as possible.

The winners of a best magic trick 2017 award are chosen from these sources of opinion:

Customer feedback.
Quantity of sales.
Level of returns.
The views of magic shop demonstrators.
Reviews and feedback from magic forums.
Real world testing by professional magicians.

The list is in no particular order.

Light Paint

Lightpaint

Lightpaint has never managed to stay on our shelf for more than a few days before it completely sold out. This was a real highlight and brought an elegant marriage between a “pick a card” trick and a “borrowed phone” trick. A card is selected and lost in the deck, the spectator is handed a blank card to hold whilst you snap a photo of them ON THIR PHONE holding the card. The selected card appears on the blank card they are holding in the picture… Find out more

Captive

Captive was the brainchild of Jimmy Strange early in 2017. Straight away we knew that this little pen trick would hit big. A PK effect where an isolated Sharpie lid falls over under test conditions AND it also comes with a bonus PK spinning Sharpie too… Find out more

T he Gift

The Gift sold out before launch. There was a global shortage for this trick which caused riots, chaos and the crash of Wall Street… Well maybe it wasn’t quite that bad, but we were inundated with requests for this before, during and after it’s global sellout. This is the perfect trick for tables and it’s simplicity is such an asset to it. A square gift box is set on the table and a deck of playing cards is removed from it. The playing cards are freely dealt one by one onto the table by your spectator who can stop whenever they like. Once they settle on a card you pick up the box and open it to reveal a folded piece of paper predicting the EXACT card they stopped on… Find out more

Tarantula II

Yigal Mesika released his vastly improved Tarantula 2 in 2017. This comes with a fully rechargeable USB battery, which means the longevity of your Tarantula gimmick is vastly improved. No more fiddling with batteries or worrying if you’re going to run out of power mid performance, Just pop the USB charger in and let it charge. No more fiddly on off buttons. The reel is on a constant recoil – like the Spider Pen, for a relaible levitation experience. Yigal teaches a plethora of amazing levitations and animations using the Tarantula 2… Find out more.

Marksman Deck

Luke Jermay wins with this deck. Literaly. The Marksman Deck is poised to become THE go-to marked deck for magicians. Meticulously developed by acclaimed mentalist Luke Jermay, the Marksman Deck has been designed with the professional performer in mind. It’s not JUST a marked deck: with one glance at the back you’ll know the card’s identity, the one after it, how far away the mate is, and FIVE other hidden features. Find out more.

Lolli Hero

Who loves lolly pops? Who loves Superheroes? Steve Rowe does, and so do we! Steve has literally blended two of our favourite things into one amazing magic trick. It’s really simple. You get your spectator to focus on their favourite super hero, you then put a lolly pop in your mouth and chew it. When you take the lolly out of your mouth you have somehow bitten it into the face of their hero… Find out more.

Tru

Rubber band magic is usually done in your own hands. Tru can be done in your spectators hands. Well Tru their fingers anyway… This is a multi phase ungimmicked rubber band routine where rubber bands penetrate both your own and your spectators fingers. Menny has worked and crafted this simple idea into a masterpiece. You really need to check this one out… Find out more.

Offworld

Offworld blew us away. We were all familiar with and enjoyed a good Out of This World, but then came along Offworld and POW. We were stunned. This quickly became a favourite for us to demonstrate in the shop and lots of you thought it was great too. This is a face up out of this world where your spectator names the colour of the next card in the deck, they are right 100% of the time. Red, Red, Red, Black, Red, Black, Black… The cards are dealt off one by one to show the colours named. This is a visually stunning demonstration of your spectators psychic ability. Find out more.

Which of the 2017 best magic tricks have we missed?

We’ve missed out a load of great magic tricks released in 2016! Everyone is so different, and we have probably missed the trick that you discovered and have loved performing.

DO THIS: Let us know which trick you think should be added and make sure you tell us why. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below:

Related Posts:

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2018

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2016

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2015

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2014

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2013

Best Magic Tricks Awards 2012

Which magic tricks missed out?

This list should be longer! There’s a few magic tricks missing from the list. They are the ones that YOU like best!

DO THIS: Let us know which trick you think should be added and make sure you tell us why. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below:

– See more at: https://blog.magicshop.co.uk/?s=awards#sthash.tyryUAI5.dpuf

Which magic tricks missed out?

This list should be longer! There’s a few magic tricks missing from the list. They are the ones that YOU like best!

DO THIS: Let us know which trick you think should be added and make sure you tell us why. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below:

– See more at: https://blog.magicshop.co.uk/?s=awards#sthash.tyryUAI5.dpuf