I want to learn a trick

[SquishyDave]

A magic trick, something simple, that can be done with no props, except of course the scarf or cards, but there are no magic shops in all of Canberra as far as I can find.

I want to learn a nice simple party trick like making a hanky disappear, can this be done without a certain digit prop? Any helpful suggestions on tricks I could learn or where to find them?

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
Any helpful suggestions on tricks I could learn or where to find them?

I would suggest you start by taking a trip to your local library.

There are also some threads in this forum that offer advice for the beginner.

[rebecca]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
A magic trick, something simple, that can be done with no props, except of course the scarf or cards, but there are no magic shops in all of Canberra as far as I can find.

I want to learn a nice simple party trick like making a hanky disappear, can this be done without a certain digit prop? Any helpful suggestions on tricks I could learn or where to find them?

What Lavie said. Most libraries will have beginner stuff, like Mark Wilson's Encylocpedia. If not, I've noticed large bookstores carry some decent beginner stuff.

I'm not familiar with Australian magic shops, but Hank Lee's (http://www.magicfact.com) ships worldwide, I think, and most people there are very knowledgeable and could help you pick something out.

Or, you could get in touch with local magicians at meetup.com (http://http://magic.meetup.com/members/883), which I found with a quick search. Find out where they get their goods.

Have fun!

[Lavie Enrose]

Lance Burton (http://www.lanceburton.com) has some good tricks for the beginner on his web site.

[SquishyDave]

Thnks guys,

There's threads in this forum and offer advice for beginners? Well, I feel stupid. Hang on let me check.....

I can't find any under Conjuror's Corner, so I don't feel quote so stupid that I missed them, I will check out the rest of the forum later, I will see what those links have to offer also.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
Thnks guys,

There's threads in this forum and offer advice for beginners? Well, I feel stupid. Hang on let me check.....

I can't find any under Conjuror's Corner, so I don't feel quote so stupid that I missed them, I will check out the rest of the forum later, I will see what those links have to offer also.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Some of the threads in the Conjuror's Corner are gone. Nothing lasts forever.

If you are looking for the titles of magic books for beginners, I can start off the list with:

Magic With Everyday Objects: Over 150 tricks Anyone Can Do At The Dinner Table
By: George Schindler

Magic For Non-Magicians
By: Shari Lewis; Abraham B Hurwitz; Leo Behnke

[SquishyDave]

Originally posted by Lavie Enrose


Some of the threads in the Conjuror's Corner are gone. Nothing lasts forever.

If you are looking for the titles of magic books for beginners, I can start off the list with:

Magic With Everyday Objects: Over 150 tricks Anyone Can Do At The Dinner Table
By: George Schindler

Magic For Non-Magicians
By: Shari Lewis; Abraham B Hurwitz; Leo Behnke That sounds like what I'm after, thanks, I'll see if my local bookshops carry something like that. I will soon be astounding people at the dinner table with marvelous feats of conjury and misdirection.

I will be the coolest person there I'm sure...... well......at least I won't be the least coolest person there..........OK so I still will be the least coolest, but I should be able to manage a slight increase in my coolness...........who am I kidding?

[NoZed Avenger]

Mark Wilson's 'Complete Course in Magic,' as mentioned above, is a very good resource. The Encyclopedia of Magic, also by him, is less good.

Bill Tarr's 'Now You See it, Now You Don't' is pretty good.

'Magic for Dummies' may be slightly overpriced compared to the above, but it is a surprisingly solid resource.

Those are the ones off the top of my head that I could recommend.

N/A

[rebecca]

Originally posted by NoZed Avenger
Mark Wilson's 'Complete Course in Magic,' as mentioned above, is a very good resource. The Encyclopedia of Magic, also by him, is less good.

Bill Tarr's 'Now You See it, Now You Don't' is pretty good.

'Magic for Dummies' may be slightly overpriced compared to the above, but it is a surprisingly solid resource.

Those are the ones off the top of my head that I could recommend.

N/A

I love "Now You See it . . .," but Mark Wilson's complete course is much easier for beginners and probably easier to find in bookstores.

OH, and check out Magic for the Complete Klutz. It may be geared toward kids, but IMO, it's better, funnier, more interesting then Magic for Dummies. (We all know those "for dummies" books are just ripping off of Klutz anyway!)

I had my first paid magic gig when I was 13 and I performed exclusively stuff from that Klutz book (as it's all I had).

:)

[NoZed Avenger]

Originally posted by rebecca
OH, and check out Magic for the Complete Klutz. It may be geared toward kids, but IMO, it's better, funnier, more interesting then Magic for Dummies. (We all know those "for dummies" books are just ripping off of Klutz anyway!)

Good call -- I got that for a friend of mine several years back when he was starting out; it was a good book -- totally slipped my mind.

N/A

[SquishyDave]

Thanks everyone, it's like I will have more luck finding Complete Course in Magic from the quick search I did.

Wow, I thought only about 12 people worldwide got paid for doing magic. I'm probably too old to take it up as a career though, at the age of 26 my life is pretty much over, but I feel in my declining years I need something to keep my fingers nimble, I can pick locks, it takes a while for some of them, a long while, but at least I get there, this magic stuff should be fun.

[SquishyDave]

I popped by a bookshop at lunch, there were only two books, one for kiddies, and one called "Practical Encyclopaedia of Magic" by someone Einhorn. It looked Australian, and was only 25 bucks, so I picked it up. Glancing through it, I was surprised that I already knew one of the tricks, the one where you make four cards come back to the top of the deck after sticking them all through it.

Anyhoo, I'm on my way, the book even lists some magic suppliers in Australia, but I doubt I will using those just yet.

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
I popped by a bookshop at lunch, there were only two books, one for kiddies, and one called "Practical Encyclopaedia of Magic" by someone Einhorn. It looked Australian, and was only 25 bucks, so I picked it up. Glancing through it, I was surprised that I already knew one of the tricks, the one where you make four cards come back to the top of the deck after sticking them all through it.

Anyhoo, I'm on my way, the book even lists some magic suppliers in Australia, but I doubt I will using those just yet.

Go to the library! Australia does have libraries, and those libraries do have magic books! And those magic books are free to borrow!

I even did a search of The National Library of Australia Catalogue for you:

SEARCH RESULTS (http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?SAB1=magic+tricks&BOOL1=all+of+these&FLD1=Keywords+%28GKEY%29&GRP1=AND+with+next+set&SAB2=&BOOL2=any+of+these&FLD2=Keywords+%28GKEY%29&GRP2=AND+with+next+set&SAB3=&BOOL3=any+of+these&FLD3=Keywords+%28GKEY%29&GRP3=AND+with+next+set&SAB4=&BOOL4=any+of+these&FLD4=Keywords+%28GKEY%29&PID=897&SEQ=20040520211821&CNT=25&HIST=)

[SquishyDave]

Thanks Mr Enrose, but if I borrow a book, they will expect it back, this way it's all mine.

I am pretty happy with the book I bought, it was cheap too, if I find I reach the limit of what this book can teach me, and still have an unquenchable thirst for ever more magic, the library sounds like a good option, getting the basics down with a book I own will make it easier because it will no doubt take me several months to master the art of shuffling, let alone actually doing a trick.

[rebecca]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
. . . it will no doubt take me several months to master the art of shuffling, let alone actually doing a trick.

You could just carry around an automatic shuffler. Magician's secret. Don't tell anyone.

[NoZed Avenger]

Some pushy advice from a(n) (mostly) amateur:

Books. You mentioned a magic shop -- do NOT go there until you've gotten a few books and gone through them. Get a feel for the type of magic and effects that you like for a while.

Books are worth far, far more than one-shot effects that may not be right for you. Once you've developed an idea of the type of stuff you are comfortable with, then go to the shops and look around.

The value for money equation:

Books > Videos/DVDs > tricks.

Also, you may want to check out eBay -- used magic books and effects on it quite often.

N/A

[SquishyDave]

Originally posted by rebecca
You could just carry around an automatic shuffler. Magician's secret. Don't tell anyone. I'm being let in on magician's secrets already! No doubt some misdirection keeps the punters from knowing you have a shuffling machine.

[SquishyDave]

Originally posted by NoZed Avenger
Some pushy advice from a(n) (mostly) amateur: That's a grammatical nightmare, I will be kept awake by that for ages.

Your advice, however, strikes a cord with me, I think it makes sense and will no doubt save me money also.

[rebecca]

Originally posted by NoZed Avenger
Some pushy advice from a(n) (mostly) amateur:

Books. You mentioned a magic shop -- do NOT go there until you've gotten a few books and gone through them. Get a feel for the type of magic and effects that you like for a while.


That's a very good point. Skip the gimmicks, at first (or altogether, IMO). Learn simple tricks with easy to grab props, then learn some slight of hand for better tricks.
Originally posted by SquishyDave

I'm being let in on magician's secrets already! No doubt some misdirection keeps the punters from knowing you have a shuffling machine.

I suggest hiring a lady to get half naked somewhere in the vicinity. For me, of course, this misdirection was DIY. :D

[SquishyDave]

Originally posted by rebecca
I suggest hiring a lady to get half naked somewhere in the vicinity. For me, of course, this misdirection was DIY. :D :rolleyes: Like I don't think about half naked skepchics enough! :)

I could try going half naked for misdirection, but it defeats it the purpose of the trick if your audience is unable to watch because they are leaving in disgust, and Canberra has legalised prostitution, so attempting to hire a half naked woman for the purposes of "doing some magic" might lead to all sorts of expensive and awkward misunderstandings.

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
Thanks Mr Enrose, but if I borrow a book, they will expect it back, this way it's all mine.

Okay. But do not say I did not warn you.

[SquishyDave]

Originally posted by Lavie Enrose
Okay. But do not say I did not warn you. Warned me!? I only thought you suggested I borrow instead of buy, what have I done? What's going to happen to me? Please, I don't want to die because I bought a magic book instead of borrowing it, I have a wife and kids......I might one day have a wife and kids. What? Don't look at me like that, you can't rule it out completely, anything's possible. Where was I? Oh yes, begging for my life because I made a grevious error that may well lead to my horrible death.

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
Warned me!? I only thought you suggested I borrow instead of buy, what have I done?

You will know when you have spent your money on magic books you never read, and magic tricks you keep permanently stored in a drawer.

[SquishyDave]

Originally posted by Lavie Enrose
You will know when you have spent your money on magic books you never read, and magic tricks you keep permanently stored in a drawer. Ah, well I should be OK, this one book seems to cover the basics of a lot, card tricks, mental tricks, dinner table tricks, rope tricks etc, so I will not buy anything more until I'm sure I want to, so at worst I will end up with one magic book I don't read, and it only cost 25 dollars, I spent far more than that learning to pick locks, so if even I only learn a neat way to shuffle a deck of cards, I'll consider it worth the cost.

I will be following N/A's and your advice on this one and not buying anything more for a while. You'll eat your words, of course, when I'm making the sydney harbour bridge disappear. :p

[rebecca]

Originally posted by SquishyDave

. . . I will be following N/A's and your advice on this one . . .

Oh, how quickly I'm thrown aside and forgotten.
:(

That's it. I was going to fly to Canberra and give you personal lessons, but fuhgeddit.

[SquishyDave]

Originally posted by rebecca
Oh, how quickly I'm thrown aside and forgotten.
:(

That's it. I was going to fly to Canberra and give you personal lessons, but fuhgeddit. What have I done? I think you merely misunderstood me, you gave me different advice, advice so well thought out and wonderful that to mention it in the same sentence as the dry, boring and mundane advice given by N/A and Lavie would sully its shining perfection.

Your advice stands as a paragon to advice givers everywhere, I was so astounded by the clarity, wisdom and insight of your advice that I was scared to mention it again, lest I disturb it and it flee into the depths of the past like a mermaid scared by the oafish attempts of wooing by a clumsy human.

I have no words to express how much I cherish each letter that flows from your fingertips to my screen. I only ask that you forgive me for giving the appearance of casting your precious words aside, but if you can't, I understand, and I will content myself with lurking around the forum, reading your posts to other, more worthy, people and fooling myself with the bitter sweet charade that your words are meant for me.

[rebecca]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
What have I done? I think you merely misunderstood me, you gave me different advice, advice so well thought out and wonderful that to mention it in the same sentence as the dry, boring and mundane advice given by N/A and Lavie would sully its shining perfection.

Your advice stands as a paragon to advice givers everywhere, I was so astounded by the clarity, wisdom and insight of your advice that I was scared to mention it again, lest I disturb it and it flee into the depths of the past like a mermaid scared by the oafish attempts of wooing by a clumsy human.

I have no words to express how much I cherish each letter that flows from your fingertips to my screen. I only ask that you forgive me for giving the appearance of casting your precious words aside, but if you can't, I understand, and I will content myself with lurking around the forum, reading your posts to other, more worthy, people and fooling myself with the bitter sweet charade that your words are meant for me.

. . . .







Okay, is Friday good for you? Flight 1137 from Seattle.
;)

[SquishyDave]

Originally posted by rebecca
Okay, is Friday good for you? Flight 1137 from Seattle.
;) OK, I'll see you at the airpo...... wait a moment, Canberra doesn't have an international airport! You'd know that if you'd booked a ticket.

Could it be you aren't really coming to Canberra?

Did you hear that? I think it was my heart breaking apart, but it's OK, feel free to toy with my emotions as you see fit. I'll be OK, in a about 5 years when the pain of this hideous betrayal has passed, or you know, I could be fine right now too, you know how unpredictable these things are. In fact I'm probably fine now, so don't sweat it.

[rebecca]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
OK, I'll see you at the airpo...... wait a moment, Canberra doesn't have an international airport! You'd know that if you'd booked a ticket.

Could it be you aren't really coming to Canberra?

Did you hear that? I think it was my heart breaking apart, but it's OK, feel free to toy with my emotions as you see fit. I'll be OK, in a about 5 years when the pain of this hideous betrayal has passed, or you know, I could be fine right now too, you know how unpredictable these things are. In fact I'm probably fine now, so don't sweat it.

Though you write, "I'm probably fine now," I see through your cheery words as through a pane of glass. Clearly the pain I have caused will reside with you for far more than a mere half-decade, and for that I can only apologize again and again, though each apology may be like a single grain of sand on a beach of eternal sorrows.

I will, therefore, attempt in every way to, as Toni Braxton once crooned, "Unbreak [your] heart," by pledging to you this: the next (first) time I am granted the opportunity to visit Australia's blessed shores, I will at once proceed directly to that bastion of goodness and light, Canberra. There, I will knock on your door, introduce myself, and immediately bestow upon you the techniques of magic which are so great, one cannot lower oneself to call them "tricks," but instead spectacles, fantasticalities, bananabamacles, and other words which must be invented out of the thinnest of air to properly express the wonder which one feels upon witnessing them.

I only hope that this will begin to correct my most regrettable mistake.

Respectfully,

Rebecca

[SquishyDave]

Originally posted by rebecca
Though you write, "I'm probably fine now," I see through your cheery words as through a pane of glass. Clearly the pain I have caused will reside with you for far more than a mere half-decade, and for that I can only apologize again and again, though each apology may be like a single grain of sand on a beach of eternal sorrows.

I will, therefore, attempt in every way to, as Toni Braxton once crooned, "Unbreak [your] heart," by pledging to you this: the next (first) time I am granted the opportunity to visit Australia's blessed shores, I will at once proceed directly to that bastion of goodness and light, Canberra. There, I will knock on your door, introduce myself, and immediately bestow upon you the techniques of magic which are so great, one cannot lower oneself to call them "tricks," but instead spectacles, fantasticalities, bananabamacles, and other words which must be invented out of the thinnest of air to properly express the wonder which one feels upon witnessing them.

I only hope that this will begin to correct my most regrettable mistake.

Respectfully,

Rebecca You are, as always, right. Though I am unworthy of such an honour as being in your mind, the thought that you might even feel one moments guilt at having caused me pain was more than I could bare, I feigned indifference, though my soul was withering and dying like a weed torn from the ground and thrown carelessly onto a harsh, sun-baked rock. I should have known your keen mind and piercing eyes would spy out my feeble deception.

I cannot even imagine the possibility that you might deign to teach me the wonders of bananabamacles, such joy as imagining this will bring me would surely shatter my mind, humans aren't meant to know such gladness.

The mere thought, however, that one day you might grace this countries soil with your presence is all the balm I need to sooth my ravaged mind. Even if you never find your way to my doorstep, the mere thought of you being on the same land mass as I is all the comfort I need.

[NoZed Avenger]

Oh, for the love of Ed, get a room, already.

:p

[SquishyDave]

Fair enough, we should probably stop before we kill the english language anyway.

I've been reading and practicing some of the book, I've got some of the simpler card flourishes down, and think I could pull off some of the card tricks no problem, but when it come to the sleight of hand tricks I have a problem.

Some of the tricks just seem too simple, I can't help but get the feeling that if I try some of these simple tricks out on an audience, that they will see through my trick straight away, and they will get angry. They'll say "Look he just put the coin up his sleeve, how stupid does he think we are? Lets get him!" and then they will start beating me, then some police will come by, and ask what's going on, I will be glad because this means I won't be beaten anymore, but when the cops hear what I tried to do, they will join in on the beating, then they will arrest me and take me away to an interrogation room and strip me naked and throw coins at me really hard, all the while yelling, "HIDE THIS UP YOUR SLEEVE NOW YOU USELESS BASTARD!" and then they will drag me out into the middle of a busy street, naked and covered in coin sized welts, then drive me through the middle of town encouraging people to taunt me and throw stones and vegetables at me.

Did anyone else have this fear when first tyring to learn a trick or two?

[rebecca]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
Beatings . . . prison . . . indignities . . . Did anyone else have this fear . . .

Actually, yes, but after your first beating, you get over it. I'd start off by finding a good friend who is easy going and not too bright. If he has to be drunk to be easy going and dumb, buy him a drink. Show him the trick.

If you nail it: make your friend buy you a drink.

If you screw it up: buy your friend another drink. Show him another trick and he'll forget all about the first trick, which sucked.

Children are also good for tricks that are visual. Once you try stuff out on simpletons, you'll be ready for sober, average-intelligence people.

Never show magic to someone who is mean. They won't think you're trying to amaze them, they'll think you're trying to trick them. (And on that note, remember that people don't want to be tricked, so always go for amazing them instead. Don't make them feel stupid.)

If you need bail money, have a guard PM me.

[SquishyDave]

Thanks, that make sense.

I had already decided not to try to show any tricks to my older brother for the reasons you outlined, he's a good bloke don't get me wrong, but he is cynical, and might just be observant enough to spot my tricks, and worse, he would really like to catch me out. Family eh? :rolleyes: :)

Actually I did a little coin trick with my young cousin on Saturday, it was great, because I had a coin in each hand, and I asked him to pick a hand so he could keep that coin, one was a higher value. I had tried to switch them up so he didn't know which was where. Then both he and my Mother were distracted by something happening across the room, so I took the opportunity to drop both coins in my lap, then said "Come on, pick a hand" when both hands turned up empty, neither of them knew what had happened, my Mum thought the coins where up my sleeve, they didn't register that they were distracted long enough for me to do something.

I will confine my tricks to kids and well meaning, happy types for now. And if I pick the wrong audience and end up in prison, I'll gratefully accept any bail money you can offer.

[Lavie Enrose]

Keep it simple. You do not need to look like a one person orgy to fool someone.

Children are very hard to fool. They do not have conditioning that adults have. Randi wrote about this in one of his Commentaries. If you can fool a child with a trick, you will mostly likely be able to fool an adult with the same trick.

Doing magic tricks for drunks can be fun (and profitable) sometimes, but it will not make you a better magician.

Family and close friends know you best, and they will be harder to fool than strangers. Practice first with your family and close friends. They will not care if you mess up.

Most important rule: be yourself!

[NoZed Avenger]

Originally posted by Lavie Enrose
Keep it simple. You do not need to look like a one person orgy to fool someone.

Children are very hard to fool. They do not have conditioning that adults have. Randi wrote about this in one of his Commentaries. If you can fool a child with a trick, you will mostly likely be able to fool an adult with the same trick.

Doing magic tricks for drunks can be fun (and profitable) sometimes, but it will not make you a better magician.

Family and close friends know you best, and they will be harder to fool than strangers. Practice first with your family and close friends. They will not care if you mess up.

Most important rule: be yourself!

I have nothing to add -- this post just deserved to be repeated.

[SquishyDave]

Ok, you don't have to tell me twice, oh wait, you just did tell me twice. :)

Point taken, I will try to follow all the advice given here, I will pay most attention to "You do not need to look like a one person orgy to fool someone." I find the imagry of this advice particularly good.

[rebecca]

Originally posted by Lavie Enrose
Keep it simple. You do not need to look like a one person orgy to fool someone.

Children are very hard to fool. They do not have conditioning that adults have. Randi wrote about this in one of his Commentaries. If you can fool a child with a trick, you will mostly likely be able to fool an adult with the same trick.

Doing magic tricks for drunks can be fun (and profitable) sometimes, but it will not make you a better magician.

Family and close friends know you best, and they will be harder to fool than strangers. Practice first with your family and close friends. They will not care if you mess up.

Most important rule: be yourself!

Hey, I'll repeat it a third time. Only to say, kids are incredibly easy to fool. ;)
Sorry, but it's true. You just need to show them the right tricks: things that are very visible and make them smile, and you can't fool them in the same way that you can fool adults, but the same goes the other way around.

But the other stuff is true -- build up your confidence on your nice drunk friends, but you'll still need to practice before you do anything in front of nice sober strangers.

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by rebecca
Hey, I'll repeat it a third time. Only to say, kids are incredibly easy to fool. ;)


Vanishing something by using a pass will almost always fool an adult. Vanishing something by using a pass will almost never fool a child.

[Lavie Enrose]

I found Randi's Commentary with the part about children being difficult to deceive:

Randi's Commentary (http://www.randi.org/jr/01-05-2001.html)

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by SquishyDave
Point taken, I will try to follow all the advice given here, I will pay most attention to "You do not need to look like a one person orgy to fool someone." I find the imagry of this advice particularly good.

On second thought, I probably should have described it in a different way.

[rebecca]

Originally posted by Lavie Enrose
I found Randi's Commentary with the part about children being difficult to deceive:

Randi's Commentary (http://www.randi.org/jr/01-05-2001.html)

Yes, I've read that commentary. He was using it to prove a point.

But all I'm saying, is that there are tricks with which it is easy to fool an adult, and those with which it is easy to fool a child. I've performed in front of large groups of both, but certainly not with the same act. :)

Over the years I spent working at a magic store, I much preferred demonstrating things to the kids, as they were more receptive and interested in seeing the magic for what it was, rather than something to be figured out. Like adults, the first question is invariably "How'd you do that," but with kids the second question always comes quickly, which is "Can I see another?"

[Lavie Enrose]

Originally posted by rebecca


Yes, I've read that commentary. He was using it to prove a point.

But all I'm saying, is that there are tricks with which it is easy to fool an adult, and those with which it is easy to fool a child. I've performed in front of large groups of both, but certainly not with the same act. :)

Over the years I spent working at a magic store, I much preferred demonstrating things to the kids, as they were more receptive and interested in seeing the magic for what it was, rather than something to be figured out. Like adults, the first question is invariably "How'd you do that," but with kids the second question always comes quickly, which is "Can I see another?"


I am not disagreeing with what you are saying, but my point is this:

Misdirection is a very large part of Magic. As you know, magicians have all kinds of methods of using misdirection to deceive an audience.

Children can not be misdirected, like adults can, thus this makes children harder to deceive than adults.

[carudatta]

I once fooled a dog by vanishing a ball using a pass.

[TheBoyPaj]

I'd like to echo the suggestion not to perform for mean people. After a while you get a feel for which people want to be entertained and which people want to catch you out.