Complete beginner to magic

[MagicAbs]

HI I am a complete beginner to magic im 23 and getting a criss angel magic set for Xmas im wanting to start out with easy stuff and get better, what advice would you give to a beginner ? ? I don't understand sleight of hand or anything yet I am completely new to this but I really want to become a good magician, all help would be grateful thanks

 

[TylerScottIllusionist]

Books are a good start if you don't need to learn from video. If you are interested in cards, Jason England has a release on here about where to begin with cards. He gives his recommended reading list for books that teach you card tricks/techniques.

Penguin, SansMind, and Ellusionist have free tricks that they email you when you first sign up. Not all of it is workable material but the more methods you know the better magician you will be. I think Ellusionist also has a kickstarter project that is still up for people brand new to magic that you might want to check out.

My advice is find out what kind of a performer you want to be (i.e. perform for friends at the office, street magician, stage illusionist) and then study up on people who cater to that like Justin Flom or Darcy Oake. Once you have an idea of who want to be, invest in learning effects that cater to that style of performance.

An example I will give you is my own. I never really wanted to be a card guy (although I'm getting more into it now) so I started off with general organic magic such as Healed and Sealed 2.0, Dresscode, bill changes like Prophet, and Fire Wallets. Hope this helps!

 

[RealityOne]

To truly begin learning magic, get the book, Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. It will give you a great introduction to magic. I you see effects in there, pick up the necessary props.

 

[DominusDolorum]

You can find the book that RealityOne mentioned pretty cheap online. It is an excellent source for beginners and I highly recommend it. The Card College series is great if you want to proceed with card magic, and I also recommend my personal favourite The Royal Road to Card Magic.

On Theory 11 there are some great tricks that are very easy to perform and also extremely fun for you and your audience. For less that 10 bucks you can get a great trick by Spidey; any one of them is great so just look around and decide for yourself!

 

[Chris.Gowen]

Bill Tarr's Now You See It, Now You Don't! was my first magic book ever and is fantastic if you can find a copy. The Tarbell course in magic is standard and every magician has that in their library. J.B. Bobo's modern coin magic is a great place to start for coins.

 

[The Magic X]

If it's the Chris Angel kit I am thinking of, you'd be much better off buying other resources instead. I got a Chris Angel Mindfreak kit when I was still a "newbie." It didn't teach anything I couldn't easily learn elsewhere and the props supplied were pretty cheap.

As others are saying, buy books first, before buying individual tricks from dealers like Theory11 or Ellusionist. The aforementioned Mark Wilson's Complete Course and Card College are great resources which helped enhance my skills.

Master the basics and build a foundation on which to grow.

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

I'm not going to add a whole helluva lot. But I'm going to echo the 'Mark Wilsons Complete Course in Magic'.

If you want to get into cards: 'Scarne on Card Tricks'. There are some GEMS in that thing!

 

[kennethcmerrill]

Hey MagicAbs! Welcome.

People learn differently and have different interests and budgets, etc. no one is going to give you the perfect advice for you; you'll still have to do some searching and figuring out on your own--and that's as it should be! But here is what I have to offer:

The best and most common advice you're about to get is to skip the dvds and expensive material from Ellusionist or Theory 11 for a while and go buy yourself a couple good ol' books. At face value, this is the most efficient and cost-effective way to go, and you will be getting off on the right foot, BUT if you're anything like me, you may have a hard time working through magic books. As a beginner it can be very hard to visualize the effects in the books; it can be even harder to understand the details of the methods (especially if you're dealing with cards or coins where the smallest movements matter). The difficulty of learning with the books can quickly turn you off and either make you quit or go back to the expensive effects/dvds on sites like this one. And that's ok!

In my experience, it was a good thing for me to dive in to some of the video products offered on T11 and Ellusionist because I could see effects performed first hand; I could then see them broken down in detailed visuals; and I got to witness the patter used as well as audience management, etc. It helped me understand how effects play out in real life--especially modern life, considering many keystone magic books are over 50 years old. Once I had blown some money on products that got me excited about the possibilities and got me performing a few tricks here and there, I had the fuel necessary to dive back into books like Royal Road to Card Magic. Where once I had just seen a bunch of out-dated and hard-to-understand effects, I now saw a rich foundation of possibilities and genius.

TL;DR - Books are the best, but it's also great to dive into some of the "cool new" stuff on T11 or Ellusionist.

I have little experience compared to most here, but here would be my detailed recommendation for you:
Figure out what kind of magic you are most interested in. There's card magic, coin magic, mentalism, ring magic, as well as some specialty niches like rubber bands, cigarettes, etc. In my opinion, cards are the easiest place to start.
Then, go ahead and look for a couple effects that really appeal to you--read reviews thoroughly to make sure you're not buying a dud, and make sure it suits your beginner skill level.
While you're working on those and maybe doing your first couple performances, invest in a good book like those mentioned above. Mark Wilson's Course is a steal for the price. Tarbell is classic stuff--though it's a massive amount of material. If you're into cards, Card College seems to be a great starting place.

That should put you off to a good start. Hit me up with a PM for any further questions!

 

[MagicAbs]

If it's the Chris Angel kit I am thinking of, you'd be much better off buying other resources instead. I got a Chris Angel Mindfreak kit when I was still a "newbie." It didn't teach anything I couldn't easily learn elsewhere and the props supplied were pretty cheap.

As others are saying, buy books first, before buying individual tricks from dealers like Theory11 or Ellusionist. The aforementioned Mark Wilson's Complete Course and Card College are great resources which helped enhance my skills.

Master the basics and build a foundation on which to grow.

Im only getting the mindfreak kit as I am a complete beginner n I want to see if it is my sort of thing before I invest n pay out alot of money if you get me , I only want to practice/perform for family n friends at the min just to find my feet n confidence then progress if I like it and it's not too hard lol

 

[MagicAbs]

Hey MagicAbs! Welcome.

People learn differently and have different interests and budgets, etc. no one is going to give you the perfect advice for you; you'll still have to do some searching and figuring out on your own--and that's as it should be! But here is what I have to offer:

The best and most common advice you're about to get is to skip the dvds and expensive material from Ellusionist or Theory 11 for a while and go buy yourself a couple good ol' books. At face value, this is the most efficient and cost-effective way to go, and you will be getting off on the right foot, BUT if you're anything like me, you may have a hard time working through magic books. As a beginner it can be very hard to visualize the effects in the books; it can be even harder to understand the details of the methods (especially if you're dealing with cards or coins where the smallest movements matter). The difficulty of learning with the books can quickly turn you off and either make you quit or go back to the expensive effects/dvds on sites like this one. And that's ok!

In my experience, it was a good thing for me to dive in to some of the video products offered on T11 and Ellusionist because I could see effects performed first hand; I could then see them broken down in detailed visuals; and I got to witness the patter used as well as audience management, etc. It helped me understand how effects play out in real life--especially modern life, considering many keystone magic books are over 50 years old. Once I had blown some money on products that got me excited about the possibilities and got me performing a few tricks here and there, I had the fuel necessary to dive back into books like Royal Road to Card Magic. Where once I had just seen a bunch of out-dated and hard-to-understand effects, I now saw a rich foundation of possibilities and genius.

TL;DR - Books are the best, but it's also great to dive into some of the "cool new" stuff on T11 or Ellusionist.

I have little experience compared to most here, but here would be my detailed recommendation for you:
Figure out what kind of magic you are most interested in. There's card magic, coin magic, mentalism, ring magic, as well as some specialty niches like rubber bands, cigarettes, etc. In my opinion, cards are the easiest place to start.
Then, go ahead and look for a couple effects that really appeal to you--read reviews thoroughly to make sure you're not buying a dud, and make sure it suits your beginner skill level.
While you're working on those and maybe doing your first couple performances, invest in a good book like those mentioned above. Mark Wilson's Course is a steal for the price. Tarbell is classic stuff--though it's a massive amount of material. If you're into cards, Card College seems to be a great starting place.

That should put you off to a good start. Hit me up with a PM for any further questions!

Thanks for that it has helped I want to start with cards and progress from there I was looking at the mark Wilson book last night deciding whether to get it think I might now, did you find it hard and v time consuming at the start? i just can't get my head around the sleight of hand maybe it just takes time, are bicycle cards a good deck for tricks

 

[MagicAbs]

To truly begin learning magic, get the book, Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. It will give you a great introduction to magic. I you see effects in there, pick up the necessary props.

The mark wilson complete course in magic book is it the one with the wand on the front with the word magic in different colours or is it the one with the hat on the front ?? as im wanting to buy it , I assumed it was the one that said magic on the front with the wand

 

[kennethcmerrill]

The mark wilson complete course in magic book is it the one with the wand on the front with the word magic in different colours or is it the one with the hat on the front ?? as im wanting to buy it , I assumed it was the one that said magic on the front with the wand

That's the one!

 

[kennethcmerrill]

Thanks for that it has helped I want to start with cards and progress from there I was looking at the mark Wilson book last night deciding whether to get it think I might now, did you find it hard and v time consuming at the start? i just can't get my head around the sleight of hand maybe it just takes time, are bicycle cards a good deck for tricks

It is VERY time consuming at the start, like most skills that require fine motor manipulation. I try to practice sleights whenever my hands are free. Don't get discouraged. At first it will seem like there's some weird trick to the sleights that you just can't master, but you'll realize that some of them take long hours of practice, and you just can't quite see the light at the end of the tunnel yet haha.

I've got Mark Wilson's book on my desk, and it's definitely a great resource to get started with magic in general. If you really want to start with cards, Royal Road to Card Magic is also a cheap resource with tons of great material. And if you have some money to spare, Jason England's Foundation series is incredible. I've had some trouble with a couple sleights, and his videos on them have really improved my technique. But they aren't cheap!

 

[The Magic X]

The mark wilson complete course in magic book is it the one with the wand on the front with the word magic in different colours or is it the one with the hat on the front ?

This one is the one I have, but it has gone through different covers over time. I've seen the one you are mentioning though.

 

[Nurul]

are bicycle cards a good deck for tricks

Standard pack of Bikes are, typically, the magician's favourite, but that doesn't mean you can't use any other decks and perfect routines with decks other than bikes. Depending where you're from, Bikes can be tough to get ahold of. If you're in the USA, not a problem, they sell them at local stores. If you're from the UK, slightly more difficult. I'm from the UK, I tend to buy my standard bikes from Costco (they sell them by the dozen/brick). Otherwise, I order mine online ALOT. If you have a local magic shop, most likely they'll carry any USPCC standard deck.

But don't be put off by other brands. I find Cartamundi decks to work well, as well as Waddingtons. Hope that helps.

 

[The Magic X]

i just can't get my head around the sleight of hand maybe it just takes time

Yeah, sleight-of-hand takes a while, because you need to develop hand strength and dexterity. If you've ever played and instrument, it's like that. The easy part is learning how to do it, the hard part is getting it to come naturally, but that comes with practice. For the time being, work on self-working tricks, there are plenty of them and they require less skill, but if done right can still hit hard.

are bicycle cards a good deck for tricks

Bikes are the standard for the magician, they are the classic cards used by nearly every magician, beginner to master. They are good enough for almost everyone else, they should be good for you too. Later you may want to get custom printed decks, but I'd recommend staying away from them right now.

 

[MagicAbs]

Standard pack of Bikes are, typically, the magician's favourite, but that doesn't mean you can't use any other decks and perfect routines with decks other than bikes. Depending where you're from, Bikes can be tough to get ahold of. If you're in the USA, not a problem, they sell them at local stores. If you're from the UK, slightly more difficult. I'm from the UK, I tend to buy my standard bikes from Costco (they sell them by the dozen/brick). Otherwise, I order mine online ALOT. If you have a local magic shop, most likely they'll carry any USPCC standard deck.

But don't be put off by other brands. I find Cartamundi decks to work well, as well as Waddingtons. Hope that helps.

Im from the UK so I will prob order some bike decks from online it may be cheaper lol
Thanks for all advice it all helps me can't wait to practice

 

[Nurul]

Im from the UK so I will prob order some bike decks from online it may be cheaper lol
Thanks for all advice it all helps me can't wait to practice

Oh sweet you should check to see what local magic shops are around you. As I mentioned before, Costco sell them by the brick - 12 decks for £18. Check out tally ho and aristocrats too.

 

[RealityOne]

Im only getting the mindfreak kit as I am a complete beginner n I want to see if it is my sort of thing before I invest n pay out alot of money if you get me , I only want to practice/perform for family n friends at the min just to find my feet n confidence then progress if I like it and it's not too hard lol

If you haven't already purchased it, I'd avoid the Mindfreak kit. For the same price you can pick up a bunch of props that you would actually be able to use. Once you get the Mark Wilson book, you will see that there are some props you may want to get like sponge balls or magician's rope. There

Thanks for that it has helped I want to start with cards and progress from there I was looking at the mark Wilson book last night deciding whether to get it think I might now, did you find it hard and v time consuming at the start? i just can't get my head around the sleight of hand maybe it just takes time, are bicycle cards a good deck for tricks

Mark Wilson's book starts with effects that don't require any significant sleight of hand. Sleight of hand isn't as hard as it sounds but some of it takes a little work.

As other have said, Bicycle cards are pretty much the standard. Luckily, they aren't that expensive.

The mark wilson complete course in magic book is it the one with the wand on the front with the word magic in different colours.

You got the right one.

 

[MagicAbs]

If you haven't already purchased it, I'd avoid the Mindfreak kit. For the same price you can pick up a bunch of props that you would actually be able to use. Once you get the Mark Wilson book, you will see that there are some props you may want to get like sponge balls or magician's rope. There



Mark Wilson's book starts with effects that don't require any significant sleight of hand. Sleight of hand isn't as hard as it sounds but some of it takes a little work.

As other have said, Bicycle cards are pretty much the standard. Luckily, they aren't that expensive.



You got the right one.

I have already purchased the platinum criss angel mindfreak kit just to try it that was well before I joined this site im getting my kit for Xmas so I haven't seen it the book is also been purchased so I'll av good read with that then I will just need to buy some bike cards too haha alot too it isn't there