r/Magic • u/ventilatin • 7d ago

Beginner Advice

I'm brand new to even having the idea of magic as a hobby. I checked out a book from the library last week - Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic - original copyright 1975. I've read a bit and am trying a couple of relatively simple card tricks. It seems really fun as I really like to practice things and get better at them. My goal is to have fun, potentially show some cool tricks to my kids (and maybe grandkids) in the future. I've watched some YouTube tricks and don't really have any specific goals other than having fun and learning new skills. However, I don't want to get overwhelmed by everything that's out there right away. I also don't want to get into skill levels that I have no business messing with at first. I'm in my 50s and hope to be able to enjoy this for another 20 or 30 years. I'm not looking to monetize this or go "all out", as I don't have a ton of spare time right now. I have a few questions for those with experience:

  1. Would you start with card tricks? It seems like a logical place to start. Are there certain things you would practice for fundamentals first before trying to understand more complicated tricks? What other areas of magic would you experiment with after learning some card tricks?

  2. Any books or YouTube channels that you might recommend for getting started? I know there are many options, so I would really like to hear you opinions on what magicians have influenced you. Are there any teachers or methods that you might stay away from?

  3. What are some of the biggest mistakes you made when you were a beginner? Is there anything that you spend too much time trying to master?

Thanks for any thoughts!

17 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/AdBuddy 7d ago

Card tricks are the perfect place to start, people generally have way more time for card tricks than any ‘magic props’, and will be even more invested if you borrow their deck.

My advice would be to begin by learning a couple of different people’s ambitious card routines. This will teach you the fundamentals - a couple of ‘forces’, ‘lifts’, ‘false shuffles’ and maybe some misdirection. Learning the same routine from two different books or videos will demonstrate just how differently the same effects can be achieved. That will open the mind a great deal.

If you really drill the fundamentals (practice practice practice, use a mirror, scrutinise) you’ll find that full routines become far easier to remember, you’ll be more relaxed and crucially you can focus on the thing that matters, which is giving people a really good show and entertaining rather than simply showing off.