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Had my brother around last night, and after he'd spent an hour 'wow-ing' at some of the NUMS shop stock, I told him that most magic is learned from books and other magicians, and not always do you need fancy props like the ones I'd shown him to make magic.

So to prove it, later on, I did CMH—which blew him away.

I then did my own 50/50 trick on him with beer bottle tops, which theoretically won me a tenner.

Then a quick billet trick, where I asked him to write down someone's telephone number who he knows, but I couldn't possibly know, and their name. We burned the billet (hee hee) and I 'read' the ashes. This one absolutely gobsmacked him when I not only got the name, but all but one of the digits (I NEVER purposefully announce all digits correct—I find that one wrong is a good authenticator)

And to finish, I did a napkin tear & restore (after a quick setup of course). I think that this was the least impressive to him, as he knew somewhere around were the 'torn' bits. But the version I performed was where you have what 'appears to be torn' pieces tucked in your hand, whereas, in fact, it's another whole napkin. A great little effect, and this additional kicker sealed it.

It got me thinking that over the years, even back in my younger CUPS suffering days, I've spend oodles of cash on one-hit effects which seemed great at the time, but from a practical point of view, most of the stuff I perform regularly is stuff which has stuck in my head from books.

Hidden away in the recesses of my overloaded brain are is a compendium of magic which can be done almost anytime, anywhere, with anything. Little things which are certainly as, if not more, impressive to laypeople than expensive props or gimmicks.

Learning fundamental sleights and principles gives you building blocks. Blocks which help your creative process. And it's hard to explain this to an eager beginner who has a plethora of ready-to-roll, 'perform out of the bag' magic effects available to them.

Luckily, a lot of the better packet tricks out there also teach basic sleights, and video magic can teach basics, but I think when the sleights are taught as part of a larger commercial effect, they are easily forgotten.

What I personally would love to see is Ellusionist selling classic text books along side their one-hit-wonders. For sure, people could make a whole commercially profitable gig by spending a few hundred $ with them.

But, they could make a CAREER out of spending far less on books.

I know I'm going over old ground, but I really was amazed last night at how differently a total layperson finds magic in what we consider to be the simplest effects.

Certainly, I'm all for new creations and gorgeous and clever gimmicks and props, but I think my bottom line with this tale is that from all the stuff I've ever bought, the REAL workers in terms of readily usable and memorable foolers are those which I've picked up and loved along the way from hard, solid learning and practice.

But I still love my TT

But I still love my TT

Which is far and away the best magical tool there is.

It's why RRTCM is such a classic...

not only does each chapter concentrate just on one sleight, but then you see the effects that follow that utilise it...thats what sticks in your mind (well, my mind at least), you spend the time learning just one thing...

then bang!

this door in your mind swings open and a whole new world suddenly sits at your feet...then each and every other chapter just opens more and more doors and pathways...to sneakiness, beauty and aching fingers...genius...

I am old enough to be of a generation who learned everything from books. Educational TV was in its infancy when I left school in the mid 60s and was not considered a serious option for learning at the grammar school I attended.

I subsequently completed my education with an HNC through my local Tech College (apologies to anyone who doesn't recognise the term), agan with book learned subjects.

So I find learning magic from books a) the easiest way and b) such huge value for money. Lat night I sat down to start cataloguing the tricks I could do. I find that I learn a trick, perform it for a while, half forget it and don't realise how wide my repertoire is. I found when I really thought it through that whilst I have a few I have learned from DVDs, Oz Pearlman, Jay Sankey and Simon Lovell specifically, virtually none of them use any sleights I didn't originally learn from RRTCM and none of them were as clever as the ones I learned from John Bannons Dear Mr Fantasy.

I know that this is only part of what Siege is saying, simplicity being the othr major point being made, but I do feel that an awful lot is being lost by people who dive in to gimmicks and packet tricks to the exclusion of learning the basics.

I have my share of gimmicks and packets, I seldom go out without Twisted Sister or Strange Travellers but Twisted Sister still relies on a book learned count to pull it off and Strange Travellers is just good fun when you see the reaction it gets.

If you add to the sum of specialist books like RRTCM and Dear Mr Fantasy a publication like Mark Wilsons Encyclopedia Of Magic you have an enormous wealth of magic for a realtively small outlay. It just takes a little time and effort to get your head round it.

Johnny Wizz wrote:If you add to the sum of specialist books like RRTCM and Dear Mr Fantasy a publication like Mark Wilsons Encyclopedia Of Magic you have an enormous wealth of magic for a realtively small outlay. It just takes a little time and effort to get your head round it.

i would seriously recommend seventh heaven by lewis jones to RRTCM and Dear Mr Fantasy as absolute "must-haves"....

ooh and here's a boring fact for some of you; Dear Mr. Fantasy is also a track and album by a 60s band called Traffic...

What a great essay, Seige!

The new book I'm working on at the moment is a little like this. Provisionally called "Naked Mentalism", it's a collection of techniques (psychological and statistical) that you can perform any time, any place, without any props or set up of any kind. In fact, you can do them all naked if you have to. There's no centre tears, no billets, nothing. It's all completely mental in origin with no apparent method at all - just like the "real thing".

There, I announced it. Do you hear that, brain? You're going to have to finish it now!

It seems daft, but I think this is a "less is more" situation. The more outlandish a trick is, the more people are likely to blame a gimmick or artifice.

I get CUPS for books, I've not bought a single effect yet. As it happens, Seventh Heaven was one I get recently, although it's not here yet.

Great post Seige and I totally agree.

I've not been in this game as long as most of you have but I've found books much better value than the Ellusionist one trick ponies or one off gimicks.

Some people must spend an absolute fortune on DVDs and gimmicks that never get used. You can get so much more from a good book and a little bit of work than you can from expensive, one off gimmicks. I just love the fact, that with a little bit of thought you can pick up pretty much anything and perform some quite nice magic with it. I did quite an interesting ACR with beer mats at the pub a few weeks ago, did you know you can DL a beer mat? It's the sort of sleights and techniques that allow you improvise in that way that people miss out on with the DVDs.

Another bonus of a book is that it forces you to think about the presentation of the trick. So many people seem to get a DVD and perform it like a robot, following the exact presentation and patter of the creator.

it's funny. i happen to own one gimmick, which is a svengali deck, which i bought for my Tsunami routine. other then that i have none. except the NFW which was given to me. i don't like gimmicks and gaffs much to be honest. i prefer totally impromptu effects because if you get caught, you know you need practice and if you amaze them you know you've worked hard to and not relied in a gimmick. when in school i often just throw a routine together JUST with a deck of cards, and they will all stay until i say "right that's your lot, bu**er off " an effect might not go to plan, but because of the knowledge i have gained from RRTCM i can easily go in to another effect. maybe i might throw some coin stuff in there. i don't know many coin sleights, but a quick coin routine with a french drop and making "the" coin appear under their watch is great. i don't mind singular impromtu effects, such as shade, which i might be being soon (if-ing and ar-ing) because of the fact it looks good and it's impromptu. but when it comes to such things like an ID, which I'm glad i never bought, there is only one possible outcome really.

"learning is fun"...welll sometimes. :p

That was a good read there!!

I have to say that in my short time in magic I have found two items that have helped me far more than everything else and they are a deck of bikes and royal road.

I also found that the more gimmicks and props I had- people knew it was a 'magic trick' and would ask what it did. Were as I get far better reactions with everyday objects.

I've bought DVD's in the past as well and found them no where near as good as books. In terms of material and value for money. I also get a strange feeling when reading a book that I'm learning from a legend. Rather than watching a hyped up DVD with some flash guy driving a Porsche and regurgitating some tricks.

i still use every single one of my magic books, i have them perpetually on a circular reading system...i've just started re-reading scarne on card tricks and kenton's kentonism....

stuff you overlook at one point, you re-discover the next time...

self-confidence, performance and experimentation just keeps everything nice and fresh...

I couldn't agree more

I think I'm in that turning phase right now. A few years ago I started taking magic far more seriously and it hopped to the top of my hobby list to obsession.
In that time I have aquired many a one off effect and more than a few Dvds most of which are great effects.
However what I have found through performing is that it is the classic close up effects are the ones getting the best reactions.
As anyone with a partner will know they can suffer from magic fatigue (they fail to be impressed anymore) but effects like chop cup and sleights like the rub a dub vanish seem to send my girlfriend into a clapping frenzy.
I think a magicians goal should be to master the simple and allow the performance to create the magic.
My personal goal toward magic perfection would be to leave the house with a deck, a TT and a brain full of ideas

What I find the most fascinating is that I have literally got boxes full to the brim of prop-based and gaff based stuff. So much so that I couldn't even begin to tell you what was in those boxes. And probably equating to at least £5-10k worth of cack.

Ask me to take out a random effect, and I bet I wouldn't have the first clue how to perform it. For sure, grab Color Monte or Airtight, or something else that I ENJOY(ed) performing, and I'd probably muddle my way through.

But, the raw fact is, I had to learn the hard way... seeking out books, buying simple magic props and practice practice practice.

And I can honestly say that will all the stuff I've bought or acquired over the last 20 or so years of magic dabbling, I've possibly forgotten more than most newbies will ever know in terms of this stuff.

But what's left after I strip away the gaffed decks, the gimmicked widgets and the one-trick-pony DVDs and booklets?

Pure, raw knowledge. Foundational knowledge which lets me see beyond the obvious. And for that, I am so grateful I was born before the era of over-saturation and accessibility of magic.

seige wrote:£5-10k worth of cack.

OUCH!

That is a lot of cack!

I haven't got the money to spend on all the expensive DVDs and gimmicks so have always had to make do. Because of that and some brilliant guidance when I first got started, I've not really bought anything that I don't use.