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Which Card Tricks Make Good Openers?

By MagicKen on April 26, 2018 0

Magicians are always looking for new and improved ways to hone their crafts and give their audiences a show that is unforgettable. One of the most common and captivating tricks that can be used to set the stage for the rest of the night is that which involves card tricks. By implementing various types of card tricks and making them appealing to the crowd, it lets magicians draw in their audiences attention for the rest of the night.

Key Takeaways:

Magicians are always trying to find new ways to captivate their audiences at the shows.
It is understood that getting their attention at the beginning can help maintain it as the show progresses.
Simple but compelling card tricks are a main staple of any magicians show and can help.

“Card tricks can be a great choice for the first magic trick you perform for your spectators.”

Sleight of Hand: The 7 Strongest Sleights for Card Magicians

By MagicKen on February 20, 2018 0

The side steal may be the most popular sleight of hand trick out because it is right under the nose of the person that is having the card stolen from them. You can find a lot of people that are impressed by card tricks, but they may have never heard of the bottom palm.

You can find a lot of people who understand these different tricks working in casinos for example. Money can be made by casinos because of these tricks.

Key Takeaways:

The Blueprint gives aspiring magicians everything they need to know about sleight in order to perform amazing magic.
The Classic Pass, otherwise known as The Two Handed Shift, is the process in which you cut the pack of cards while looking like you are doing nothing.
Pathways Training goes into specific detail about mastering the sleight and will give you tips on how to achieve the shift quickly.

“For a move like the Classic Pass to be effective, it must be silent, effortless and economical – each secret action must take less than a single moment to complete…without rushing.”

First Practical Book That Allowed Me To Perform Close-Up Magic

By MagicKen on January 29, 2018 0

There are tons of books that people often recommend as starter books for learning magic.

For example, if you will be doing card magic, check out the Card College series. I wrote about that here: Magic Tricks With Cards: Where Do I Start Learning?

For coins, you’ll almost always be told to get yourself a copy of Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic.

I heartily agree that those are excellent starting points. And they will give you the basic foundations you’ll need if you want to really be good.

Can I Do Any Tricks Right Away Though?

But what if – while you are on the long learning curve to becoming a top-notch sleight-of-hand artist, you want to perform some magic right away?

I have the answer to that. It’s Paul Zenon’s Street Magic: Great Tricks and Close-up Secrets Revealed. Why that one in particular? Because it helped me out a LOT.

Because of the situation below, I’ve decided that the best way to learn magic is in a sort of “2-track” way. To become a really good magician, you’ll need skills in the basics, which takes awhile. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start performing SOME magic along the way. So here is the system I developed:

Track 1 Learning – This is the long-term study and practice that will ultimately make you a skilled magician. It takes time and practice. But as they say, “if it were easy, everyone would do it.“
Track 2 Learning – This is where you learn tricks that are easy enough to be performed with only a few hours of study and practice. It allows you to start performing SOME magic right away. The fun that brings, and the rewarding audience reactions will give you the motivation to keep on with your Track 1 studies.

I had been dutifully studying Bobo and Card College, along with some other great sources (Eric Jones, David Roth, The Tarbell series, etc.) – this was my “Track 1 Learning” – when I won a door prize at a local magic club meeting (Society of American Magicians). That book was the Paul Zenon book.

Well I was going to a party just a few days later and REALLY wanted to have a couple of tricks I could do well, since I would be telling folks I’d taken up magic. Of course they were going to ask for a trick or two, right? But while the stuff I was studying was really long-term, foundation-building stuff, it didn’t really give me much in the way of stuff I could do RIGHT NOW that would be impressive enough that folks would really have fun.

But as soon as I started reading “Street Magic,” I found 2 or 3 tricks right away that were terrific and required no difficult sleights or anything. One of the card tricks I still do to this day (which is only 3 years later, but still :-)).

Paul Zenon’s book was my first foray into “Track 2 Learning.”

I am still working my way through Card College and The Tarbell course. But I think it’s important for you to get the experience of performing quite soon after you start. this will help keep the motivation up while you learn the truly wonderful life-long skills that take a little more time.

CLICK HERE if you want to grab a copy of Paul Zenon’s “Street Magic” for your own, and get started actually performing some really good magic quickly.

Learning Magic Tricks – A Better Way to Practice

By Ken Ryan on January 3, 2018 0

People wanting to improve their ability to perform magic need to do one main task. That one main thing is practicing. The trick to this is to practice magic with your mind and not necessarily the number of hours that you put into it. Experts say that it takes over ten thousand hours to perfect any given domain and magic is no exception, although you can vary this time depending on how you are practicing it.

Key Takeaways:

There are three different distinct patterns magicians use, broken record, autopilot, and hybrid method.
Deliberate practice is a systematic and highly effective way to learn magic.
How one spends their time practicing is more important than how much time they spend practicing.

“Life is short. Time is our most valuable commodity. If you’re going to practice, you might as well do it right.”

The Impossibility Process

By Ken Ryan on December 29, 2017 0

The Impossibility Process is a film that explores what it means to be a magician. From the earliest stages of wonder and excitement about magic to learning the craft of magic to finally performing it for others, the film reveals the discovery process a human being goes through that ultimately leads them to practice the art of modern magic. It touches on the subjects of curiosity, apprenticeship, and stagecraft. It is a film that invites the audience to glimpse behind the scenes and see the craft behind the art.

Key Takeaways:

This work explores how a magician will progress through his craft.
Many people were involved in making The Impossibility Process into the work that it is
The Impossibility Process was filmed in Tannen’s Magic Shop, a place that has fostered magician development

“The feeling of impossibility surrounds the craft of magic, and magicians are the conduits for those moments.”

What’s the Best Magic Present for an 8 Year Old?

By Ken Ryan on December 16, 2017 0

Children often go through a magic phase, where magicians and their tricks are endlessly fascinating. Some even go on to turn into magicians themselves, but it starts with that childhood delight. A great way to fuel it is a magic set, which generally provides some basic tricks of varying types along with instructions. A good set will give any budding magician more than enough to spark their interest and keep them hungry to practice and improve their act beyond the rudimentary. Contact any reputable magic shop for suggestions and watch the magic happen.