What are two or three magic tricks that I can start with?

September 21, 2018 9:06 AM

I would like to learn two or three magic tricks that I can perform with simple every day objects (e.g. a non-doctored deck of cards, coins, newspaper, etc.). Strong preference for card tricks, but open to other ideas. Free is best (youtube videos, web tutorials) What would you recommend?
posted by davidstandaford to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

This card-to-mouth trick doesn't take a whole lot of sleight. It's a really funny effect as long as you can get your audience to follow the misdirection. (The whole 52Kards channel is full of great card tricks for varying skill levels.)
posted by uncleozzy at 9:34 AM on September 21, 2018

The French Drop is a fairly easy coin trick, though it certainly takes practice to make it look really smooth. Here is one video that teaches you how to do it (there are many others).
posted by alex1965 at 9:52 AM on September 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Learn a double card lift. It's useful within so many different narratives, and will perpetually astound people.
posted by jasper411 at 10:17 AM on September 21, 2018

Forcing a card (making someone choose the card you want them to choose) is really easy, and you can build all kinds of tricks around it. This video is decent, and has a few forces that are easy to learn. I like to force a card one way, have them put it back in the deck, and then pretend like the trick was ruined and you have no idea what the card was. BUT THEN say something like, "Hmm, I wonder if Volunteer #2 could help me?" and force the same card onto that new volunteer using a different force method. They reveal it, hooray, you win!
posted by papayaninja at 11:21 AM on September 21, 2018

Whenever we pull out a board game I do that little finger roll trick with one of the dice. It still drives my kids nuts. Just resist the temptation to do it more than once or twice.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:13 PM on September 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

This vanishing coin trick used to mystify the kids I babysat for when I was a teenager.
posted by erst at 1:18 PM on September 21, 2018

There are many card "tricks" that actually rely on math. Here are several (following an appreciation of one of the masters) but there are many others. All you have to do is make sure the deck is complete and excludes jokers.
posted by carmicha at 9:02 AM on September 22, 2018

Response by poster: Also, this thread from 2011.
posted by davidstandaford at 4:04 PM on September 22, 2018

There's this one card trick I use ALL the time to great effect when I'm interacting with folk.

Get someone to shuffle a deck of cards. When you get the cards back, take a quick peek at the bottom card. This is your key card.

Get that person to pick a card and remember it. Split the deck roughly in half and get the person to replace their card on top of the half that DOESN'T have the bottom card. Then put the other half on top of that stack. Now that bottom card you glanced at earlier, your key card, is sitting on top of their card.

Get them (or anyone) to cut the deck - take a chunk, put it on your other hand, put the rest on top. CUT, DON'T SHUFFLE. This gives the impression that the card can be anywhere in the deck, but your key card is still attached to it (or it'd be at opposing ends of the deck if they somehow cut in between but that's rare).

Now go through the deck and look for your key card. The other person's card is right next to it.

You can use this principle to build on the trick - for instance, get them to spell out their name by taking out as many cards as there are letters in their name and making sure your key card and their card are last.
posted by divabat at 11:31 PM on September 22, 2018