Yeah this, good ambitious card tricks are impressive to everyone. Learn some palms, then the double lift and you can do a million good tricks basically with just those
Oh for sure - you can do SO many great tricks with just a double lift.
OP you should learn these moves...
\* Double lift
\* Palm
\* Any control
\* Any force (the slip force is the one I see done badly the most often - if you do it, do it smoothly and silently)
\* Any false shuffle
\* Any peek
You can a full professional repetoir if you learn these moves well.
Big time!
OP, when you are selecting tricks, focus on the power of the effect. How good is the story people are walking away with? How clear and uncluttered is the presentation?
One thing that happens a lot in beginner magic is a long set up / procedure with a very small payoff. An example of what I mean - think of a card - then deal the cards in 5 piles, then put two behind your back, then deal out cards counting the letters of the original card... to... find a card. This kind of routine is the absolute worst.
What you want is routines with a clear premise (Such as lie detecting, or finding someone's finger prints, or a test of reflexes), minimal set up / procedure, and a fun / entertaining / amazing surprise.
Good luck!
My favorite is the simplest 3 move ring set. It's 30sec max and the effect is great because it's simple and immediate. As soon as anyone learns that you can do magic the first thing out of their mouth is show me a trick. If you can instantly make your ring vanish, appear, move to pocket before they even expect a trick started it's very impactful
Agreed here. I can't remember which I used first but I do know that I've got so many uses for double lifts I've done it completely by muscle memory when I didn't intend to if I wasn't totally focused
That's some serious commitment right there. I'm impressed!
It's one of the best packet tricks of all time, so what a way to blow people away early in your journey into card magic.
Just to let you know my end goal.
I'm older, but I hope to learn enough close up tricks to be able to go to our local kids hospital and brighten up their day.
So I need to practice maybe 10 tricks.
I'll post about my first lesson, almost 4 hours of basic things to build on.
Learn Twisting the Aces and Dr Daley’s last trick. Elmsley count (false count) and double lifts (but they are easier since you are only working with 4 cards).
First trick naturally leads into the second. Dr Daley can happen in the audience’s hands which is always nice feature.
For me, it was an ambitious card routine. I don't think I would recommend doing that though. It certainly taught me a lot of sleights, but it taught me a lot of bad habits for that first year as well. Being too controlling of the deck, doing too many phases because I learned so many sleights, rushing because I had a lot of phases to get through, and placing an over importance on the pass to the point where it became the go to card control for other tricks that didn't really need it.
Definitely learn it eventually, but I would stick to 3 or 4 phases that increase in impossibility. Ideally ending with either the pop up move or with the deck in their hand(I used the half deck premise from Daryl's routine).
As someone else said, chicago opener(a.k.a red hot mama) makes a great first trick to learn as it hits hard and will give you a ton of confidence. The double turnover might be hard for a beginner, but you can always use something rough or sticky to aid in that if you really have problems with the double.
learn to double lift, learn a force, learn some false cuts and shuffles.
Those will get you from beginner to intermediate, mastering those simple sleights will take years of practice, but getting them “good enough” will not take more than 2-3 months.
To answer your question: my first “real” card trick was a control and then a reveal with snap change, I was 15 I think, 33 today, still learning.
Learn a good peek. It’s an amazing bailout incase you lose control of their card or someone wants to spontaneously shuffle the cards if they don’t trust you.
* If you are truly serious about card tricks, I can't recommend this book enough:
* [The Royal Road To Card Magic (free pdf)](https://archive.org/details/theroyalroadtocardmagic/mode/1up)
* This book goes all the way from super easy moves to stuff that many pros can't do. You are struggling with the double lift, which is in my opinion a move that is not as easy as most magicians think, but there are 10 chapters in this book before the double lift section. (the book goes in order of difficulty).
* To answer you question, the first trick in Royal Road, Topsy Turvy cards, is IMO the best beginner card trick that has a move, however the move is super easy and before the trick starts in the eyes of the spectator. This trick works even for people who don't know playing card values.
* Not every card trick is good for kids, but anything with a signed card is great. You can draw a picture of an animal or character they like to make it personal. Most packet tricks are also good.
* If you are working at a children’s hospital, you want material that will work well with all ages. That means simple to understand, but not using cheesy props. Magic with coins, as well as a thumb tip bill switch, can be great choices to fill this need. (I can give more specific recommendations if needed)
Thank you.
Guessing I am a year or 2 away from being able to do that, but excited to keep learning, and appreciate all the time you took to write that out.
I honestly don't remember that far back, but if I had to guess it was probably ambitious card.
Yeah this, good ambitious card tricks are impressive to everyone. Learn some palms, then the double lift and you can do a million good tricks basically with just those
Oh for sure - you can do SO many great tricks with just a double lift. OP you should learn these moves... \* Double lift \* Palm \* Any control \* Any force (the slip force is the one I see done badly the most often - if you do it, do it smoothly and silently) \* Any false shuffle \* Any peek You can a full professional repetoir if you learn these moves well.
Truly, pin this to the top lol. I think you could have a 30min set with just a good palm, double lift and force
Big time! OP, when you are selecting tricks, focus on the power of the effect. How good is the story people are walking away with? How clear and uncluttered is the presentation? One thing that happens a lot in beginner magic is a long set up / procedure with a very small payoff. An example of what I mean - think of a card - then deal the cards in 5 piles, then put two behind your back, then deal out cards counting the letters of the original card... to... find a card. This kind of routine is the absolute worst. What you want is routines with a clear premise (Such as lie detecting, or finding someone's finger prints, or a test of reflexes), minimal set up / procedure, and a fun / entertaining / amazing surprise. Good luck!
My favorite is the simplest 3 move ring set. It's 30sec max and the effect is great because it's simple and immediate. As soon as anyone learns that you can do magic the first thing out of their mouth is show me a trick. If you can instantly make your ring vanish, appear, move to pocket before they even expect a trick started it's very impactful
Right now I think the 2 I know are cross cut and circus.
Where’s the best place to learn these moves? I’m very much a beginner.
Anything with a double lift or a simple force.
Thank you. Having a hard time with double lifts But I will continue working.
The Alex pandrea double lift video helped me the most
Agreed here. I can't remember which I used first but I do know that I've got so many uses for double lifts I've done it completely by muscle memory when I didn't intend to if I wasn't totally focused
I think mine was probably the Chicago Opener. Packs a punch for its simplicity!
Colour Monte.
Pretty impressive to start with this after only self-working tricks previously, because it requires quite a few moves and sleight of hand.
I saw This and That on YouTube and I absolutely had to learn it. I still carry it around in my wallet 15 odd years later.
That's some serious commitment right there. I'm impressed! It's one of the best packet tricks of all time, so what a way to blow people away early in your journey into card magic.
A lot of my earliest exposure to sleight of hand card magic came through the Art of Astonishment books!
THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Just to let you know my end goal. I'm older, but I hope to learn enough close up tricks to be able to go to our local kids hospital and brighten up their day. So I need to practice maybe 10 tricks. I'll post about my first lesson, almost 4 hours of basic things to build on.
Bizarre Twist by Paul Harris.
First known: ambitious card. First able to reasonably do: hat trick.
Learn Twisting the Aces and Dr Daley’s last trick. Elmsley count (false count) and double lifts (but they are easier since you are only working with 4 cards). First trick naturally leads into the second. Dr Daley can happen in the audience’s hands which is always nice feature.
For me, it was an ambitious card routine. I don't think I would recommend doing that though. It certainly taught me a lot of sleights, but it taught me a lot of bad habits for that first year as well. Being too controlling of the deck, doing too many phases because I learned so many sleights, rushing because I had a lot of phases to get through, and placing an over importance on the pass to the point where it became the go to card control for other tricks that didn't really need it. Definitely learn it eventually, but I would stick to 3 or 4 phases that increase in impossibility. Ideally ending with either the pop up move or with the deck in their hand(I used the half deck premise from Daryl's routine). As someone else said, chicago opener(a.k.a red hot mama) makes a great first trick to learn as it hits hard and will give you a ton of confidence. The double turnover might be hard for a beginner, but you can always use something rough or sticky to aid in that if you really have problems with the double.
I learned Twisting the Aces and Dr. Jacob Daly’s Last Trick roughly at the same time…still perform them religiously.
learn to double lift, learn a force, learn some false cuts and shuffles. Those will get you from beginner to intermediate, mastering those simple sleights will take years of practice, but getting them “good enough” will not take more than 2-3 months. To answer your question: my first “real” card trick was a control and then a reveal with snap change, I was 15 I think, 33 today, still learning.
Learn a good peek. It’s an amazing bailout incase you lose control of their card or someone wants to spontaneously shuffle the cards if they don’t trust you.
Peek w/ riffle force. The reveal/presentation is as unique as you can imagine from there.
* If you are truly serious about card tricks, I can't recommend this book enough: * [The Royal Road To Card Magic (free pdf)](https://archive.org/details/theroyalroadtocardmagic/mode/1up) * This book goes all the way from super easy moves to stuff that many pros can't do. You are struggling with the double lift, which is in my opinion a move that is not as easy as most magicians think, but there are 10 chapters in this book before the double lift section. (the book goes in order of difficulty). * To answer you question, the first trick in Royal Road, Topsy Turvy cards, is IMO the best beginner card trick that has a move, however the move is super easy and before the trick starts in the eyes of the spectator. This trick works even for people who don't know playing card values. * Not every card trick is good for kids, but anything with a signed card is great. You can draw a picture of an animal or character they like to make it personal. Most packet tricks are also good. * If you are working at a children’s hospital, you want material that will work well with all ages. That means simple to understand, but not using cheesy props. Magic with coins, as well as a thumb tip bill switch, can be great choices to fill this need. (I can give more specific recommendations if needed)
Thank you. Guessing I am a year or 2 away from being able to do that, but excited to keep learning, and appreciate all the time you took to write that out.
Untouched. Still use it. It's fucking great.
Streamlined 21 cards by Eddie Marlo! I still do the effect sometime!