talkmagic.co.uk

Hi,
I'm new to both Magic, and this forum. I've been emailing around local magicians and shops alike in search of help. I've been interested in magic for a very long time, and it was only recently i discovered online magic shops! (big mistake!) I'm the kind of person who learns by example - not from a book! I need to be shown how to do something. So.......after wasting loads of money I've decided to search for someone to tutor me from scratch. I'm 27, so you're not dealing with a school kid (I'm actually a teacher so I understand there is a long process in getting good at something.


So if there is anyone out there in magic land that lives or knows someone who live in or near derbyshire (Long Eaton to be exact) that would be willing to tutor me - I wanna know about them! (If there are any local shops who do tuition I'd like to know about them too)


Many thanks, Ben

Hiya, welcome to TM.

I can't help you with the tutor I'm afraid but I'd really recomend getting yourself a copy of Mark Wilson's Complete Course. Yes, I know that it's a book, but it's very easy to follow with simple explainations and clear diagrams. Might be worth a try...

Have a look at the list of East Midlands Clubs and Societies on The Ipswich Magical Society website - http://www.ipswichmagicalsociety.co.uk/linsocieties.htm - and see if anyone at those clubs knows of a local tutor, or they might even be able to offer such servcies themselves. Worth a try!

I know how you feel Ben, now that I've got a decent base knowledge of magic I can understand the books, but when I started out it was all gibberish to me.

You might want to look in the regional meetings section http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/forum52.php& ... 77eea215f8 and if there is a meet in or near your area join it you'll find people willing to teach if not try starting one up.
Another thing you could try is to get friendly with a local magic shop owner. iIf you buy a few of the books and the guys not a prick he might be willing to advice you on whats written inside. also some shops do hold magic workshops / lessons. And keep an eye out for magic conventions (especially if there's a bar, magicians somehow get less secretive when the booze is flowing)

If none of that works try advertising in your local paper (although I imagine that would be a long shot)

Good luck.

Hi Ben,
I feel the same way, be great to get to know some other magicians, but I live out in the sticks in West Wales, (only magician in the village!) and so just had to knuckle down and learn the basics on my lonesome. I used a book (The Royal Road to Card Magic) which is now available as a DVD set. Having DVD tutorials is as close as I can get to having a personal tutor, and it works for me. Once you have the basics down, then there are some really good DVD's out there. Good Luck, and hope you find a willing tutor.

Hello Ben! I'm relatively new to magic as well, but don't have any money to spend on tuition, but I've been recommended some great stuff by people on this forum, and I can only recommend them to you as well:

You should get "Born to Perform" by Oz Pearlman (Mine should arrive tomorrow )

Cheapest place I found:
http://www.freepostmagic.co.uk/epages/es115016.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es115016_es122312918189/Products/93

And if your serious about learning card magic then get some of the "Card College" books. These are apparently very long, so I'd recommend to buy the 1st volume first (out of the total 5 volumes) and see if you like it, and take it all in!

See you round,
Fabian.

Tommy Magic wrote:Having DVD tutorials is as close as I can get to having a personal tutor, and it works for me. Once you have the basics down, then there are some really good DVD's out there.

I agree - and this is a point most learner magicians, or anyone who began learning after video tape and then subsequently DVD came out, will agree upon too.

I used to favour books purley as a combination of respect for the sanctity of the written word, and also because i just think 'old school' is cooler.

Anyway, since being able to psychically 'watch' a tutor perform, then explain via the medium of video/DVD - many books (sadly) will become obsolete. It's a travesty in my opinion.....but you've gotta agree, having a few tutorial DVD's is better than having a tutor.

After all, you can pop them into a DVD player whenever you feel like learning, and having to learn at someone else's pace may discourage you from progressing properly. You may also pick up any bad habbits or rubbish patter they may persoanly use (Developing stuff like that for yourself is critical to becoming a successfull magician)

Go at your own pace with a DVD, or a reputable set of DVD's - at least you can pause, rewind, or A/B repeat to your hearts content.

I recomend Daryl's Fooler Doolers Vol 1-3 (for a mixed bag of beginner effects)

or if you want to focus on cards, you could try Daryl's Encyclopedia of Card Sleights vol 1-8 (for a more comprehensive look at card technique)

As for mentalism etc....erm better leave that for now. Just master the basics first.

Also, you should just check out the reviews section on this forum to get some good recommendations from seasoned magicians, and you should certainly take the advice of previous posts here and try to join a local magic club, or attend a convention.....there's a great one in Blackpool next month.

Good luck with your search. Welcome to TM, and hopefully you won't get into magic....magic will get into you! All the best. Tyler

Everyone's given some very good advice already. Mark Wilson's book is very good and will give some insight into a bit of everything. It's straight forward and goes into everything in a step by step manner.

Have a look around here and you'll get lots of good advice, tips and reviews.

Welcome to TM

Welcome to TM Mujician, I would wholeheartedly look into joining a magic society around your area that would be the best place to get a tutor or at the very least making some new friends who can visually help you out. Enjoy the learning process

Hi there and welcome.

What is it that you are specifically looking to learn? It could be cards, coins, variety etc. and it may be a good indicator if you narrowed things down a little. Also, are you looking for one or two lessons or a structured course?

Are you prepared to travel and if so what would you consider a reasonable distance?

I would take a look at MagicWeek at http://www.magicweek.co.uk and you could perhaps put a free ad into the magic wanted section.

Also, I think that John Milner at the House of Magic in Stourbridge does tuition and courses and you'll be hard pushed to find someone with more experience than John (he's a member if the Inner Magic Circle).

If you want to PM me then please do so.

Good luck

Wow,
thanks for all the replies - I think you've all restored my faith in internet forums! LOL. I think I have managed to find someone willing to help a guy called Gary Williams who I think is a full time magician. I will look into DVDs then - sounds good. I do have Mark Williams book, but didn't really get on with it and I've been told since buying it its a bit dated so maybe not worth spending much time with. I've just ordered some stuff (3 tricks) from www.magicshop.co.uk so hopefully i'll be trying to learn those in the next few days. Thanks, Ben

Mujician wrote:I've been told since buying it its a bit dated so maybe not worth spending much time with.

Nothing could be further from the truth. It may be an old-ish book but the contents are still being rediscovered and used by the new magicians of today, individual effects from the book are also being sold at many times the price by certain websites and certain performers! The secret is probably to find something in there which you can adapt to 'your' style .

Righto so I'll dig it out and persevere! Thanks!