Stop Performing Half-baked Tricks

I admit, this is how I have been when I was a beginner in magic. After learning a trick, I practice a little then perform it almost immediately. It was okay at first but after learning the more complicated tricks, I find myself struggling in performing and end up "flashing" a couple of times. It wasn't really a big problem back then but as time went by, I had tougher audiences and this was not helpful at all in performing. It has affected my confidence as a magician and it results to a mental block. This problem is obviously not only my problem, but a problem of magicians as well. I've seen a lot of magicians performing (actually murdering) a very good trick.

This is why now before performing any trick for audiences, I practice it everyday and if I think I am ready, I perform it in front of my family and my friends. If the trick goes well then I will perform it one more time to the toughest audience there is in my magic, who is no other than my girlfriend who sees if I'm doing it well. Her silence is good enough but when she laughs then I know that the trick has gone good.

So have someone who could provide you the proper critique when performing. It may be a magician, but I prefer a non-magician because after all, the one you would be performing for most of the time is a non-magician.

What I want in a magic book

As you may know, I learned magic from books and I have a lot of books and e-books on magic. Unfortunately, I don't find all the material that's in there useful. There are just a lot of bad tricks in there that are not really performable in shows.

There are a lot of bad magic books out there. Some have bad photos, bad instructions and the worst is a lot has bad tricks in them. With a lot of bad things in a lot of magic books, I really can't blame those who prefer to learn from videos.

The solution I could see is to include the following things in the description of a book.

1. List of tricks with descriptions.

This may not be applicable to beginner's magic books but for intermediate or advance books (especially e-books) this would really be helpful. I have books that contain over 50 tricks that are most of the time essentially the same. I think having descriptions would help us to know if your book is really worth buying.

2. Simpler instructions

Okay here is something that not all may not agree with me. I have to say that most e-books have instructions that contain a lot of jargon. Well they expect you to know how a sleight for a trick is done however they don't even care to explain how it is done. Even worse is that they keep on using acronyms or abbreviations for a sleight mentioned at a beginning of the trick. Example of this is something like "DL top two cards then do the DS then cull the rest..." I wish they include even a simple explanation or method for any necessary sleight for the tricks.

3. Clearer pictures

Here is a problem with a lot of books. Either they have bad drawings or really blurry pictures. I really have to say that I hate e-books with bad photos that you can't even understand if a picture is explaining something necessary. Also something related with this is that if a photo is placed beside a text only to see that the photo is for an instruction for another page. I think that if you can't place a good photo, don't place it at all.

I just have to say that these are the things that I wish I could see in magic books. In this way I could really appreciate not only the tricks in it but also the magician who took the time to write a book.

"Sleight"-ly Heavy Magic

When I was starting in magic, I always believed that I should learn all the sleights to become very good with my craft. In time I learned these sleights and through the years, I favored those that looked more natural and much easier to do.

I remembered before that my DLs were really very obvious, until I worked out a way to make it look more natural. It even helped me do a perfect TL and now it almost goes unnoticeable even by the most scrutinizing viewer.

Now I've learned to abandon the other "fancy" sleights that I have learned (e.g. Clip Shifts, Hypnotic Cuts, etc.) for more natural ones and those that could be done slowly. I favored those, since in this way I could focus more on the presentation which is what magic is all about.

I'm not saying that we should all go for self-working and no sleights magic tricks, what I'm saying is that when it comes to sleights, the best ones are the ones you are comfortable performing with.

The 2 out of 8 rule

I've read a text by Scott Adams on his Book The Joy of Work. This is about bringing humor to the workplace. He cites that if there are 2 of at the 6 types of humor then it would really be funny. I think that the same rule could be applied to magic.

In Magic there are eight basic effects namely:
1. Production
2. Vanish
3. Transformation
4, Transposition
5. Levitation/Animation
6. Prediction
7. Penetration
8. Restoration

I think that a trick with one of these effects is good but having at least two effects in one trick makes it a powerful one. The simplest example is when doing a vanish and producing the vanished item in an unexpected place. Another example, when I do a coin transposition in a participant's hand trick, I could use a transformation first before revealing the coin has transposed from one hand to another.

However there are tricks that are exception to the rule. These tricks are usually of the prediction nature. Prediction alone is a very powerful effect. Adding the other effects only arouses suspicion when obviously applied and thus changes the whole nature of a trick.

In my opinion by combining two effects for a trick makes it a standalone piece that could be used for routines. However don't forget to add less powerful tricks, since magic is not all about powerful tricks it's about combining the right tricks to achieve a good routine. Adding the "in-betweens" makes a routine more interesting and more memorable to participants.

Performing for laymen

I really don't like the term "laymen" being used in a wrong by some magicians. It gives a sense of mediocrity and usually that what makes a bad magician. The term laymen was used to describe the people who don't know how an effect works and that's what give that false sense of security to some magicians. The "Don't worry they don't know" is really just a sorry excuse for not mastering the effect itself. Relying on that thought sets your mind to be okay to do mistakes that might reveal how the effect works in the process.

For this I thought that instead of thinking of doing it for "laymen", how about thinking of performing it for a magician? Always assume that they know what you are doing and in that way you would be force to do it in a better way. Putting this into mind, you would not fall into a false sense of security and your audience would find you more entertaining.

I hope that this have given you a better insight on how to perform better in the future.

Magic E-books for learning

I actually download a lot of e-books over the internet. Unfortunately not all are good material and worse some are really just a waste of money. I'm writing this post to give fellow magicians advice on the things to consider when buying an e-book.

Tip # 1: Always buy from a reputable site

Buying an e-book is the next best thing on how to learn from books. Getting it from a good website and not from torrent downloads, not only supports the magician who spent time and effort, not to mention cash, in building a great website, but also protects your computer from malware and other viruses.

Tip # 2: Don't get too tempted with the "blurb"

A blurb is more like a testimonial on what the book is all about. Mostly they are true but sad to say some are really exaggerated. Also be careful when reading an e-books description, what you should look for is the content of the book. Try to look if there is a preview of the contents and if possible a description on each effect in the book. In this way you could see what your money’s worth before buying the book.

Tip # 3: Buy a book that suits your level

Most e-books on magic either teach one effect (usually priced from US$1-5) and those that teaches a lot (from US$10-20). Usually I go for the one with more material as it offers me a variety of things to learn and usually it has better effects than those that teach only one. Also if you’re going to buy one make sure that you have a good grasp of the basics in magic as most of these books expect you to know already what the sleights that are mentioned in the book.
I hope these tips help before you go purchase and e-book.

The importance of knowing and doing well a lot of sleights or moves

I am currently reading two new magic books containing more advanced material for both card and close up magic. Reading these books made me realize the importance on how when I was just starting to learn, I tried to learn a lot of moves rather than the effects themselves. I invested a lot of time studying, dissecting every effect into each move, memorizing them and applying them to other effects (both original and adapted) so that it would be more convenient and natural for me when doing it.

I added a discussion on what I think are the most essential (most useful in a more exact sense) sleights that a magician should learn. I added the discussion since I am seeking more opinions and insights on what else should a magician learn so that he/she could improve his/her act.

I was really thankful that I learned the moves and practiced them a lot since it helped me understand new-learned effects better and made it easy for me to perform something new with minimum practice.

Product review: Sleight of Hand and a Twist of Fate by Joshua Jay

Image Source

I really think that Joshua Jay is one of the best magic mind out there. His effects are really stunning and the originality of his ideas really make it suit the magician of today. There are a total of nine effects on a 65-page e-book and I think it's worth every cent of it. Honestly, I think this book is suited for intermediate level magicians as some of the terms listed as well as the effects need a better basic understanding on the fundamentals of magic. The photos provide a good view of the methods, however the text related to it could have been explained more clearly. Over all this e-book gave me new insights as well as powerful effects that I will surely add to my repertoire.

The e-book is available for US$15.00 on Vanishing Inc Magic

Want to Improve on Magic? Ditch the DVD and Buy a Book

In today's age of Internet and other Multimedia such as DVD and video downloads, Magic is much easier to learn now. The problem however is that less time is being dedicated by the learner to actually polish the things he/she have learned.

That's why in my opinion studying magic with a book is really better than most magic in multimedia format. Unlike most DVDs nowadays that are one trick ponies, books always have more to learn and most of the time gives better insights than most video downloads or DVDs out there.

Another thing is that when you buy a book on magic you are sure that it was written by someone who has the experience in magic. Unlike those videos which almost anyone even some inexperienced teenagers could make. I read reviews of some DVDs which were made by inexperienced people and my it was really bad.

As I have mentioned earlier most DVDs teach one-trick ponies that teaches how the trick is done rather than how to do it. With exception of very few DVDs that really teaches down to the smallest detail and advance handling, I think that most DVDs are just exaggerated to be marketed for some people's profits.

So now which would you choose? A one trick pony DVD easy to learn, hard to perform or a book that takes effort to learn but gives better insight for a better performance.

Until then,

Putting the Context in your Effects

This is maybe one of the most important lessons I learned from Joshua Jay's book. Putting an effect in context is something that most magicians,especially beginners, miss. The bad thing about this too is that even soem seasoned magicians actually fail to do so (refer to this post).

In my opinion what makes most effects out of context is that most of the time we stick to the methods up to the patter and presentation that we forget to make an effect our own. Quoting Bruce Lee he would always say about martial arts is that one should absorb what's essential and make it your own. In other words when we learn an effect we should think on how to perform it right to suit our own style and when we should perform it.

Going back of putting an effect out of context, I remember myself when I was still beginning with magic, I would actually copy almost every word that ws written in the book. In doing this I get the most bored reactions from the audiences and that really is the worst feeling a magician could get.

Well copying an effect up to the level of word per word isn't the only way to put an effect out of context. Another way is that adding the wrong and unecessary things and performing it at the wrong type of audiences. I've seen a lot of very powerful effects being performed by seasoned magicians that ended badly and boringly, and honestly I rather watch an amateur magician perform mediocre effects with the right audiences.

I hope that with this new learning, I would see improvement not only me but also with others who have read this blog.

Until then,

It's not about hand speed it's about being natural.

Magic as most people would say, is about hand speed. Yes it is done by the hand but it is not the speed of it that makes it magical. This is actually most beginner's mistakes: doing the tricks in a hurried fashion. Because of this more often than not, the trick is discovered and the audience's reaction would surely be something that would annoy you.


So what must one do? Yes magic is usually done by sleight of hand but it shouldn't be done in a fast and hurried manner, rather it should be done in a natural manner. Natural meaning, in a normal pace. Not too fast because the audience might miss it nor too slow for they might suspect something else is happening.

When I practice my magic, I do count in a rhythmic fashion. I do it first without doing the sleight so that I'll get the feel of how should it be naturally then, I would start counting its steps so that when I do the sleight I could pace it with how I normally do it. In this way I achieve the effect of a movement as being natural.

That's it a little tip for all beginner magicians out there. Remember it's not about speed it's moving at a natural pace.

Old but new again- Modern coin Magic by Bobo- 1910

I've been trying to add more show stuff into my magic, that's why I decided to get a hold again of the book Modern Coin Magic by JB Bobo. I've been reading it for quite a long time, but I really never got into doing tricks with coins. One thing why I don't do it is the lack of routine on my part when I do it.

For months now, I've been busy studying and trying to master the sleights written in the book. Unfortunately, although most sleights are easy, I find some of them impractical unless combined with a trick or a routine. Also the lack of having a routine that I could create and be comfortable with, discouraged me from practicing more of coin magic.

I almost gave up reading on this book because i really find it hard to do coin tricks, I took a break from learning the stuff from it and took more time into doing other sleight of hand magic.

It continued for a while, until I saw some videos of how the tricks taught in this book still awed audiences. Being the foundation of coin magic as we know, this book is even being sold in DVD format. Because if what I've seen,I know now what really lacks into my coin magic: presentation.

Although I know how to do this trick or that trick, I couldn't present it properly. Maybe it is lack of confidence that stops me from doing such or the fact that I got so used to cards that I find it hard to handle coins. Right now I'm doing all that I can to solve these two problems and I know sooner or later I can perform a very good coin magic routine.

I have one now though and I did it for some people. It was based largely on this book and really I owe a lot to this book.

Standards are different from Old and Boring

As a self taught magician I have learned most of my magic from books. Most of these books however are old already and I mean really old even dating back from the early 17th Century. Here's a sample page of that book that I have in pdf.



As you will see the book itself is written in Old English which makes it quite hard to understand but dedicated as I am I tried reading it and of course it has been useful for me. Well although I don't use all the routines in this book I still find it very useful even in this modern age.

Now this brings me to a question, why do most beginning magicians nowadays actually consider this stuff as inferior to what they see and what most DVDs teach nowadays? Don't they know that these are the standards and what they are watching right now are actually from these same books too? Sad to say but most beginner's in my opinion actually know little of the History of Magic.

Most Magic Books nowadays actually have a little History of magic part wherein you could know who were the best and innovators of a certain trick like for Card Magic there was Hugard, For Coins there was Bobo and for Close up there was Vernon etc. Again of course many don't read this part anymore because they jump immediately into learning the tricks.

I see nothing wrong with that but of course proper credit should be given to the people who have worked their entire life creating and innovating magic to go along with the times. So for all beginning magicians I would like to make an appeal that before you jump into learning a trick please do appreciate and try to know who did it first. Also before you say that the classics are boring please watch it first then if you are not left wondering how did that happen, then that's the time you should say it is boring.