talkmagic.co.uk

Dear magicians,

Someone has asked me to teach him some card magic. He's a complete beginner (adult) and I've never taught magic before. I was wondering if you had any ideas on what to include in the first lesson - and how long should it last?

Although card magic is what I do best, I also do some non-card tricks. Should I introduce him to the TT in the first lesson, or should I wait?

Any help would be most appreciated!

Daniel

I Personally would suggest that a better way to do this, is to give the guy a book, and tell him to go away and learn 2 tricks from it.
Then he shows you them, and you can correct any errors.
You would only have to do this for the first time, so as to get a gauge of his abilities.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll remember it for next time.

But given that I haven't given him any homework and that the lesson is on Wednesday, what shall I teach him then?

D.

How long's the lesson?

If I were going to teach somebody (unlikely but you never know) I'd use something like this for the first lesson:

Introduction: A chat/discussion about magic and what it is (all aspects). A cup of tea would go down well here.
Part 1: Get a feel for what the "pupil" is capable of through a bit of Follow-my-lead e.g. demonstarte a bit of shuffling, basic false shuffles, etc.
Part 2: Introduce a text book (e.g. Royal Road, Card College) and explain the best ways of studying a magic book.
Part 3: Set a bit of homework (e.g. first few moves in the book) and run through it once in demonstration form.

From that you can easily follow up in subsequent lessons and build on what has been learnt during the homework phase.

But like Dale suggests, I think magic tuition works best in Mentor/Pupil format. You exist as an encourager, tester and critic.

dksokol wrote:Thanks for the suggestion. I'll remember it for next time.

But given that I haven't given him any homework and that the lesson is on Wednesday, what shall I teach him then?

D.

How about having a converstaion to find out what sort of magic the guy wants to do, then you can get a feel for what the best kind of effect could be. That is where you set the homework.

Maybe teach something simple like the curcus trick as well.
It will teach control, and a peek.

Consider starting with some tea, and a small informal discussion on the first visit. Ask him why Magic? What are his first memories of magic? What effects has he seen that really have left an impact on him? Questions like this should help you establish why he wants to learn magic, what areas he is enthusiastic, etc.....this will help you put together some frame work for fututre teaching. At the end of this first discussion, you may consider assigning something like the others had mentioned!

I think you should start with the laser deal...

It's suggestions like that that show a lack of respect for what this site is about. Don't you think that it's being rude to someone who's genuinely asking for some help, only to give an answer like that?

It may have been meant to have been tongue in cheek but it's not helping!

I am one of two teachers that teach a small group of between 4 and 8 people once a week.

We tend to start with cards and teach a number of self workers and then do a talk about magic and deal with presentation. Most beginners want to go away having learnt some tricks they can use straight away.

We then move on to some basic sleights and usually start with a couple of forces and a false shuffle, followed by a few effects that use these sleights.

At this point and depending on what they have shown an interest in, we may begin to introduce other areas of magic other than cards. Keeping in mind that tricks that can be quickly mastered will do more to encourage the average person than the challenge of learning difficult moves to be able to do that trick that they saw you do that really impressed them.

However all that said every pupil is different and it's about finding where they are at, where they want to be and finding the best route there for them.

I would probably only teach him one trick - a self-worker like "Poker Player's Picnic".

Go into it in depth.

Talk about presentation, structure, misdirection, technique.
Teach him that the trick is only one small part of magic.
Discuss how to talk to one spectator, or many spectators.

The temptation for him is to learn as many tricks as possible, to show his mates.
If he does this, he will do it badly.

But teach him to perform one effect really well, and you'll set him up for life with the right attitude.

Don't you think that it's being rude to someone who's genuinely asking for some help, only to give an answer like that?

Hmmm. It was not intended to be rude, but if it was received that way, then I apologize. As to whether it was rude... I think that if I asked a question, the only response under it was one such as the one I gave, I would feel snubbed. But if--like in this case-- there had been much helpful responses, and a person conversed with me as pier with a bit of levity, I would feel like I had made a pleasant connection. That is what I had hoped to do.

I would not have done that if there were no constructive comments already, but since there were... well, it wouldn’t have offended me.

As to "a lack of respect for what this site is about," I would like to say that of all my post (and I know there are not many,) I have utilized many of them in attempts to be constructive and helpful. The others have been used mostly as inquisition, again a thing which this site promotes.

Jeremy - I apologise for 'biting your head off' in this way. I'll PM you.

No problem, I know your intentions were simply to preserve the integrity of this site. no offence taken.