How to Do Magic
Make a coin disappear., Do the "four robbers" card trick., Do a mind reading trick., Do a basic string joining trick.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Make a coin disappear.
This classic trick is the entryway to advanced magic for many magicians, and it's the foundation of other tricks that involve making objects disappear.
Once you get the basic version down, try it with other small objects.
Here's how to do it:
Display a coin to your audience.
A silver dollar can add a touch of flash to the trick, but a quarter works just as well.
Hold it in view of your audience between your thumb and forefinger.
Use your other hand to cover the coin.
Bring your hand over the front of the coin and obscure it from view with your fingers, making as if to take it between your fingers and your thumb.
While your second hand is covering the coin, let it slip down the fingers of your first hand until it rests on your pinky and is held in place with your middle and ring fingers.
Move the second hand away from the first.
Your first hand should now look empty, though the coin is secretly obscured on the inside of your fingers.
Make a show of clenching your second hand as though you're grasping the coin, then unclench it and show the empty palm to your audience.
While the audience's attention is on your second hand, let the coin slip to the palm of your first hand, and hold it there comfortably, making sure it is still obscured from view.
If you did the trick successfully, it will look as though the coin has simply disappeared. -
Step 2: Do the "four robbers" card trick.
This card trick is easy to do, and when it's done correctly it completely baffles the audience, as do most good card tricks.
It requires that you distract your audience slightly by telling a story.Before you perform the trick, place the four jacks at the top of the card deck.
Place three more random cards on top of the jacks.
Begin the trick by fanning out the jacks in front of your audience to make it look as though they are on the top of the deck.
The three extra cards should be obscured behind them.
Tell the audience that the jacks decided to rob a house together, and the deck of cards represents the house.
After the audience has seen the jacks, fold them back into the deck.
Tell the audience that the first jack entered the house through a basement window.
Take the top card from the deck; the audience thinks it's a jack, but it's really one of the random cards you stacked there.
Don't let the audience see its face.
Place the card low in the deck and push it in.
Tell the audience that the second jack entered the house through the back door.
Take the top card from the deck; the audience thinks it's a jack, but it's really the second of the random cards.
Place it in the middle of the deck and push it in.
Tell the audience that the third jack entered the house by climbing a tree to the second floor window and breaking in.
Take the top card from the deck, which is the last random card, and push it in high in the deck.
Tell the audience that the fourth jack stayed on the roof as a lookout.
Take the top card from the deck, which is the first jack, and show it to the audience before placing it back on the top of the deck.
Tell the audience that the police came and found the four jacks huddled on the roof together.
Now deal the four jacks one by one so that the audience can see them.
They won't be able to understand how the jacks ended up in the same place. , In this trick, you ask three people to write a name on a slip of paper.
Two of the people are to write the names of living people, and the third person should write the name of someone who has died.
Announce that you have the power to pull the dead person's name out of the hat.If this content is too morbid for your audience, have people write the names of two cats and a dog, or the names of two movie stars and a politician.
Here's how to do it:
Tear a sheet of note paper into three pieces.
The top and bottom pieces will have a smooth edge and a rough edge, and the middle piece will have two rough edges.
Give the top and bottom pieces to two audience members and ask them to write the name of a person who is alive.
Give the middle piece, the one with two rough edges, to a third person in the audience, and ask him or her to write the name of someone who has died.
Ask the participants to place the names in a hat, then leave the room.
Come back into the room once the names are in the hat.
Lift it high above your head and make a show of not seeing the paper or the names.
To build extra suspense, you could have someone blindfold you before you touch the hat.
Place your hand in the hat and feel for the paper with two rough edges.
Pull it slowly from the hat.
Place it on your forehead between your eyes, to give the appearance that your mind is absorbing its contents or somehow connecting with the dead person whose name is written on the paper.
Finally, pull off the blindfold and read the name.
People will gasp to hear the dead person's name, and wonder how you performed this easy trick. , You'll need a piece of brown twine and some beeswax, sometimes sold as magician's wax, to complete this trick.
Get the string ready by working a liberal amount of wax into either end of the string.
Ask an audience member to come forward as a volunteer, then perform the trick as follows:
Present the audience member with a scissors and ask him or her to cut the string in half.
Hold both ends of the string so that the participant doesn't see that it's waxed.
Hold your hands far apart with one piece of string dangling from each hand so that the audience can see it has indeed been cut in half.
Bring your hands together so that the waxed ends meet.
Using your fingers to hide what you're doing, rub and squeeze the ends together with your thumbs.
The waxed ends will stick together.
Announce to the audience that the string has been restored, then hold it by the ends and let the newly joined center drop into view. -
Step 3: Do a mind reading trick.
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Step 4: Do a basic string joining trick.
Detailed Guide
This classic trick is the entryway to advanced magic for many magicians, and it's the foundation of other tricks that involve making objects disappear.
Once you get the basic version down, try it with other small objects.
Here's how to do it:
Display a coin to your audience.
A silver dollar can add a touch of flash to the trick, but a quarter works just as well.
Hold it in view of your audience between your thumb and forefinger.
Use your other hand to cover the coin.
Bring your hand over the front of the coin and obscure it from view with your fingers, making as if to take it between your fingers and your thumb.
While your second hand is covering the coin, let it slip down the fingers of your first hand until it rests on your pinky and is held in place with your middle and ring fingers.
Move the second hand away from the first.
Your first hand should now look empty, though the coin is secretly obscured on the inside of your fingers.
Make a show of clenching your second hand as though you're grasping the coin, then unclench it and show the empty palm to your audience.
While the audience's attention is on your second hand, let the coin slip to the palm of your first hand, and hold it there comfortably, making sure it is still obscured from view.
If you did the trick successfully, it will look as though the coin has simply disappeared.
This card trick is easy to do, and when it's done correctly it completely baffles the audience, as do most good card tricks.
It requires that you distract your audience slightly by telling a story.Before you perform the trick, place the four jacks at the top of the card deck.
Place three more random cards on top of the jacks.
Begin the trick by fanning out the jacks in front of your audience to make it look as though they are on the top of the deck.
The three extra cards should be obscured behind them.
Tell the audience that the jacks decided to rob a house together, and the deck of cards represents the house.
After the audience has seen the jacks, fold them back into the deck.
Tell the audience that the first jack entered the house through a basement window.
Take the top card from the deck; the audience thinks it's a jack, but it's really one of the random cards you stacked there.
Don't let the audience see its face.
Place the card low in the deck and push it in.
Tell the audience that the second jack entered the house through the back door.
Take the top card from the deck; the audience thinks it's a jack, but it's really the second of the random cards.
Place it in the middle of the deck and push it in.
Tell the audience that the third jack entered the house by climbing a tree to the second floor window and breaking in.
Take the top card from the deck, which is the last random card, and push it in high in the deck.
Tell the audience that the fourth jack stayed on the roof as a lookout.
Take the top card from the deck, which is the first jack, and show it to the audience before placing it back on the top of the deck.
Tell the audience that the police came and found the four jacks huddled on the roof together.
Now deal the four jacks one by one so that the audience can see them.
They won't be able to understand how the jacks ended up in the same place. , In this trick, you ask three people to write a name on a slip of paper.
Two of the people are to write the names of living people, and the third person should write the name of someone who has died.
Announce that you have the power to pull the dead person's name out of the hat.If this content is too morbid for your audience, have people write the names of two cats and a dog, or the names of two movie stars and a politician.
Here's how to do it:
Tear a sheet of note paper into three pieces.
The top and bottom pieces will have a smooth edge and a rough edge, and the middle piece will have two rough edges.
Give the top and bottom pieces to two audience members and ask them to write the name of a person who is alive.
Give the middle piece, the one with two rough edges, to a third person in the audience, and ask him or her to write the name of someone who has died.
Ask the participants to place the names in a hat, then leave the room.
Come back into the room once the names are in the hat.
Lift it high above your head and make a show of not seeing the paper or the names.
To build extra suspense, you could have someone blindfold you before you touch the hat.
Place your hand in the hat and feel for the paper with two rough edges.
Pull it slowly from the hat.
Place it on your forehead between your eyes, to give the appearance that your mind is absorbing its contents or somehow connecting with the dead person whose name is written on the paper.
Finally, pull off the blindfold and read the name.
People will gasp to hear the dead person's name, and wonder how you performed this easy trick. , You'll need a piece of brown twine and some beeswax, sometimes sold as magician's wax, to complete this trick.
Get the string ready by working a liberal amount of wax into either end of the string.
Ask an audience member to come forward as a volunteer, then perform the trick as follows:
Present the audience member with a scissors and ask him or her to cut the string in half.
Hold both ends of the string so that the participant doesn't see that it's waxed.
Hold your hands far apart with one piece of string dangling from each hand so that the audience can see it has indeed been cut in half.
Bring your hands together so that the waxed ends meet.
Using your fingers to hide what you're doing, rub and squeeze the ends together with your thumbs.
The waxed ends will stick together.
Announce to the audience that the string has been restored, then hold it by the ends and let the newly joined center drop into view.
About the Author
Helen Ortiz
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in crafts and beyond.
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