How to Learn Magic in 2022
I get this question a lot, and here are a few ideas of where to start:
1.- Magic Books!
1.-Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic by Mark Wilson
An incredible source where you will find tons of magic, from cards, coins, paper, mentalism, and even huge illusions! I wouldn’t say that is a course, but it’s more like an Encyclopedia, so you don’t have to read it from top to bottom, just flick through and learn something fun every day!
And the best thing…. It’s super cheap to find! (less than £5 second-hand). You can find it here:
2.- Magic The Complete Course – Joshua Jay
The modern version of the Mark Wilson Course could be a good description. Tons of classic tricks with a modern twist, a great source to learn magic with tons of objects, cards, coins, and everyday objects, is not as ‘complete’ as Mark Wilson, but it’s a more modern version of it. (It comes with a DVD as well!)
3.- Now You See It, Now You Don’t by Bill Tarr
This is a beautiful book with amazing drawings where you can learn the set-by-step instructions and learn tons of sleight of hand with coins, cards, balls and many other objects. One of the great things about books is that you get to know the small fine details; video is great for learning routines but will never get that level of detail. Highly recommended book!
Learn Card Magic Tricks!
The Royal Road to Card Magic.
This has been the beginner’s book of card magicians for decades. Sometimes it can be a bit challenging and tedious to read, but it has a lot of really good tricks and a lot to give. A thing to remember is that magic books shouldn’t be read like novels! You can read a few chapters, only a trick or a sleight, they are a bit more flexible. This is the book that most professionals and the best in the world recommend to any magician that loves cards. (There is a newer version that includes videos, so try to find this one!)
Card College Series
This is a series (5 books) rather than a single book. It’s like going to the university of card magic, you have a lifetime of knowledge here!
What about Coin Magic?
Bobo Modern Coin Magic,
An encyclopedia of coin Magic, the best will be here.
And remember, it’s not a course. It’s a compilation of tricks and sleights. I would suggest starting with the first chapters by reading the basic tricks and then skimming through the book and finding interesting tricks once you get to a good level.
(There is a hardback version, this has a few new tricks and new chapters that you won’t find in the paperback version, there are not essential, but it has a few new cool tricks )
-> And would you like to learn stage/general magic?
If you want to explore more about the world of magic and learn a bit about everything: History, psychology, here is the perfect start:
The Tarbell Course In Magic:
A bit outdated with the words, but it has everything! From stage illusions, mentalism, cards, coins, silks, you name it. Think of any trick you have seen, and probably the first version was in the Tarbell. There are 8 books, but I would suggest getting the first one and progressing one book at a time, otherwise it will be overwhelming!
Bonus Mentalism/Mind-Reading
13 Steps to Mentalism By Corinda: start here!
- >What about learning magic with video/DVDs?
2.- DVDs – Videos
If you want to explore the world of video and DVD, here are a few really amazing courses. Some of them are from the ’90s, but they have been used and re-watched by tons of professional magicians:
Cards
- Easy To Master Card Miracles – Michael Ammar
- Born to Perform Card Magic – Oz Pearlman
- Crash Course 1 – Brad Christian
Coins
- Easy to Master Money Miracles Vol 1-3 – Michael Ammar
- Expert Coin Magic Made Easy Vol 1, 2, 3, 4 – David Roth
Mentalism
- 13 Steps to Mentalism – 6 DVD set – Richard Osterlind
Youtube warning:
We all use it: “How to cook an artichoke”, “how to play the guitar”, or many other searches. But trying to learn magic with youtube is like trying to be an actor by watching youtube videos or learning how to skate, swim or play tennis. It’s a great starting point, but if you don’t get in the water, there will be no way of learning! Also, you don’t get any feedback from a video!
Lastly, be careful who your teacher is. There are a lot of ‘Youtube influencers’, and most of them are not professionals or they don’t have real experience. So a big word of caution if you want to learn from Youtube, you might need to unlearn many bad habits in the future!
Magic Sets:
Probably you have been to Hamleys in Oxford Circus, and you found a few dealers showing magic, they are great, right??
Magic sets are great if you have a kid aged 6 to 8 years old. But the main problem with a magic set is that the ‘magic is in the toy’. Let’s be honest, most of those tricks are not very deceiving, and even if they are, they look like trick boxes with a “secret compartment”. There is a reason that magic sets are sold in a toy shop, right?
What is the fastest way of learning magic?
Back in the day, the only way of learning Magic was with teachers and mentors (and a few rare books). And still is the best, easiest and fastest way of learning. Watching and learning from someone who has experience working and performing in the real world but also has experience teaching and giving feedback to their students, is the fastest and easiest way of learning magic!
Or taking a step-by-step course like the one I created:
Anytime Anywhere is a 6-week magic video course for complete beginners where you will learn more than 20 magic tricks, but most importantly, a step-by-step course where you will learn how to become more confident, perform in front of an audience and, of course, be able to blow the minds of all your friends and family! This course is a perfect combination of videos and books: Starting with a 50-minute video class, followed by a PDF style with animated GIFS, so you can read in detail and also watch every second of the trick step-by-step! (A completely revolutionary way of learning!)
Check this out! An Animated PDF-style course
If you want to know more details about this course, check the link here:
https://www.londonmagicschool.co.uk/anytimecourse
All the best with your magic learning ;)!
Magical wishes,
Thomas
PS: Also, if you sign up for the course, you get a 30-minute one-to-one class with me!