talkmagic.co.uk

Firstly I'd like to say that I'm a complete beginner with magic, but this year I've become really interested in it and would love to be able to do a few basic tricks.

I'm going to be working in a school a traveling abroad and it would be nice to be able to perform a few tricks. I thought the ID trick looks good and from what I've read it's quite manageable to learn.

I've been on penguin magic and they make it all look so great and easy to do. What would you recommend to a person who would ideally like to be able to do 4-5 tricks?

Mark Wilson's complete Course in Magic. You can buy it for a tenner from Amazon and it has Cards, coins, cups and balls, rope, right up to larger stage illusions, all explained in clear detail with diagrams. It's been described as a complete career in magic in a book.

You will be lucky to get one trick off penguin for that price.

Totally agree with the Mark Wilson recommendation, far better value for your money than anything that you'll find on Penguin. Also any of Karl Fulves self working books are great too. Good luck

Normally I would completely agree with Mark Wilson, but if you are travelling a bit, my book Teach Yourself Easy Magic Tricks fits into a suitcase easier.

Get a few decks of cards,Royal Road to card magic and an ID.With that material,your personality(assuming it's half decent) and charisma you could make a career

Sounds great. Out of interest how many tricks can you use with the ID? I know this will make most of you laugh because I'm sure lots of beginners want to learn this, but how long would it take to become sufficient with the muscle pass?

vanquish wrote:Sounds great. Out of interest how many tricks can you use with the ID? I know this will make most of you laugh because I'm sure lots of beginners want to learn this, but how long would it take to become sufficient with the muscle pass?

The ID is limitless. Buy yourself a couple of them and you wont go wrong. The ID can be used in ANY card routine and is also the BEST 'out' to have in your pocket as a performing card magician.

What are you still doing here?? Buy it now!

As for the muscle pass, I would forget it. Its a flourish type move and will serve no magical purpose to any routine you can come up with.

Alec

A couple of them? And with the books recommended above I can use the ID on them? So muscle is a waste of time? How long would it take to get good at it though in your opinion? Thanks!!!!!

vanquish wrote:A couple of them? And with the books recommended above I can use the ID on them? So muscle is a waste of time? How long would it take to get good at it though in your opinion? Thanks!!!!!

Buy a couple as the special stuff can wear off and this will save you more p&p

Ive no idea on the muscle pass. Ive seen it and it just doesnt interest me. Just like palming or the pass, it would differ from person to person.

Just imagine you did learn the muscle pass, what reactions would you hope to achieve from people? I would much rather leave people with a magical memory. Just my thoughts of course.

Alec

All opinions on the muscle pass in this thread are bullsh!t and hypothetical. But then again, that is just my opinion

It took me 6 months to learn the muscle pass, and 5 years to get to the height I am now.

The muscle pass gets some very, VERY good reactions as a standalone effect, as well as being a useful tool with several other magical applications. Trust me, if you learn it, you will not in any way regret the time that you put in.

On the flip side of the (muscle passed) coin however, it isn't easy to learn initially - it does take patience to find the sweet spot and build up muscle strength.

And re the "leave people with a magical memory" - the muscle pass is VERY magical - it's a coin falling upwards! Trust me, the reactions are amazing, you can repeat the effect, and many a time there has been the reaction of "cards are good, but I know it is sleight of hand at the end of the day. That coin thing though...wow. I don't know what to say. That's just incredible".

The Muscle pass isn't something that you can "learn" in a short amount of time. I think it takes around maybe 2-3 years to get good and it's a move that actually hurts when learning it. I tried it out when I was younger and then later realized it wasn't something I wanted learn.

Do yourself a favour. Go with Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic. You will treasure it. It is a mine of information and nothing in it is really sleight heavy. Basic card Technique DVD by Richard Kaufman was a godsend to me when I was starting out. There are no tricks but it will teach you essential card sleights and some card counts and things like Top palm and Top change etc. Very, very good DVD.

Razz.

The Muscle pass does get strong reactions but it's more of an advanced move that you should learn as the cherry on top of all your other basic sleights.You seem to be looking for individual tricks that are sold on penguin perhaps which is fine.I know it's cliche to say at this stage but you really should go with a good book to get you started.

There is nothing more rewarding than fooling your audience with real skill in my opinion.You should definetly become a student to magic more than a trick monkey.I think you should pick up an ID and a few normal decks like I said and practice.Just remember you will never master a deck of cards.There is always something new to learn.

The books which I have gotten the most out of are:
Royal Road to Card magic
Expert Card Technique
Bobo Modern Coin magic
Complete Course in magic
Encyclopedia of card tricks

If you are just looking for a quick trick then by all means go to Penguin Magic and find whatever suits your needs.There is nothing wrong with that at all just that it is FAR more rewarding to become an apt magician

Paul Zenon's "Street Magic" is definitely up there with the best of them. Get the full colour photo one and you are golden. I found that better than any of the other books mentioned.

Penguin Magic is also good at learning the basics. I'm not going to lie - I learnt a hell of a lot from their instant downloads, and it would have taken a lot longer to get to my standard today without them. Oz Pearlman is a great teacher!

I'd second the recommendation for Street Magic, clear teaching and some good stuff too. Most of the card tricks are pants to do, but make you look a lot more skilled. Which is always nice. And there's a lot more than just card tricks too. The metal bending effect is actually pretty good.

I'd also recommend Teach Yourself Magic, but I've said that a few times recently, so I won't. It is a really good introduction to magic though. Goes beyond the tricks...