How to practise magic: mirrors vs camera, books and finding a magic club

TUREFF• •0

Learning a trick takes an afternoon. Being able to perform it so that nobody sees the method takes deliberate practice. Most beginners practise the wrong way, either too fast or without ever checking what the audience sees. Here is a better approach.

Practice and rehearsal are different

Practice is working on the mechanics: a sleight, a move, a handling, repeated slowly until your hands do it without thought.
Rehearsal is running the whole routine as you will perform it: words, timing, props and all.

You need both. Plenty of magicians can do a perfect move in isolation and then fumble it when they also have to talk.

The mirror: useful, with limits

The mirror is the traditional practice tool, because it shows you an audience's view while you work.

Good for: checking angles, spotting flashes, seeing whether a move looks natural.
The drawback: you end up watching your hands, and in performance you need to look at the audience. Mirror practice can build the habit of staring at your hands.
Also: a mirror shows you a reversed image, and you only see it from where you stand.

Use a mirror for short checks of a specific move, not for whole routines.

The camera: honest feedback

Recording yourself on a phone is often more useful than a mirror.

You can watch back without performing at the same time.
You can set the camera at the height and angle of a seated spectator, or several angles in turn.
You see your face, your timing and your verbal tics, not just your hands.
Slow motion reveals flashes that are invisible at full speed.

Watch the recording once as a magician, looking for technical problems, and once as a spectator, asking whether the trick is entertaining.

A simple practice routine

Warm up your hands for a few minutes with basic handling: shuffles, spreads, coin rolls.
Work on one move, very slowly, then at normal speed. Stop before you get tired and sloppy.
Put the move into a trick and run it with patter.
Record one full run and watch it back.
Write down one thing to fix next time.

Short daily sessions work better than long weekly ones for building automatic movements.

Learning from books

Books are still the main way magic is taught in depth.

They explain methods fully, including the reasoning behind them.
They leave the presentation to you, so you develop your own style instead of copying a performer's video.
Classic beginner texts on card, coin and general magic are widely available, including through libraries.

Read a trick several times, try it with the props in hand, then put the book away and try again from memory.

Learning from video

Video is excellent for seeing exactly how a move should look. Its drawback is that it is easy to copy someone else's patter and personality wholesale. Use video to understand the mechanics, then build the presentation yourself.

Finding a magic club or society

Nothing speeds up learning like other magicians. Clubs offer lectures, workshops, competitions and, above all, honest feedback from people who know what to look for.

Many countries have national magic societies with local branches. Two large international organisations are the International Brotherhood of Magicians, whose local groups are called Rings, and the Society of American Magicians, whose local groups are called Assemblies.
In the UK, The Magic Circle in London has a junior branch, the Young Magicians Club.
Search for "magic club" or "magic society" with your city's name, and look for clubs that welcome beginners or have a junior section.
Some societies require an audition or exam for full membership; ask what applies.

How do you practise: mirror, camera or a long-suffering friend? Share your routine, or ask where to find a club near you, in the comments.