Cardistry is one of those areas that’s fun to explore whether you’re a magician or not. If you perform, flourishes can add a bit of pop to your tricks, but they’re also good for impressing your pals. This video from Ellusionist is a good introduction to a move that’s a foundation of cardistry skills, the […]

Cardistry-Con came and went a few months ago, but a YouTube channel known as December Boys cataloged their trip at the LA convention, along with a few special tutorial videos. Like this two packet cut, which will teach you a quick and easy way to add some flair to your Hindu shuffle in under two […]

This card trick demonstrated by Jason Suran is surprisingly simple to execute, and relies more on your audience’s assumption that you’re on the up-and-up than your ability to manipulate cards. Have your volunteer pick a card, and then find it with ease just by spelling out the name of the card. It’s a cool effect […]

This one will be pretty easy for anyone who’s already mastered palming a coin, but it highlights two other areas that are vital for budding magicians: acting and coordination. Performing magic is more than just knowing the method – you also have to sell the effect to an audience. Making your movements fluid and natural […]

Like all great art forms, magic’s foundation is based on an array of basic skills that are a great starting point for anyone looking to learn the craft. In this video, Matt Wayne (whose site no longer seems active) demonstrates two different ways to palm a coin, a building block of countless tricks. Of course, you […]

Mentalism is as much about the patter—what you say and how you respond—as it is about the act itself. For beginning mentalists, it’s easy to get tripped up when your subject starts to ask questions like “if you’re reading my mind, why did you have me write the word down in the first place?” To […]

Magic tricks with technology are a curiously difficult genre—not in reference to the physical skill required to perform them, but the decision-making process in material selection. Technology is inherently magical and depending on an audience’s understanding of its abilities and limitations, presentations can be diminished to simple tech toys. There is a fine line, and […]

Here’s the thing about magicians: they lie. From the moment they step out on stage until the last round of applause ends, they are lying to you. You, intelligent member of the audience that you are, know this, but what you might overlook are the many different ways they’re lying to you. As this video […]

Alexander the Great claimed that his quartermasters were generally grumpy people because, as anyone who studies military history knows, you win by logistics rather than by strategy. They were possibly perturbed by the fact that Alex made sure they were the first ones executed if a campaign turned sour. I know I mention Curtis Kam’s […]