How to Do Close-up Magic
Welcome! You probably found this page because you’re looking to learn how to do close up magic. Good news, you’re in the right place. You’ve found Vanishing Inc. Magic! We’re the largest magic store in the world and have been helping magicians for over ten years. In this article we’ll be telling you the best ways to learn close up magic and present you with the options we recommend to get started. To begin with, if card magic is your interest, make sure you have some of the card magic basics down.
What Is Close Up Magic
It’s just the name for magic you do close to people - unlike stage or parlor magic. That’s it. No mystery really. The unique and intimate experience of close up magic helps elevate any event.
Different Types Of Close Up Magic
There are many different styles or types of close up magic. These are the most popular.
Card Magic
Card magic is magic tricks done with playing cards. Purists will use sleight of hand but there are also many special magic cards (called gaffed cards or gaffed decks) that are often mechanical and will actually do the trick for you. We’ll link to some popular ones below at the bottom of this article.
Coin Magic
Coin magic, or money magic, is magic done with coins or money. Often borrowed, but again, some magic is done with gaff coins. These are coins that have been especially altered by an expert to be able to fold in half, or appear to have a bite taken out of them and many other things too.
Mentalism
Mentalism is the name magicians give for tricks where it looks like you’re reading your audiences mind, or controlling their choices, or predicting what will happen in the future. Whilst it’s fair to say most mentalism is done on stage, it’s also very popular to do close up. We explain some easy mind reading tricks here to get you started.
Magic For Virtual Shows
After the strange time the world has been in during 2020 and 2021, there’s been a huge increase in magicians performing magic on Zoom. A lot of material being performed is really magic for close up.
How To Learn Close Up Magic
The very best ways to start learning magic will usually cost you money. Sure, you can learn from YouTube, but that’s not the best idea, we explain why here. The best way right now is for us to give you a free video! Yup. Free. You need to make a free account with us, and we’ll put the video in your downloads section immediately.
Get The Free Video
The Big Secret You Never Get Told
Books are better than tricks. Here’s why. You get more for your money. In a magic book you’ll get to learn lots of tricks, when you buy just one trick you will get just one trick. Additionally, when you learn from a book, you will interpret the trick in your own way. When you buy a trick, you’ll be shown exactly how the creator does it and you’ll end up copying them. It’s better to be original!
Our Recommendations For Beginners In Close Up Magic
Magic: The Complete Course
This best-selling book was written by professional magician Joshua Jay who happens to be one of the cofounders of Vanishing Inc.!
You’ll not only learn amazing tricks, but you’ll also be taught how to perform them - something many beginner magic books overlook.
Get Magic: The Complete Course
Svengali Deck
A very popular trick deck of cards that allows you to easily perform miracles.
Get A Svengali Deck
Invisible Deck
Professional magicians all over the world perform this trick. In essence, a card is named, you spread through the deck and the named card is the only one reversed in the deck. This is reputation-making magic and the best bit? It’s really, really easy to do.
Get An Invisible Deck
Scotch and Soda
This classic gaff coin makes you look like a sleight of hand expert. You show two contrasting coins, remove one, and the remaining coin vanishes.
Get Scotch And Soda
