I am basically a beginner but I know a lot of tricks and sleights but I just haven't perfected them all. I was just wondering about what are some good tricks to do in school or on the street that have not really a good chance of getting caught and that you don't really need to perfect to get a good effect with them. Also, I was wondering if anyone has their own way of practicing because it would really help me out...Thanks!!!

Magic15man,

I notice that this is your first post, so let me be the first to welcome you to the Café. You'll find a great deal of resources here to help your magic flourish! (Pun intended!)

The question you ask is a very broad one. First let me start by asking you what type of magic are you interested in or have had some experience with? Personally, I started with cards and would recommend anything on the Michael Ammar Easy to Master Card Miracles volumes. In those videos you will find a wonderful assortment of easy-to-perform card trick that are not only great tricks, but great practice as well.

I would also suggest buying The Royal Road to Card Magic by Jean Hugard to help you get aquainted with the basics of card technique.

Some notes on practice methods:

• Don't try to learn too much at once. Start with one or two tricks and COMPLETELY MASTER THEM. A good magician does not need to know lots of tricks, but he/she does need to be able to perform his/her tricks very well.
  
  
• Secondly, keep a deck of cards with you at all times. When you're bored or watching TV take out your deck and practice. While you're on the phone is a great time to practice, because you are conditioning yourself to split your concentration and developing the knack of making the moves "second nature."
  
  
• Don't be afraid to ask questions. This community is a great place to learn and share and I think you'll find that most everyone here is very helpful.

Again...welcome to the The Magic Café

JLareau
:bluebikes:

Well, it can be very hard to perfect them to 100% right now, but you should be able to perform them very well and flawlessly.

What magic do you do? Choose the sleights you want to do for the tricks and choose maybe five tricks you want to do, or start with the basics if you want, I would recommend Card College or Royal Road for card magic. If you do coin, why not Bobo? When you study these books, repeat each chapter over and over until you are master at it even though you are finished with that single chapter...this is my best advice.

Choose two to three tricks per week and practice on them solely, nothing else. Tape your performance and you will see progress after that one week! Don't forget to add patter. Don't be afraid to choose tricks with simple sleights or no sleights at all.

After that, go perform. Do your best and good luck!

Thanks you guys a lot. I really appreciate you guys being so helpful. Yes, I do do card magic and a little coin but mostly card. I have the Royal Road and I've already read it through but you are right, I know how to do too many and not know too many perfectly.

Thanks also for the practicing techniques, I can't wait to try them out... I'll sure be seeing you guys around here a lot so thanks for welcoming me. Yes I am new.

Also, Halloween is coming up and I was just wondering if you guys new any cool effects that would be good for Halloween? Thanks a lot!

Pick up a book of self-working magic. That will get you jump started in the school performing end of things, while you practice other magic to performance levels.

Hi magic15man and welcome to the Café.

The above suggestions are great. I would also suggest that you take a look at the three "sticky" topics at the top of New To Magic? forum right here. You will find a lot of good advice and recommendations that will probably help you out.

You asked about practice techniques. Try practicing in front of a mirror some of the time. This will allow you to check angles on sleights or effects and see how they look to an audience. If possible, try taping your rehearsal with a video camera. This will give you great feedback and help you to correct errors.

You can practice a lot of sleight of hand techniques while doing something else, such as watching TV. This will help you with the technical side. But also be sure to set time aside for focused practice and study sessions.

And remember to rehearse your material. Rehearsal is different than practice; when you rehearse something you go through it exactly as you would if you were actually performing it. Go through all of usual motions involved in the effect and coordinate your patter to your actions. Speak out loud, even though you are alone. A good combination of practice and rehearsal will help you more than practice alone.

And as for Halloween magic, you should try running a search on this topic. I'm sure you will find a lot of good info.

Good luck and remember to have fun.

You must get the book self-working card tricks by Karl Fulves. There are great tricks like: Quick as a Wink, Do as I Do, O Henry card trick and Magic 13.
Remember practice makes perfect!!!
Remember to practice in the mirror.

Eugene, Andre’s friend


I agree, practice. Also start with these cheap books: The Royal Road To Card Magic, Modern Coin Magic, Practical Mental Magic and Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic(quite expensive). These books come highly recommended and rightly so.
Andre
ajcombri@telkomsa.net