So you want to be a magician? START HERE!

Where do you start when you want to become a magician? Well, first I think you must decide why it is you want to learn magic:

a) I want to impress chicks/dudes at school
b) I want to be the next Criss Angel or David Blaine
c) Because I love magic

If you answered a) then you picked a great answer! Too bad you're not cut out for magic though. If you picked b) then you have lofty goals but I doubt you'll get there because you didn't pick c).

c) is the best answer and THE place to start.

Note that a) and b) are the results of c).

To be a good magician you'll need to develop a love and respect for the art of magic. Plus you'll need patience and a strong work ethic in order to put in the hours of practice necessary to get to the point where you can perform in front of another person.

If you think you are ready for the next step, repeat after me...

As a magician I promise never to reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, unless that one swears to uphold the Magician's Oath in turn. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic.

This oath is sacred and must be followed. As in all things we must live by principles and morals and that set us apart from all other living creatures. There are some key ideals in this oath that merit your attention.

Never reveal. People will ask you for the secret, perhaps beg you. But they don't really want to know. Once you tell the secret a couple things will happen:

1. You will no longer be respected as a magician by the spectator.
2. The illusion is shattered and the entertainment value is gone.
3. Every trick you do after that will not be as impressive to the spectator.
   
4. You've let down you brothers and sisters in the fraternity of magic.
   

The secret is never as impressive as the illusion so don't ruin it for the audience.

Next, find two or three good tricks and practice them until your fingers are raw.

1. Practice in front of the mirror
2. Practice without the mirror
3. Use a camcorder to record your practice sessions, record from different angles, review the video and fix the mistakes
4. Work on the patter (your narration of the trick) make it interesting and rehearse it dozens of times until it flows from you without thought
5. Make the trick your own. Come up with your own patter, your own slant and add your own character.
   
6. When you think that you are ready to perform the trick, go to step one and repeat.

A good trick will take weeks or months to perform. I read comments from young mages on forums that speak of a trick like this.

This is the best trick ever, I was performing it flawlessly in 5 minutes after I got it!

First, it probably isn't the "best trick ever." No best-trick-ever takes 5 minutes to perfect. And you did not perform it flawlessly. If you watched it in front of a mirror or camcorder, you would have known that you were not as flawless as you thought.

Next step. By now you probably really enjoyed one of the tricks more than the others. Focus on that style of magic; be it cards, coins or reading minds. Go out and buy the "bible" for that form of magic. They are usually inexpensive and you get dozens of magic tricks for your money as well as the bread and butter training. Or if you are more of a visual learner, like me, get a DVD that covers the same material as in the books. Here are some examples:

Books:
Modern Coin Magic - J.B. Bobo
The Royal Road To Card Magic - Hugard & Braue
Practical Mental Magic - Ted Annemann

DVDs:
Born to Perform Card Magic - Oz Perleman
In the Beginning There Were Coins - Jay Noblezada

Lastly step before performing a trick; watch the masters. We live in the Internet age. Go out to youtube.com and watch other magicians perform the same effect - especially the masters of the craft!

If you study one form of magic for 1-2 months and you are willing to put in an hour or two each day, you'll be ready to begin impressing your friends and co-workers. Don't try to learn 20 tricks - just 2-3 killer tricks to get your feet wet and you'll fry people's brains with the simplest of illusions.

Note: In The Linking Rings section to the right is a link to the Theory 11 Beginning Magician's video. This is highly recommended as a place to start.