talkmagic.co.uk

Firstly, hello! I'm new here.

Ok, so i love magic and when i was little i used to make up tricks to show people but for some reason i just ended up abandoning it but now I'm 22 the passion has returned with a vengence!
The problem is i have no idea where to start with regards to learning, i know nothing of magic and when I'm researching i find something and think ''ok this would be a good place to start'' but then find 20 other things that i feel i should learn first.

I'm feeling a little (understatement) overwhelmed and if someone could tell me what i should be doing.. argh
I have read some threads that say 'start at the beginning' which is obvious but what isn't obvious to me is.... well, where is the beginning.

I am most interested in closeup card magic and mentalism- and by that i don't mean ''so that is all i want to learn about'' in a sort of blinkerd narrow minded naive way, just in a 'i like this most' way. phew!

If that makes no sence please disregard the whole thing, it is 2.40 in the morning afterall...
thank you in advance! xx

What kind of magic do you like?

Card, coin, general close up, stage?

EDIT: sorry, obviously didn't read it properly

I believe I was advised to get Royal Road to Card Magic, Mark Wilson's Complete Course and Bobo's Coin Magic book and it was referred to the 'holy trinity'.

Robert Giobbi's Card College Volumes are highly recommended also.

You really can't beat Mark Wilson's Complete Course for a really good book covering just about all areas of magic. And there's enough in there to keep you going for a long time.

JammyT wrote:What kind of magic do you like?

Card, coin, general close up, stage?

He stated that he likes close up card magic and mentalism.

If that's the case, definitely purchase a copy of Royal Road To Card Magic, learn the stuff in there, it is a bible to many magicians, for the mentalism, look for Corinda's 13 steps to mentalism, it is filled with some amazing work.

There are loads of good books out there for beginners, just don't try to bite off more than you can chew and be a jack of all trades, you will get very confused, stay focused and work on specific items.

Hope that helps.

I'd second Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic, which will give you a damn good grounding of the basics and - from there - you can see what grabs you, and what you have a natural flare for; move on and specialise a little from there!

Good luck!


Rob

Mark Wilsons is fantastic.

When you go through the book (or any book you choose to study) please actually try the effects out. Sometimes an effect doesn't play out well on the page but in the hand looks amazing.

As with most magic, the little bits you learn are just the bones. It's down to YOU to add the meat.

Alec

As a newcomer myself I can heartily recommend both the Royal Road and Mark Wilson. I managed to get a copy of Mark Wilson off eBay for £2. Worth a trawl through eBay for any magic bargains. I have a copy of Marvin Kaye's "The Complete Magician" which is similar to Mark Wilson. I've not bothered with Bobo as I don't think I'll ever be into coins, I like spending them too much.

You don't say where you are but I've also found the regional meetings to be very useful. I've met some of the posters on here in both London and Manchester and have thouroughly enjoyed watching them perform and picking up little hints and tips along the way. This last week I was out with the thoroughly nice people of Manchester and actually did some performing, the confidence boost from getting a pat on the back from these accomplished magicians also goes a long long way to helping you improve.

Lastly these forums are also a great way to pick up hints and tips and the vast majority of people on here are the best!

For the mentalism side of things, Corinda's 13 steps to mentalism is the 'bible' on the subject. It looks a bit old fashioned when you first look at it, but the principles are timeless and are the basis for most modern mentalism routines.

Also have you read the 'sticky' posts at the start of each section on this site ?

Thanks for all the replies,
I am still working through the stickies at the moment because I'm also working through a tremendous Halloween hangover (it's the one i time of year i join in seasonal festivities!)

From the sounds of things it seems like i should be on the hunt for Mark Wilson's Complete Course and 13 steps! ; I'll go and see if i can find them online.

I am based i the northwest at the moment but will be down south soon, from what i'v been told magic clubs,societies,etc can be very snotty to newcomers, what is your honest opinion of this?

I have some decks which i figured out quickly, (mirage and mental photography) should i leave these alone and just read?
I don't want to just buy selfworking stuff, i'd rather do all the leg work.

**edit, I wouldn't worry about books looking old fashioned, there are alot of brilliant tips in the victorian card magic books (can't say i'll be using human hair 'collected from a mourge' as invisable thread though...)

wittyusername wrote:I am based i the northwest at the moment but will be down south soon, from what i'v been told magic clubs,societies,etc can be very snotty to newcomers, what is your honest opinion of this?

Then you should definitely check out the Manchester Meeting thread. I think some guys are meeting on the 12th Nov. Very welcoming and not at all snotty.

I've joined the Manchester Circle of Magicians but I've not yet been to any events so don't have any experience to tell of.

Ahh thanks, i'v said hello over there now!

i would also look into the Karl Fulves series of self working trick books. There are some real gems there and as they are self working you can work on presentation and patter.

I knew Lady of Mystery would be on to promote Mark Wilson's book as soon as I read the first post! I think it's the best one for where you are at the moment, as it gives you a bit of everything.

Another thing you could consider is a magic set aimed at adults. Some of these are really just full of one-off tricks and there's sometimes a cheapo book of 125 or 101 magic tricks, most of which are described in a paragraph or two. I did, however, spot this recently: http://www.world-of-magic.co.uk/The_Com ... i26624.asp

The book with DVD sounds pretty good, although maybe you'd prefer to buy that on its own. It's a lot cheaper and while the tricks you get in the set probably make up the value, if there are any you are sure you won't use, you might have be better off getting the book and buying the props you actually want separately. Here's a review: http://magic.about.com/od/magicconventi ... aybook.htm

Having said that, the book was out of stock in the first couple of places I looked, so maybe you can only get it in the set now. Ker-ching!

I've been doing this a very long time. And the best place to start, hands down is Mark Wilson's Course in Magic. Get the basics down and progress from there. No sense in specializing until you know what you are in for. Mark Wilson's course will sort all that out for you and give you a good basic, (and not so basic) grounding in the principals of magic. (and yes mentalism is part of magic).

Most of all it is stuff you can do because the biggest mistake you can make is to spend loads of time learning stuff and very little time performing in front of real live people. You won't really learn about it until you start performing. Mark Wilson's course is designed with that in mind.

Now get the book, a deck of cards, four sponge balls, some coins, a hank of rope, a TT and two 'silks' as we like to call them and have some fun.

Paul Zenon's Street Magic.

I've not read Mark Wilson but found the Zenon book far more user friendly than RRTCM or Bobo, although they are both excellent resources for futher advancement/information.