Secrets of Magic Tricks

Make it Entertaining

One of the secrets of magic tricks is to make your audience have a good time; make them smile. To do that you have to turn a trick from being a just a puzzle into an entertaining magic trick. The easiest way to do that is to make a short story that suits your trick. This means spending a few minutes being creative.

Personally I love this part of the process. To make it easier I have a range of resources that I use to help me along. I'm going to share some of those with you. You'll find that the longer you spend with me, the more you'll realise the secrets to magic tricks are more than just the magic tricks themselves.

I have lists of jokes and sayings. I have collected these for the last 30 years. If something makes me smile or laugh I write it down. There are times I think why did I ever bother BUT it's amazing how years later there will be just the thing I need sitting in those notes.

One of the lists I have is Silly Names. This is often a useful starting point to writing a story for your magic trick. Here's a few to get you started. Add to these and make your own lists. Note> I'll explain these as some of my readers don't have English as a first language.

Upton O'Good (up to no good)

Woody DuWitt (would he do it?)

Dr. Aikenhead (aching head)

Flynn Willy Woozie (felling really woozy)

Zack Lee Wright (exactly right)

Phil Lynne-Good (feeling good)

Bob Uppendown (bob up and down)

Brighton Early (bright and early)

Bruce Easily (bruise easily)

C. Howlett-Fields (see how it feels)

Colin Ambulance (call an ambulance)

Maybe take a card you are forcing and rename it to one of these names and try to make a bit of a story to go with what happens.