Magic tricks for beginners

Also if your just starting out, take a few moments to read the following advice from one who knows!

1. Effect Vs. Method
   This is a constant debate among new magicians. Working pro's know the truth and that is that effect is everything and method is secondary. Never look down on the method because it is simple. The response and the experience the spectator has is the most important thing. Magicians are more impressed with method than the effect but remember, "...what magicians like often will bore laymen and vice-versa."
    
2. Pick A Card Tricks-Do Laymen Really Hate Them?
   Of course not, in fact on the contrary. I've actually seen magicians (who don't make a living) tell laypeople "I understand that people hate pick a card tricks, so let's do one and get it out of the way." Laymen will decide what they like or dislike and why would you plant such a negative idea in their mind? It is our job to entertain them and they like being involved in the magic since it is entertaining. Laymen don't hate any aspect of magic, and most have not seen enough magic to discern one element of the art from another. What they don't like is BAD magic.
    
3. Don't Be Afraid to Adapt
   We all have different sized hands and different styles. You are not doing anything wrong by changing the technique so that you can do it more effectively. Experiment with the grips and handlings and you never know... you may invent something no one else has ever thought of.
    
4. Never Look Down On a Prop or Method
   Don't discriminate for you may miss out. I have heard countless magicians criticizing another magician for doing "standard" or "easy" routines. Remember that it's not the tricks they are really interested in...it's YOU. Anyone who criticizes another performer for using sponge balls as an example didn't learn anything from watching Albert Goshman do it! Many don't realize that Ascanio was famous for his colour changing knives routine. When Ascanio did it for me I immediately went out and bought a set of knives. Being able to do a few basic routines and make them entertaining (for example, with humour) will get you a lot more work and attention than having great technical skill but not being able to entertain your way out of a wet paper bag. Remember that the simple effects are strong because the audience understands them more. The plots are very simple and need little explanation. This doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with technical magic for some of it is truly wonderful, but it does mean if you can't do a great bottom deal all is not lost. You can still be a successful magician. This is the beauty of this art...there is great opportunity for EVERYONE.
    
5. Starting Out
   Learn the moves and routines that are basic or easiest (1) first. Most of the moves marked as easiest are used in the majority of routines so you gotta know 'em. Just because it is simple doesn't mean it's not important.
    
6. How Many Times Should I Practice a Move?
   Practice of course in front of a mirror, but never practice a move more than three times in a row. This is great advice given to me by the late Larry Jennings who started learning magic quite late in life. Do the move no more than three times and then analyze what you are doing and make the proper corrections. This will avoid the common habit of practicing a move over and over again without thinking only to find out you have been doing it ineffectively. Of course you must be able to do the move without thinking but you have to think sometime...practice is for thinking!
    
7. When Performing Know When To Quit.
   This is a toughie. Most people get such enjoyment from the response they get from doing magic for people that they get to the point where they are actually imposing themselves on others. It's hard to stop. Professionals have an instinct and know just when to stop so the audience is left still wanting more. But amateurs don't yet possess this skill (and it is a skill) that is vital to the livelihood of the working pro. Magic takes away the senses of logic and reasoning, the very reason why some people hate magic. You just can't do this to some people for very long. As a rule, in an impromptu environment, two or three effects are enough. Start off with two and if they request it do one more. Take a lesson from a good professional comic and leave while they're still laughing. You want to be the one who quits, for if they quit on you (and they eventually will) the jig is up.
    
8. Try Different Things
   Just because you may choose not to perform a certain branch of magic doesn't mean you can't learn from it. A perfect example of this is the Cups And Balls in which a good routine alone is a complete lesson in sleight of hand. All of the principles of magic can be found in this one facet of the art. Learning a coin routine can teach you a lot about palming. We have over the years learned routines that we would never use but found great moves and principles that we could utilize for other things. Sometimes the true gems take a little work to find but the more you do the more you learn.
    
9. Do I Really Need To Learn The Pass?
   This is one of the greatest debates among card magicians, the argument being that the pass is not necessary to control one card. Some feel it is like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly. Do you REALLY need it? In all truth you don't REALLY need a top palm. It all depends on the type of magic you want to do and without a top palm (as an example) you would be missing out on a lot!
   The same can be said for the Pass since a lot more can be done with it than controlling a single card, as some of the routines on this site will show you. It all depends if you want to be able to do these types of routines. Plus, having a really good pass totally irritates those who can't do it.
    
10. Sleights Are Not Tricks.
    That's right, the sleight or move is not a trick in itself, meaning it is meant to be hidden within a routine and the more cleverly hidden the better. You really don't want your audience to know that you can control their card at will without them seeing it. Treat each and every move as if it were a palm. You would never expose how well you can palm a card and every move deserves (if it's to serve you well) the same type of consideration.
     
11. Are Flourishes Bad?
    Another popular debate among magicians. The belief being that flourishes show skill and you want to conceal your skill as much as possible. Well, we've been performing and making a living for years and here are our conclusions.
    Card cheats are the only card handlers that must hide their skills at all costs. There is nothing wrong with a magician taking the same approach, but people no longer believe us to be supernatural beings that pluck physical properties from the ether with unerring difficulties. They know we have and practice skills. These skills are a mystery to them and not obvious but they know it is all explainable through logical means. This drives home the importance of being a good entertainer. When they're fooled and they don't care because they are having such a good time, you've done your job. In fact, you've reached a level many magicians will never reach or understand. Do flourishes impede this goal? The answer is a big resounding NO! Now some moves do look better if done sloppily...so do them sloppily. But when you do that one handed cut, make it look slick! That is ...if you like flourishes.
     
12. I think I Know How You Did That.
    You'll hear this from time to time. Most of the time they don't know how it's done, but if they have a reasonable explanation, even if it's wrong, the gig's over. Our job, remember, is to leave no logical explanation of what has transpired. WE are long time pro's and know how to use humour to help us jump right into the next effect and literally not give them time to think of an explanation of what they just saw...but once in a while it even happens to us. Ross Bertram once said that one out of every six people knows how the trick was done. They may not be certain if they are right, but the truth is they are. The mind of the spectator is a funny thing and a magician is a good psychologist in his own right. The spectator will grasp the first most logical conclusion only to quickly dismiss it because of something the magician did or said to cancel out that idea. Like a con artist the magician must learn to understand what the spectator is thinking through every phase and systematically eliminate that possibility. Many effects are sold just for the sake of effect and don't do that. We don't teach those effects. Pay attention to some of the insights explained along with the moves, for often these are the real secrets of the art. Of course some people actually will know...don't let it frustrate you. The great Hermann himself couldn't impress SOME people.
     
13. "Do It Again"
    This is not a compliment!
    Do not do it again!
    Nuff' said.
     
14. Can I Use The Gambling Techniques To Cheat At Cards?
    The techniques we demonstrate are for the entertainment environment. Yes, bottom deals, second deals, and all the various switches can definitely be used to cheat if you understand how cheats actually work and create favourable environments that allow these moves to "fly"(which you don't). But our goal is to teach you these moves to entertain with. No doubt many will ask you if you can cheat at cards and you won't disappoint them with showy demonstrations. But in a safe environment. As a famous author and ex- cheat once wrote, "...Though the techniques are very impressive and the skill is to be admired remember what a cheat really is...the lowest form of a human being possible."