Blog Page

Me Doing Jay Sankey’s “The Messiah Vanish”

By MagicKen on August 10, 2017 0

I recently – finally – got my hands on Jay Sankey’s video, “Revolutionary Coin Magic.” Woot!

I learned a routine called Mr. Clean Coins Across from this video last year. Now I have access to all the routines! Buwahahahahaa!

Someone over at The Magicians forum requested that I do a quick video of me doing something I learned form this DVD, so I did a quick and dirty iPhone video of myself doing The Messiah Vanish. Here is the result of that.

As I mentioned, this trick can be found on Jay Sankey’s Revolutionary Coin Magic DVD, which is one of the best learning resources for coin magic ever, as far as I’m concerned. Granted, I’ve only been doing magic for a little over two and a half years at this point, but coin magic has been my main focus and I do have many of the recommended coin magic books and DVDs.

This DVD is harder to find than some of the newer ones, coming out as it did in the early 2000s – ca 2004 I think. But you can get it from Jay Sankey’s site here. Or try eBay, which is where I got my copy. Here is a link to it on eBay for one on sale right now.

I’m Shy Doing Magic Tricks For Friends

By Ken Ryan on August 6, 2017 0

In response to the question “what are you struggling with right now?” Scott replies with the following answer: he (Scott) is a working professional, who, in his day-to-day job presents material in front of crowds. However, as a beginner magician, he is shy to perform magic tricks in front of his friends. This affects his practice and performance.

In response to Scott’s answer, the following opinion is given- while Scott is playing a role in his professional life, there is a different tone when he performs magic for friends because they know him personally and are comfortable openly critiquing him on his magic.

This type of scrutiny can shake a magician as their toughest audience is friends and family.

If this is an issue in your own life, read this free ebook for strategies that might help.

Best Valentines Day Magic Tricks for Couples

By Ken Ryan on August 6, 2017 0

Magic tricks are fitting for Valentine’s day. There are several different tricks you can use which are appropriate for the occasion and also create a long-lasting memory. The tricks come primarily from magic playing card decks. Some of the items contain setd of tricks from . variety of well,known magicians. These tricks are versatile. While the intent is that they can be used for Valentine’s day they can also be used,for other romantic occasions such as a wedding.

Magic Tricks With Cards: Where Do I Start Learning?

By MagicKen on August 3, 2017 0

So where do you learn magic tricks with cards? Just about every magician will tell you to start with the Card College series, by Roberto Giobbi – “Card College: A Complete Course in Sleight-of-Hand Card Magic.”

These books will take you from the very beginning – how to hold the cards, what to call the edges of the cards, etc. Giobbi then progresses through five volumes, continually building on everything that came before.

As a matter of fact, there are more than 5 volumes. Giobbi put out “Introduction to Card Magic” as a great place to start. It’s perfect because it’s a pdf – convenient and great for the immediate gratification addicts like me:). It even has video clips in it, which I found super helpful. That’s where I began. You can download it right how here for only about 8 bucks.

You can get book 1 – Card College, Vol. 1: A Complete Course in Sleight-of-Hand Card Magic on Amazon. So many magicians swear by learning magic from books. I understand that things enter the brain a certain way when you try to understand the written description. But I am REALLY visual and like to ALSO get a video demonstration when at all possible.

That’s why I liked volumes 1 and 2 so much. You can get PDF versions of those, each containing videos of the moves. Awesome. Unfortunately, that stopped with volumes 3-5.

You can get the first two volumes in pdf form with the videos below for $45 each:

Card College 1

Card College 2

You Can Do Magic Tricks With Cards Without Sleight-of-Hand

As the name of the main series implies, it is a course on sleight-of-hand card magic. That means it teaches you handle cards in a magical way, to create the illusions and spectacles that are so cool in card magic.

Because of the numerical and mathematical nature of playing cards, there is a lot of magic possible that doesn’t require “sleights.” So Giobbi also published versions of the Card College that do not require sleight of hand. They are:

Card College Light: Professional Card Magic Without Sleight-of-Hand

Card College Lighter: More Professional Card Magic Without Sleight-of-Hand

Card College Lightest: Still More Professional Card Magic Without Sleight-of-Hand

So no matter what kind of card magician you want to be, you can make a great start with the Card College Series.

Coin Tricks: Your First Book

By MagicKen on July 29, 2017 1

Where do your learn coin tricks. Well, there are a lot of books you can start with on coin magic. But for decades, the answer to the question has been “Bobo!” That is short for Modern Coin Magic: 116 Coin Sleights and 236 Coin Tricks, by J. B. Bobo.

As dated as the book is, it does cover all the basics and then some.

You’ll get a strong foundation in coin magic with this book. Basically, there is very little in the coin magic world today that cannot trace its roots to something in Bobo.

Coin Tricks Yes, But Also The Mechanics to Do The Tricks

Everyone always talks about “coin tricks.” But you cannot do any trick unless and until you understand basic things like:

How to hold the coin(s):
How to transfer the coins from one place to another
Where to look (more important than you think), and more

Yes, there are dozens, probably hundreds of books and DVDs on coin magic. And we’ll talk about a lot of those. But really, you should – for the ten bucks it will cost you – get yourself a copy of Bobo’s. To get started doing just that, find out more about it at Amazon HERE.