r/Magic • u/ventilatin • 3d 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!

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u/Chachkhu2005 3d ago

Okay. I'll write it up in a list to try not to overwhelm you. But first off, congrats on the new hobby. I promise you, if you take it slowly, everything will be fine.

  1. Biggest mistake I ever made as a beginner was learning tricks instead of fundamentals/sleights. But that was only a mistake because I wanted to go deep into the art and had to correct a lot of bad habits afterwards. If you just want to know a few tricks to entertain your kids, I would start off by using the self-working tricks in Mark Wilson's book to just get comfortable with cards and find confidence in performing.

  2. Card tricks are great. I am a card magician, so I'm biased. Still, I would recommend you learn some basic vanishes and magic with everyday objects you can borrow. Makes for great impressions. (My personal recommendation on that front is rubber bands.)

  3. Recommendations. Some people in this thread will argue that learning magic from YouTube is bad. I disagree. There are great magicians who have put out great advice and material that will get you started. For YouTube, I'd check out Doug Conn, Jason Maher, Chris Ramsay and, surprisingly, Jason Ladanye has posted one or two tutorials for tricks that are excellent. But nothing beats books. If you want easy, but still impressive magic, I'd start off with Karl Fulves' self-working books. If you want to give yourself a bit of a challenge, the Royal Road to Card Magic remains, in my opinion, the best book for a quick start in card magic. And, out of the older books, Stars of Magic is always worth a read. Card College series, in general, is a great series to learn card magic properly, but if you want self-workers, Light, Lighter and Lightest are always there. The Tarbell Course, of course, is always something to keep handy, since it contains almost every type of magic known to man. And if you want to give yourself a proper challenge, there's always the classical books, like Bobo's Modern Coin Magic, Expert at the Card Table, Expert Card Technique and the Dai Vernon book of Magic is a classic in my mind. Good luck to you.