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Keegan New user 20 Posts 
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Hi everyone,
I recently picked up an inexpensive set of eight 8" linking rings. They’re not top quality, but they’re good enough for learning the basics. I’m also working through Essentials in Magic: Linking Rings as I start to learn the routine. My question is: how long does it typically take to get good enough at this effect to perform it publicly? ChatGPT suggested that with about 30 minutes of daily practice, it might take around two weeks to reach a beginner level, and closer to two months (with 30–60 minutes of practice a day) to develop a solid street or stage routine. I’d love to hear your thoughts or personal experiences—how long did it take you to feel performance-ready? Thanks in advance, Keegan |
smithart Special user Texas 666 Posts
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How much performance experience do you have already? That's going to affect how quickly you will be able to adapt.
As far as my personal experience with the linking rings, I started with a simple routine, then fleshed it out based on Henry Hays' "Amateur Magicians Handbook." Then I read Bruce Elliot's "Classic Secrets of Magic" and was inspired to rebuild the whole routine from scratch. My guess is that I probably started performing the first version about three months in, and had a routine that I was happy with at about six months. But I had almost no performance experience at that time; it was one of the earliest effects I performed when I got serious about performance.
AKA Professor Memento
https://mementomysteries.com |
ChrisPayne-001.jpg "View Profile") Loyal user UK 278 Posts
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What a great, simple, question! The answers could unpack the whole of magic.
Making the following assumptions, that you don't have that much performing experience and you are keen to learn an existing simple routine "as is" and then get out and perform it. Choose a routine and practice and practice so that the movements become utterly automatic, they are embedded in your muscle memory. Because when adrenaline hits and spectators react in random ways you want that bedrock to be there. You cant rush this, the brain has to develop the pathways, regular practice for 6 weeks would be my ballpark. Give some thought to what makes the trick deceptive. A classic routine will have inbuilt mechanisms for convincing spectators (that the rings are separate and solid) - how does the routine do that, how do you protect those aspects? Finally how are you going to present it? Comedic, silent, powerfully fooling? How do you set this up. You don't have to have this fully developed but you need to begin to develop this. How do you draw the audience in, why should they engage? Small, ring specific, tip. Do you have a bag or receptacle that allows you to cleanly take the rings out and, even more important, put them away. Then, as long as you are technically adept get out and perform it, you will learn so much - which bits draw applause etc. That's when the fun really starts! |
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Keegan New user 20 Posts
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Quote:
On Aug 4, 2025, smithart wrote: Hi Smithart, You might be a little more realistic (or maybe just a bit more cautious) than ChatGPT about how long it takes to learn the Linking Rings but, that’s exactly why I wanted to ask here! I really appreciate hearing from folks who have actually gone through the learning process. Thanks, Keegan |
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Keegan New user 20 Posts
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Quote:
On Aug 4, 2025, ChrisPayne wrote: Hi Chris, Thank you so much for the helpful advice and tips! You guessed right I am pretty new to performing, and I'm definitely planning to start with a simple, ready-made routine. I think a comedic style would be the best fit for me as I tend to be a little goofy, and I do have a bag I can use to carry the rings and pack them up after the routine. I honestly hadn't thought about that part until you mentioned it, so thank you for bringing it up! Really appreciate the support! All the best, Keegan |
Alan Munro.jpg "View Profile") Inner circle Kentwood, Michigan, USA 6041 Posts
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I think it could be learned in a week, 30 minutes a day, but only with the right teacher. I recall giving a lesson on the rings many years ago, and I instructed the student to bring a VHS tape to record the lesson so that he would have the details on tape. He didn't bring the tape or even a notebook to take notes. He soon realized that there was no way he'd remember the details I shared. Much of the details are muscle memory, although it can all be taught.
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ChrisPayne Loyal user UK 278 Posts
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There are so many variables in play here but assuming it is a 5 ring plus routine and likely include a simple count (drop count or Odin), a crash link or two, some simple key ring moves, a final chain and pack away, then I think 3 and half hours practice is way too short! Definitely nowhere near enough to get the routine into muscle memory.
I accept there is huge individual variation, and a young brain can develop muscle memory much quicker. However some things cannot be rushed, otherwise bad habits get embedded, in that sense I do agree with having a good teacher. They say an amateur practices until things go right while a pro practices until nothing can go wrong. I don't agree with the amateur/pro split but most of us don't practice anything like enough before presenting. I took up the rings about 3 years ago, I have wide experience in magic, including mastering technical complexity. I fondly imagined the rings to be a simple beginner trick! The Linking Rings belongs in a minority of effects where "every moment matters", both audience attention wise and technically, (a bit like ambitious card, cups and balls and longer C+R rope routines). A lot of tricks have a technical moment or move that needs practice, the rest is simple process. The rings are technical all the way through and the audience fully attentive, because the intrigue is continuous. |
Frank Simpson Special user SW Montana 885 Posts
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Back when the earth was cooling I took up the rings. I was terrified of them, and it was a year before I had the gumption to put them before an audience. I would classify my performance as "perfunctory" for perhaps five or six years. Part of that was scouring to find a routine that was good for me and my performance style. I finally landed on Vernon's Symphony of the Rings. Learning the moves, the sequence, the patter, were only step one. The linking rings taught me, perhaps more than any other effect, the importance of the psychology of the illusion. Not so much how to do them, but why and to what end? When I was in my mid twenties I had a good routine. That was nearly 40 years ago, and I have not given a public performance since then without including the rings. It's my second to last effect, and my routine has modified and conformed to me to where I have complete ownership of it. But I still keep my radar up, looking for ways to sharpen and refine it to make it even better.
All this to say, no one can predict how long it will take *you* to become proficient at performing the rings. But you must consider *every* aspect of their performance. From timing to costuming to lighting to audience management and so on. Every effect is an amalgam of many disparate elements which must come together cohesively to create a performance. Best of luck to you! |
rhettbryson Elite user Greenville, SC Not ashamed of his 423 Posts
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I have a suggestion based on an answer Jerry Andrus once gave to a question from the audience on how he discovered all of the card moves and flourishes he was teaching. He said "I think with the cards in my hands." This is a profound and useful concept! I developed my lifelong 3 ring routine using, as a basis, Vernon's moves and then I "thought with the rings in my hands" and came up with at least three moves and handlings that were unique to me. Also, there is a video series on the linking rings (whose creator and name escapes me - maybe someone else knows it) that would offer many possibilities.
After you explore MANY possibilities you can begin to be selective in which moves and handlings you can use and the sequence. From my experience a relatively short routine and a more limited number of rings is perfect. As a personal perspective the exploration of all of the figures done with many rings is old school and doesn't play well with modern audiences.... but anything in the proper context and creative hands can entertain - and isn't that the reason we do all of this???? Good luck. |
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ChrisPayne Loyal user UK 278 Posts
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This is probably the 4 DVD set you mean, by Levent
https://leventmagic.com/LeventMagic/Linking_Ring_DVD.html It is extraordinarily comprehensive and it includes Levent's Benson/Baker inspired 11 ring routine, which is stunning |
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61magic Special user Sacramento California 783 Posts
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Keegan, if you are leaning toward a comedy approach, I strongly suggest you learn "pop" haydn's 4 ring routine. This routine was developed during Pop's street performing days and fits all situations, with plenty of comedy opportunities.
As far as the time it takes to learn the routine it depends on the individual. Remember learning the routine and learning to perform are two different things. While you may learn the routines in a week learning to perform will take much longer depending on how often you perform. Trust me you'll learn more once you start performing the routine.
Professor J. P. Fawkes
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funsway Eternal Order old things in new ways - new things in old ways 10208 Posts
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"get good at" is an illusive goal. Mastery of sleight and move sis important, but audience engagement more so.
When I feel I have mastered what is known, I create new moves, sleights and routines to enhance engagement - the ultimate being getting all rings into the hands of spectators and the "Holy Grail" - retrieving two rings, linking the and immediately handing them out." A story line that makes sene to the audience of the moment is important too. My point is that you can "get good" at a specific routine, but never at "Linking Rings" Check out my free eBooks on lybrary.com - "Reverse Rings" and "Ancient Rings"
"the more one pretends at magic, the more awe and wonder will be found in real life." Arnold Furst
eBooks at https://www.lybrary.com/ken-muller-m-579928.html questions at ken@eversway.com |
| The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Boxes, tubes & bags » » How Long to Get Good at Linking Rings? (5 Likes) | |
Posted: Aug 3, 2025 07:35 pm 
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