So You Want To Be A Magician,
So You Want To Be A Magician,A Beginners GuideBy Peter Nardi (Member Of The Inner Magic Circle)IntroductionFirstly, can I say a big thank you for downloading this Ebook. Within thesepages I am going to explain how you can get into the secretive world of magicand once in, how you can make your magic stronger. By the time you read anddigest the contents you will no longer be performing tricks, but what will appearto be miracles.My name is Peter Nardi and I'm a member of the Inner Magic Circle. I also ownAlakazam Magic (www.alakazam.co.uk); a company I started in 1990, whichsells magic tricks, books and DVDs for magicians and those with an interest inmagic. We even offer magic lessons for complete beginners. I also create magicthat is used by magicians the world over and have consulted for magic shows onTV.Magic makes for a great hobby no matter how old you are. It doesn't matter ifyou want to impress your friends at school, freak your mates out down the pub,entertain your guests at a dinner party, amaze your grandchildren, or even ifyou just want to be the centre of attention at a party. Magic is something thathelps break the ice at social gatherings, it's entertaining and it's fun.Trust me, you will feel amazing when you start receiving awesome reactions toyour magic. So that's enough of the small talk, let's start our journey towardsmaking your magic super strong and magical!
So You Want To Be A Magician?Ok, so you may already perform a little magic or you may just be interested intaking the first step, either way I can almost guarantee that your interest wassparked because of the feeling you got when you saw a magician. Whether is wasa magician at a party, a friend of the family, an uncle or even Dynamo on TV.You have seen someone and thought to yourself 'I would love to be able to dothat'.So let's break it down. How did you feel when you saw that magician? I thinksome of these words will sum it e one thing that all of these words have in common is that they are allpositive! A good magician can really give you that feel-good feeling.As human beings, most of us would like to have a positive impact on otherpeople. Maybe deep down that's why we want to do magic. Trust me, seeinghappy people and watching as they witness a moment of wonder is an absolutelyamazing feeling and when you perform magic like this, this is exactly whathappens and this is exactly what happened when you first saw magic. If youcould bottle this feeling of happiness and amazement you would have peoplequeuing to buy it.Now, it's very important never to forget the way you felt when you first sawmagic, because if you forget that you will forget what you are supposed to be toyour audience. Your job as a magician is to entertain your audience. This shouldbe your number one goal!
So how do you get into magic? It's a hobby that seems to be shrouded inmystery. In fact when I started my journey, information on magic was a lotharder to obtain than it is today. Back then there was no internet or YouTube,instead there were magic shops (if you could find one) and libraries. Yes thelibrary! I went to the local library and got hold of a magic book, which was myfirst step in to this wonderful world.Obviously today it's a lot easier. The internet has been a game changer. You onlyneed to look at our website www.alakazam.co.uk to see the thousands of tricks,books and DVDs available to you.The information is now there and within easy reach to anyone with an interest.I have a few tips that will help you start your journey into magic.Firstly, if you are looking to buy a few tricks to amaze your friends with checkout our beginners section and our difficulty ratings. You want to look for arating of '1'. This means the effect should be good for a beginner to learn. Youreally do not want to try and run before you can walk. I have seen too manypeople do this and guess what happens? They give up, they believe that magic isnot for them, it's too hard. Well guess what? It's not hard if you pick the righttricks, DVDs or books to learn from.If you're unsure if a trick is right for you, just give me or one of the Alakazamteam a call and we will guide you. We want you to be able to perform the magicyou buy. We want you to improve and grow as a magician.If you get the chance, come and visit us. Alakazam is a proper magic shop aswell as a website. So why not come and see us, we will help you take the rightpath!Knowing what effect or trick to start with can be a minefield, so below I havelisted 5 awesome tricks that are what we refer to as 'self-working' and these willbe perfect to get you started on your magical journey.
The Vanishing ck.htmlDynamic ns.htmlMental l-Photography.htmlSvengali k-Bicycle.htmlStripper k-Bicycle.htmlThe above are just five of the amazing tricks you can perform even if you havenever touched a magic trick before. I have chosen these tricks for two reasons:1. They are easy to do, the effects are made in such a way that the prop itselfdoes the hard work for you; 2. They are magical and impactful. You will look likea master magician when you perform them.So you get yourself a trick, how long do you practice it for?We class some tricks as self-working, but what does that actually mean?Self-working means the trick uses no sleight of hand (this type of trick is usuallyperfect for beginners), the trick will often work via a mathematical ormechanical method. So does this mean the trick works itself? Sort of, yes, but(and it's a BIG but) you still need to practice it. You need to learn the trick insideout. You need to practice it until it becomes second nature to you. Before youshow anyone your new magic trick you want to be confident with it, that's whatwill make it magical. Later in this book I will explain more about making yourmagic more magical but for now, please trust me and practice, practice practice!
The Next StepI know how it feels, you practice the trick and you're desperate to show people,so here's an important point. Knowing how the trick works is only the first part.The next step is how do I present it, what do I say when I'm doing the trick?Well that's a hard one to answer and only you can truly make that decision, a lotof it has to do with your personality but below are a couple of ideas.Many years ago David Blaine's Street Magic special aired on TV. This was, in mymind, the turning point in magic. I was interested in magic before DavidBlaine's special, so I believe I'm in a position to judge. David's special mademagic cool again. There are more magicians around today due to Davids TVspecial. He inspired many to take up Magic. Not only that, but the public had anew found respect and love for it.Now David's character on TV is very mysterious and quiet, in fact on his firstspecial he hardly said a word and the patter (as it's commonly referred to) wasalmost non-existent. Many young magicians have followed this path and eventhough it works well for TV, I'm not sure it's good for a real world performance.To this point, when you meet David in real life his persona is different, moreenergetic, more fun and more engaging. This is how you capture, keep andentertain.Patter is a storyline that helps you with your performance. It also helps youraudience understand the trick and often can be used to explain away unusualprops.Let's imagine you have a little box that can vanish a coin. Here are two scenariosone without patter and one with: 'Here I have a box, and if I put your coin inthe box, close the draw and reopen it your coin has vanished'.If you perform the effect as above not only is the trick far from entertaining butit also leaves a lot of questions in your spectators mind.What's that box?Why does he have to put the coin in the box?Where is my coin?
Maybe it's a trick box and my coin is still in there some how?'While on holiday I found a small antique shop full of weird and wonderfulthings but nothing was as weird or as wonderful as this little box and the storyattached to it. The shop keeper told me the box belonged to an old gentleman.The gentleman gave it to the shop keeper to sell and said he will take hispayment every time the box is used. Not long after the gentleman died, but tothis day he still takes his payment'.Imagine saying that story or patter as you are performing the trick. You areanswering your spectators questions before they even have time to think ofthem. Hopefully you can understand the impact and interest a good piece ofpatter can add to an effect. No matter what the effect is.Once you have mastered a trick, take a little time to stand back and look atwhat's going on within the effect. Now obviously you can't build a cute story intoevery single effect you do, but when you can, it can transform the trick into aperformance piece.Many of the world's best magicians are great story tellers. Creating interestingpatter for your effects is not only fun and rewarding but will also help youengage with your audience.Try it and see!
Get Your Act TogetherOnce you have a collection of tricks that you can perform, it's time to build anact. Usually 10-15 mins is enough (3-5 tricks) and building an act is aboutfinding tricks that complement each other and creating a flow through yourperformance.There are a few key things I'm going to explain to you in this chapter that willhelp you get your act together.Once you've learnt a bunch of effects, you need to choose the right ones for youract. Usually when you start in magic you have a lot of trick decks, each deckallowing you to do one trick. What you want to try and avoid is doing a cardtrick with what you want your audience to believe is a normal deck, putting thedeck away and pulling out what is meant to be another normal deck. It makesno sense and screams trick deck. So try and choose effects that will allow you toswitch trick decks naturally (if you are using them).Also if you know a rope trick, a card trick, a coin trick, use them, as this will addvariety to your act and by using other items gives you a great way to switch trickdecks unnoticed (if you need too). I.e. Card trick, rope trick, card trick. Byplacing a rope, coin or other trick between your card tricks allows you tonaturally place the deck away for your second trick (rope, coin etc) and thenremove a different deck for you next card trick. If switching decks try to removedeck & from the same pocket you placed deck 1.Your act should have: A strong opening effect is a must. It says who you areand tells people they need to watch you.Out of my top 5 beginners tricks it would be Mental Photography. It starts witha completely blank deck of cards, which the magician then prints the fronts andbacks onto.
This effect is not only visual and magical, but can also be performed quickly, andis a guaranteed attention grabber.Bridging effects are effects that sit in the middle of your act or set. These shouldbe chosen carefully. They should be strong but also wherever possible be used tohelp you transition into your closing effect.Out of my top 5 I would choose Dynamic Coins. Not only is this a great bafflingcoin effect, but it will give me a natural reason to put the Mental Photographydeck away, which will act as the switch for my big finish.The closer is usually your most powerful effect. It's the effect that people aremore likely to remember and talk about so make it strong.Out of my top 5 I would choose to close with the Vanishing deck. It will bringthe act to a natural end and it's visually stunning.So here is a simple but mind blowing act taken from my top 5 beginners list.To start, Mental Photography. I would show the cards blank, magically printthem and end the effect there rather than turn them blank again.I would put the deck away and remove the Dynamic Coins. Perform the effectand leave it on the table as I reach into my pocket to remove the Vanishing deckas my finale.I know this doesn't tell you much about the tricks themselves, but I am justusing it as an example as to what effects I would choose and why. To give you anidea on building an act.So once you have your act, should you script it?The simple answer is yes, but to what extent is the real question. Sometimesscripting word-forword can work, but other times I've seen fully scriptedmagicians get interrupted halfway through a performance, leaving them a littlelost.
If you feel safer scripting your act word-for-word then go for it, but be sure todeliver your script with meaning and passion so it sounds like the first timeyou've said it and you're not just reciting the script. This will keep it fresh andexciting for both you and your audience.I personally like the part scripted route. Unless it's a story effect, my script isquite loose. I know what I need to say at important points in the effect,especially when certain points need highlighting, but most of what I saydepends on who I'm performing to and the mood of the party.Why not give both ways a go and see which you feel more comfortable with.
Let's Do Some MagicOk so you've practiced your tricks and created you patter. It's now time toperform. When you start performing you will perform to family and friends.Even though you know these guys, they are not always the best audience and letme try to explain why.Your family and friends have known you for a long time and they are well awareof any special powers you may have. So to come out one day and say 'hey I'm amagician', I can assure you they will be slightly sceptical.This being said, you usually don't have any choice but to try out your magic onthese guys. So here are some tips for you.Mums are usually the best people to try new effects out on as they are alwaysencouraging and they will give constructive criticism when needed. I knowwherever I was with my mum she would always get me to perform. She was soproud that her son was a magician.Friends can be a hard crowd so it's important that your tricks don't come over asa challenge. You don't want to come across as superior because this will get theirbacks up and they will try to work out the trick to undermine you.If you keep your magic fun and entertaining and even get them involved,especially when performing to other people, they will be more supportive toyour magic.It is sometimes hard because performing magic will make you the centre ofattention, so be careful you don't ignore those close to you.Even though this sounds scary, it's usually easier for a few reasons. For onething they don't know how long you have been performing, so if you show thema good trick they will believe you have been performing for years (because thegeneral belief is you need to train for years to master just one trick).
Also people that don't know you will be more polite and in most cases not tryand grab everything from you.Magicians guilt is something that many magicians suffer from and it basicallymeans that because you know how a trick is done (and in most cases it's easywhen you know how) you will believe that your audience will know how it's doneas well.This isn't the case, and that is why I said always remember how you felt whenyou first watched magic. This is exactly how they will be feeling as long as youhave put in enough practice.If you feel guilty or scared they will know it. You need to be KMM% confident.Even if you're using a deck that is totally gimmicked if you act as though it's anormal deck and treat it as a normal deck they will believe it's a normal deck.If you are clutching and protecting the gimmicked deck like it is made of goldyour spectator will know.So be confident and don't feel guilty. It will truly make your magic moremagical!When you first start performing, getting great reactions is a buzz, a real buzz,but there is one trap we all fall into, as they say to be forewarned is to beforearmed!I see so many magicians who have been performing magic for a few monthsthen go out with their entire magic collection in their pockets and will pushevery trick on everyone they meet. Don't do it!It's great to have a few tricks on you and it's great to perform, but you want to bethe guy they can't wait to see. The life and soul of the party. The one that can docool things if they ask you nicely.
Not the guy they want to avoid at all costs because if they speak to you they haveto sit through hours of magic tricks they may not be interested in seeing in thefirst place.By all means break the ice with a killer trick, get the party started with someawesome magic but remember LESS IS MORE. It's always better for them to say'can you show us some more?' rather than 'oh I've just remembered I've got togo and see so and so'.I know it's a harsh lesson but we all go through it and I'll help you skip thisawkward moment in your journey. You can thank me later!
Moving Up A GearNow you have started to perform your job should be a little more than justperforming your tricks.In this chapter I'm going to give you some exercises to do which will help youimprove as a magician. Don't worry, there are no push-ups or sit-ups involved!As well as enjoying your awesome magic, it's very important your audience likeyou, connect with you and enjoy the entertainment you're providing. So it'sworth thinking about who you are in their eyes. Are you funny, serious,mysterious etc.?It's natural that when you start performing your character will start building.You may be naturally funny, you may have a mysterious look, or you may have aserious side.Whatever personality you have it's absolutely fine. Let your personality comeout in your performance. During your performance think about what you'resaying and how you're saying it.Try and pick up on the lines that get laughs or good reactions and rememberthem, there will be so many ad-libs you say "off the cuff" that will get big laughs.Don't waste them, remember them and add them to your script.You will find that some tricks you perform will get better reactions than others.Your job is to work out why.Is it the trick or the way it's being done? Now I don't mean that in a nasty way,I'm not saying you're doing it badly but sometimes just by changing what yousaying or by performing the effect a slightly different way completely changesthe impact an effect has on a spectator.Points to remember:1. The type of trick that impress us magicians are not always the same ones thatimpress spectators;
2. Remember K.I.S "Keep It Simple", sometimes the simplest of effects get thebest reactions;3. Don't perform when you have been drinking (I know it's common sense butthought I'd mention it);4. Don't try and perform anything beyond your capabilities. It's very easy to getover confident, but in doing this you are more likely to get caught out and inturn it will be a massive knock to your confidence. It's very important to buildslowly, that's how you learn the key aspects of magic like misdirection.So what is free magic?Free magic are those moment when you get an effect out of nothing andtake full credit for it. It can be as simple as asking someone to think of a card,you now remove one from the deck, they name their card out loud. If you get ahit play it for all its worth, but if it doesn't just say something like 'it neverworks but it would have been great wouldn't it?'. This will get you a laugh andnothing has been lost, but imagine how amazing it is when you hit!If you want to try this I always remove the Queen of Hearts if it's a lady and theJack of Clubs or Ace of Spades for a man.Once you understand your magic, you will start to see where you can get someFREE MAGIC!
The Real SecretsSo before you start performing I've summarised some points which should helpyou be successful. Please read and take them in as they will make you a betterperformer and trust me, it will get you better reactions and make you happywith your performance.I know I've mentioned this before, but I cannot stress this enough. Make sureyou are 100% comfortable with your routines. You should know them inside andout. The less you have to think about the trick, the more you can concentrate onyour performance and making it entertaining.People always remember the fun they have if they've seen a good magician and 9times out of 10 it's because they liked the magician. They connected with himand he/she made them feel at ease and have a good time.Shyness and stage freight gets to us all at some point and a good way toovercome this is to have a character.If you look at many performers be it a magician, singer, actor or comedian mosthave a character.Even though the people you see on stage or on TV look like they are the mostconfident people in the world, most in reality are not. They are just like the restof us. They suffer from fear, shyness and stage freight on occasions. So how doyou overcome it? You create a character. There are two main types of charactersand I will outline them here:The unconnected character is a character created that has no resemblance toyou as a person.Look at the great Ali Bongo and his character The Shriek of Araby. Whencreating an unconnected character you usually change your appearance. Youcould be a Victorian magician for example.
You will usually have a costume and change your personality to match thecharacter you are playing.The connected character is just a more confidant, funnier and louder you. A lotof performers go into a character when performing. It's a mind set. Even ifyou're not one for being the centre of attention in real life, you should be whenyou are performing. So imagine you are playing a super confident version ofyourself. You will surprised the difference it will make just by getting intocharacter.It will help you build confidence, make talking to people easier and yourperformance much more fun.
Learning MoreAn interest in magic gives you a thirst for knowledge and at Alakazam we stock1000's of books, tricks and DVDs to help you along your way and remember, meand the Alakazam team are always happy to give you any advice and help thatyou need.Just take a look at all of the amazing magic you can start learning athttp://www.alakazam.co.uk.Every week we film a magic review show. It's a fun video blog with productreviews, demonstrations and even a weekly competition. Sometimes we eventeach tricks and give you new ideas and handlings for effects you may already bedoing.You can watch our Vlogs Blog-.htmlA good learning tool is to watch other magicians. Now I'm not saying you shouldcopy other magicians BUT you should watch them, see how they handle theiraudience, see how they present their magic. See if you can pick up tips toimprove your own performance.But remember, they have worked hard on their act, their gags and their tricksand they are not for you to take. In this industry, as with other performing arts,it's frowned upon to use another performers material without their permission,so please don't do it.The magic fraternity has long had a mentor/student philosophy. If you are luckyenough to find a magician that is willing to teach you, go for it!Most of the best magicians have had a mentor. Just like in the film Karate Kid,he will become your Mr Miyagi teaching you the skills you need and keeping youon the right path.
Search Google for a local magic club. Magic clubs are great. You will besurrounded by people with a common interest and most magic clubs are reallyfriendly with very helpful members.Most magic clubs have an age restriction of 16 and will require you to have abasic knowledge of magic and be able to perform a few tricks, so once you feellike you have your act rehearsed and you can perform it confidently, you shouldlook at joining a club.Not only will you meet people that can help you, but usually a magic club willhave guest magicians who come to lecture and teach you.If you live in Kent, check out our club here: http://www.alakazammagic.clubThank YouWell I hope you've gained something from these pages. I really hope you enjoyyour new hobby.Magic is wonderful and fun. Learning new tricks and moves will not only makeall of the hard work seem worthwhile, but will also give you a big sense ofachievement.Good luck and if you are ever near Ashford, pop in and say hi! In the meantime,you can add some new awesome magic to your act by shopping online athttp://www.alakazam.co.uk, we have super-fast shipping worldwide!And don't forget to check out my other eBooks!Peter Nardi
act. Usually when you start in magic you have a lot of trick decks, each deck allowing you to do one trick. What you want to try and avoid is doing a card trick with what you want your audience to believe is a normal deck, putting the deck away and pulling out what is meant to be anothernormal deck. It makes no sense and screams trick deck.
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