I have been performing magic semi-professionally for the past 10 years.

I have recently decided I am experienced enough to contribute to my local community so I pitched an extra curriculum Magic Club activity at a local school and they hired me.

The idea is that we meet once a week, I teach them some magic and then we perform a magic show at the end of the school year.

Outside of self-working card tricks and sponge balls, what tricks would be good to teach 10-12 year olds with the goal that we band together and perform a short magic show at the end of term?

I’m getting a new pocket watch for my costume (1930s style) and I’d love to incorporate it into my act.

Does anyone know any tricks that use a pocket watch? Not hypnosis, not my style.

Beginner here. I know the answer is practice, practice, practice, but I'd love to get some opinions on what the best way to practice is. Should I just try to handle cards as much as possible and learn different cuts, shuffles, controls, etc? Is it better to dive in and learn a few self-working tricks first and the handling will come? My free time is limited between work and parenting, so trying to get the best use out of my time. Thanks!

There's a talent show taking place in my town but it requires acts to be 3min or less, what could I do on stage that could establish myself as a hireable act within this short time. There aren't any other magicians (at least that are advertising) in my small town

Hello friends!

I went to the "find magicians in your city" subreddit and it didn't list any Toronto stuff. That surprises me, because it's a MASSIVE magic city!

1. The Browser's Den of Magic (been around for more than 40 years)
2. Jokers Theater and Comedy Club (hosts lots of magic shows)
3. The Toronto Magic Company (produces tons of monthly shows)
4. The Hat and Rabbit Magic Club (more than 100 members, been around over 70 years)
5. The Browser's Bash (a one-day magic convention with several hundred attendees)

Plus there are dozens of full-time professional magicians in the city!

If anyone is planning on visiting the city and wants to jam/see a show/perform on a show - shoot me a private message (or comment below)!

Ben Train

I'm 100% a dabbler. I'm looking for a trick that I can learn, practice, and perform for my friends. Cards would be good, since I can put them in my purse and in Las Vegas, I wouldn't be too weird carrying a deck of cards around.

Any suggestions? Most books have a lot of tricks, but I'm just looking for one good one. Also, not opposed to getting a trick deck.

Thanks!

Hi, does anyone know of any fairly easy to do tricks that use either one or 2 normal credit cards? I've bought overdraft recently and wanted to create something using the non gimmicked cards. Thanks for any help

I consider myself an intermediate magician, but I practice mostly to myself. I've just recently been trying to perform more in front of friends, and so I would say I'm a beginner in terms of performing in front of people.

I have a lot of close up tricks, but often find myself in a position where I'm essentially saying "And for my next trick!"... I'd like any and all advice on stringing tricks together in order to not have those awkward moments in between. Thanks in advance!

I've found myself spending more time digging back into Mnemonica after about a year break since I have more confidence in faro shuffles, full deck false shuffles, etc now. I'm curious to hear what your favorite tricks are using this stack.

As of now my two favorites are:

Control in Chaos where the spectators get to shuffle packets together face-up and face-down and you are able to tell them exactly how many are face down, name the hearts that are face down, then ask them to name another suit and you tell them which cards of that suit are face down.

A Card and A Number - the two deck ACAAN effect.

What are some of yours?

Watch Wednesday

Post inspiring magic videos! Whether it's clips from magic shows, other big names, or no names doing their thing, we want to see great magic performances.

Please name the performer, the general effect AND Link the Video!

Examples:

David Blaine - Card Trick

Lance Burton's Dove Act

Hi there,

Do you have any advice on how to get rid off of a visible demarcation line while holding a break? I've tried limiting the fleshy area inserted and playing with pressure, but for most of the time the line is still rather visible. Any tips would be helpful! Thanks!

Hi, I'm trying to learn some basic coin tricks and was wondering what type of coins I should get. Also any recommendations on where to buy online? Thanks!

Hey all,

I have a gig in a couple of months that seems like it’ll be a parlor setting. I’ve only done close-up, so I’m reaching out to you all for some tips. It’s a 31st birthday party for a group of 25-35 participants. Here are some questions I have:

1. Any general Do/Don’t for parlor magic?

2. any tricks you recommend learning?

3. Any clarifying questions I should ask the host? I’ve told them I plan to reach out as time gets closer, for checking in and making sure their expectations are met & we’re on the same page ( even though I’ve only don’t close-up, I’ve noticed laypeople have a variety of expectations when they plan to see magic).

I do need to get clarification on how long they want the show. They booked the magician from 5-7, and want one show for everyone ( as opposed to walk around). Surely they don’t want a 2 hour show, I’m thinking a show, then closeup either before or after.

I know some aspects can’t be determined beforehand and I’ll need to be flexible. Anyways I’m sure more questions will come up but I’d love to hear from you all.

So, these guys had a kickstarter a while back for their "You Can Read Minds 2" set, but I hesitated to get it because I wanted to look more into whether it was worth the money. For context, it would've been a gift for a friend who is super into magic and illusions, but not necessarily easily impressed by a lot. ( loves Penn and Teller, dislikes Criss Angel, loves card tricks and mind reading stuff.) I still would like to get him this or a different set for a gift, but again, I'm not sure if it's something he'll be wowed by or just like a "gee thanks, I love it..." gift.

Has anyone used it or any of their stuff? what are your thoughts on it or them in general, or a similar gift idea.

I used to watch their content on YouTube but haven't in quite a while, and I don't recall his thoughts on them and don't want to ask for fear he'll find the sets himself.

Beginner here. I want to get better at handling the situation when things go south during a force. Ex: manipulating the spectator to take (or discard) 1,2,3,4,5… more cards AFTER a force. Thanks!

I’ve always done card magic but I’m curious about starting cups and balls, any place to start learning from? I think video would be better for me but I’ll leave it to your advice. Thank you!

I saw his show the night before leaving to go home and we had the same flight I said hi but I read the room and left him alone after a quick “loved your show” and “are you piff”

Hey guys, I enjoy doing card magic and after i'm done showing people a trick I always find myself with this awkward silence afterwards. Do you guys have any tips on how to prevent situations like this or how tips on how to follow this up. thank you

​

Write anything, that comes to your mind regarding that video. :)

Watch Wednesday

Post inspiring magic videos! Whether it's clips from magic shows, other big names, or no names doing their thing, we want to see great magic performances.

Please name the performer, the general effect AND Link the Video!

Examples:

David Blaine - Card Trick

Lance Burton's Dove Act

I'm looking for a hard hitting (and hopefully entertaining) 10 minute piece to have as a backup plan for my current piece. My group and I are doing a final performance at our home venue (parlour setting) and we're all doing a 10min act.

What's something that hits hard, leaves a lasting impact, and preferably requires little to no sleights? I also don't have a ton of time to get something shipped so that is a factor as well.

This is one of my favorites, not only because it's filled with hidden gems from commercial experience but also because it's an easy and enjoyable read.

I've summarized the book to make it easier to review more frequently in a shorter period of time.

Hopefully, some may find this summary helpful!

Maximum Entertainment by Ken Weber Book Summary

Hey guys,

I was wondering whether it makes sense to include a multiple outs routine in a gig? My concern is that once I've shown the trick to one group, and some people from that group see me later doing it for a another group, but this time with a different outcome, couldn't it ruin the illusion for those people (as they probably can easily tell that the magician chooses the outcome)?

Do you guys ever perform multiple outs routines at gigs?

My 6 year old daughter is getting into magic. She is watching a lot on YouTube.

Are there any tricks on YouTube or other online sites that have audience participation aspects that she can interact with, making the show more immersive for her?

I remember doing one during COVID during a Facebook magic show that got our whole house. It was tons of fun.

Just having trouble finding any. Would love some suggestions or guidance.

Hi there folks. A while back I made a post about my first gig and lessons learnt.. Now here's some more lessons from the last gig I did.

Right for context, I did a gig in February and someone asked for me to book them into the calendar and they would text me times later. After that gig finished I got 2 more gigs booked... So in February I had 2 Confirmed and 1 "Leave me with it" basically. Last week I got a call from one of the confirmed ones saying they had to cancel. Their son has autism and they thought he'd be OK for a half hour show but he can't handle birthdays. So that's understandable. I got a bit concerned so I followed up with the 2 previous clients. The first one said they booked different entertainment and didn't need a magician anymore. But because of that i missed a potential booking that day that I transferred to my mate... The second said yes and upgraded her package to a more deluxe show.. so that was good...

Now. There are a few mistakes I made.

1. I should have gotten a 50% non refundable deposit when I booked in the gigs. People are less likely to cancel when money is involved lol.
2. I should have kept up to date with each client from February every few weeks to make sure they remembered they booked a magician.
3. I treated the second client as if they had booked already when they hadn't confirmed a time..

So for anyone who is looking to book gigs and doesn't want to make these mistakes.

1. Don't book the time and date into your calendar until you get a deposit. That way if it falls apart later on. You don't lose that day.
2. Keep in touch with the clients.. They need to remember they booked a magician. Follow up with the clients at least a week before the gig too to make sure the venue hasn't changed..

If anyone else has any other tips please feel free to comment below. These are just what I plan on doing in future so maybe someone else doesn't make the same mistakes I did.

I’m reading “Card Tricks and Stunts” ‘More Card Manipulations’ by Jean Hugard and am attempting Paul Curry’s Lost and Found (page 84) but I’m having trouble with the description.

On page 85, 3rd paragraph it states “Drop the pack now face up on the remaining face down cards on the table….”

What face down cards on the table? At no point do I leave cards there. Am I missing something obvious?

Hey everyone! Thanks for the help on my last posts by the way - I have made a bit of progress. It is quite simple but my best trick ends with me dropping a little plastic animal I was palming into their hand.

I was just testing it out and I realized probably the bigger the animal is the more of an impact it will have. As of now I use tiny hard plastic rabits like a half inch tall.

My hands are on the small side I think.

Anyways - I was looking into finding bigger plastic animals and seeing what I could fit ( not much) but realized something compressible would probably be a huge help. Obviously sponge could be amazing - like the sponge donuts ( though they are too big for me to conceal for this trick as I need to use that hand for other things) - so any ideas for things I could use? Sponge could be great but ideal would be something that looks like a cute toy, rather then a cut out sponge basic shape. Does not need to be sponge - but if I could say get something that expanded out to 1.5 or 2 inches at the largest dimension that compressed to half that and "popped out" in the time it fell from my hand to theirs - even that would be great.

Thanks! ( oh and it does not need to be a rabbit - basically the cuter the figure/ animal the better)

https://preview.redd.it/lke8dnvjvfsc1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd02e892bba99750d43a5abb1e43ae3e220b7321

So I know that when you’re actually walking around the goal is to work out of your pockets. But what type of bag are you using to transport your props?

Just a plain backpack? A sling bag? A camera bag?

What do you use?