talkmagic.co.uk

I was just wondering how long everyone here has been doing magic. I've been doing simple magic for roughly one month. I am not really good at it, though, and resources are slim in my rural area. I was wondering a few things. A. How long have you been doing magic? B. What was your first trick you could do? C. Do you know any good sites to learn cheap magic without trick objects or trick objects that can be homemade?

I hope the forum is a good place to ask this question, because everyone here seems to know a lot about the craft.

Thanks for any help,
JAlexBrown

I've been "doing magic" for around 50 years and started with at the age of 5 with packet tricks from Ellisdons.

As you're clearly older than I was, I suggest you buy a copy of "Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic" which will tell you everything you need to know and a lot more besides. You can get it on Amazon.

Forget about "free" tricks from websites.

Barry

magicofthemind wrote:As you're clearly older than I was, I suggest you buy a copy of "Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic" which will tell you everything you need to know and a lot more besides. You can get it on Amazon.
Forget about "free" tricks from websites.

Some good advice from magicofthemind. Although of course we know very little abiout you. Why not add a few details to your profile?

Although the Mark WIlson book is very good, and undoubtedly a classic, I would actually recommend the Nicholas Einhorn book. "The Art of Sleight of Hand and Magic" as I think the colour photos just help learnin that much more.

To echo what he said though - if you are serious about learning magic don't bother with free online resources. Go for books.

If you are not serious about learning magic. Well, you are probably in the wrong place...

Since 1964

I've been dabbling since I was about 8 but doing it more seriously for the last 2 years.

ive been doing close up magic like coin vanishing and cards tricks for the last 4 monthes and im getting pretty good at it =)

Since about 1979.

I also agree, learn from books. The amateurish and bastardised rubbish available on YouBoob will do nothing for you if you're serious.

Bear in mind most of today's best magicians learned without the internet, and mostly without video or DVD.

The problem with learning from 'free' stuff or from DVD is that you also pick up any bad habits that the performer has.

for about 2 months now, although I dabbled a little when I was younger and received a paul daniels magic set

I have mainly been working through royal road to card magic, and it is well worth the tenner you can get it for, I found it in my local waterstones but it is availabe pretty much everywhere. Found it invaluable, not only for learning enough sleights and moves for infitnite possibilities of card tricks (with a little imaination) but also a good inducion into the workings of magic.

If you do go for this, as I suspect many people will suggest it, really work through it and pay attention, and practice loads and loads. It will soon start to pay off and you will see results almost immediately. In my opinion, it would be a good idea to start off with overhand shuffle controls and the glide. These open up a whole range of impressive tricks when combined carefully

Hello JAlexBrown,

That is so exciting that you are on the quest of learning magic, oh how happy and thrilled I am for you for the path is so mysterious and you never know where it will lead.

My first magic came from a kit given to me by Blackstone Jr. when I was about 6. I learned those tricks to the best I was able in those days and that was a part of my path. The first trick I bought was the Zombie when I was about 10 or so and oh how I love that trick to this day.

As for learning, I agree with the others, books are the way to go. Learn the basics the best you can, doing them again and again and again. You can never learn the basics of anything good enough for there is always some more you can learn about yourself when doing them. There are many wonderful books out there so basically you just have to find a book that captures your heart, mind, and spirit. Then practice and dream, dream and practice.

Once you have the basics down, you'll probably start doing varaious tricks from other books as well as some store bought tricks and then one day, you'll notice patterns and similarities between tricks. And on that day you'll be able to see magic in all kinds of places you never thought of before for that is the day your imagination will come into play and magic will be from within yourself.

There is just so much to this art, and I am so happy you are on this path. Stick with it, allow your dreams to take form, and the most important thing is to simply always have fun.

Love,

Amanda Angeli

Probably all of my life in one form or other. When I was 12 years old I was a super-hero called the Tarantula. I used to "patrol" my city centre looking for crime with my "outfit" beneath my civilian clothes. Luckily I never found any crime or I would probably have gotten badly hurt. My super-power was super agility - the least impressive of all the super powers.

At 22 I led my first seance and learnt the tarot cards.

I'm 43 now, and the above two experiences have greatly influenced the psychic/bizarre/metalist angle that all of my performances are based around.

I've been a full time pro for around 2 years. And what a two years!

Been doing magic for 2 years now and the first trick i was able to perform was the "two card monte" from David Blaines first special, wich i still do sometimes

Since my early teens, nearly twenty years now. You'd think after all that time that I'd be some kind of wizard by now, but unfortunately I lack the innate talent that some of my fellow magicians possess. However, I perform close-up magic (mainly cards but I do other stuff, too) for family and friends on a regular basis, which I enjoy.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to try and avoid the dreaded CUPS (you can find out more about this affliction if you do a search!). It will only end up costing you a lot of wasted money. Easier said than done, I know. But you really will be better off, at least in the early days, if you invest in books and DVDs. You will get more for your money and learn more as a result. Things like packet tricks will give you a quick fix but that's about it, especially if you end up never performing them again. However, there are some classic packet tricks out there and another quick search on these forums will reveal these. Just try to resist the temptation to buy everything out there.

Unfortunately, I suffered from CUPS right from day one and so I now have lots of tricks which I rarely (if ever) use. I will put them up for sale when (if!) I get access to the secret area.

I have been doing card magic for a few months now, and i have searched and searched for free websites but there is nothing more than party tricks out there

In my opinion, free magic websites are a waste of time. Although you can sometimes find a gem, the vast majority of the tricks out there are party tricks or poor two minute "quick fixes". If the tricks were of good/high quality they would be sold for money and not given away is the way that I look at it! You're far better off learning from books or DVDs, especially when first starting out in magic.

I've been doing magic since about Christmas (2006), more specifically card magic, just started to dabble in coin magic.