The ones that got me started were;

Bought tricks:
Nickles to Dimes
Disapearing Silk
Multiplying Balls

Tricks with Slieghts:
Cactus Pete
Transporting Coins
21-card prediction (Self Working)
Shuffle mix-up (Self working)

Key card definately. Love the old the next card I turn over will your card even though there card has been passed. Haha gets em every time.

My favorite beginner trick and this was before I started buying those boxed magic sets was the one where 4 jacks start on the top of the deck, you put them on the bottom one by one (of course with some kind of story behind it) and one by one they come back to the top.)

Maybe that last post by me was more of a "first trick I learned" more that best beginners trick. One though that comes to mind because it fooled people is I believe its called "quarter penetration" where you put 3 quarters into a little thin box and cover it with paper than close the lid and you push a pencil between the paper and three quarters and when you open it only the paper in penetrated, and the quarters remain unharmed. Examinable, too. or Maybe "Quarter Penetration" is the one where a quarter penetrates a piece of rubber surrounding a cup with no holes in the rubber. Great beginner one too that had everyone touching the rubber piece looking for holes.

One of the first trick I learned and one of my favorites ones is Triumph. I learned a couple of ways to do it and I think it is easy enough to do without a cheek-to-cheek deck.

For me it was the Svengali Deck. I pretty much started in magic by demo-ing Marvin's Magic at FAO, and the Svengali is a hard worker.

I still think Svengali is about the most brilliant gaff out there, and can be used very effectively and surreptitiously. I most often use it now without the big reveal at the end, so people don't recognize the method.

-Daniel

Adam's Color Vision.

Of course, that was 1957.
I collect the originals.
Nostalgia, I guess.

Still a very nice effect, escecially with the Slydini moves.

MagicRay

"Do as I Do" was the first trick I learned that stayed with me for a long while. I think it was in a little Collins Pocketbook of Magic, or something like that. Before long I was on to RRTCM and saw it there too

Believe it or not, my first trick was mind reading utilizing stebbin stack deck. I paid to learn this secret from a local magician.

I thought "Cardtoon" was awesome when I was a kid.

I bought my first trick, Rope to Silk, from a magic toys vendor machine with my long saved $5.00, and that was the first magic tricks I had used to perform in front of my friends.

My first trick without using gimmick would be using the key card to find the selected card trick.

But I think my favorite beginner trick would be Svengali Deck, it is the one trick I get real reaction from people.

For me, it was the ring going up the rubberband which I learned from the Jawdropper tapes.

Hot Rod and the Rattle Bars.
I was 6 and drove an adult half crazy with the Rattle Bars.

"Piano Trick" from Royal Road.
Just awesome.
- Mike

Some super easy almost self working ones that I started out with are:

Penacoin (coin through rubber)
Scotch and Soda
Stripper Deck
Disappearing Cigarette
Lethal Tender
Holy Moly (Jay Sankey)
In a Flash (Jay Sankey)
Bitten Quarter/Quarter Through Bottle
Flipper Coin
Self Tying Shoelace
Matchbox Penatration
Cut and Restored Bills
$1.35 trick
Two $1 into $2
$5 to $1 Transpo
Phil Deck
Disappearing Deck

Some of those I still use and still get great reactions from.

Coin through soda can is probably the easiest trick that really gets a reaction.
People think it has really tricky sleights.
Dime and penny is another good one.

I had a lot of favorite tricks because I received an Adams magic kit for Christmas back in the early '60s...(man I'm old!)

Some of the effects that stick in my mind were:

1) Ball & Vase.
2) Multiplying Rabbits (sponge).
3) Coin Slide.
4) Two Card Monte.
5) Rice Bowls.

But, I really loved that ball & vase though!

Cardamagically,
Dom

I started out many years ago with the TV Magic Cards. Marshall Brodeen was the man!

I started only a few months ago and I'm doing mostly crazy man's handcuffs, some vanishes with a TT, professor's nightmare, cut and restored rope and money change with extreme burn. All this are simple but very strong.

Color Vision Box
Simple, effective, and even can be examined.

Hot Rod or Color Changing Knives (but not both)

Professor's Nightmare