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Tips
- Learn as much as you can about magic through books, DVDs, online searches, etc.
- Learn a few simple, classic tricks and practice often in front of a mirror.
- Perform for friends or family.
- If you desire, progress to performing more elaborate routines for larger groups.
- Never repeat a trick for the same audience.
- Never reveal how a trick is done.
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How to Do Magic Tricks
Do you enjoy entertaining people? Are you quick with your hands, and able to problem solve? If so, and if you have a flare for the dramatic, you might want to consider learning how to perform magic tricks. It is a great way to entertain friends and family at a party, or make some extra money on the side. This page will provide you with information on how to do magic tricks.
Whether you just plan to entertain friends or you aspire to become a professional magician, learning to do magic well requires time and patience. Magical performance has a long and colorful history, and there are countless tricks you can learn. This guide will walk you through a few of the classics, and get you started on your way to becoming a master illusionist. -
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The Reverse Card Trick
This video gives you an explanation of the reverse card trick, discussing one way to cut and shuffle the deck while performing the trick. The video de ... read moreThis video gives you an explanation of the reverse card trick, discussing one way to cut and shuffle the deck while performing the trick. The video demonstrates what is done while the person you are performing the trick for picks the card out of the deck, including the maneuvers you need to perform both before and after the person has chosen the card.
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Step 1: Magic Basics
- Before you start learning specific tricks, you should learn as much as you can about the basics of magic, the so-called "second oldest profession."Economist.com: The Capitalism of Magic (September 18, 2007)
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Sleight of Hand Moves
- So you know the general goals and philosophies of sleight of hand, but what are some specific moves that you can apply when you're learning magic tricks? Many can be learned using playing cards and coins, making card tricks and coin tricks a great place for beginning magicians to cut their teeth.
- The one-handed cut: Cutting the deck with only one hand.About.com: The One-Handed Cut
- Finding the chosen card: Picking out the exact card an audience member has chosen.About.com: Finding a Spectators Card
- Forcing the choice of a card: Making the audience member think they chose a random card that you've actually given to them.About.com: Making a Spectator Select a CardYouTube: Card Fanning Techniques (Time: 3:19)
- Card breaks: Using your fingers to hold places in the deck. Expert Village: Magic Card Trick Break Technique (Time: 1:49)
- Vanishing card move: Making a card disappear and reappear right before the audience's eyes.YouTube: Simple Card Trick (Time: 1:43)
- Coin palming: Holding a coin in your palm when it looks like you have nothing.YouTube: Palming Coins (Time: 3:54)
- Fake coin transfer: Appearing to transfer a coin from one hand to another while keeping it in the original hand.About.com: The Coin Vanish
- As you dive deeper into magic, you'll probably buy some trick decks and special props for more complicated tricks. But before you can really feel ready to tackle those, you should practice the basic card and coin techniques until you're extremely comfortable with them. This will help bridge the gap to more complicated sleight of hand—or at least to some of the tricks in the next step!
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Sleight of Hand
- Sleight of hand is a collection of techniques magicians master to surreptitiously perform key moves in magic tricks without the audience knowing.
- In their act, the famous magicians Penn and Teller have explained their "seven principles of sleight of hand" and how they work.YouTube: Penn and Teller Explain Sleight of Hand (Time: 3:22)
- YouTube: Penn and Teller Explain Sleight of Hand (Time: 3:22)
- Their principles are:
- Palming: Holding an object in your palm when it looks empty.YouTube: Palming Coins (Time: 3:54)
- The Switch: Craftily exchanging objects.
- Misdirection: Diverting the audience's attention so you can set up your trick.About.com: Magic & Illusion: Misdirection This can be anything from simply distracting the audience with words to bringing out an attractive assistant.
- Steal: Secretly aquiring an object. For instance, having a card hidden up your sleeve and bringing it out when the audience isn't looking.
- Ditch: Secretly disposing of objects. For instance, slipping the card back up your sleeve when the audience isn't looking.
- Simulation: Convincing the audience that something has just happened, when it actually hasn't.
- Load: To sneakily move something where you need it.
- Though Penn and Teller have caused some controversy in the magic community by revealing how many famous tricks work, their informative and funny routines can be an invaluable resource for beginners.Fresh Air: Penn on "Fresh Air"(April 1, 1994)
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Brain Teasers
- Misdirection (one of the seven principles above) is a key element to magic. By keeping the audience's focus on one thing, magicians use the distraction to make moves to set up the trick.
- The human brain is easily fooled, and learning how to misdirect someone's attention will be a key aspect of your craft. For example, there is an online "card trick" called the Cave of Magic, in which the card you mentally choose is "magically" removed from the screen.Online Magic Trick: Cave of Magic
- While it's a bit shocking at first, the more you pay attention to the trick, the more you realize that you've just been duped: none of the cards on the second screen appear on the first. So while you're looking for the Queen of Clubs that you chose, you don't even notice that none of the other cards are the same, either.HowStuffWorks: How the Cave of Magic Works
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Watching the Pros
- Your technique is only part of the equation, of course. Magic is all about the delivery. Watching routines by well known and respected magicians such as Penn and Teller, David Copperfield, David Blaine, Criss Angel and others will help you identify and study techniques that they use, even if you're not entirely sure how the tricks work.
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Card Tricks
- The Reverse Card Trick
- This is an impressive trick to do with a deck of cards, and it's so easy that it's a great trick to start out with.
- YouTube: The Reverse Card Trick (Time: 1:43)YouTube: The Reverse Card Trick (Time: 1:43)
- Prepare for this trick by getting a deck of cards and flipping the bottom card in the deck so it is facing the other direction.Answerbag.com: How to Do the Reverse Card Trick (March 25, 2008)
- When you fan the cards for an audience member to choose one, take care not to show that the bottom card is reversed.YouTube: The Reverse Card Trick (Time: 1:43)
- While the chosen card is being memorized and/or shown to the audience, flip the deck over in your hand.
- It still looks like you're holding a normal deck, because the back of the reversed card is on top. However, all the cards underneath are facing the opposite direction.Helium: Easy magic tricks: Reversed card
- Ask the audience member to insert their card back into the deck.
- Don't fan the deck out or you will reveal the trick; just hold it out as a solid stack.YouTube: The Reverse Card Trick (Time: 1:43)
- Your audience will wrongly assume the card is going in the same side up as the rest of the deck.
- As you explain that you will now find the card that was just picked, casually flip the whole deck over again.
- Fanning the deck this time will reveal their card face up in an otherwise normal deck.
- Again, make sure not to reveal your reversed card on the bottom.
- Cut to Aces
- Some tricks involve a quick setup, simple mathematics and a good presentation. With this one, you can make the audience member think they cut the deck to all four aces.
- Prepare the deck by Placing all four aces on top.About.com: Easy Magic Tricks: Cutting to the Aces
- Have an audience member cut the deck into four piles.
- Take note of where the top pile (containing the aces) is.
- With each non-ace pile, have them take three cards off the top, then deal one card on top of each of the other piles.eHow.com: How to Perform the Chasing Aces Card Trick
- Now the ace pile has three random cards stacked on the four aces.
- Finish with the ace pile. This will discard the top three random cards and distribute the aces onto each of the other piles.
- Complete the trick by dramatically revealing the aces.eHow.com: How to Perform the Chasing Aces Card Trick
- While this is a very basic trick, more complicated variations can be developed using sleight of hand techniques.Metacafe: Ace Cutting Routine (Time: 1:45)
- More Card Tricks
- There are so many card tricks to choose from. Here are some more to take a stab at:
- About.com: Easy Magic Tricks with Playing Cards </ref>
- YouTube: Easy Card Tricks with Explanations (Time: 6:44)YouTube: Easy Card Tricks with Explanations (Time: 6:44)
- YouTube: The Disappearing Card Trick (Time: 2:36)YouTube: The Disappearing Card Trick (Time: 2:36)
- YouTube: Quick as a Wink Card Trick (Time: 2:05)YouTube: Quick as a Wink Card Trick (Time: 2:05)
- The Reverse Card Trick
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Coin Tricks
- The Vanishing Coin
- This popular trick requires nothing more than a coin.
- YouTube: Vanish Coin Magic Trick (Time: 1:40)YouTube: Vanish Coin Magic Trick (Time: 1:40)
- Hold a coin in your right hand. Show it to your audience.
- Hold out your left hand, palm side up.
- Clasp the coin between your right thumb and index finger and bring the coin towards your left palm.
- Begin to close your left hand around the coin you're holding between your right index finger and thumb.
- Just before your hand is closed, use a motion not unlike snapping your fingers to quickly scoop the coin behind your right index finger and into your right palm.YouTube: Tutorial for Coin Vanishes (Time: 2:16)
- Clasping the coin in your right palm, let that hand drop naturally to your side.ZOOM: Disappearing Coin Trick
- The audience will think you've clasped the coin in your left palm. Open that hand now, revealing it to be empty.
- The Coin Matrix
- Place four coins in a square pattern in front of you.
- Get four playing cards to lay over each coin. As you place the first card on a coin, stealthily pick the coin up in your hand.YouTube: Coin Matrix Revealed (Time: 2:46)
- Now the card looks like it's covering a coin, but there is nothing underneath.
- As you place the fourth card down, release the coin. The fourth card is now covering two coins instead of the perceived one.Metacafe: Learn the Coin Matrix (Time: 1:03)
- Next, you will lift that card to reveal that two coins are "magically" underneath. At the same time, lift one of the other cards that has a coin underneath.
- When you pick up the second card, grab the coin underneath with your thumb and finger. Now when you lift the two cards, it will be empty under this one and it looks as though the coin has instantly moved under the card with two coins.
- Using the hand holding both a card and a coin, re-cover the two revealed coins. When you take your hand off the card, release the coin you were grasping, making it three coins under the card.
- Continue until the cards are all revealed and all four coins are in the same pile.
- You could also do this trick using just your hands and no coins at all. Try coming up with your own variation.YouTube: The Coin Matrix (Time: 0:58)YouTube: Magic Coin Matrix (Time: 1:14)
- TIP: Perform this trick on a soft surface such as a carpet or table cloth to reduce the chance of the coins making a sound.
- More Coin Tricks
- Expert Village: How to Do Magic Coin TricksExpert Village: How to Do Magic Coin Tricks
- YouTube: Quick and Easy Coin Trick (Time: 1:13)YouTube: Quick and Easy Coin Trick (Time: 1:13)
- YouTube: Coin Bite Magic Trick (Time: 1:53)YouTube: Coin Bite Magic Trick (Time: 1:53)
- YouTube: Chapstick hidden coin (Time: 2:53)YouTube: Chapstick hidden coin (Time: 2:53)
- YouTube: How to Do Basic Coin Tricks (Time: 3:54)YouTube: How to Do Basic Coin Tricks (Time: 3:54)
- YouTube: Elbow Coin Vanish (Time: 1:17)YouTube: Elbow Coin Vanish (Time: 1:17)
- The Vanishing Coin
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Other Kinds of Tricks
- There are all sorts of other kinds of tricks that involve anything from money to balls and cups to spoons.About.com: Easy Magic Tricks Here are a few examples.
- Cups and Balls: A simple trick performed with three opaque cups and some small balls (often foam or cotton so they don't make noise).YouTube: Cups and Balls Magic Revealed (Time: 1:44)
- The Rubber Band Up the Nose: This trick is gross but funny, and it's always a hit with party crowds or kids. All it requires is a rubber band.YouTube: Rubber Band Up the Nose (Time: 2:15)
- Ropes: Another simple prop found around the house, there are magical possibilities for rope and string!eHow.com: How to Do Rope Magic Tricks
- Prop Tricks: For things like linking rings, colored handkerchiefs, etc., you'll need to go to your local magic store (or an online magic store) to buy the props.YouTube: Bornstein's Linking Rings (Time: 4:12)About.com: Color-Changing Handkerchiefs
- Rabbit Out of the Hat: OK, you're on your own for this one!
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Practice Tips
- Before you do your tricks in public, you should practice your tricks to perfection.
- Practice in front of a mirror.eHow: How to Do Magic Tricks
- This will help you grow accustomed to performing.
- By practicing with a mirror, you will see exactly what your audience sees.
- Start slowly until you get used to the movements you have to make.
- Practice until your sleight of hand feels (and looks) totally natural.
- Plan out your "Patter," or the things you will say when you perform, and rehearse it often.About.com: Magic & Illusion: Patter
- Talking while you do your tricks helps keep your audience distracted, so they will be more surprised by the end result.
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Building Your Repertoire
- After mastering all the tricks that the Internet has to offer, you may find that the magic bug has bitten you and you want to find more magic for your act.
- Visit your local library for books and DVDs about how to do magic tricks.
- Remember that good magic tricks never really become dated. A card trick from an old book can still dazzle people today.
- If you'd rather not have to return it, check your local book store.
- Find a magic shop in your area.
- Stores will have props, trick decks, and other goodies to spice up your magic act.
- You may be able to meet some magicians and ask them for advice.
- Some magic shops also offer classes.
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Step 3: Doing Magic Tricks For an Audience
- You've learned your tricks and practiced them well. You're ready to begin doing magic in public.eHow: How to Work With Spectators During Magic Tricks There are a few things you should do to make sure your performance goes smoothly.
- Select an appropriate place to perform.eHow: How to Prepare to Do Magic Coin Tricks
- Obviously, you don't want to perform anywhere that's too noisy, windy, etc.
- Wherever you perform, always make sure your audience is directly facing you.eHow: How to Do The Best Magic Tricks
- This way, you can control what they can see and can't see at all times.
- Keep your audience engaged by interacting with them.
- Tricks that require audience participation ("Pick a card, any card...") will help keep things lively.
- You can ask an audience member to be your assistant.
- Borrow items from the audience like handkerchiefs or dollar bills to use in your tricks.
- This will make your trick seem more impressive, because they will know you're not using some trick prop you brought yourself.
- Always be sure to return these items unharmed. You don't want to make your audience angry!
- Be prepared for mistakes when they happen, and try not to get flustered.
- Sometimes you can just ignore the mistake and hurry on to the next trick, and sometimes you can make a short joke before moving on.WikiHow: How to Recover from a Bungled Magic Trick
- Resist the temptation to repeat tricks for your audience, even if they ask to see the same trick again.eHow: How to Do The Best Magic Tricks
- The more people see a trick, the more likely it is they will discern how it really works.
- Don't tell them how it was done!
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Step 4: Performing a Full Magic Routine
- You can do a relatively simple display of magic, or you can work the magic into a more elaborate routine.eHow: How to Perform Magic Tricks
- A full magic routine involves multiple tricks. Pay attention to pacing when planning your tricks, so you start with a quick trick to get attention, perform your more complex tricks in the middle of the act and end with your most impressive trick.eHow: How to Prepare to Do Magic Coin Tricks
- More elaborate routines often involve a lot of props. You'll probably want to buy or make a magician's box to carry everything.WikiHow: How to Make a Magicians Tool Box
- Some pro magicians liven up their acts by creating a character or a persona for themselves.Expert Village: Your Persona During Your Magic Act
- There are comic magicians, and then there are the more quiet, brooding types like David Copperfield.Official Site: David Copperfield Magicians like Copperfield employ a rather dark, "mystical" persona, and audiences enjoy believing that the magician has genuine supernatural powers.Helium: Good magic tricks for beginning magicians
- Other magicians opt for a much lighter approach, incorporating comedy into their acts.eHow: How to Do Comedy Magic
- Generally, you'll do best with a persona that is a natural outgrowth of who you really are, rather than some totally affected character.Helium: Good magic tricks for beginning magicians
- If you perform magic for children, bear in mind that this requires a different mindset than performing for adults.
- Avoid potential choking hazards and keep your routine short so the children don't become bored.eHow: How to Put on a Magic Show for Children
- You should obviously remove any off-color jokes or really scary tricks from your routine.
- You can delight kids by doing tricks like Harry Potter.WikiHow: How to Do Harry Potter Style Magic Tricks You can even involve classic magic tricks, but use the incantations from the J.K. Rowling novels.
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