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Hi there, my name is Nathan and I am from Northern Ireland. I am 19 and really new to magic, besides the odd card tricks you learn when you're about 8 years old. I don't know if you need to have a certain experience level to start on this forum, but hopefully this will be a good place for me to "Start the journey". I am interested in Mentalism and sleight of hand, though I find most forms of magic enjoyable and intriguing. I like card tricks but my hands seem too clumsy to really pull it off (Is this something that gets better over time or does it just come naturally to people?). I am also interested in fire eating but I think that's just cause I love fire.

Anyways, I'm really eager to learn so if people could recommend books/ resources I could use that would be greatly appreciated. I am reading "13 steps to mentalism at the minute".

Also, if people could point me in the direction of other magicians in northern Ireland, I'd greatly appreciate it.

HI and welcome to TM. im a fairly new member but you'll find people happy to give you advice on almost everything magic related when it comes to cards, id say go with "the royal road to card magic". mine arrived a few days ago, and its great. dated text, but a great starting point. Its also got some practice routines and lots of helpful pointers to help with improving your technique

Yeah. I agree with the both post really.

Im 18, so slightly younger than you but have been doing magic/flourishing for quite some time. It can be done. Although anyone is better than me

May I ask what area of magic interests you? You say mentalism, do you want to learn actual effects, hypnosis etc?

If your looking for card magic and the overall magic experience, I suggest picking up "Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic". Get some ideas from there and perfect them, after that have a look online on various other pieces. You will certainly no doubt find loads of stuff to get your teeth into here pal

Beginner - Advanced, everyone is learning

Hi Nathan, welcome to TM

I would like to get a broad idea about many different types of magic and then start to specialise. Yeah, mentalism interests me (mainly because of Derren Brown), but I don't think I'd have the stage presence for something like that, although I'm sure a certain level of stage presence is required for all types of magic, maybe it is just something that comes with the territory.

Hi Nathan, let me put your mind at ease, in that there is no "experience level" required to enjoy discussions here at Talk Magic, merely the enthusiasm to join in and enjoy yourself (isn't that what magic should be about? )

With regards to Northern Ireland, being a Londoner myself, I'm not at all that familiar with the geography of your area so will struggle to suggest any sources with absolute certainty that they will be relevant, but this page might have some contact details for some folks who can certainly give you some information you may find useful.

http://www.magician-directory.com/Magicians-UK.htm

welcome to Talk Magic, looking forward to your continued contributions.

Hi Nathan.

Welcome to TM.

The others have some fine suggestions, but I would like to recommend Maximum Entertainment by Ken Weber. This book contains no tricks but it gives so much invaluable information about presentation and behaviour in magic. One might call it theory on magic. That way you'll have a lot of foundations for developing your magic.

You could compare it to taking a drivers license, you'd start with the teory, and you won't devolop any bad habits that'll become hard to get rid of.

The book is focused on mentalism, but you should only get this if you're serious about magic. No, actually everybody should read this

Good luck with your magic.

Hi Nathan and welcome

Welcome

Hi Nathan,

Welcome to TM.

Hope you enjoy learning magic / mentalism