Any tips for learning magic? How?

[NlightN]

so like i recently started out with card tricks. i hear practice practice practice. in front of the mirror, just sitting in your chair or whatever. im really used to practicing since ive been skateboarding for like 7 years. you do tricks and none of them are easy to learn when starting out. but you never practice in that sense though, you are just skating with your friends and you really push yourself to get your tricks safe and clean.

now really practicing alone is a different thing, but what if i practice in front of my brother? hes about my age as well and he loves magic.

problem with that is if i reveal everything to him, i wont be able to do tricks to amaze him. although if he knows the trick its easier for him to see it and if he has a hard time seeing it i guess im golden when doing it for everyone else.
he wont ever look at magic tricks the same though, it would be a shame.

another way is that i could use him as an indicator. how much can i get away with? so i slowly go upwards in technicality when doing some card tricks for him. so if i manage to amaze him i can amaze everyone else with confidence.

whats your thoughts on this? first way or the second way? i think the second way tbh but id like some experienced advice.

sorry if its a bit long man i really suck at writing long when i need to and when i dont i just keep going and going. my english isnt top notch either.

 

[PatrickDonovan]

From the information I gathered from your post I would suggest to practice with your brother. If he is similar in age and has interest in learning magic, it can help a lot to have someone to practice with. And once he has some experience with magic and you find yourself fooling him, then you can be rather sure you are ready for layman.

 

[NlightN]

From the information I gathered from your post I would suggest to practice with your brother. If he is similar in age and has interest in learning magic, it can help a lot to have someone to practice with. And once he has some experience with magic and you find yourself fooling him, then you can be rather sure you are ready for layman.

hes not really interested in learning but he certainly enjoy watching it being performed. especially card magic and coin magic.

 

[drorange]

whats wrong with perfecting it in the mirror then showing him and getting some pointers

 

[clllllust]

This is how I started, and how I perfect effects I learn. Learn the trick, then practice infront of the mirror. After your comfortable with it and you think your good enough to perform, perform it to your parents and ask their HONEST opinion. My dad really helped me in my magic in telling me he saw this or this looked suspicious. There you go, good luck

-RA69

 

[Dominus Magicus]

Here's exactly what you should do:

First step is to find a magic friend. I know this might be hard, but you'll eventually find one. (Or you could join some kind of organization, like SYM, SAM, etc.) This person will be your general liftoff point. He will watch you as you practice, comment on you, and you don't have anything really to worry about.

Then, you can use your brother as a final step. Show him when you think that you've practiced enough.

If you don't like this at all, then you can just introduce your brother to magic, and you both can have benefits, kind of similar to Dan and Dave (I hope this is right...) But, as you may know (or may learn), those who do magic are often never exposed to the kind of joy laymen experience from our work. I don't think your brother is ready to sacrifice that, so I wouldn't suggest it. The problem with showing your brother everything is that you eventually take all the joy out from him, and then he gets bored of it.

Good luck in deciding.

 

[sourboarder]

I was scared about 3 weeks ago. I've been doing magic for 4 years! I finally got up the courage to say I'm getting a deck, going to the mall and doing my amb. card routine for 1 person. Say it and do it. you will feel so proud of yourself when you feel like you fudged and everyone's jaw still drops and they look like deer in the headlights. After that do it again for a differant batch of characters. I feel like I was stupid when doing the routine and my hands were sooo shaky. There are always things you can say for this. (too much coffee) (i feel the magic surging into my hands every time i do this effect) but only if it's an amazing trick. I also felt stupid because I know soo many more simple effects, biddle trick, matrix, bizzare twist, illusion by paul harris. Anyway sorry i turned it into me. Sit there when you have nothing to do and do a trick. do it again. do it again. look away from your hands while slights are happening so when your ready to perform you have the option to look at your hands for the reactions. close your eyes during the slights and see if you did execute the slight. just some suggestions. I hope i helped. Remember magicians words to live by. (grab a deck and perform, people in general love magic!) good luck

 

[Sergey]

OK best way is to not practice in front of your brother until you know you can do the trick, not even perfect but just you can do it, plus if he is little he probably won't catch you, but practice in front of a mirror until you can't catch your self in the mirror then try it on him

 

[vipermagic]

practice in front of the mirror or better yet a video camera if you can afford it. Lucky for me my brother also does magic so we pratice on each other to give ourselves tips.

 

[NlightN]

thanks for all the replies.

finding another person doing magic is kinda hard :/ i currently live in a town with a population of 2 000+ and everyone just thinks about cars or snowmobiles.

yeah but ill practice the trick and when i get it right ill show it to my brother.

i dont think hes the kind of guy that will wanna learn some card magic. since it takes practice. he doesnt have the patience i think.

 

[adjones]

One thing I don't recommend is practicing while watching T.V., and other stuff like that. You want to give practicing your whole, undivided attention, to make sure that your performances are the absolute best that they can be.

I think performing for your little brother would be great. He'll be brutally honest with you when you mess up, he'll heckle you to no end, but, unlike other hecklers, he won't go around telling everybody how you do it whenever you do mess up (and it will happen eventually). I myself perform for my siblings all of the time, and it has actually helped me a lot. Like I said, they call me out, and are painfully honest, but it helps me overall as a magician.

Another thing that might help you is a mentor or just a professional magician that you can talk to about things. You can usually find someone like this through a ring/assembly of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), or the Society of American Magicians (SAM). I suggest you join these, and seek out someone who has excelled in the genre of magic you need help with, and request that they mentor you. Of course, get to know them first, and make sure that you like the person. And don't be scared to ask... most magicians should be willing to help out a newer magician.

While reading your post, these two quotes came to mind:

"An amateur practices until he can get it right... a professional practices until he can't get it wrong."

"Whenever learning a new effect, practice, practice, practice until your hands bleed... then practice some more."

Hope I helped you, and I wish you luck on "The Royal Road".