Want to learn magic tricks? Read these Frequently Asked Questions...

If want to learn how to perform magic tricks you are probably feeling a little out of your depth at the sheer volume of products, DVD’s and books on the market. We have put together a set of Frequently Asked Questions that should provide some guidance.

Will I get instructions on how to do the tricks?

Yes, all of our products come with instructions. Books and DVD's are of course purely instructional, and for most no special equipment is required (other than standard magical apparatus, playing cards etc.). With all of our tricks you will receive a written set of instructions to learn from. Some tricks also come with an instructional DVD, and if this is the case it will usually say so in the product description.

Are magic tricks from Magicbox easy to perform?

On the product page of each trick under additional information (just under the buy button) you will find a difficulty level. This ranges from 1-3 and they are as follows:

• 1 - Basic Sleights / Self Working
  These tricks are very easy to perform, quick to learn, and generally do not require a lot of sleight of hand.
• 2 - Intermediate Sleights
  These tricks require some intermediate level sleight of hand and some basic techniques may not be explained fully.
• 3 - Advanced Sleights
  These tricks are much harder to learn and made use of quite advanced sleight of hand. A certain level of knowledge will be expected.

If you're new to magic, you will be better off sticking with magic tricks that have a difficulty level of 1.

If my child wants to learn magic tricks what should I do?

A great starting point would be our beginner's magic section. These are low-cost tricks that are easy to learn and are well suited to young children. From there they may wish to progress to a book or DVD, that might teach them to perform tricks with every day objects such as coins and playing cards. We have an excellent beginners DVD called The Exciting World of Magic, which is a great starting point!

What if I've bought a trick and I don't understand one of the sleights?

Sometimes basic sleights will not be explained in the instructions of a trick. Usually these are more advanced tricks that expect a certain level of knowledge. If you're struggling with a move or sleight in one of these tricks then you should invest in a book or DVD that specialises just in teaching sleights. The Card College Series is an excellent set of books, as is the Royal Road to Card Magic which is also now available on DVD.

How long should I spend learning a magic trick before I show anyone?

That really depends on the trick but you should spend time learning a trick until you are totally confident it won't go wrong. Many self working tricks are very easy, and there is little to think about other than presentation. For these tricks often a couple of hours practice is all that will suffice. However for more advanced tricks you could spend weeks perfecting it until you are ready to show anyone. The best way to know when you're ready to get out and perform for real people is when you can do the trick without thinking too much about the workings, allowing you to concentrate totally on presentation.

What happens if something goes wrong?

First of all, don't panic. Anything that could go wrong will go wrong. At one point or another, you will make a mistake. The best thing here is prevention - if you practice enough you will minimise your chances of making a mistake, however we are only human. A good rule is to always have an "out". And out is a trick you hold in reserve especially for when something goes wrong. The Invisible Deck is an excellent out for card tricks - if you lose their card you can ask them to name it, and show it to be reversed in another deck. The audience should never even know something went wrong (often magicians will pretend to mess up a trick only to turn it around in the end, so you can play on this to your advantage).

But sometimes things will go wrong, and you won't have an out. If this is the case the best thing to do is to make a joke of it and move on and perform something else.