A desire to learn how to do magic is a calling. People loved to be shocked and amazed, and society continues to be delighted by magic shows even as they have grown more and more cynical over the years. Hollywood films like The Illusionist or The Prestigeindicate there is a market for the stories and the mythos that accompany the mysteries of the world of magic.

Magic has experienced many transformations over the years, and it will continue to evolve as magicians invent new tricks and upstage themselves. But before you begin filling up notebooks with tactics for how to make the Statue of Liberty disappear, it's important to do some foundational preparation. Becoming a great magician takes a lifetime of dedication, practice and constant learning. This article will give you some simple tricks to keep in mind as you begin to learn how to dazzle your friends with the art of magic.

The world of magic has become very broad and now incorporates many other disciplines. There are many tactics you can use to augment your magic skills and dazzle your audience. The fundamental thing for you to understand is that it is your job to entertain. The more dazzled, inspired, or off-guard your audience is, the easier it is to get them to succumb to your powers.

Even a magician with poor magical skills can give a great and highly entertaining performance. There is no magical formula for being entertaining. Some shows utilize different elements to a greater and lesser degree. As a magician, you have the flexibility to design your show so that it brings the greatest enjoyment to your audience. Remember, too, that every audience is different, and what works in one venue may not work in another. Always be ready to adapt and listen to the reactions of your crowd. Give them what they want to see and when they respond positively, give them more of the same.

Some common tactics for making a show entertaining are:

Developing your stage presence is a critical component, but as you gain in confidence in your abilities, it's important to consider specialization. There are many types of magicians, and as you start to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, you can consider an area of specialization. Remember that the best way to dazzle an audience is to give them something they have never seen before; but creating something new is often simply figuring out a way to rearrange tactics and displays that have proven effective in the past.

Some types of magicians are:

Prestidigitator

Prestidigitator is derived from the Latin words for nimble and fingers. Sleight-of-hand and conjuring tricks are the work of prestidigitation. The classic trick your grandpa used to perform of pulling a coin out from behind your ear is a basic example of prestidigitation. For all magicians, a certain familiarity with sleight-of-hand tricks is to be expected. As you first begin your journey into the world of magic, you'll probably find yourself practicing with cards or coins to hone your skills.

The downside of prestidigitation is that hand tricks are subtle and can be difficult to present to a large crowd. This can be overcome with the use of screens, but it's generally more effective to interact with an audience directly rather than to force them to pay attention to a projection. Juggling can be a great way to develop your hand-eye coordination and incorporating a few moments of juggling into any magic routine can be a welcome highlight to any magic show.

One of the positive things about prestidigitation is that it can be practiced virtually anywhere with nothing more than a coin or a deck of cards. Prestidigitation requires the same flexibility and muscle control as playing a musical instrument. As you develop your skills, you must learn to maintain and care for your fingers. Learn to massage your hands to keep them from cramping and stretch them to improve flexibility.

Prestidigitation is a good way to practice the showmanship and misdirection of stage performance because, unlike your full body, you can observe how your hands look when you perform. Practice finger flutters that look natural, or seem to have some purpose beyond simply distracting the eye. Remember that in Victorian England many prestidigitators were street magicians by day, and pickpockets by night.

Mentalist

It is possible to become a magician even if you have absolutely no interest whatsoever in performing card or coin tricks. Another form of magician is the mentalist, and this field ranges from fortune tellers to hypnotists. Sometimes mentalists presents themselves as having supernatural mental powers by which they can communicate with spirits or read minds.

Developing as a mentalist requires a good ability to read minimal visual cues to deduce information. Many perform by asking open-ended questions and waiting for a subject to respond. Other mentalists develop more precise tricks that can lead to impressive revelations. Props may be used, even to the point of planting a person in the audience who is secretly in on the act.

Examples of common mentalism that most people are familiar with include viral Facebook videos in which a person claims to be able to make you think of a certain number. They then put you through a series of calculations which invariably arrive at some pre-determined number the mentalist selected. Such tricks tend to rely on numerical tricks that always produce the same result.

Even the most skeptical individuals are entertained by the concept of supernatural powers. Magicians who can create an illusion of extrasensory perception, telekinesis, or an ability to communicate beyond the grave will always receive a strong response.

Escape Artist

Escape artists represent a different type of physicality that extends to the whole body rather than just the fingers. Harry Houdini is probably the most famous escape artist, and his routine required extreme muscle control throughout his entire body. Athleticism and physical fitness are required for an escape artist. Houdini relied on various props which included water escapes. However, many of Houdini's performances were done out of sight of the audience, and relied on developing tension among all other things.

Houdini routinely escaped from straight jackets or handcuffs. One of his advantages was that he had long, narrow hands that he could contort almost down to the size of his wrist. All magicians must develop an awareness of their own unique physical attributes which they may capitalize on to astound and dazzle a crowd.

Many modern escape artist performances end by tricking the audience into believing that the escape artist has succumbed to the dangers of his or her trick. The performances usually begin with a nervous announcement detailing the difficulties of the trick as well as the multiple dangers the escape artist is subjecting himself or herself to. This is followed by an explanation of the emergency equipment that is available should something go wrong.

The build up and the tension created by the build up is more important to the successful escape routine than the actual performance. Writing a good script is critical to the escape artist. The actual escape is generally performed in a matter of minutes, with the escape artist emerging triumphant only after the audience has become convinced that he or she has succumbed to the dangers of the escape. Escape performances are still very effective forms of magical performance.

Comic Magician

A little bit of comedy is used in a lot of magical routines, but when the comedy overshadows the actual magic, the magician has moved into the realm of a comic magician. Comedy can be both physical or vocal, and these types of magicians are especially effective for afternoon acts or acts at children's parties. Aspiring to become a comic magician is a good objective for anyone who wishes to have a career in entertainment because it combines many elements of showmanship and requires a good interaction between the performer and the audience.

Street Magician

Working as a street performance is a fantastic way to develop your skills without the pressure or complication of organizing and promoting a performance. Street magicians can be found at many public places that have a large amount of street traffic. A street magician needs only to find a place and begin performingwith the knowledge that a crowd draws a crowd.

Many performers utilize street performances to develop their skills at attracting, engaging, and interacting with an audience. Street performances allow magicians to interact directly with their audience, sometimes while in physical contact. Performing outdoors in the presence of distractions such as honking cars or passing pedestrians allows street magicians to focus on their volume, inflection, and speaking rhythm.

When a magician has developed the ability to conjure a crowd from a stream of passing pedestrians, and hold their attention even among the many distractions of being out on the street, he or she will have no problem maintaining the attention of an audience in a theater. Practicing as a street magician is a great way to learn how to do magic.

Physical Endurance or Magical Art

Some create performances that are effective on a media scale rather than an interpersonal scale. For example, in 2003, David Blaine suspended himself in a transparent box for 44 days near the Tower Bridge in London. This represents a different category of performance as no audience could be expected to sit and watch the magician do nothing for 44 days. Instead, the effectiveness of the performance was its repetition as a media novelty that remained in the public awareness throughout the duration of the stunt.

This kind of physical endurance trick represents a kind of magic as performance art. The magician, in this case David Blaine, used his showmanship and magician physicality to insert himself into the daily public awareness. His action represented the kind of provocative behavior that demanded a response, and every random response from his observers became a de facto part of the act.

Blaine did not have access to food during his time in the box, and at one point observers attached a hamburger to a remote controlled helicopter to torment him. The media, clearly, had to report on such behavior, and it served to keep Blaine in the public eye by injecting a certain random element to his escapade.

Your quest for how to do magic must begin somewhere, and chances are there are experts in your local community that will be only too happy to help you. Magic can sometimes seem like a fringe occupation, but it's amazing how many highly developed communities exist just outside your door. Here are some tricks that will help you learn how to do magic no matter where you are.

Visit the Library

As you begin your quest to become the next Harry Houdini, you'll find that books are a tremendous resource. Your local library likely has a large section on magic that will allow you to develop the initial skills necessary for how to do magic. A library is a great resource since it allows you to learn how to do magic without incurring any cost. Also, every different form of magic will be available to study at your local library.

In addition to the library, you should also familiarize yourself with YouTube videos. Detailed instructions exist that will give you practice techniques that will have you fooling your friends in no time.

Purchase Magic Tricks

Magic stores or online sellers have a wide variety of starter magic kits that you can purchase. Although many of these aren't appropriate for use in a professional show, they will give you a good basis for understanding the mechanics of basic magic that will serve as a foundation when you start to conceive of your own tricks.

Be sure to read as many reviews as possible so you're sure to get the best possible starter kit. Remember to always begin with the low-cost items so that you can gauge if your interest is a flight of fancy or the beginning of a lifetime of dedication.

Find the Local Magic Community

Believe it or not, most communities have thriving magic networks where people can go and share tips or practice their tricks. You can find these groups online or on social media. Also, don't be afraid to approach established magic businesses or performers. Many businesses offer internships, which can be a great way to pick up cutting edge industry secrets that haven't yet made their way into books.

Practice

Practicing your skills has to become as fundamental as brushing your teeth, even more so as you should be practicing even when you're not consciously aware of it. Remember: your goal as a magician is to entertain through misdirection, and you have to be flawless in your performance. The sooner you get to a level where you're able to perform all your tricks from muscle memory without dedicating any conscious thought to the matter, the more confident and effective a performer you will be. Practice is the key for how to do magic.

When you consider how to do magic, remember that above all it is a performance. Even individuals who are skeptical of your abilities will be grateful if your performance leaves them satisfied and entertained. The skills that you need to be a good performer are similar to the skills that you need to become a good musician, writer, athlete, actor, or comedian. Magic can be a great starting point for a career in show business because it utilizes so many skills and abilities that are used in other disciplines.

Learning how to do magic can begin with something as simple as opening a book and can lead you to a performance that can gather worldwide attention. But even if you aspire to be known on a global scale, remember that some of the most effective tactics for how to do magic involve the fundamentals of showmanship. Know your audience, captivate them, be confident, and have a well-conceived performance. Above all, be able to adapt your performance to suit the preference of the crowd, and practice until you can perform your act in your sleep. The most fundamental thing about how to do magic is this: be entertaining!

​Featured photo via Pixabay

Magic: the word evokes a lot of different meanings. To some, they will think of the mentalism and magical illusions of stage and street magic. Others think about the witches and wizards that are the backbone of so many fantasy stories: Gandalf the Grey, Harry Potter, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Harry Dresden, etc. Still others might think of occult figures such as Anton LeVay, who founded the Satanic church; Aleister Crowley, the noted British mystic; or Gerald Gardner, the founder of modern Wicca. This article will answer the question does magic exist?

Does Magic Exist?

Answering the question "does magic exist?" requires a look at the different types of things we define as magic. If the magic you are thinking of is that of the street magicians or illusionists, then of course it exists and anyone with a flair for the dramatic, the finger dexterity, and a willingness to practice, practice, practice can perform that type of magic. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the type of magic often described in fantasy books. You will never be able to conjure a magic missile, for example.

When looking at the magic of the occult, answering the question "does magic exist?" becomes a lot trickier. This type of ritual magic has been used for centuries in a variety of different forms. Almost every single culture in the world has a form of magic that includes rituals, fortune-telling, potions, and spells. Today, there are numerous different groups of practitioners that still practice this form of magic. In order to answer the question of does magic exist, magical like this, it is beneficial to break the question down and look at different aspects of this type of real-world magic.

The Origin of Magic

The British science fiction author Arthur C Clarke came up with an idiom called Clark's three laws. The third of these laws is the most important when looking at the question "does magic exist?" It states that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Take electricity, for example. We live in a time when electricity is commonplace. If you want to turn the light on in your room, you flick a switch and the light comes on. Pretend for a moment that you lived instead in the 1500s. If someone showed you the electric light going on with just the flick of a switch, you would assume that it was magic.

Clark's third law does not apply just to technology, but also to scientific understanding. The ancient peoples looked at the natural world and did not understand the mechanisms that controlled it according to scientific laws. When the sun disappeared in a solar eclipse, these people did not understand that this was due to the moon blocking the sun's rays from the earth, so they gave it a supernatural explanation. 

You can see this same phenomenon today when looking at the pantheon of gods worshipped by different ancient religions. Look, for example, to Zeus who wields his lightning bolt, or Hephaestus whose divine smithy resides in volcanoes.

The magic practiced by the shamans and wise women of these ancient societies often came from a mystical explanation of natural phenomenons. Folk magic relating to herbal remedies for different ailments often came from medicinal compounds within those herbs themselves. If the shaman made their magical potion for an illness and it included a medicinal herb, the condition of the person who drank it might improve; but the ancient people would likely have given the credit to the shaman's magical potion. 

Looking at this possible origin of magic, the answer to the question "does magic exist?" is likely a no: but there is more to look at first.

The Placebo Effect and the Perception of Patterns

If magic was only the result of ancient people attributing mystical causes for effects with scientific explanations than why do so many people believe in it now? Two possible explanations are the placebo effect and human beings perception of patterns. These will go far in helping to answer the question of does magic exist.

The Placebo Effect

The placebo effect is generally discussed from a research perspective involved in medical research. When scientists are researching new treatments and drugs, they perform double-blind studies of these treatments and drugs. These studies involve two groups of subjects. One group gets the treatment for the drug while the other group gets a placebo. The researchers study the effects the drug has on the group that received it but often find that some members of the control group who did not receive the drug still get better.

The exact mechanism of the placebo effect is unknown, and it might even be due to some unknown mental power we have to cure ourselves when we believe strongly enough. When applied to magical spells and rituals, the placebo effect might bring about the desired changes. For example, say that you performed a ritual to bring your one true love to you. After you've performed it, the knowledge that you cast the spell might make you more outgoing, allowing you to find your true love.

Patterns and Coincidences

Human beings are pattern-seeking animals. This is one of the ways that we make sense of the world: we look for patterns and find them sometimes even in chaos. The same can be said for coincidences which often arise out of randomness when our minds are focused on a specific fact. Often times, people have attributed patterns and coincidences to magic when it was more likely just random chance.

In his famous Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books, Douglas Adams revealed that the answer to life, the universe, and everything is the number 42. After reading his books, many of his friends see that number in a lot of places in the real world. While this could be evidence that the number 42 significance, it is more likely that the number 42 is in those peoples' minds so that they are more conscious of seeing that number.

Some of the "magical" methods of fortune-telling use peoples' innate desire to see patterns and coincidences to get them to believe in the power of the method. Take tarot cards for an example: a knowledgeable reader of tarot cards gives a generalized reading of the cards, allowing the person the reading is about to apply those generalizations to their own life. Is this magic or is this just coincidence and pattern? When it comes to coincidences, patterns, and answering the question "does magic exist," we honestly don't know.

Modern Magical Metaphysics

In the 21st century, magic has gone beyond its ancients roots. One of the more interesting modern magical practitioners are chaos magicians who view magic as quantum metaphysics. Just as a quantum physicist looks at particle waves and probability, the practitioner of chaos magic looks at magic as a way to load the probabilistic dice, as it were.

This is an interesting way to perceive magic, and on some levels, it might provide an overarching theory that can answer the question of does magic exist with at least a "maybe." Magical spells and rituals to a practitioner of chaos magic are a metaphysical process to improve the odds that something happens.

This metaphysical boost to the chances of probability does not exist in a vacuum. Instead, it uses already existing probabilities, only goosing them slightly in the favor of the practitioner who performs the ritual or spell. 

An Example

Take, for example, the spell discussed earlier to bring your true love into your life. If you perform such a spell and then do nothing but sit on your couch munching on snack foods, the spell will probably fail. Your chances of finding your true love while snacking on your couch are almost none. Even if the spell or ritual you performed doubled your odds of finding true love, double almost nothing still gives you little chance.

Some magicians who follow chaos magic principles also worry that if you do not give the magic a way to help you, it might help in unexpected and even unwanted ways. Many practitioners perform spells and rituals related to wealth. As with finding true love, wealth rarely finds you while you're vegging out on the couch.

If you perform a wealth spell without giving the magic and output, maybe the magic will bring you that wealth in the form of an inheritance after your favorite great aunt passes away; not the way most people want to get their wealth.

The avenue chaos magic needs to work its metaphysical magic can bring about the desired effect without any magic at all. If you get off your couch and get yourself out there, you're more likely to find someone, even without magic. Again, human beings' desire to find patterns in coincidences might push us into seeing such coincidences as magic.

So Bottom Line: Does Magic Exist?

Unfortunately, "maybe" is the best answer to the question "does magic exist" that we can credibly give. We can't prove that magic does exist, but at the same time there is so much we don't know about the universe and how it works that we can't say magic does not exist, either. When it comes down to it, if the belief in magic improves your life, then know that magic exists; at least insofar that it helps you and makes your life better.