There is a large museum in Marshall, Michigan that houses a lot of information about magic, magic paraphernalia, and illusions, many of which were the possessions of Harry Blackstone, Sr.  This is the largest museum of magic in the country and it’s open to the public.  If you’ve never visited it, it is well worth the trip.

Their collection is extensive and contains items from famous magicians as well as obscure ones.  And the museum is really a celebration of the art form of magic, as well as the devotion of the magician to his or her craft.

Some of the specific items in the museum are 2,009 heralds, handbills, and window cards, 587 showbills, and over 5,000 programs, 10,000 books, 24,000 magazines, 46,000 photos and many letters.  There are also many sets from old shows, props, and scrapbooks from many magicians.  Including the “Milk Can” and “Overboard Box” used by Harry Houdini himself.

There are over a half million items there that are spread out among 3 floors.  The collection also includes memorabilia from thousands of lesser known artists.  David Copperfield actually calls this museum “one of his favorite places on earth”.

Everything here was put together by the late Robert Lund, a Detroit area writer, who was obsessed with Magic and Magic memorabilia.  So much so that opened the museum in 1978 with the assistance of his wife, Elaine.  Robert studied the art of magic for many many years but soon became clear that he lacked the talent and stage presence to really make a living from the performance side.  So he decided instead to leave his mark on the world of magic by collecting the largest collection of magic memorabilia, determined to collect everything he possibly could from the world of magic.

The museum is housed in a Victorian building which was many things before becoming the museum.  It was immaculately restored by the Lunds.

These days it can be tough to do a whole lot of research on Magic.  With the confidentiality that goes along with being a magician, there is so much information that just doesn’t get put out there.  Many resources are privately held, and even most libraries have a limited supply of magic resources.

So what is a budding magician to do?  Where can we go to learn everything we can about this art form?  Well, even though you may not learn all of the step by step instructions on how to perform certain illusions and tricks, there is information out there that can support you in getting going.  Here are some places that you can find some valuable information.

There are organizations out there that exist just to band together collectors, and writers of Magic history.  Organizations such as the Magic Collectors’ Association publish a quarterly newsletter, and they even hold an annual convention.  Another organization is the Conjuring Arts Research Center, who also publishes newsletters and magazines, and they even offer their clients a searchable database of rare periodicals and books.

There are actually a lot of books written each year about magic tricks.  In fact, magic is the most written about of all the performing arts.  The bulk of these books are not something that you can go to a bookstore and find on the shelves, but they are available through specialty magic stores, like your local favorite magic shop, and also online through magic websites, who sell most if not all of those products.

Another great way to research magic is through newspapers of that day.  There are many articles and submissions about particular magic shows and magicians written for as long as there have been newspapers.  Finding those old and current papers is not that hard to do.  These you can research at your local library.

Most of us are familiar with the traditional types of magic such as Street Magic, Close-up Magic, Stage Magic, Children’s Magic and Corporate Magic.  These are the most common categories of magic, and most magicians can perform tricks and illusions that can fit into all of these categories.  However, there is a less common, more unusual list of magic categories that are fun to explore, or at least research and expand your magic knowledge.

Gospel Magic- How would have thought there was a category for Gospel Magic.  This is actually magic that is used to catechize or evangelize. This type of magic was used in 19^th Century Italy to entice children to go to school, and to go to church.

Micromagic- this is simply another name for close-up magic.  Magic that is done right in front  of, and sometimes even in the hands of a few spectators, and sometimes even one on one.  This is the most intimate form of magic and done well, is incredible amazing.

Theatrical séances- this type of magic has often been misused by con artists trying to make money.  But the actual art form has been used to simulate spiritualistic or mediumistic phenomenon for a theatrical effect.

Mathemagic- often this form of magic is used in children’s magic shows and involves…you guessed it, math problems!!

Bizarre magic- this type of magic uses horror, mystical and fantasy themes in the performance. Bizarre magic is most commonly performed in close-up magic, but has also been successful at performing on stage.  Charles Cameron is known as the “godfather of bizarre magic”.  Although others have significantly contributed to it as well.

If you have a magic business are you as successful as you would like to be?  If your answer is no, what’s stopping you?  For most people what’s stopping them is that they don’t know what they want.  It’s not a matter of not having what you want, as much as it is that we don’t know what that is.  Most of us don’t define that.

Your magic business is just like any other business.  It requires a plan of action.  But before we can even create a plan of action, we have to know what we are taking action towards.  We have to have a vision for what we want to create.  How do you create a vision, you might ask?

Well, it all starts with what your heart’s desire is.  And a good place to start is at the end!  Stephen Covey says “start with the end in mind”. Meaning, when you are at the end of your life looking backward, what do you want to have created in your life with your business?  What would make you really proud?  What would have you having no regrets and only a feeling of complete fulfillment and pride in what you have done?  If you have never thought about any of that, now is the time to start.  And not only thinking about it, but write it out as well.

Once you have defined that, then break that vision down into 5 year goals, 2 year goals, and monthly goals.  This will give you a game plan to follow.

The best reason to do this is that it gives you something to focus on.  Most people have no focus.  Or they focus on what they DON’T want to have vs. what they do.  And whatever we focus on expands.  So get focusing on the success you want to create in your business.  And before you know it, you’ll be there.

Escape artist magicians perform some of the most dazzling stunts.  Audiences hold their breath in anticipation of the magician escaping their death because of the predicament they are in.  It’s exciting when they escape at what seems to be the last possible second.  We love to watch it!  And if you have considered becoming an escapologist then it’s a good idea to study the greats in action:

Harry Houdini- perhaps one of the greatest magicians of all time, certainly the most well known.  Harry Houdini made escapism famous with his death defying stunts.  He proved that he could escape from anything, handcuffs, straightjackets, ropes, and prison cells.  There is no better role model for escapism.

Alan Alan- was a British performer who performed original stunts that later other artists tried to replicate.  He was best known for escaping from death in such risky stunts as hanging upside down in a straightjacket, tied to a rope that was on fire. Yikes!

Dean Alan Carnegie- is best known for performing in front of Presidents.  He also did a stunt where he was commissioned by the US Postal Service to escape from a mail bag.

Anthony Martin- has been performing escapism since the age of 12.  He took escapism up a notch by escaping from metal boxes thrown out of airplanes, and sky diving to safety. WOW.

Dorothy Deitrich- was a talented woman performing in a man’s world.  She followed right in Houdini’s footsteps with many of her escape stunts, and even performed tricks that Houdini refused such as catching  a bullet in her mouth with a metal cup. Impressive!

Humor is a powerful tool, and one that should be utilized by every magician.  People love to laugh, and when they are laughing they are in a naturally relaxed state.  This is exactly where you want them to be to best enjoy your magic, and so that misdirection happens flawlessly.

Also if you are the one making them laugh, then they are certainly more likely to like you and feel connected to you.  This allows them to be much more open to the magic you are performing.  Their guard is down and they develop a good rapport with you.  This is true with anyone who is a public figure or speaker, and especially true with magicians, due to the fact that there are many skeptics out there when it comes to magic.  The sooner you can win them over the better.  And if you are doing a show that lasts anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours, building rapport should be your primary objective.

Also, humor is helpful when transitioning from one trick to another in your routine.  So developing your patter to include humor is very effective.  If you watch any professional magician, not so much the street magicians but most others, you’ll find that they infuse a lot of humor into their routines.

Equally important is to be cautious as to the kind of humor that you use.  Never use humor that is sarcastic or demeaning to your audience.  This will create a wall between you and your audience.  And once that wall is there it’s quite difficult to bring down.  Often times magicians who are not so confident will use sarcasm, especially if you have any hecklers in the audience.  This is not a good strategy.  It will create an uncomfortable feeling.

A good way to infuse humor is to make jokes about yourself.  This will make you seem just like one of them.  And think about what makes you laugh!  A lot of times these same things will make your audience laugh.

When I was a kid, I received a magic kit for Christmas.  There was a trick in there involving dice that disappeared.  The directions in the kit stated that I should drop the dice into my pocket “when no one is watching”.  Are you kidding me?  The whole point of doing magic is to have people watch, so how on earth was I supposed to get people to “not watch” me.

This sounds funny, but really some magicians have this notion that they somehow need to get their spectators to not watch certain things in order to perform their tricks.  So there is a better way to look at misdirection that if applied can make a real difference.  And that is to realize that misdirection is not about having your audience NOT see something.  It’s about guiding them and controlling them to see what you want them to be seeing.

This is quite possibly the most important skill in magic.  It requires a tremendous amount of practice.  But once mastered this is a skill that you will use your entire career.  So you may as well learn it right.  Below are some keys to keep in mind as you are learning to master misdirection.

Your eyes are the most powerful asset-   Never underestimate the power of your eyes.  If you want your spectator to look at something, go ahead and look at it yourself.  If you don’t want them looking as something, then definitely do not look there.  Your audience will follow your lead.  Lead them where you want them to go.

Your audience is curious.  Use that to your advantage.  What that means is by showing your audience something that haven’t seen before, they are naturally going to be curious and want to look at it. So wave that wand, wave that colorful handkerchief.  This will have them looking where you want them to, so that the magic can happen out of their site.  This also includes using an assistant to grab their attention.

And finally remember that big moves hide little moves.  Your audience will look toward the bigger movement.  They can’t help it.  It draws them to it like a magnet.  Keep that in mind as you are working on your misdirection.  And come up with some big moves that you can use to capture their attention.

Magic tricks aren’t all created equal.  They have different purposes and can be used in different ways throughout a routine.  It’s a great idea to learn magic tricks in each and every category.  This will give you a well rounded repertoire of magic, that way you can pull tricks out of your tool box for every opportunity that is presented to you.  Whether it’s a close-up opportunity or a large stage show, you’ll be prepared.  Here are the different categories of magic and a brief description of each.

Production Magic­- this is the art of making something appear out of nothing.  Pulling a rabbit out of a hat, producing a dove out of your jacket, a person appearing out of a puff of smoke are all examples of production magic.

Vanish Magic- this of course would be the opposite of the production trick.  This is making something disappear without explanation such as cards, coins, people, elephants, etc.

Transformation Magic- This is often seen as a combination of the two categories above.  This is the art of having something disappear, but reappear as something different.  Such as a color changing handkerchief, a person turns into a tiger, an egg changing into a dove.

Restoration Magic- This is destroying something, and then having it become restored before your eyes.  Such as a ripped up piece of paper coming back together, burning something then it coming back¸ a cut rope, etc. are all examples of restoration magic.

Teleportation Magic- This is where some object or person changes locations.  For instance, when the magician disappears and reappears in the back of the theatre, or when a borrowed object such as a dollar bill, or ring, shows up inside a box somewhere.  There is also a double teleportation, where two things switch places.  This is called transposition.

Escape Magic- This is where the magician or the assistant actually escapes from a harrowing situation, such as when the great Houdini would escape from a straight jacket, or when magician’s escape from a box underwater.  These are some of the most dangerous and exciting tricks and requires much practice.

Levitation Magic- these tricks happen when an article or person appears to defy gravity.  David Copperfield is one of the greatest levitation magician’s.  He can make things fly around the stage effortlessly.

Penetration Magic- this is where the magician makes a solid object penetrate another solid object, such as a pen through a dollar bill, linking rings, coin through a bottle, etc.

Prediction Magic- this is a form of mentalism where the magician predicts an event, a spectators response, a chosen card, etc.

Even the famous magicians had to start somewhere.  In this article we will look at the first tricks ever learned by some of the most well known magicians.  This is how they got their start and what inspired them to launch themselves into a life time of magic performance.  Hopefully it will inspire you to continue on your path.

David Copperfield, probably one the most famous all time magicians, got his start from his grandfather when he was very young.  His grandfather taught him the 4 Aces trick, and he still performs this trick in his shows today.  He says that every time he performs, it’s like a tribute to his grandfather.  Unfortunately, his grandfather never was able to see David perform this live before he passed on.  I am sure he is proud of his talented grandson.

David Blaine had a humble start on the streets of Brooklyn.  His mom bought him the “cigarette through card” trick when he was visiting his aunt on vacation in Florida.  That simple effect launched him into a love of magic, and an extremely successful career.

Another famous magician, Criss Angel, also got his start by way of his aunt.  She taught him a card trick at the age of 6 that most certainly grabbed his heart, and by the time he graduated from high school, he had already decided his life’s path of becoming a famous magician.

Lance Burton was also influenced by his family.  At the age of 6 he was taken to a party where the famous Harry Collins was performing.  At one point in his routine, Harry asked for a volunteer, to which Lance was the first to jump up.  Lance was in awe as Harry pulled coins out of his ears.  You never know the kind of impact you can have on a child!  Because for Lance, the rest is history!

As you can see, even the most famous started somewhere.  And if they could make it happen, so can you!

Nowadays we call it Street Magic.  Street magic is really close up magic, but it’s been made so popular by magicians such as David Blaine who literally performs his magic “on the street”, that close-up magic has taken on this new name.  So what is close-up magic, and why is it so popular?

Close-up magic is any magic trick that you can do right in front of someone.  No further away than a yard.  And usually much closer than that, like right in someone’s face.  And the reason it’s so popular is that because of the spectator being right on top of the trick, and most of the time they are even involved in the trick, or at least an item that belongs to them, the magic appears miraculous!

On a big stage, there is a part of us that could believe that a magic trick is because of a “special effect”.  But in close-up magic, there is no explanation, no special effect, no assistant, no fancy props or gimmicks.  It’s just you and the coin, or you and the card, etc.  A good close-up magician can really perform the impossible.  And in the intimate setting, or one-on-one setting, the spectator feels special.  Like the trick is being done just for them.  No wonder why it’s so popular.

All magicians who are starting out can do themselves a service to start mastering close-up before anything else.  This requires the magician to get very good at all the skills necessary to being a successful magician; misdirection, sleight of hand, creative patter, generating rapport, and using everyday props to make the magic happen.

And who knows, you may fall so in love with close-up magic that you decide to make a career out of it.  Many magicians have.  Why not you?