How To Start Learning Magic

A Magician is only an actor – an actor pretending to be a magician
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin

What is Magic?

Magic is the art of making the audience think they have seen an impossible feat. The magician may make things appear, disappear, and maybe reappear, destroy & repair an object, seemingly read people’s minds, any number of effects. The goal, generally, is to make an audience question reality. It is all tricks, of course. Anyone can study and practice enough to become a magician.

Where To Begin?

When I was young, my friends and I would see a magic show and want to learn how the tricks were done. We used to all start at the public library. We had no access to magic stores at that age, and it was decades before the internet came about. The public library had a few magic books and we would devour them.

The information is much easier to obtain now because of the internet. Some old school magicians talk about the internet “ruining” the secrecy of magic. I do not see it that way. The information was always available for those that wanted it – now it is just easier to get. Most people that do not really care about magic will not bother to look up how a trick is done.

The internet is the new public library. YouTube is definitely a major source of learning.

Books Or videos?

The question of books or videos still starts arguments among many magicians. There are pros and cons to each. I started with books, but tend to prefer videos now.

I have always been more of a visual learner, so the videos generally work better for me. I learned the basics in books, and while it was harder for me to grasp sometimes – the lesson stuck with me better, once I did ‘get it’.

That is a benefit of books. As you read you have to really figure it out for yourself. Some books are written better than others, and most have pretty bad pictures. So my friends and I would read over the instructions many times, and discuss them, to finally come up with what we thought they meant. It feels like a slower way to learn, but I do think the lesson was more deeply learned because of the extra work it took. In a video you watch the performer, he show you the moves (hopefully it is a decent video) and there is nothing for you to figure out. While that sounds better, it is also easy to gloss over the lesson and not really absorb it.

Books make it easy to make small notes and highlight sections for future reference. It is also easier to go back and forth between different pages. You can get e-books and use bookmarks and highlight a PDF with editing, but I prefer actual books for study. For general reading I use e-books all the time, but for actual studying I prefer real books. Perhaps that is just my age showing.

A well made video can have the benefit of clearer instructions. You do not have to guess what they magician means, or how the secret move works because they can simply show the move in the video – from numerous angles. For some effects that is preferable. I learned a lot of the basic moves in books, but some gave me a harder time than others. Rope magic in particular benefits from video examples. Describing the move in a rope trick is very hard without showing the move.

An exception to that is Tabary’s rope magic book (in the recommended book list, below). The book starts out with a couple grainy pictures and you think you got scammed… then it turns into a graphic novel, and you are initially confused (well, I was). The book is almost all illustrations, and in many ways is better than the rope videos I have seen. The illustrations are very clear, they show the audience view, the magician’s view, and clearly show the secret moves needed. There is an associated DVD that goes with it, but the book is incredible.

Here is a low resolution example. I do not want to show any of his tricks, but I want to show you what the book looks like. At first it seems odd, and then you start to absolutely love the simplicity of the instruction. As far as magic books go – this is one of the best I have seen for clearly saying (showing) what the author means.

Depending on your learning style, and what you are trying to learn, I think a mix of videos and books is the best way to learn.

Types Of Magic

When asking about the types of magic, I think the official answer is things like: Production, Transformation, Levitation, Prediction etc. While those are correct, I think most beginners are looking for an answer more like: Close Up, Stage, Comedy, Mentalism etc.

Venues

Stage Magic – The magician performs on a stage, for a large audience. Usually involving larger props.
Parlor Magic – A smaller audience usually on the same level as the magician. Usually smaller props and a more intimate show.
Close Up Magic – Performing in very close proximity to the audience, often surrounded, or done as a walk around performance.

Styles

Classic Stage – The traditional old school magician, suit or top hat, sawing a lady in half, levitating his assistant. Big classic show.
Escape Magic – Usually done on a large stage, but can be parlor or close-up. It involves handcuffs, chains, ropes etc. Houdini is one of the most famous escape magicians.
Card Magic – Pick a card/find a card, destroy & restore etc. Works well in parlor or close-up. Cards are usually too small for large stages unless there are monitor screens for ease of viewing.
Rope Magic – Cut & restore ropes, moving knots, etc. Works well in parlor or close-up, can work on stage with the right ropes.
Comedy Magic – Magic & comedy make a good combination. Harry Anderson and Penn & Teller are very well known for comedy magic. It is not limited to just clowns.
Kid’s Shows – Birthday parties, schools, libraries etc. Can be “serious” magic or comedy, depending on your style. Kids tend to respond well to comedy magic. For school or library shows you usually include some lessons for the kids.
Geek Magic – Also known as Shock Magic. The old freak show type magic. Eating razor blades, sword swallowing, needle through the arm kind of tricks.
Mentalism – Giving the impression the magician can read minds or influence people.

There are other venues, types, and styles and there is a lot of overlap. This is just a general list. You can mix and match in whatever way works for you. Street magic is a form of close-up magic; it can include geek, cards, rope etc. Kids magic is usually in the form of parlor magic, but can be close-up or walk around. Cards do not work well with smaller kids, but ropes and productions do. You need to know your audience, and your style.

Tips For Beginners

Learn The Basics – In the beginning of your journey do not worry too much about what type of magic to do, just learn the basics. Everyone wants to rush out and buy the latest and greatest effect (I know I did), and you probably will do just that. That is fine, but do not forget to learn the basics.
Purchase Slowly – Don’t waste too much money buying every new thing you see. There are a lot of tricks you can learn just using things you already have at home. (Penn & Teller do the cups & balls with plastic cups and balls of foil.)
Learn A Few Tricks Well – Get your basics down pat. Learn a few tricks that you can do very well. Having 30 tricks performed badly is a common mistake, and useless.
Practice More – An audience is great, but only when you are ready. The three main things you need to do are practice, practice, and practice. You need to get comfortable and proficient with the routine. Take the routine one step at a time, then one phase at a time, until you get the entire routine down pat. Say your patter out loud – even when rehearsing alone. It needs to be rehearsed just like the trick itself.
Perform For An Audience As Often As You Can – Performing for family and friends is an easy way to start, but they do not tend to give genuine criticism. Some will overly praise you; some will be overly aggressive and try to ‘bust’ every move you make. A real audience will let you know how you are doing. Messing up is not the end of the world, and can be a learning experience.
Use The Patter You Paid For – As you learn a new routine you do try to make it your own, but you should use the supplied patter when first learning an effect. A professional trick deserves professional patter. Quite often you will find the patter helps in the timing of the moves, and the pacing of the routine. Learning the trick as originally presented can help you learn it better. You can always add your own personality later.
Get A Mentor – One major problem with online ordering is that you lose the camaraderie of a good brick and mortar magic store. When we first discovered the local magic shop we were in heaven. The old guys would help us pick the right trick, and give us lots of tips and instructions. The online stores may have a better selection, but having a hands-on teacher is invaluable. Join a local magic club. If need be – start a local magic club.
The “Secret” Is Bogus – We all know that ‘a magician never tells how the trick is done’… yeah, whatever. It is true, but not the way most people think of. You are not protecting the secret from the audience; you are protecting the audience from the secret. The trick is only effective when the method remains a secret. If I show you a French drop and a finger clip… all of a sudden that coin vanish & reappear is not as impressive. Most people really do not want to know how a trick is done. Even the ones that think they want to know. As Daryl said: “Secrets aren’t so damned valuable. There are few that cannot be figured out by logical thinking ability.” It is not really a code of secrecy; it is not ruining the effect for the audience. You put a lot of time into perfecting the trick, why ruin it?
Get A Notebook – A magic notebook is a great tool and reference. As you learn new ideas, keeps notes about it. If you have a mentor you will want to write down most of what they tell you and show you. When you learn a new crafting item, draw pictures. One of my mentors taught me a great hat tear design. Had I not written it down it would have been lost. My mentor died a few years ago, and I forgot most of the instructions. Luckily I took very good notes.

One of the best magic lessons I have read came from David Berglas

“The most important things in the performance of magic are personality, presentation, effect, and method—in that order.”
David Berglas

Standing there doing a perfect trick with no personality is going to be boring for the audience (and probably boring for you as well). Your personality, your stage presence, your likeability are key to making you a performer and not a trick monkey. The effect and the method are certainly part of it, but far less important than most young magicians think (young as in early stages of magic, not age).

I saw a very entertaining show by Harry Anderson, at a magic club annual dinner. The next night he held a special class to teach us the show. Only then did I realize that in a 45 minute show he did 4 tricks (3 1/2 tricks really, the running gag trick never did get finished). The show was not about him slogging through 20 tricks a minute. It was about entertaining people.

Book Recommendations

Magic For Dummies, by David Pogue – I kind of hate to recommend this book because I do not like the ‘for dummies’ or ‘idiot guides’ as a general rule. They are usually poorly written, beginner books that you will outgrow before you finish the book. That being said… this is a very good book. It starts with the very basics, teaches some instant tricks, then goes into more advanced moves and tricks. It does not get too advanced but is a very good introduction.
Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic – This book is over 500 pages and covers pretty much everything you need to get started in magic. There are effects in this book that you will see professional magicians still doing. Well illustrated, well explained.
Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz – Covers magic as a performing art. He goes into character creation, dealing with audiences, phases of a routine… lots of very good information and advice.
Abbott’s Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks For Magicians – This book covers everything about rope work. Because it is an encyclopedia it has almost too much information. But it is indexed well, so you can find what you are looking for. It is illustrated, but not as well as I would like. A great reference book.
The Award-Winning Rope Magic Of Francis Tabary – As mentioned above, this is the best book on ropes I have seen. It is presented in almost a storyboard style. Not much writing at all. But the detail of the illustrations really helps show the moves needed for some of the most amazing rope routines you will ever see.
Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic – Another encyclopedia-like book. Bobo is seen as the best book on coins. The explanations are clear and it is well illustrated. In 350 pages there are over 100 coin sleights, almost 250 coin tricks, and more than 500 illustrations.
Royal Road To Card Magic – This is the go to book for all things cards. It covers all the major forces, flourishes, shuffles, cuts etc. There is a routining section that is very good.
Nick Trost Subtle Card Creations Vol 1 – There are currently 9 volumes to this exhaustive work. The 1^st volume has some of the most basic instructions, and still covers many great card effects, some using full decks, and a section on packet tricks. This is by far my favorite book for card magic.

To purchase these books, and other magic supplies, please use my Magic Shop. They are affiliate links – but cost you nothing extra – they just help support the work of this blog and video channel. Thanks!

Video Recommendations

Born To Perform Card Magic by Oz Pearlman (Penguin Magic) – An in depth DVD on card magic. It covers the shuffles, cut, deals, forces, and then goes into routining and performance demos. A well organized disc of great information. The DVD is chaptered and easily searched – the download of the full video, I cannot say.
Born To Perform Svengali by Oz Pearlman (Penguin Magic)- The Svengali does a lot more than most people think it does. This disc goes into a lot more detail than I expected. A lot of really good card handling advice.
Sponge by Jay Noblezada (Penguin Magic) – Everything you need to get started with sponge balls. Fun teacher, very clear instructions. Don’t underestimate the sponge.
Darwin’s Encyclopedia Of Thumb Tip Magic – Yes, a 3 DVD set on thumb tips. Insane, right? Not as crazy as it sounds. This is a great set of DVDs, full of very good tricks, and wonderful commentary by Gary Darwin. You will probably not use all the tricks he shows, but his tips, handling, insight, and commentary are invaluable.
Seriously Silly by David Kaye – If you are into kid’s magic at all, this is for you. He has some great routines, sells some amazing props, and gives tons of good advice. There is also an accompanying book, which I highly recommend. (If you can only get one – I would get the DVD.)

Trick Recommendations

To start out do not worry so much about what style of magic, or even your character, just learn the basics. There are some effects that I think everyone should learn at the beginning. Even if you do not use them later, they are a good base for your magic education. Some of these props are easily made, or inexpensively purchased from any magic dealer.

Cups & balls – I think by now most people know how this is done, but when done well it is still a very entertaining routine. Also, learning to do it well will teach some very good skills. You can buy a set or make your own (Remember, Penn & Teller use disposable plastic cups and foil balls – can’t get much cheaper than that).

Sponge Balls – These will teach you a lot about palming, clipping, angles… very good for learning the basics. I think too many magicians underestimate the sponge balls. I love them and get great reactions with them.

Stripper Deck, Svengali Deck, Marked Deck, Invisible Deck – Yes, buy them all. There are some easy basic tricks to be done with these and some real surprises as well. Penguin Magic sells some in depth DVDs on the Svengali and Stripper.

Thumb Tip – Most of us got a thumb tip with their first magic set and did not know how to use it properly, got busted, and never used it again. This is a good tool, and will teach some good basic skills.

A Spool Of Magician’s Rope – What we call “magician’s rope” is not a trick rope. There are no springs, magnets, or trap doors. It is just a very soft and pliable rope, with or without a core, depending on your preference. It is a consumable item, but worth the expense. If you can find a locally available rope that is comparable, you may get it cheaper.

Playing Cards – You will want some regular decks of cards, and some packet tricks. The Nick Trost book (above) has a whole section of packet tricks, most of which you can make yourself. Bicycle cards are the most commonly used card in the US, and are very dependable cards. Most gaff cards you buy will be Bicycle backs. I stick with the basics, red & blue. Buy a few extra decks and do not get too attached to a deck – you may start to do signed cards, torn & restored, a lot of tricks will use up some cards. Do not be afraid to destroy a deck, and keep the extra cards to practice with – or to make your own packet tricks.

Rubber Bands – There are some good impromptu tricks to be done with rubber bands. They are very portable and you can practice anywhere. Sponge balls or an egg bag look suspicious (or at least planned) but rubber bands seem impromptu.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of books, videos, or supplies, but should be a good start. Keep it fun, practice often, and keep learning. Very soon you may start coming up with your own magic ideas.