My own advice for newbies would be to try and ascertain what kind of magic you enjoy WATCHING...
My own personal favourites are card and coin - mainly because I admire the skill and dexterity required to perform baffling and impossible illusions right beneath the spectator's nose.
To me, stage and large scale illusion is a little too easy - once it's set up, the magician does very little of the work - and the skill is more in the hands of the prop designers and stage engineers.
So, initially, the idea would be to work out what sort of magic you imagine doing and if you'd enjoy it.
Secondly, I would like to say that most of us here are *not* doing this for a living... it's something we do to while away the hours and keep our grey matter from subsiding. Yes, I believe that a few of us do 'gigs' at local clubs and the like, but it ain't putting bread and butter on the table!
The other thing to think about cost... I'm not alone here when I say that I've invested £££'s over the years in buying 'mutton dressed as lamb'... i.e. effects and tricks which are dressed up in so much as the manufacturer's description sounds great - but what you end up with is £15 worth of nothing - or the so called (dreaded) 'back of the bottom drawer' magic.
As already suggested, one of the best sources of magic to whet your appetite is reading/video material. The only props needed are sometimes found around the house - i.e. rubber bands, pencils, cups, keys, coins, paperclips - in fact, there are many quite good DVDs at
www.emagictricks.co.uk which serve the purpose of introducing you to effects slowly and inexpensively.
Most magic is based on principles and 'moves'. There are a few 'key' principles which you'll learn which will make you versatile - and it's these principles and moves that form the base of most effects. These are the magician's secret tools, and although they're quite closely guarded - they are equally quite easily available.
Examples of principles would be Concealments, Steals, Vanishes, Productions, Switches, Ditches... these are common terms in the world of us magi, and they're the building blocks of magic. Learning the basics first is EXCELLENT advice, before you go out and spend your bucks on bigger effects and ready made tricks.
There's a whole host of magic that you could be doing NOW with what you've got in your room.
And as far as card magic goes, I agree that some of the easiest, most visual and baffling magic can be done with a Svengali Deck, a Stripper (or Wizard) deck or just regular cards. You'll be performing miracles almost instantly - and the buzz you'll get when you first unleash your magic 'powers' on friends and family is the buzz that will carry you forward. Nothing quite like the thrill of seeing someone's jaw dropping...
Stick with Bicycle Poker cards, as suggested. The prices when compared to the far lesser brand Marvin's Magic stuff is negligible - and the quality of the Bicycle brand cards is renowned and proven - almost every magician using cards will be using Bikes.
So, the bottom line?
Who's your favourite magicians?
What's your favourite type of trick?
Have you ever been to a 'live' magic show? What did you think?
Do you perform magic now, if so, what do you do?
Answer a few questions, and we'll give you some more pointers, I'm sure... but the world of magic is a VERY diverse and varied place!
?..and a basica 'how to get into it the easy way'?..please?
