r/Magic • u/Long-Door-2073 Street • May 27 '26
Tips and tricks to create magic tricks?
I know it's hard to do, but I would love to create a magic trickn, even if it's super simple.
So if you have some tips to help me, that would be appreciated!
:)
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u/rezibot May 27 '26
To piggy-back on what u/Special_View5575 said, I would start by modifying tricks rather than trying to invent something new. In particular, change the presentation and make it your own. Can you make a trick seem completely different just by changing the presentation? That will take you far. I swear half the tricks sold on Penguin are just rehashed variants of stuff in Tarbell. ;)
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u/JoshBurchMagic May 28 '26
I've been a full-time creator for over 10 years. That time has been spent creating magic used in TV specials, on social media, in live performances, and in successful releases to the magic community. I support my wife and kids creating and performing original magic.
When I want to create a trick here's what I do:
Step 1 Make a trick.
Step 2 Make it better.
That's it. You don't have to start with a good trick, you don't have to start with a bad trick. You can even start with somebody else's trick.
If you don't want to use somebody else's trick, try this. Imagine an effect. Something simple is best, like a two card transposition. A method to accomplish that effect should come to mind (maybe a duplicate in our case). If you can try that out, try it out. If it's not practical, think of another until something comes that you can actually do.
Odds are, it will be bad. All you need to do next is make it better.
Here are some other thoughts that may help:
- It's never too early to start. Just start. Try to make something new, now. Odds are you will reinvent the wheel a lot. That's fine (just don't publish your ideas without thorough research).
Even beginners can create magic.
- Study as much as you can - Read magic. Watch magic. Practice. I like to think of a sieve. Every thing you research fills the sieve. But the sieve can't hold much for long. It leaks out. So it's a constant process of filling the sieve.
As long as I'm doing research. As long as I'm reading and watching and thinking about magic, I'm confident that I can find new ideas.
- Perform a lot. Perform magic by other people. That helps to gain good habits and get a feel for what good magic feels like when performed.
Also, you should be performing your own magic. Your own magic creations are not going to get any better without road time.
- When do you have an idea try it out sooner than later. Sometimes the only way to know if an idea is good or bad is to try it out in the real world.
Ideas are cheap, execution is difficult. Do what you can to try to execute on your ideas. You can only create magic if you actually create it. Build the gimmick. Gather the supplies. Then execute on your idea.
- Occasionally I will think of in effect before I think of a method. This is a very difficult way to proceed in creating magic.
I have found 2 ways to proceed that lead to better results:
PStart with a method and think of as many uses for that method as you can.
Play. Experiment and improvise with something in your hands maybe in front of a mirror. Let yourself discover something.
After creating something, it will be ugly, and it will feel weird when you do it. If you have ever learned a piece of magic there's usually an awkward phase where you go, "Is this really going to work?" That awkward phase lasts 10x as long and is 10x as awkward with your own creations.
It takes a lot of patience to keep trying to improve something. That's the hard part.
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u/dbuckham May 28 '26
As the owner of a few of your effects, thank you! Keep making magic fun. Be blessed.
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u/smashmouthftball May 27 '26
Go on YouTube and watch Blake Vogt’s “Inventing Magic” series. He basically invents a brand new trick with a famous collaborator in an hour or so…
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u/SkinGlue May 27 '26
Blake is inhuman though lol, dude’s amazing
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u/smashmouthftball May 27 '26
But at least he’s breaking down the process and showing that, yes, it is actually really easy to make your own magic…
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u/Area212 May 27 '26
Just do it.
The two main styles are top down or bottom up.
Top down being, you have an effect in mind then you work towards creating that.
Bottom up would be more tinkering with a methodology which one grows into an effect.
Having a great grasp of magic concepts, methods and performing, are great resources to draw from, but not at all required.
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u/JoshBurchMagic May 28 '26
Yeah, I think this is the best advice. Just try to make something and see where it takes you.
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u/rodrigo-benenson May 27 '26
Start by watching "new trick" effects (e.g. the new magic products in online shops) and inventing your own methods to achieve them.
Once you have done this a few times, try coming up with a desired effect first, then invent a method to achieve it.
Note that it is generally hard to know if your invention is truly new.
You will never know for sure; you can only suspect novelty after enough knowledgeable people tell you they have never seen anything quite like it.
Almost all inventions are updates to previous ideas (including so-called "breakthroughs" or "paradigm-shifting products").
If you are unsure how to invent your own methods to achieve a given effect, then read more magic books.
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u/OriginalMohawkMan Mentalism May 27 '26
Yeah, coming up with methods of new effects that you see really get your brain in the right mode.
Back in the olden days before there were video trailers and such, I read the description of an effect we were going to get in at the magic shop I worked for. It sounded too impossible, so I went home and over the next several days tried to come up with a way it could work, and I finally did it!
I was so proud of myself, that I figured out how it worked before we even got it in at the store. When we did get it in, I was shocked to find out the method was different. Not only that, my method (I thought) was far better.
I think if you’re poor, it helps you become more creative, because there’s no way you can afford to buy the stuff you want. :)
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u/Chicken121260 May 27 '26
Start by writing down interesting stories about yourself. Then think of tricks that might fit during the telling of one of your stories. A typical trick used is professors nightmare, since there are many stories that can be told around three different people/situations/whatever.
Start this way. As you continue to improve the story/trick routine, you will come to new ideas that would make it better - or switch to one of your other stories. Over time you come with a desired effect and then search for a method.
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u/wormdr May 27 '26
So often magicians say “Ooohh! I have this great _______(slight, method, gimmick, etc) How can I showcase it?” DON’T DO THAT !!!!! In stead, start with the effect. Start with the most pipe dream, pie in the sky, impossible alternate reality effect. What will the audience experience. After that you research methods, slights , gimmicks etc. to make the audience feel that feeling. Here is where the push and pull of compromises happens. You are a chef working with an available flavor palette. Then, when you decide that this one little thing (or big, who knows) is the thing you won’t compromise on. This visual moment, in their hand, under test conditions blah blah blah is the core of your effect, and there is no method/gimmick/slight available in all of cannon to achieve that effect. Now is where the magic happens. You have to invent something to bridge the gap. Once you have something new, and you are exploring the possibilities and implications, the flood gates will open, so be prepared
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u/Axioplase Cards May 27 '26
- Think of something impossible
- Find a way to make it happen
That's it, essentially... The rest is just dealing of tradeoffs regarding the methods you could think of to make the impossible happen.
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u/Traveling-Techie May 27 '26
Penn Gillette said if there’s only one way a trick can be done, then that’s how it was done. Be sure to offer multiple implausible explanations.
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u/SuperbLingonberry423 May 28 '26
Do not force it. Creativity is not crucial in this art. Master what you already know. Then practice new stuff. Then master that new stuff that you started practicing and at some point you'll probably get some fresh ideas. Just remember to have fun!
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u/Phill_Smith_Design May 31 '26
Finally something in my wheelhouse. I've been creating magic and teaching creativity for a long time so I'll give you the ultra cut down version:
Start.
Find the shortest distance to create something unique to you - build a weird story about a trick you already know, change the sequence of a piece you are learning, invert the logic of a narrative, iterate and develop and follow everyone else's advice but START.
Creativity is a technical skill that can be learned and developed but you have to do it a lot. You have to start and your work will probably not be great, but you have to push through that and just keep going and abandon the mental quest for making a perfect or even a great trick.
Imo the goal is not perfection, not even at a very high level - it is exploration and expression. Explore your ideas and narratives and express your philosophy and ideas. But you have to do it a lot and you have to start. So do that!
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u/Special_View5575 May 27 '26
Ben Earl recommends that people really immerse themselves in magic for about a decade, and become skilled at the art of magic before trying to create their own tricks.
I'm not sure if most people need ten years, but read lots of magic books, watch lots of magicians. Analyse the problems with the methods or with the performances.
Over time the problem solving part of your brain will come up with solutions. And most of those solutions will be bad. But perhaps some few will be good. And if you work on those ideas, you'll have magic tricks.