How I Got Into Magic and the 3 Lessons I Learned While Getting Better
With embarrassing photos of myself as a young magician
As a child I was given a magic set, but that was not how I got into magic because no one showed me how the tricks were supposed to look like, and I was too lazy to read and work out the instructions at such a young age.
Fast forward to 2007 and I’m 21 years old and studying at university and also serving at my church. It was this year that I volunteered at a multi church festival event called RICE and as part of it, had the opportunity to learn magic to show youth as they wandered around the festival grounds in between games, events and anything else we had setup. I had helped out with running games the previous year but this time there was an option to learn and share magic, so I thought “why not, that’s different!” and a high school kid 5 years younger than me taught myself and a few others a couple card tricks before giving us a few resources to get us on our way.
I still remember seeing the Ambitious Card Routine for the first time, an Erdnase Colour Change and basic Sandwich routine and just being wowed. Another volunteer there also dabbled in magic and showed us an impromptu ‘Two in the hand, One in the pocket’ routine with balled up tissue paper. The resource I was told to check out was Ellusionist and thus began my journey into an art that has helped develop my growth as a human in ways I never thought possible.
Here are a few lessons learned that I hope will help those getting into magic.
Learning Online Is the Easiest Way to Start
Ellusionist was my first foray into magic, not the library as some magicians still hold onto as the best way to start. But I didn’t dive in and buy anything and everything straight away because I didn’t truly know where to start.
That’s where the forums section came in handy, in both Ellusionist and then eventually The Magic Cafe I found threads about how to start in magic and what material to look into. I eventually learnt Crazy Man’s Handcuff and during my time at the RICE festival performed that, a sandwich routine and a force with corner short throughout the day using a Bicycle deck I bought for $10 at a magic shop. I had no idea what I was doing but the feeling of sharing magic with others was infectious.
My first major purchase from Ellusionist ended up being for the DVD set Royal Road to Card Magic with R. Paul Wilson1 but the performances were so boring I couldn’t get through the DVD set properly. The first of many disappointing purchases, something all magicians go through, over and over and over again.
And before you start hating on me for finding R. Paul Wilson boring, he isn’t in his other material, just in this DVD set. I had a better time reading through the book interestingly and then referring to the DVD as a visual aid.
So even though I started online, I ended up discovering DVDs and books as a result because that’s where the good stuff was. Nowadays, it’s so easy to learn things online, but the good stuff is not on YouTube.
A Community Will Help You Get Better
For a while I was the only magician I knew, and continued learning through books and DVDs I purchased online but something was missing.
Eventually in 2009 looked up magic clubs in Sydney and found the Geniis Magical Society which was quite local to me. I reached out via email and soon I was attending their meetings and seeing all these older magicians than I sharing their craft openly to my delight. Eventually I started performing at these meetings, albeit very poorly because of nerves. Even though it was a safe environment, I find performing for magicians difficult, and still do nowadays.
I still didn’t feel like I belonged though, maybe it was the age disparity or my shyness preventing me from being more involved but that was soon to change.
One random meeting there was a new visitor in the form of French magician Vincent Hedan, who came to advertise his upcoming lecture. I performed CAANDY by Chris Mayhew on the night, with all the nerves in the world and after the meeting Vincent started chatting to me about the routine and began exploring other ways it could be accomplished outside of the actual method, he was jamming with me!
He then invited me to a meeting of magicians in the city on Thursday nights which I took him up on.
It was here I met the wider Sydney magic community of magicians who were similar to me in age and life stages plus others who were older or full time professional magicians.
My world in magic was opened and every Thursday more many years I would make the trip to the city to hang out with other magicians and jam magic until the late hours of the night. This was all possible as I was still studying at university and didn’t have a full-time job yet. (Ah to be young again!)
This helped me to get better as I remember performing magic at friend’s parties, getting caught and then being able to meet with magicians and troubleshoot so that it wouldn’t happen again, plus it was fun to talk to others about your hobby.
Don’t Waste Your Time When You Have Time
My introverted and shy nature meant that I was predominantly content to sit back and watch other magicians perform, ask questions and become better in their art.
In hindsight, I should have performed A LOT more, and used the time I did have to get better in my craft. I could make the excuse that life got in the way, I started working full time, got married, had kids and all that but magic was always a constant interest throughout those years, and I should have made more use of those opportunities to perform when asked to early on.
My advice is to perform as much as you can, even if you’re going to bomb, because next time, you’ll bomb a little less badly until you no longer bomb but kill!
The Journey Continues
I’m thankful that I still have friendships in magic, even if I don’t see them as much as I used to, and equally thankful for the new friendships I’ve made in this stage of my magic life.
I didn’t get into magic at a super young age like other magicians may have but did so when I was a young adult, but I thank God that I got into it through a Christian event otherwise I may never have been bitten by the magic bug and life would be quite different for me now. I’m still learning lessons in my magic journey and will continue to document them here in this little nook of mine.
I like to think my discovery of magic is unique but please let me know how you got into magic and if it was any similar to my experience!
As I went through old photos for this post I came across this photo of Daniel Poile and I at a restaurant. Daniel was one of the first magicians who gave me a very warm welcome and took interest when I showed him a sleight, giving me confidence in my own skills and those are memories I will always hold onto as a shy person who didn’t know anyone at the time.
He also shared with me his own handling for the Biddle Trick, which I thoroughly enjoyed and preferred to the original version but unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the method.
Daniel passed away in October of 2013 unexpectedly, and even though I hadn’t been going to the Thursday nights and the scene had quietened down a bit we all came together on short notice to hang out again and remember a fellow magician and friend, it was a great and somber night.
I suppose an additional lesson is to be nice to others, because you never know what kind of impact you may have on them. This applies to life and not just magic.
Link to a bunch of his effects from Penguin Magic
Back in my younger days in magic the only available sources for learning magic were books and clubs or private lessons. There was a Chavez course popular among blooming magicians. In those days if you wanted to watch Magic you had to see it live or watch it on TV. TV was very limited to a few magicians making presentations. I have never been a member of a local Magic club except the Magic Castle in Hollywood. There was a lot of camaraderie between magicians back in those days.