I have found that both kids and adults are always eager to learn a trick they can show their friends. This is why teaching (at least one trick) has become a staple in my performances. As much as we enjoy being amazed, we yearn to create that amazement ourselves.
After teaching a trick or two I always ask the audience “Do you know where the best place is to learn more magic?” Inevitably someone will say “Hogwarts” which always gets a laugh. This would be true if it weren’t for the commute. The other popular answers I hear from this generation are “Google” and “Youtube”. But eventually a child will say “Books”, to which I respond “Where can you get a whole bunch of books for free?” They then reply the “Library” which is the correct answer.
Now mentorship or personal training is still the best method to learn the magical arts. But without a school of wizardry nearby, magic is most commonly an individual pursuit. Thus a library card and an unrelenting passion for legerdemain is the path most traveled.
So why are books superior to the seemingly endless supply of video tutorials online. Don’t take me wrong, video tutorials are great, and a much easier medium to learn magic. I mean you can see the instructor (super slow mo if necessary) and have them describe their method in their own words. But there are two main problems with online, public, video tutorials:
- If it’s a good video it has probably gone viral and a few hundred thousand other people have already learned this same trick. The success of magic throughout time has been its ability to keep its secrets secret.
- Many of these “instructors” are kids who simply purchased a trick, read the instructions, and are now revealing it online to see how many more subscribers they can fetch. Some professionals post the odd how to video, but this is done more to promote their businesses and are usually very simplistic tricks. The real secrets require more research.
As magicians say “The best place to hide a secret is in a book”. If you want to find the real gems, the real showstoppers, you need to seek out great magic books. Learning magic from books may take more time and require more effort, but this is by design. Otherwise everyone would be a “magician”. It is this extra effort, dedication and practice that brought us the likes of David Copperfield, David Blaine and Juliana Chen.
If your son or daughter has a real passion for magic, after hitting your local library you may want to consider bringing “Hogwarts” to your home, in the form of my one hour Magic Class. Ideal for birthday parties, I’ll personally teach your little guests step by step how to perform numerous sleight of hand illusions.
And for grown-ups that are still kids at heart I offer specialized Team Building Magic Classes. What better way to build a team, and strengthen the relationships between co-workers then learning magic together.