How to get started in Magic?

One of the most common questions I get is – how do you get started in Magic? That’s a great question and there is no single answer. Nowadays with the Internet you can learn magic from anywhere in the world with or without an in person mentor but below I outline what i think is the best way to approach learning magic to get you from knowing nothing to magic master in the shortest time frame.

Start at the beginning.

Get a beginners magic book or instructional video. I can highly recommend Magic, The complete Course by Joshua Jay or my own beginners magic video – Party Tricks but most beginners magic books will do. Then pick a “self working” (something that doesn’t involve much sleight of hand) trick and learn it so thoroughly that you can do this without thinking about it, then pick one or 2 more and do the same. The idea behind doing this is you have a 2 or 3 trick “mini act” then you can perform using no sleight of hand so you can forget about complicated, sometimes hard to learn sleight of hand and focus on astonishing people.

This has several benefits.

1. you can focus on performing and presentation which is one of the most important skills for any magician and it’s hard to master If you’re not performing in front of a live audience.

2. You can see if you actually enjoy performing magic without a minimal amount of effort. Maybe you’ll learn a few tricks and decide this isn’t for you and then you haven’t wasted years perfecting sleight of hand for nothing

3 It gives you confidence. Once you have started performing and the audience likes your magic this gives you confidence to keep going through the more complicated parts.

Start learning some sleight of hand

Now that you have your mini act of “self working” magic you start to level up your magic by learning sleight of hand. Personally I think card magic is the easiest way to start learning sleight of hand. Pick a cluster of 2 or 3 moves practice them a lot, learn some tricks with them so you can practice in context

Learn the Classics

There are some classic tricks in magic such as “The Cups and Balls” “The Ambitious Card” “The Cut and Restored Rope” you should learn these even if you don’t want to perform them. The reason is by learning the classics you will perfect fundamental skills than you can apply to any other magic you’d like to learn and perform. It’s a similar to learning scales in music.

Find your style

There are so many styles of magic you can focus on, card tricks, coin magic, mentalism. You can focus om performing close up magic or for larger audiences on stage and it’s the same with performing styles, you can be funny, serious etc. While you are starting out find what you like at start working on that, at least at the beginning.

How to Learn Magic?

Just like styles of magic there are so many options to learn.

You can join a magic club. Most major cities have a Magic club they are sometimes formal and sometimes very casual. Here in Sydney we have the Sydney Magic Club. Joining your local magic clubs can be a great resource for learning magic, often there are experienced magicians who are happy to teach you things or lend you books. They also offer a place to “rehearse” you can perform in front of club members and get instant feedback.

Books and videos. Traditionally books is where all the best magic secrets were kept and largely that’s still true. Magicians are prolific authors and there are books written explaining all types of magic, close up magic, stage magic, card magic, “mindreading”, grand illusions it’s all in books. With magic though it’s often easier to learn visually and this is where videos come in. Magicians have been making videos explaining magic since the days of VHS. Nowadays most videos are in streaming or download format. Videos slowed down frame by frame can be a great way to learn the sometimes complex procedures that go into a magic trick

Find a Mentor

If possible find a mentor, someone to give you feedback and and advice can be invaluable when it comes to learning magic. Apart from a magic club you can try and connect with a magician you see at an event, they may not be able to mentor you but can point you in the right direction.

Hope this helps you begin your magic journey.

Liam Power is a Sydney Based Magician and entertainer He performs across Sydney, all over Australia and internationally. He got into magic after seeing an American magician perform some amazing magic on Christmas day. The magician later became his first mentor. If you need a Magician in Sydney get in touch with Liam today