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Ivory Bateleur Austria 0 Posts |
Hi I'm 25 years old and I was always interested in magic but up until recently it was more passive than active. I'm a complete beginner but I hope that I can still contribute some useful thoughts here.
As of right now I'm mostly interested in coin magic, and I plan on first concentrating on the techniques of single sleights and not learning entire tricks (even though many recommend starting otherwise but we'll see how it goes). Another thing I want/need to learn is card shuffling. As a child I hated playing card games, so I refused to learn shuffling. Where I'm from just about anyone can shuffle cards so it is kind of embarrassing that I can't. As the new year just started, I would like to set some goals for 2023: I'll try to practice most days of the week and see how much I like handling cards and coins. I'm not experienced enough to know what's realistic or not for me to achieve this year, so I'll keep it at that. Even if it doesn't sound too ambitious What are the things you want to work on (magically) this year? And on which things were you focusing on in your first year of practice? |
magictricksandcoffee New user 5 Posts |
I found it easier to practice when regularly meeting up with folks in person to practice with. I know there's a decent community in Vienna if you're near that part of Austria (and I'm sure there's other little pockets in some of the small cities).
Personally my goal for this year is to complete 4 books in full completely (one for each quarter) and to perform at least three different open mic/standup routines. I would recommend adding performing to your first year practice goals -- having the sleights down is important, but it's much easier to stay motivated and helpful for future to perform regularly. Best of luck with your first year journey into magic! |
Schlawiner New user 54 Posts |
Hello and Welcome!
I'm also from Austria (Vienna) and if you want some infos on local clubs you can drop me a PN! I'm mainly doing card magic, but I also try to get started with coin stuff. Personally, I also started to practice sleights separately and not whole tricks at the beginning, but yeah, most people recommend the opposite. If you want to learn shuffling cards, I would recommend you the "card college" book volume 1. I started with other books (and youtube), but looking back I really wish that I started with it because it explains the correct grip and other important things in a very detailed manner, which helps a lot in shuffling cards fast and secure (and ensures that your false shuffles looks similar to your legit shuffles). I think one of the best methods is to just have cards in your hands as often as possible. E.g.: when I watch TV, I have cards in the hand and overhand shuffle to keep the top cards at the top or to do faro shuffles while watching TV. My goals for 2023: I'm already reading a lot of different books on magic and magic theory and I already know the basic sleights, but I'm really lazy when practicing whole routines. When I read a routine in a book, I often think that the routine is good, but that it can certainly be improved and then I check other books for improved versions instead of learning the routine. So my goal is to select and learn at least 3 strong routines, which I try to perform several times for different people to collect more experience performing. For your focus in the first year: I think one of your main goals should be to get used to have cards (or coins) in your hand and that you can handle them in a natural way (I can just give tips for cards, because I'm also a noob with coins). Using google and a query like "magic Café SEARCHTERM", you can find a lot of useful information for beginners, e.g. on "essential sleights" every card magician should know. Others already have written good lists of sleights everyone should know. But if you start with "card college 1", you will learn all required sleights in a beginner-friendly order. I think you should just begin with the book (or another one) and just work through the book in your own speed, without a specific deadline. According coin magic, as far as I know, videos from David Roth are a good starting point. And I think another good recommendation is to learn one simple trick early (a trick which doesn't requiere complicated sleights) and to perform the trick as often as possible to collect performing expierence early. |
Ivory Bateleur Austria 0 Posts |
@magictricksandcoffee: Hi, thanks
Yes! Not being alone all the time is great for staying motivated and others can help with finding the right techniques when something isn't working. Unfortunately I'm not near Vienna, but I'll have a look at what my nearest city has to offer. Nice, good luck with your plan! Do you already know which books you will tackle, or do you decide what fits throughout the year? I'm pretty bad at performing in front of others (I took music lessons as a child and teenager. Having to do a 'Vorspielstunde' - playing in front of the teachers, other students and their parents - was pretty bad, and even playing something only for my family didn't work out well), but getting out of your comfort zone is always a good idea, so I'll add it to my list. @Schlawiner: Hi, it's nice to see a fellow Austrian here Thanks, I'm not from that part of Austria so I don't know whether you know something about the clubs here in my area but if it's ok for you, I'll maybe send you a PN in the future. But I think first I'll try to find some students at university that are interested in magic. I will check that book out. That's a good point, thanks. I would not have thought of that. Un-learning some bad technique is hard and I'll probably want to do false shuffles at some point, thanks! Haha yes, I can relate to that. I love reading theory and reading about things other people do but then actually doing something with this knowledge is very important too. So that's a nice goal, good luck with that! Thanks, I'll try to do that. I will choose one book and work through it. There's so much material out there that it's hard not to want to do it all at once. |
magictricksandcoffee New user 5 Posts |
Helpful tip: even better than Schlwawiner's recommendation, you can Google "site:themagiccafe.com + SEARCH TERM" and it will _only_ should you results from the magic Café. Likewise you can use this for other sites e.g. "site:reddit.com/r/magic + SEARCH TERM" means you only get results from the magic subreddit.
Yeah for the books I'm going to do Magician's Cookbook Ltd, Harry Loryane's memory book, 13 Steps to Mentalism, and Mnemonica (I've done bits and pieces from some of these but I want to spend more time diligently doing them) For performances I would definitely recommend performing to people at a biergarten or something sooner rather than later -- the quicker and more often you get out of your comfort zone, the more comfortable performing feels |
Ivory Bateleur Austria 0 Posts |
Oh wow thanks, I didn't know that!
The books sound interesting, I hope they help you achieve what you want to achieve |
magictricksandcoffee New user 5 Posts |
Yeah saves tons of time esp. since most websites have really bad search
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