without apparatus, preparation or sleight of hand.
Excerpt from the introduction:
To be able to perform a trick at any time and anywhere is an important qualification for a magician. Indeed, the status of many an amateur performer is judged, not so much by a conjuring entertainment given after careful preparation and arrangement of divers properties, but by his ability to provide an impromptu entertainment. It is important at this juncture to emphasize the word ENTERTAINMENT. The invariable response of many an amateur performer when asked at a festive gathering to "show a few tricks" is...
Stop digging through countless books looking for practical routines for your shows! Discover fourteen powerful routines designed to captivate any platform or parlor audience. Blending classic principles with clever innovations, this collection offers practical, audience-tested magic that is both visual and memorable. Whether you're a professional seeking new material or a student of magic eager to grow, these routines provide everything you need to turn simple tricks into unforgettable performances.
1. THREE CARDS TO POCKET
The magician shows three cards that vanish from his hand, one...
Step into the private workshop of Jack Chanin - Philadelphia's "Man With the Magic Hands" - with From the Private Files of Chanin, a curated collection of some of his most ingenious, deceptive, and surprisingly simple magical miracles. This isn't just another magic book - it's a vault of forgotten treasures, meticulously transcribed from Chanin's original instruction sheets, many of which baffled even his fellow magicians. Inside, you'll find 27 astonishing effects with cards, silks, ropes, eggs, coins, and everyday objects - including his legendary "Rip-It" (torn-and-restored bill), the mind-bending...
Twenty-five ideas.
Ventriloquism, conjuring, shadowgraphy, mimicry, comedy, reciting.
Excerpt from the preface:
It is not intended that this volume should pretend to the nature of a manual of Magic, but that it be a compilation of new effects, most of which have been introduced within the last few months. All the problems included have been performed by the Author, and have invariably proved successful. The best and simplest method has in each case been described.
Excerpt from the preface:
Where illustrations taken from actual photographs could tell the story more concisely than would pages of print, the former have been included, the latter excluded. Quality rather than quantity has been the standard to which the writers have tried to attain. Most of the following tricks are original but one or two are only original adaptations of old principles; all however will be found practicable.
Excerpt from the introduction:
In writing this present book, I have had three aims in view; to present a series of practical routines ranging from sleight-of-hand to the mechanical; to describe various gadgets and hints and tips in the construction of magical apparatus; and finally, to make the book entertaining to read by incorporating views and discussions which, though probably controversial in parts, will amuse as well as stimulate constructive thought.
The word 'stooge' evokes all sorts of emotions from magicians. Whenever we, as magicians, hear that a stooge is involved in an effect, often we're disappointed or angry. Many magicians have never even used a stooge as part of a routine. There are several reasons for this. Some magicians think that using stooges is dishonest, as if there are moral limits to trickery. Other magicians think that using stooges is too obvious, in the sense that an observing spectator will easily figure out that a stooge is involved.
In this PDF I would like to offer some ways of using a stooge that are not at...
Excerpt from the Editorial:
There is valuable material in this book - but it is only valuable to you if you put it into practice. Do that and you will agree with me that this book is of abiding worth, and the money you have parted with will have been invested in something sound.
Cristian has performed his original Hot Rod routine thousands of times in a strolling magic environment, amazing spectators with this unique blend of visual and mental magic. He now shares his time-tested routine with the magic community. He also includes two other variations as well as other practical tips. The last variation is a very strong mentalism routine, suitable for close-up or stand-up, and which can even be incorporated in a hypnosis or pseudo-hypnosis show.
Excerpt from the introduction:
Some of the tricks herein are old tricks, but with neat twists in presentation; some are old principles in new dresses; while others are quite new tricks with new principles. We commend to the reader, however, the introduction by Max Sterling and the article by The Great Levante, which should be carefully studied before any one trick is attempted.
For too long, the color-changing knife has lived in the pockets of polite close-up magicians, flicked back and forth like a novelty toy. But in the right hands ... it is something else entirely. In Whispers in Steel Mystic Alexandre unlocks the hidden potential of one of magic's most popular tools, offering three unusual and unique presentations that linger long after the performance is over.
You will not learn how the knife changes color, you will learn why it matters that it does.
Also included: The Psychology of The Color...
To compile this work, Derek Lever approached a number of Las Vegas resident magicians and visiting performers to contribute. Many have participated offering tricks, essays, and advice, including Rick Thomas, Jeff McBride, Aaron Fisher, John Bannon, Dan Garrett, Joshua Jay, Ed Ellis, Tony Chapek, Dirk Losander, Luna Shimada, Craig Dickson, Daryl, and Banachek.
This was Eric C. Lewis's first publication, a start to what would become a series of excellent magic books.
Excerpt from the introduction:
The contents of this book are not intended for the work-dodging tyro, neither can the effects explained be performed "immediately upon receipt of the instructions." Real Magic needs careful planning and every small detail taken into consideration. Throughout this book I have endeavoured to explain fully every point of "misdirection" (which to my mind is most important to the success of any experiment), and yet to explain the working of each effect clearly. ...
Also known as the "K" Book of Magic.
This material originally appeared in the booklet, Close Up Deceptions and in The New Tops magic magazine under the headings, Kardyro's Klose-up Konjuring and Klever Kardyro Kapers.
Tricks with magical accessories.
Edited by Roy Fromer and illustrated by "Doc" Tony Shiels. From the introduction by Roy Fromer:
Filled with creative, imaginative brain children . . . some with standard magicians' props . . . others utilizing such diverse equipment as licorice rope, fortune cookies, toy footballs, fluorescent bulbs . . . properties seldom, if ever considered "tools of magic". Mercurio grows hair on a billiard ball, out-Svengal is a Svengali deck, and even rediscovers (for our benefit) the age-old "Coin Slide".
Introducing my Second Chance Collection - a carefully selected set of six individual eBooks ready for rediscovery. While these gems didn't sell well when first appearing on Lybrary.com, I'm confident you will perform these effects if you give them a chance. I'm offering this complete collection at over 50% off the regular price.
And here's what makes this deal even better - I'm including my bestseller for Free: 103 Tips and Resources for Magicians. This eBook alone is worth the price. It will save you time and money.
This is a fascinating compilation of apparatus magic explained in text and photos.
Excerpt from the foreword:
'The World's Most Ingenious Magical Apparatus' was the title of a Lecture which I have presented all over the world including the famous 'Magic Castle' in Hollywood. Many of the items in this book were used in the Lecture but I have added some recently acquired items which have never before seen the light of day.
Excerpt from the preface:
The title was chosen partly for want of a better one, but more especially because the only items mentioned are those which have now formed the major part of my regular programme for a number of years.
1st edition 1924, reprinted...
Assorted commercial close-up magic.
The term 'commercial' is overused in magic. Every second trick is being marketed as 'commercial' simply because the author has perhaps performed it a few times to a lay audience. The routines in this compilation are truly commercial because Jim Sisti has performed and honed them over decades in hundreds perhaps even thousands of performances. These are the routines he has earned his reputation as a top-flight close-up performer. Every detail, from the presentation to the method, has been thought through.
Excerpt from the introduction:
The effects...
Excerpt from the preface:
... most of the material in this book consists of effects which were intended to appear in Abracadabra. Government restrictions on the use of paper for new periodicals delayed publication of the weekly, and so I decided to release some of the best material in book form.
Most of the effects which follow are my own originalities, but for the benefit of those readers who dislike my ideas intensely, a number of contributed effects by certain magical celebrities have been inserted at intervals, the idea being that, just as the reader is losing patience, a really good...
This is clever, usable magic for table or close-up work with a minimum of skill and an emphasis on misdirection and subtle presentation. In all, a twenty-minute act or superb table routine.
In Transfix, The Pervious Coin, Extortion, Creeping and a Wrinkle on the Miser's Dream, you get some fine coin routines; and in Uncanny Rags, an Afghan Band presentation that segues into a rope routine.
The effects are accompanied by illustrations by the author.
CONTENTS:
EXHUME: v. to dig (something) buried; to revive or restore after neglect or a period of forgetting; bring to light.
In Jon's own words:
...the aim of this column is to present interesting items that have been "buried" and forgotten but deserve to be revived and restored. In other words, we will "dig them up" to be reused, discussed, and performed again.
This is a compilation of all 56 Exhumations columns from Genii starting with the first column from February 2020 to the last one in December 2024.
Here you will find all the tricks from the 2023 Kaymar Magic Advent Calendar, collected together into one ebook - 24 tricks, meticulously explained over 100 pages.
1st edition 2023, PDF 107 pages....
All 24 tricks are explained in detail.
1st edition 2021, PDF 61 pages.
Bish is the collected Kaymar Magic Advent for 2020, gathering all 24 tricks into one place. Here are the tricks, carefully explained in Liam's casual style, and the ebook features all new tricks, revealed here for the first time.
Excerpt from the introduction:
The end is purely altruistic. There is little cash to gain in Magical Publishing, but loving Magic, I cannot help but write about it, and in writing, I fondly hope that I am helping many other conjurers to progress nearer to the perfection that cannot be fully accomplished on this mortal sphere.
I shall not eulogise the contents of this book, but I would point out that the complete cigarette act described has been worked exactly as described, and has proved to be eminently satisfactory.
All the routines revolve around the idea of beginning with no visible apparatus and having "nothing in your hands."
If you truly aspire to be a magician, you'll need to be ready to perform at a moment's notice, and that's where this book will be the best investment you make all year.
An ebook of magic as you like it unique and baffling, but light and humorous. Tricks and routines developed and used over a period of fifteen years, but were new to the magic fraternity when it was originally released because, prior to this book, they had never before been published.
John Stanfield says...
Excerpt from the preface:
This book contains endless entertainment for you and your friends, and represents part of my collection of "tricky stunts" which I have used for several years WITH GREAT SUCCESS - catches, puzzles, and tricks with which all magicians should be familiar. While many of them can be, and have been, performed on the stage, none requires any great amount of skill. For all that, each one should be tried over privately many times before you attempt to perform it to your friends. Neglect this necessary precaution and you will soon find how easy it is to produce a fiasco with...
This is an excellent but often overlooked primer on magic.
Excerpt from the introduction:
This book marked the culmination of a twelve-year period in which I contributed dozens of articles to magical magazines, conducted daily columns on puzzles and simple tricks, plus a weekly series of fifty magic lessons for Howard Thurston, then America's leading stage magician. In it, I covered all phases of magic then current, from simple tricks to large illusions, updating them to the present with an eye for the future.
Paul Fleming wrote:
We believe we have said enough to justify the statement, . ....
Many magicians I know are as interested in both tricks and puzzles and integrate the two.
While elaborate mathematical, logical, or chess puzzles or crosswords have little "performance value", there are many optical puzzles, geometric paradoxes, illusions, ambigrams, after-image generators, and the like, that make for an excellent lead to a magic effect, or for performance as an effect by itself, or as a memorable keepsake printed on the back of your calling card or publicity folder or even your admission tickets. They can also be used as memorable "give-aways" for your assisting spectators,...
This is part two in the "Modus Operandi" series. It continues with chapter 5.
With added chapters on easy magic you can do, with and without playing cards.
In this book, the secrets of ancient miracles and of modern magic have been thoroughly explained. No phase of the mystic art has been neglected. The reader is initiated into the secrets of antiquity. He is told of the methods of mediaeval wizards; and the secrets of modern wonders are disclosed to him. He is led behind the scenes to study the magic of the stage; true facts of Oriental mystery are brought before him. The secrets of the Hindu fakirs are revealed in detail, based upon the testimony of trained investigators...
Excerpt from the Foreword:
This is a book with a guarantee; a guarantee that every item with one exception has been mastered and tested by myself. ... As in my "Studies" series, all effects in this present book are complete in themselves. They are not mere tricks, gadgets, or "moves." Each one has been carefully routined and described in full to bring out the correct methods of presentation, and in all cases, entertainment value has been very carefully considered. With the routines in this book you will entertain as well as mystify.
Creative thought for magicians.
While this ebook does have a trick section at the end, the majority of the content is dedicated to mental processes, habits, and exercises that will help you become a better and more creative magician. This is a part of being a magician that is rarely talked about, but it is more important than the latest and newest trick offering.
Excerpt from the Foreword:
In this work I tell you what Magical Mentality is, and how you can develop it for yourself. Or if you already have it to a degree, how you can cause it to serve you more efficiently.
The system...
The three ticks in this video are variations of effects by Don Alan, Juan Tamariz, and an old-school sucker trick that appeared in Expert Card Technique.
Don Alan had a trick called Magic Ranch in which a chosen card was found in a wooden egg. I've rearranged the presentation with a new ending, the people think that a real egg is about to be cracked open in the cupped hands of the assisting spectator. The switch of the real egg for the gimmick egg is accomplished by Slydini body mechanics and within reach of anyone willing to understand and apply the concept. I also offer an alternative ending, as well as how to make the special one-way...
1st edition 1935, 30 pages; PDF 47 pages.
I did a series of monographs at one time, one trick at a time, that I felt had unusual ideas I hadn't seen before, and sometimes variations on ideas that had been around, but handled a different way. My thinking about these went back to the New Stars of Magic which Tannen's put out. These of course were one routine explained well. Lately, I thought of bundling them together and this is the result. I used drawings and not photos.
Aether was another run of ideas as monographs ... one routine or trick or idea per issue. Again, I recently thought to combine them into a collection. Ideas of mine include tricks, routines, and also handlings of various types of magic. I mainly work with sleight-of-hand with an occasional manipulative piece. Drawings and not photos, as illustrations.
Excerpt from the introduction:
Regarding the routines presented in these lecture notes, I have to point out that they are based on simple ideas and require practice only to the extent that you must be familiar with the sequence of handling in order to perform the effects smoothly.
Too often magicians ignore tricks which at first glance appear difficult. If the plot idea attracts your interest, give it ten minutes of your time. You’ll know soon enough if you like the trick or not.
The explanations of the tricks in these notes are somewhat brief but I consider them complete enough...
A practice guide for magicians.
"As fine an exposition of this kind of material as I have ever read . . ." - Mike Close
"Fifty years from now this might be right on that shelf next to 'Magic and Showmanship'." - David Goodsell
"It will turn you into a better magician." - David Regal
What is the Ostrich Factor? As well-versed, conscientious amateurs and professionals, we know the accepted axioms of the art. But when practicing to perform, we sometimes inadvertently overlook or ignore one or more of these well-known rules. The oversight keeps our performances from being as good as they could be. We make an assumption:...
Excerpt from the introduction:
My books are written from the standpoint of a practical performer and have in view the conditions required for public presentation on the concert platform. The average magical book seems to predominate in card tricks, small mental effects, or subtle whimsies suitable only for intimate work. Such effects are rare in my own writings, and subtlety and superfine cleverness are overlooked for directness of working and clarity of effect, always having in mind that it is the lay audience that we are to entertain.
So this book will, I feel, appeal again to the...
Excerpt from the foreword:
Mr. Bellman has sent me many of his ideas. These I have sifted, adapted and eliminated so you get the cream. My own effects have passed through the same purging process with the result that every trick in this book is one you can work. Do not be satisfied with the mere reading of this book; follow it by practice. An effect that seems dead in the cold light of the formality of words often bursts into a flame of burning amazement when translated into Action. The true test of a trick is not how artistically it can be described, but the effect upon the non-magical...