How To Become A Magician For Beginners?

There are many things to consider when you start out on your magical journey. My name is Phil Taylor, I’ve been a magician for over twenty years. I absolutely love magic. This is blog I wish I had when I stated out in magic. You’ve properly seen someone perform something amazing and thought I’d love to do that. Well, that’s where I started in magic. I remember seeing my first card trick where the card raised to the top of the deck. It was magic in my eyes, amazing. From that moment on, I was totally hooked. I knew there and then magic was going to be the thing I did for the rest of my life…

 

 

Choose The Tricks You Like.

 

 

The first thing for any beginner magician is to choose the tricks you like, the first thing that caught your eye. That something amazing you witnessed. That one thing you wished you could do. Was it a card trick? Was it someone reading your mind? Ask yourself what you really enjoyed. That is the first building block to becoming a magician.

Start somewhere, so choose one of the below areas in magic.

Card Tricks

Mind Reading

Coin Tricks

Stage Magic

 

 

We Have Our First Building Block.

 

We have picked an area of magic we want to learn. Now comes the tricky part. Choosing a trick to perform. There are thousands of magic tricks to learn from. One of the easiest ways to learn magic is to go to YouTube and type in “card tricks” There will be thousands of videos to choose from the problem beginner magicians have where do I start? Well, I would say don’t go to YouTube, you maybe learning from someone who doesn’t know what they are doing, they may teach you something that is incorrect. The best way is to go to a magic dealer and purchase a download, so you can learn from the best magicians from around the world and take a massive shortcut on your learning journey. Even if you learn one trick or effect from a professional magician, you have that trick for life and that’s the key to magic learning from the very best magicians something amazing.

 

 

What Is Card Magic?

 

We have all seen someone we know perform a card trick, usually an uncle or Dad. Basically, a card trick is performed with a deck of cards, you can have gimmicked cards (trick cards) marked cards (you can see the markings on the back) and many more. There are also many brands of cards, but the ones most magicians use are called bicycle cards, they are the best.  You can find the best cards here.

 

 

What Are Coin Tricks

 

The simplest coin magic trick to perform is to make a coin disappear. But there are many more tricks you can do with coins. You can make coins fly across from one hand to another, one at a time. You can bend coins with your hands, you can make many coins appear in a spectator’s hand. You can melt coins, change coins, and much more. Coin magic is one of the most toughest skills to master, but the most rewarding. When you see a magician perform coins magic, it really looks amazing.

 

 

What Is Mind Reading?

 

Mind reading is having a thought plucked from your mind without you giving anything away. But it also implanting ideas and objects into peoples minds. You can have spectators look at pages from a book and know what word they are thinking of. You can tell a person’s future and past just by looking that them. Mind reading or mentalism as it called is one of the most powerful skills to learn, and some methods are not that hard to learn as a beginner.

 

 

What Is Stage Magic?

Stage magic differs from any of the above. It requires a unique skill set and understanding. There are plenty of magicians who transition from close up to stage magic. If that is the area that most interests you as a beginner, then I think it would be wise to lean about stage craft first. You can also check out Morgan and Wests book or podcast we recently did with them here.

 

What Is A Magic Dealer?

 

A magic dealer is a shop usually online that sells magic tricks and props. I buy most of my magic tricks from Mechanician of Magic, they have a great selection of beginners magic tricks.

 

 

Picking A Magic Trick.

 

Ok it’s time to pick your magic trick you know what you want to learn, card, coins or mind reading Im going to recommend a few to get you started.

1. How to Do Street Magic DVD – By Ellusionist (this was my first ever DVD set that changed my life)

2.Card College Volume 1 by Roberto Giobbi – Book (If reading is your gig and you want to learn more about card magic than I couldn’t think of a more recommendation book there is a whole series to collect taking you from the beginner to more professional card master.

3. Royal Road to Card Magic (Download) If you’re more of a visual learner, then this DVD set is impressive. Paul will walk you through the basics of card magic sleight of hand and teach a different trick in each chapter.

4. Invisible Deck Bicycle (Red) one of the most power full magic tricks you can perform, and it’s easy to learn and cheap to purchase.

5. Complete Intro to Coin Magic – VIDEO DOWNLOAD OR STREAM, this is the first ever DVD I owned on coin magic and it still stands the test of time. If you want to get into coin magic, this is a must for beginners.

6.13 Steps To Mentalism (6 Videos) by Richard Osterlind – VIDEO DOWNLOAD OR STREAM (If you want to learn mind readying, then there this download set will turn you from a beginner into a master in no time at all)

 

 

Practicing Your First Magic Trick.

 

Once you have selected your first magic trick to learn how do you go about practicing? Well, there are a few ways to do this. Make sure you are learning from the very best magicians that’s always my first go to. Watch the trick a few times or read the description a few times. Get a good understanding of how it looks and feels before you look at the method.

 

 

Learn The Method.

 

Ok, now its time to learn the mechanics behind the trick. Firstly take an over view of the method. You just want to read or watch it all the way through. We are building our knowledge and connecting the dots. Now re-watch the trick once you understand how it works. You will see where the moves are happening and how the magician is getting in and out of the mechanics.

 

Top Tip

Make sure you remove all distractions. No TV, no phone, no noise. This will enhance your learning experience ten fold. For faster ways to learn about learning, check out Ultralearning by Scott H. Young

 

Time to Break It Down.

 

Take your cards or coins, it’s time to understand how you interpret moves. With the cards in hand, try to follow the instructions one phase at a time. It’s going to take a bit of time to understand how the moves work and a lot of rewinding and really understand how the moves are executed. Don’t give up, this is where the hard work is put in. Putting the effort in now will pay off tenfold later on.

 

 

Record yourself.

 

The very best way to learn is to watch yourself on video. Take a phone and go through the routine from start to finish. Play it back, what did you like? What could be better? Work on the areas you think need improvement.

 

 

You Need A Script.

 

You have learnt a trick, you can perform it with no troubles. Now its time to create a script. There needs to be a reason you are performing this trick? A story or patter that goes with the effect that really sells the idea. A hook, as it called in the magic world. By creating interest and idea, you are building your trick into something special. Take a listen to other magicians online, see what is working for them. There are some brilliant ideas.

 

 

Your First Performance.

 

It’s time you have brought your trick, you have practiced and have your patter down. You need to think about how you will perform your first trick. I would suggest not asking people to watch you, I would wait until you are at a dinner party or with friends and family and when the conversation is steered toward you, you can then talk about what you’ve been up to. It leads itself nicely without asking people to watch you who may not be interested. I made the mistake of asking people who didn’t want to watch magic. Think about your environment and who you want to share your gift with. Will they enjoy your magic, will they want you to succeed? Only share magic with people who you like.

 

 

Last Bit Of Advice.

 

Join a magic club. If you want to learn faster than there is no better way than to find your local magic club and connect with people who share your interest. They will help you learn faster and point you in the right direction, and if you’re lucky, you will find a mentor who can guide you and help you develop into a better magician.

Finally, there are plenty of free resources available to learn from I run the UK largest podcast for magicians call the Magicians Advice Podcast we cover loads of topics. Check it out here.

Thanks for reading.

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