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Secrets

WELCOME TO THE HIDDEN SECRETS PAGE

Please DON’T SHARE THIS PAGE with others (it’s just for you and other magicians like you)!

On this page you’ll find words AND ideas that – ALL – magicians should know.

We’ve also included behind the scenes magic ideas and more.

But first…


NEVER EVER SAY… “I KNOW HOW YOU DID THAT

If you are EVER lucky enough to watch a magic show live, first, congratulations, you are so lucky! Have fun and enjoy the show!

Second, please, please, please, NEVER NEVER NEVER shout out, “I know how to do that”!

Why?

First… it’s rude and very disrespectful.

Being rude and disrespectful is bad.

Second… the magician doesn’t really – CARE – if you know how the trick is done or not.

Even if you DO know how it’s done, you’re just being rude and you’re interrupting a well thought-out, rehearsed, and polished performance.

HOWEVER… there ARE good and respectful ways to get to know the magician.

After the magic show is over, go up to the magician and introduce yourself, say, “I enjoyed your show.  I’m a magician too.” 

I promise this will lead to a MUCH MUCH MUCH nicer conversation! 

Truly… the professional magician does not care if you know the “magic secret” or not. 

Magic is sooooo sooooo soooo much more than one simple little secret.

It’s showmanship. It’s technique. It’s personality. It’s practice. It’s so much more than one tiny little secret.

Want to make a good impression on that magician you’ve been watching?

After the show is over, go see that magician and let them know you love magic and mystery and the fun of it all… too. 

Approaching the magician this way, you’re so much more likely to get the positive attention you’d like to get. You might have a nice conversation about magic tricks. You might even develop a life-long friendship. You just never know!

Life is much better if you treat others with respect. 

This is – ALSO – true whether you are a magician or not. 


TYPES AND SIZES OF MAGIC

The size of your magic tricks, and the types of magic tricks you perform is based largely on which kinds of magic you like to perform. Some people like little tricks. Some people like to perform BIG TRICKS. What type of magic you do will also be determined by the SIZE of your AUDIENCE. If you will be on a stage and have a large audience, you want VERY LARGE TRICKS. If you’re on a small stage, you’ll need smaller magic trick. If you’re performing for a small group of friends, your magic does not need to be large. Most magic is broken into categories.

ILLUSIONS – large magic that usually requires large piece of gear or apparatus that make it appear that you can float someone in the air, or cut them into pieces, or make them disappear.

PARLOR or CLUB – magic that’s created for a small group of people.

CLOSE-UP – magic performed for just a few people. Most often this is sleight of hand magic, and can be very amazing!

STREET MAGIC – magic performed (usually surrounded by people) outdoors.


THE 3 RULES OF MAGIC

Have Fun!

Treat others the way you’d like to be treated!

Never reveal the secret.


The – 8 BASIC EFFECTS – of MAGIC

APPEARANCETo make something show up out of nowhere.

VANISHTo make something or someone disappear something.

TRANSFORMATIONTo change one thing into something different.

RESTORATIONTo destroy something and then bring it back to normal again.

TELEPORTATION To move something from one place to another invisibly.

LEVITATIONTo make something or someone float in the air.

PENETRATIONTo make a solid object pass through another solid object.

MENTALISMTo know what someone is thinking or to know what is going to happen.


HOW TO REHEARSE OR PRACTICE YOUR MAGIC

Get yourself a good full-length mirror, the kind that are sometimes hung on the back of bathroom doors. You need to watch yourself performing your magic. Magic really only takes place in the MINDS of the audience, so it’s super-important that you “SEE” what “THEY” are “seeing”. Get a mirror. Rehearse in front of that mirror.


TEN TIMES PERFECTLY THROUGH

The rule for whether to show your magic trick in public is the same rule musicians use. If you can perform the magic effect/routine (in private) 10 times (all the way through) perfectly (with no mistakes), you’re ready to show it it public. Didn’t make it 10 times in a row? Then start over again… and you must start at… (sorry)… one.


THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF MAGIC SECRETS

When you begin learning magic tricks you quickly discover that there are easy magic tricks and there are difficult magic tricks. Each magic trick has a secret and I largely divide them into two TYPES of secrets.

PROFESSIONAL MAGIC SECRETS

AMATEUR MAGIC SECRETS

Amateur Magic Secrets can be amazing magic tricks, but they are largely easy to perform and require some skill and some practice, but not years and years and years of skill and practice. These are the magic secrets usually shared by magicians with beginners. These are the magic secrets that kids learn at MAGIC CLUB and at MAGIC CAMP.

Professional Magic Secrets are a VERY different thing. You may see a professional magician perform these magic secrets, but because they require a lot of rehearsal, nuance, understanding, and work, the magician won’t be willing to “give” you the secret right now. Look at it this way, you may know how to ride a bike, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready to go out and do BMX stunt bike tricks. It’s the same. If you work at it, you’ll eventually be able to do them. But not right now.


MAGIC WORDS – EVERY – MAGICIAN SHOULD KNOW aka – COMMON SLANG or insider words magicians use WHEN SPEAKING with EACH OTHER

MAGIC LESSONS – VOCABULARY  – italics = mine Magic is like every other specialized field. We have words that “mean” something special to us. This allows us to communicate very effectively with OTHER magicians but in a kind of special way. If others overhear us, they probably won’t “really” understand what we’re talking about and we don’t give away any secrets. Some of these words are deliberately used to confuse anyone who might overhear us (this way the secrets are not revealed to them but we can discuss them among our magic friends). Enjoy the list below and welcome to the club…

A

ANGLES – The line of sight for magic tricks really matters.  Some magic tricks only work well from one angle.  If seen from any other angle (below, above, left right)  the secret is revealed.  This is, obviously, not good.   In fact, certain magic tricks are called “angly” because they only work well if seen from one perspective.  A magician must always be conscious of the angle from which an audience is seeing their magic.

B

BLACK ART TABLE – layers of black fabric can hide things easily. If you add a grid pattern to this black square can appear to be solid, but they aren’t really. For instance, some magic tables have a “special tabletop black art grid pattern.  The top is BLACK ART.  This BLACK ART TABLE is the perfect size for a kid to magic on/with.  The table top is special.  It’s a BLACK ART WELL in the top (this means the entire top has a black square pattern but ONE of the squares is actually a SECRET POCKET – called a “well” by magicians). 

BLOCKING – we use the same word that actors use to describe movement on the stage and around the stage.  How you move on the stage, how you move props or equipment or tricks, or even how you use your hands or body is known as “blocking”.

C

CLEAN – In magic, the word “clean” means you have nothing left to hide at the end of the magic trick. Let’s say, for instance, that you are using a deck of cards that is tricked. When you finish this amazing trick, you cannot let the volunteer look at the deck of cards, because they will discover the secret, BUT BUT BUT, if you can switch the TRICK DECK for a deck that is NOT TRICKED, you can finish “clean”. Cool… right?

CLOSE-UP MAGIC – When magicians use the term close-up magic they are generally referring to card tricks, coin tricks, and tricks with small objects. Close-up magic is performed for a small audience with small props (props are what we call the things we use to create the magic). Close-up magic is magic that is performed within a few feet of the audience. It usually involves sleight of hand.

D

DIRTY –  When the magician secretly hides something in their hand, it’s called “dirty”.  It’s not really dirty, it just means they would reveal the hidden object (coin, ball, card… or whatever) if they were to turn their hand around to the audience. 

DITCH –  Getting rid of a prop without the audience knowing.  You can ditch to your pocket, a servant (a bag behind your table) or even a trap door in the stage. 

E

EFFECT – In magic terms, the effect is how the magic trick is experienced by the spectator. The EFFECT is what the audience sees or experiences, not what actually happened. So you might make a coin disappear by sliding it into your pocket, but for the audience, the effect is that a coin disappeared into thin air.

F

FLASHING – Just like in the real world, flashing in magic is not a good thing. It happens when a magician accidentally shows off something that is meant to stay hidden. You might drop a coin that was supposed to stay hidden or reveal a secret door. The possibilities for flashing are endless, and practice is the best medicine.

FLASH – This is magician slang for revealing something that should be hidden, such as a palmed coin or playing card.  For example, “The magician flashed the coin palmed in his hand.”

FRENCH DROP – This sleight of hand trick is one of the oldest ways of vanishing an object such as a small coin.  To perform it, you hold a coin by its edges, tilted slightly upward in one hand. Then you use your other hand to pretend to take the coin away. In actuality, you have just palmed the coin in your first hand.

G

GAFF – a prop that looks normal but does something special.  A gaff refers to a gimmick that is meant to look like something real while accomplishing something secret. Magicians use lots of gaffs. A deck of cards can appear normal but may contain 52 of the same card. This would be considered a “gaffed deck”.

GIMMICK – a hidden device that does something special.  The rod that makes a Zombie Ball Float is considered a GIMMICK. The audience does NOT know this device (that makes the trick or illusion possible) is called a gimmick.

I

INVISIBLE DECK – The invisible deck is a utility pack of cards that has a rough and a smooth side that allows the cards to stick together, or slide apart depending on the touch of the dealer.

IMPROMPTU MAGIC – Impromptu magic does not require a stage, or fancy props. It is magic that can be done with whatever is around you. This is perhaps why you so often see magic performed with everyday objects like coins and paperclips. Magicians use what is commonly on hand.

L

LEVITATION – The art of making people, or objects appear to float off the ground. Levitation has a long and fascinating magical history, and it relies most heavily on misdirection to achieve its effect.

M

MISDIRECTION – This is the foundation of magic. Misdirection is the ability to get the audience to look at something else while you make a secret move. Without misdirection, many of your secrets would be revealed. Controlling misdirection allows you to control the audience, and it can take many forms. Misdirection may involve movement, conversation, or even humor.

O

OUT – You don’t have to worry about getting 3 strikes in magic. An “out” refers to an alternate ending to an effect. Magicians might need an out if a prop fails, or if the audience reacts differently than expected. An out represents the necessity of magicians to think quickly on their feet to preserve the effect.

P

PALMING – Speaking of palming, this little trick will get you a lot of mileage. In magic, palming is a way of holding, or concealing an object in the palm of your hand. Palming can be used to produce 4 effects. It can be used for vanishing, producing, transposing, and transforming.

PARLOR MAGIC – This term refers to magic that is performed for an audience that is larger than close-up magic, but still relatively small. You might not know what a parlor is, so just consider the number of people who could fit in your living room. Parlor magic also usually involves the magician being on the same level as the audience and not elevated as on a stage.

PROPS – Magicians refer to anything they use in their performance as props. A prop can be a magic wand. A prop can be a GIFTED magic cube box. A prop can be a magic marker that you use for the MAGIC IOU trick. A prop cannot be a human being. They are human beings… not props. They are VOLUNTEERS. Always treat VOLUNTEERS with respect.

R

ROUGHING FLUID – this is a sticky spray that’s applied to playing cards to make them tacky and tend to stick together (as if they are ONE CARD only). Roughing fluid is very useful for many card tricks.

S

SELF-WORKING TRICK – These are tricks that are easy to perform because they require no skill from the magician. That is no skill other than practice and stage presence. These tricks might employ a gimmick prop like a jacket with a secret compartment or a loaded die.

SERVANTE – This is a secret compartment on the magician’s side of a table that allows them to stow items secretly. It is a gimmick prop, but it still requires the skill of the magician to employ misdirection in order to successfully make use of it.

SLEIGHT OF HAND – Close-Up Magic accomplished through manipulation skill. The use of props is minimal (cards, coins, smaller objects).

T

TALKING – This is an important magic term to know because it does not mean what you think it means. Talking is not what you do. Talking is what your props do. Talking refers to accidental noises that your props can make that might give away a bit of the magic.

TALKING – a prop makes a squeak or noise that accidentally may reveal the secret or method.

THUMB TIP – This prop is designed to look like a real thumb, and it fits over a magician’s thumb to hide objects. Small objects like coins and silks are pressed into the thumb tip while concealed in the palm of the opposite hand and then magically produced by pulling them from the tip.

TIPPING THE METHOD – This is magician slang for accidentally revealing HOW a magic trick is (or was) done.  For example, “I tipped the method because I had not rehearsed the magic trick enough to have it down perfectly.”


Magic Books Steve Trash Recommends…

CHILDREN’S BOOK OF MAGIC by DK – ISBN: 978-1-4654-2459-4  www.dk.com  Honestly, you can find this on ebay for just a few bucks!  Good book for all ages, but especially for younger kids.  Also has a bit of magic history in it as well as magic tricks kids can do.

JOSHUA JAY’S AMAZING BOOK OF CARDS by Joshua Jay – Great book for all ages!  He’s also a terrific guy.

NOW YOU SEE IT,  NOW YOU DON’T by Bill Tarr  – This book has fantastic sleight-of-hand tricks for older kids. It features amazing, and very helpful drawn illustrations.

MARK WILSON’S COMPLETE COURSE IN MAGIC by Mark Wilson – isbn – 0-89471-623-9  HARD COVER only! This is an amazingly comprehensive book of magic.  Very very good book.  Great for all ages!  Really good book.  Well illustrated.  Also… you can find used books on ebay inexpensively. 

THE NEW MODERN COIN MAGIC by J.B. BOBO – HARD COVER only! This is the most complete and most amazing coin magic book in the world. There are other GREAT coin magic books, but this is the best. Dover printed a version that’s not nearly as good. Get the larger, and better, hard-back version.

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