Heya

Im new to magic bein only 13 as I sed in posts befor and I'm finding I rely hard to get started. wots the best thing to start.

I no books are recamendid but I have readin problems and its getting me down

I'm rely serias about doin magic and altho I can do a few basic tricks it isn't anouth

any advise wil be much appresciated

Love, Meelie xxxx

I tryed readin a book on magic befor but I got a coupel of pages in and I find it reli hard.

I tryed to get my mum to read some to me but she is busy a lot

Any thing having to do with magic is going to be hard. With a book, just take your time with it. don't worry about learning fast. It doesn't matter how quickly you can learn, But how well you can do what you learn. Take magic as if you are learning to ride a bike or walk. You are going to fall and have difficulties at first. But eventually you will get the hang of it. And even after you learn you may still fall. Do you have a magic shop close to you? If you do, go there and hang out. Let them know that you are intrested and you want to learn. In most cases they will be happy to help you if you show that you really want to learn.

How about a DVD Meelie. I personally find it easier to learn by watching, it's alittle more expensive in trick to $ spent ratio but you should be able to learn plenty.

Try: On the Spot - Gregory Wilson
Born to Perform Card Magic - Penguin Magic
Ammars Intro. to Coin Magic - Michael Ammar
Darwin Encyclopedia of Thumb Tip Magic - Gary Darwin

Hello and thanks both of you for your replis

dvd wood be a good idea o got a dvd player for crismas!

I'm 13 so iv got plenty of time to lern ill just stay positiv

thanks

Much love, Meelie xXx

Meelie just a thought can you find a friend that might want to learn magic. S o both of you can help each other.

Hi,

I was thinkin that and I hav askd round but I'm very difrent from my mates and they arnt rely intrested in magic (crazy peepel!)

I do hav frends that don't mind me testin out tricks that I'm lernin on them wich helps though

xxx

I can totally relate to you. I just started magic and I'm only twelve. I suggest self-working tricks for a start(Nickels to Dimes, D'Lites, Dragon Production box), then move on to basic sleights(Okito Coin Box, Cardtoon, Hades Finger Chopper)

Can I suggest a few websites and searches? Go to Ellusionist.com and go to the easy sections under dvds. Search for easy on penguinmagic.com. The first page of a search for "easy card tricks" on ronjo.com was very promising-looking. I wish you the best in your magic journeys and happy hunting!
PS- Try a thumbtip and a dvd that teaches uses of a thumbtip. This combination will definately serve you in magic.
-Evan

I would recommend a DVD. or maybe try to find someone to teach a trick.

Dvd's are great. Sure I love a good magic book and have a bunch of them but I always find it is much more simple to watch it happen then me trying to think of how it should look. Being you are new I know the Michael Ammar Easy to master card miracles are great! So look into those. Also some more fun but easy stuff is on some of the Jay Sankey videos. Hope this helps

Lucas

Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic, the standard text for beginners, is available in VHS video, and comes with the props, you can order them one set at a time from Mark's website http://www.markwilsonmagic.com
Covers all the basics.

I had another idea for you, Meelie. I just watched an old Eugene Burger video where Eugene recommended reading the directions for tricks and moves into a tape recorder, so you can play them back and follow, without having to go back and forth between the book and what you're doing.

You said your Mum was busy and not often available to read the books to you. What you could do is get her to read into the tape recorder when she does have a moment, ready for you to play when you have the time to practice.

There are also cheap digital recorders available that could help with this.

Is your reading difficulty something that could be improved with work? If so, your magic hobby could really help, by giving you reading material that you are really keen on reading.

Meelie.

Let me share some of my thoughts with you on this. The first thing I'd like to say is that what you are feeling is very normal. We all reach a stage of frustration at some point. But it's important to find a way to enjoy it. That is if you still want to be a good performer. if you can't enjoy it, even with the frustrations, you'll end up taking short cuts and probably loose interest.

You mentioned something about having a reading problem. Believe me when I tell you I can relate. Not exactly to a reading problem but to having a condition that can seem limiting. I'm speaking of course of the fact that I'm deaf. At some point in my life when my hearing decreased to the point where I was deaf and could no longer hear people when they talked to me. I felt frustrated because I could no longer hear music and I use to play music and sing. I can no longer have a conversation like "normal" people. I can no longer hear people respond to what I do when I perform. I hear no applaud. No gasps and I haven't heard a person laugh at my jokes or tricks in years.

But I still wanted to be a magician. I still enjoyed making people laugh. I can't hear the laughter anymore but I can still see and feel it. I wanted to sing again but that's not an easy thing to do when you can't hear the music. So I had to find a way to do it. I learned to feel music from the speaker. I got up and I sang in front of a large group. Am I a good singer? heck no I'm not. But I did it and I felt good when I did.

My point is that you shouldn't let your "reading problem" stand in your way. It's just another skill you'll need to work in order to achieve what you desire. I'm not suggesting that your "reading problem" isn't serious. I'm only saying that there is a way to work that issue out. That's what you have to focus on. The end results.

So think to yourself. "What do I have to do in order to become what I want to become. In this case you want to become a magician. What will be involved in that? To every one of us that will mean we'll need to learn how to do the sleights, how to work the gimmicks, how to present the effects and what tricks we're going to keep doing. Some of us (like you and I) have to learn other things that most people already know. I had to learn how to work with my deafness. You need to learn how to learn from books. Because books are the best source to learn magic from. There's only so much you can learn from DVD's and videos. You can learn seom them and I'm sure they can help you to some degree but you are limited to how taht one performer explains it. On top of that there's the money issue. And I'm sure money is a very big issue for someone your age.

So here's what I suggest. Pick up a magic book. try and find one with a lot of information on the type of magic you are interested in. I'm sure you can find many suggestions here on the Café for what book would be best for you to pick up. Once you have that book the focus yourself on it. Learn as much from it as you can. It doesn't matter how long it takes. In fact if it took you an entire year to get through that book then that's to your advantage. Because you'll get more out of that book then most of us would when we just skip around it. I know you can do it if you put your all into it.

All the best.

Ron Jaxon

Im 13 as well, and I too find books difficult to learn from. Just read the descriptions over and over. Once you've done this, read it some more. After this, get what you need for the trick, and just see if you can decipher what it is saying. Takes time, but that's what it takes. It's hard to fork out all the money for DVDs, but they are a great tool as well. I persoanlly love Michael Ammar's DVDs (like that many people don't). Just keep trying hard, and the tricks will be learned. Also, don't try to get too many tricks at once. Get a routine of the length you want going, and then just practice those tricks. Occassionally, you can switch tricks out, but you don't want to have too many tricks floating around in your mind.

Good Luck,
Michael

I don't know how far in magic you would like to get? In what level you would like to perform? etc. Cause finally everything goes down to books...best sources ever.

I am also thirteen (for seven more days),

It all depends on what kind of magic you want to go into say coin magic or cards then go for books or DVDs but if you are trying to perform stage parlour magic or illuisions pretty well the only way to learn those is by buying the trick you want ... for example ... you want to learn how to do metamorphisis and be able to perform it? then you would either have to buy the illusion or the plans and build it your self...

Magically Yours
Magical Odyssey

Is there a magic shop in your area? If so, I recommend going there and meeting some magicians. If any of them are willing to teach you, it would really benefit you. I take lessons myself and it really helps to have someone critique you and teach you in person.

If there is no magic shop, the next best thing would probably be dvd( if you can't learn from books). Easy to master Card Miracles are good to start, although I don't have them all.

Foucault mentioned using a tape recorder to learn from books. I've tried this and it really helps( certain books are hard for me to learn from too).If this works, then pick up the Card College books. These are very easy to understand and teach you a lot of sleights and tricks. I suggest working through the book slowly and learn the sleights thouroughly before moving on. Hopefully this has helped. Good luckin your magic!

Generally books r better, but sometimes I love to just sit down and watch Davids reactions bc theyre hilearious:) its more relaxing:)