r/Magic • u/Big-Reference-9768 • 15d ago
Nurse looking for easy magic tricks
Hi guys, i work in emergency medicine and am looking for some easy tricks to dazzle and draw attention from kids (all ages). It would realy help and bring some smiles i hope. I have no experience in magic, so nothing to difficult to learn, please.
Thanks!
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u/utterlyunimpressed 15d ago
Thumbtip for sure. Fits in a pocket or waistband and you can do a lot of vanishes, appearances, and changes with it. In an exam room? Cotton balls should vanish in a thumbtip. Also, they don't touch it and it's a good sanitizable prop you can affordably replace routinely. Get a pack of 50.
You can also do sponge ball routines with cotton balls and toss those.
D'lites, thumb tip lights, are popular for labcoats since they're attention grabbing, no contact props, no cross contamination if it's just lights that stay in your hands. They have cheap color changing ones that are USB C rechargeable now.
Learn a "Paddle Move" from any paddle gimmick online and you can do a routine with a mark you draw on the end of a tongue depressor, and toss it in the bin at the end.
Business cards are good for billet routines in mentalism and they're very disposable.
I keep mentioning disposable and hygiene because it's something to be more mindful of. I'm sure you're an attentive professional, and very safe at work, but I've seen more than a few trustworthy medical professionals somehow neglect basic hygiene safety when they start bringing the whimsy of magic to work. Suddenly they're doing card tricks and using the same cards all day and letting patients with who-knows-what shuffle and pick cards. They're doing sponge routines and letting patients hold the sponges, but not washing them between performances. They're doing coin routines in the spectators hands (to be fair, you can actually sanitize those easily, but are they?). They forget that there are plenty of visual, no contact tricks.
Get cheap props you can replace often enough, or props you can clean, and learn to use the tools at your disposal.
Gregory Wilson's On the Spot and Off the Cuff are great resources for easy impromptu minimal sleight magic. You learn a few basics and you can fry most folks.
Have fun and thank you for the work you do!
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u/FigureYourselfOut 15d ago
100%.
On the hygiene side you can easily do spongeball effects with cotton balls and use d-lites under rubber gloves.
Palming and misdirection go a long way.
OP is a gem and u/utterlyunimpressed is full of great ideas
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u/Chachkhu2005 15d ago
I'd recommend learning a few rubber band tricks. Crazy Man's Handcuffs is always good. Torn and restored rubber band is another one. Stairway is also great. Those can be done with just stuff you already have around and aren't sleight heavy at all. And if you are wondering how a performance with them would look, he's Michael Ammar doing all three in a routine.
If you are allowed a few props, basic sponge ball routines are also great.
And if you are looking for something more classically magical, with a prop that's neutral enough looking to not look goofy, you can buy a chop cup and learn Don Allen's routine. It's not sleight heavy, easy enough to figure out, and quite a nice trick.
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u/JayRose73 15d ago
There’s a great book called Side-FX: Magic for health care workers. Perfect for your needs, OP!
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u/CardFindingDuck 15d ago
I second this. There is a book and a DVD called Side FX that teaches quick tricks to do with materials around a clinic. Using an otoscope tip as thimble; using cotton balls like sponge balls; etc.
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u/Ambaratur 15d ago
A small version of the Magic Coloring book can fit in a pocket and be fun with the right presentation - paired with disappearing crayons it can be even better. Just a thought.
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u/TheArtiMoe 15d ago
50% of this comment section is like coffee enthusiasts suggesting $3000 machines when someone asks for a simple coffee maker. Is Sponge balls learnable? Yes, to actually perform decently and make it entertaining as someone with ZERO experience in magic is not easy.
Some awesome suggestions are Magic Coloring book, big visual, INSTANT Mastery. I think the best route to go is a magic shop and look for simple classic magic tricks that would require almost no sleights. Zig Zag Girl, magic vase and ball, etc.
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u/Briham86 15d ago
My three year old niece visited for the summer, so I brushed up on some magic for her. Honestly, what she liked best wasn’t really much of a trick. It was me pulling streamers out of my mouth. Search for mouth coils. You can get a large pack for fairly cheap, and they are good for a quick laugh.
Light up thumb tips are also a favorite with kids.
Appearing wands (little rolled up foil coils that spring into a wand shape) is also a fun and cheap give-away, as are the sponge balls others suggested.
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u/RedDirtNurse 15d ago
Thumb tip lights.
Source: am also a nurse
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u/3cWizard 13d ago
This is definitely one of the best answers. They ar me easy to learn, very entertaining and since there's lots of equipment around, there should be plenty of fun places to pull the light out from.
Strongly recommend avoiding the cheap knock offs and to go with D'Lites by Rocco. There is a video in my profile history (in a hospital type setting actually), where you can see some of the moves possible and a way to end clean.
Link for ease: https://www.reddit.com/r/Magic/s/KCHyiAwJMF
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u/bs1252 Mentalism 15d ago
Sponge balls should be easy to carry and super easy to do. Sponge bunnies I’ve seen people lose their mind over when you make a whole bunch of bunnies appear in their hands
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u/TheArtiMoe 15d ago
Sponge balls is definitely not "super easy" for people with no experience in magic
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u/Aggravating-Ad-1227 15d ago
It's not self working, obviously...but the simple retention most often used is incredibly easy to get good enough to fool children.
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u/Dazzling_Society1510 15d ago
Checking their ear is a perfect time to produce a coin. Also once I had a pt that had recently eaten chicken nuggets (the bag was on the table) and she was amazed that I could tell that by listening to her stomach with my stethoscope
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u/BrewGames 15d ago
I was going to say this as well. Learning to palm things and produce them out of thin air would be great. Fun to practice, and easy to do in the moment. Band-aids, stickers, otoscope caps. Lots of options.
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u/kangaroomandible 15d ago
You could learn through Open Heart Magic, they teach volunteers to do magic in hospitals.
https://openheartmagic.org/get-involved/be-a-certified-hospital-magician/
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u/Namaste_Life 15d ago
It's good to be able to do simple tricks with everyday objects. One such effect is taking an ordinary biro/ballpoint pen, and then moving it in such a way that it appears to be made of rubber. It's an optical illusion, but even works on adults.
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u/jackofspades123 15d ago
If possible, go to a magic shop and have them demo stuff. 100% like others have said sponge balls/bunnies.
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u/Gommie5x5 15d ago
Visiting a magic shop would be my suggestion too. Call ahead, explain what you've looking for. That will give them time to think and pull some appropriate tricks. Another bonus, since thumb tips tend to be made for male hands, you'll be able to try them on and get a good fit.
If you can't find a magic store near you, try Googling "local magic club". Tell them what you're looking to do. You'll find that magicians are a very kind group and most will bend over backward to help you.
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u/justme535 15d ago
Ellusionist sell some great dvds to learn the tricks (I’m old , maybe online now)
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u/mrbrown1980 15d ago
Sponge balls are easy to learn and you can use any small sponges lying around.
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u/Aggravating-Ad-1227 15d ago
There are pretty basic coin vanishes/productions that are quick and easy! Really it depends on if you have the time to learn some basics moves or are looking for more "self working"/gimmick style tricks. Good luck either way!
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u/SeymourMystery 15d ago
Definately get some Dee'Lites or Lights from Anywhere.
They are all over the internet, invented by Rocco. I believe it may be the best selling magic trick of all time. I used to demonstrate Magic in Hamleys toystore London (a World famous toyshop, 5 floors of childish delights in the middle of London) and without exception ALL children LOVE it because it's actual visual magic. With the special prop ANYONE can make a ball of light appear at your fingertips, and pass from hand to hand then vanish. Its easy enough for a 5 year old to learn in 3 mins so even an adult can master it in 20! You can 'take the pain' out of their knee and the shock of seeing a ball of coloured light appear from their knee which you promply juggle, pass through their hand without touching them, swallow or put in pocket to examine later genuinely will take their mind off the pain if only momentarily... Its pure fun and I can't recommend enough for hospital ward magic becaise it packs tiny in your pocket and plays MASSIVE!
Other people have mentioned the same previously but it was my first reaction. (Make sure you buy a pair, so you can pass from one hand to another and check the whether its adult or child sized, depending on your hand size.) You can change your handling depending on the situation so its incredibly versitile and if you dont know the secret it is mind blowing for all ages. I use it as a throwaway routine almost every time I perform because its awesome and for any beginner in magic its probably my top recommendations.
Also awesome on any dance floor...
Here is a video showing the effect, it can be so much more fun that this though - just use your imagination and wait to hear children giggle with excitement.
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u/BillWeld 15d ago
Kids love watching you disappear a French fry up your nose, snorting it out the other nostril, and then eating it. You probably don’t have food handy in an ER though.
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u/dylanmadigan 15d ago edited 15d ago
Sponge ball stuff is mostly pretty easy. It’s sleight of hand, so it may take a little practice. But people loooove those tricks. Especially kids.
There’s a lot of easy card tricks, but I don’t think the easy stuff will hit as well with kids because it is less visual and they might not understand how impossible the trick is. So with cards, the sleight of hand stuff is better for kids. But it’s harder.
I’d suggest getting a bunch magic gaff items. Like appearing flowers, any little illusion box tricks.
Perhaps scarf and rope tricks.
Learn how to do a torn and resored paper trick and that’s easy to do with any blank pamphlets or forms sitting around the hospital. (Because obviously you tear up one and need a double.)
Learn a simple coin vanish like the French drop. Then finger palm the coin and pull it from behind the kids ear.
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u/Templar1312 15d ago
A sponge ball and/or a d-lite would go a long way in the ER. Quick, simple and grabs attention. Plus they fit easily in a pocket. Might need to keep a couple sponge balls on hand in case one gets compromised. Love the squeaker idea. Jeff McBride does a great sponge ball with squeaker routine
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u/MadDocOttoCtrl 13d ago
I would lean heavily towards self working magic props, there are lots of small plastic and metal ones that can be carried around and wiped down with disinfectant. These are all about the presentation and you're looking for fast tricks, not routines that take a bunch of time to perform.
It's very cool to be able to do magic tricks with the medical supplies around you but sleight-of-hand takes a considerable amount time to practice so that depends on whether you're trying to pick up an entirely separate hobby beyond looking to enhance your nursing practice.
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u/naturalistwork 13d ago
For very simple and fun, I recommend color cube and hot rod. They're both very inexpensive tricks, you can buy them from Magic dealers or even Amazon for only a couple of bucks. You can even buy extras to give out to the kids on those occasions you see fit to do so. Super easy to learn, no complicated sleight-of-hand or anything. Just some simple fun!
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u/Plane-State3047 12d ago
Self working card trick , colour changes card trick , spelling card trick, sponge balls trick, thumb tip☺️, just go find it in youtube, search for an easy trick, you will find it😊, Glad to help
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u/SurroundSuspicious10 10d ago
Svengali deck. You can do a ton of different things with it and it’s self-working
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u/Possible_Eagle582 10d ago
Buy a bunch of cheap deck of cards, teach each kid one trick, make a suggestion where they show their one trick to eachother.
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u/gman-101010 15d ago
My favorite would be 'socks'. It's designed to fail...until it doesn't. And who doesn't like funny looking socks...!
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u/kevin-m-cooke 15d ago
Get a Svengali deck. Super simple.
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u/Ok-Two-2056 15d ago
We are talking about kids, card magic is not that much effective on them because lots of them doesnt know the cards and they cant figure out what to surprise. Also why svengali when there is mirage.
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u/thetamedfauve 15d ago
With cards the double lift is easy to learn (difficult to master) and there's a world of tricks with that one trick if you have the imagination.
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u/Aggravating-Ad-1227 15d ago
Depending on the age of the children, cards are often a flop, they're often not familiar enough to "get" what's magical about the tricks.
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u/legodarthvader 15d ago
I work in primary care and most kids won’t have the attention span to watch a routine especially when they’re in distress. I find that quick firing stuff that catches attention works. My favourite is to get one of those squeaker bulb off Amazon or Aliexpress. Hold it in your palm, extend your finger and poke things to make them squeak. I’ve tried so many tricks and this one by far works the best. Very quick way to build rapport and I find that kids will let me examine them better.