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Intro to Card Magic: Foundational Techniques, Effects, and Theory
This is a complete beginner's course on how to perform card magic to live audiences. We will be covering magic tricks, sleight of hand techniques, magic theory, and more. This class is a great summer activity for students.
Class Experience
Beginner Level
This is a complete beginner’s course dedicated to the topic of performing card magic to live audiences. We will cover magic tricks, sleight of hand techniques, and many of the theoretical considerations that goes into making magic powerful and deeply baffling. The goal of this course is for every student to be able to walk away with a handful of effects they can confidently perform in any environment. No one will be needing top hats, doves, or any other special apparatus. All students need is...
15 lessons//5 Weeks
Week 1Lesson 1Basic Handling 1Introduce the importance of softness. Essentials: control, switch, force, palm. Grips: mechanics, dealer/box, straddle, end/biddle. Spreading a deck of cards in the hands/on the table. Squaring the deck (and how to do this efficiently). Cuts: Straight cut to the table, undercuts, the swing cut. Shuffling: overhand. Effect: Lazy Man's Card TrickLesson 2Basic Handling 2Dealing: face down/face up. Out-jogging cards as they are spread. Turning the deck over: two handed, one handed, T.G Murphy deck flip. Dribbling/Riffling Cards/Airing Cards. Shuffling: ITH riffle shuffle. Breaks: methods of establishing a break (spread, riffle), holding a break, basic break throw-offs. Effect: Say Stop Telepathy (Introducing the key card)Lesson 3Basic Handling 3Thumb fan (and how to close with one hand). Spring. Q&A workshop. Effect: Spectator cuts to Aces (Larry Jennings)Week 2Lesson 4Controls 1: False Overhand Shuffles and cuts.Controlling a single top card with an overhand shuffle. Controlling a single bottom card with an overhand shuffle. Overhand Jog shuffle: top/bottom stock, as a control. The Lift shuffle: top stock control, how to add and remove cards. The False swing cut to table. The False Hindu cut to the table. The J. Ose Cut. Effect: Thought Stealer (CCV1)Lesson 5Controls 2: Riffles, more false cuts, and the control of a selection.Holding back cards during a ITH riffle shuffle. The false swing cut. The false hindu cut. The Double Undercut: as control and transfer. The Mahatma shuffle: as control and peek. The "whoops" control. The diagonal insertion The Fan insertion.Lesson 6Controls 3: Switches as controls.The Tip-over change/addition (Stanley Collins) Switch-out sidelights (Ed Marlo)—Sean Devine’s variation Reverse Glide. Kaps switch and variations. (Fred Kaps, CCV4) The Spread cull. Effect: A Dunsberry DelusionWeek 3Lesson 7Switches 1: The Double LiftWays to obtain a break for the double: push-over, thumb count, pinky count. Biddle grip display. Book end turnover Biddle grip assisted optical push-off. Ways to maintain break during display: out-jog, altman trap. Effect: The TranspositionLesson 8Switches 2: The Top ChangeBasic top change action. Broken top change. How to perform the top change in real life: misdirection, timing, practice. How to think about switching: naturalness over cleanliness. Effect: Believe in FingerprintsLesson 9Switches 3: Other switching movesFlip-flop change as a switch. The Jinx switch. The Packet top change. Gambler's Packet switch. Effect: Two Card MonteWeek 4Lesson 10Glimpses 1Glimpse from top—heel step peek, bubble. Glimpses from bottom—all around square up, deck removal from box, deck handout. Dribble glimpse Bookbreak glimpse Look-away glimpse Effect: The Biddle TrickLesson 11Forces 110-20 force. Curious count (CCV4) The cross cut force. OC cut and spectator holdouts as forces. Timing force (and variations). Effect: DIY Location.Lesson 12Forces 2Riffle force Dribble force Swing cut force Goldin Force (Horace Goldin) Cull/Underspread force Classic force Effect: Card to BoxWeek 5Lesson 13Palming 1Three phases of palming: palm, hold-out, replacement. Classic palm position. The Top Palm: Vernon's Topping the Deck. The Berg Pam. The Erdnase Multiple Top Palm.Lesson 14Palming 2The Standard Bottom Palm. The Erdnase Bottom Palm method 1. Q&A Workshop. Effect: Pocket DimensionLesson 15Free Jam SessionDemonstrate the stuff you've learned and any new ideas you might have.
- At the end of the course, students will be able to: Perform a collection of magic tricks/effects with confidence in any environment. More thoroughly understand the theoretical considerations that goes behind performing magic. Be able to execute a collection of basic sleight of hand techniques with playing cards.
Kevin Liu has dedicated the majority of his life to performance and much of his teenage years to honing the craft of magic and sleight of hand. He has over 10 years of experience as a juggler and 6 years of experience as a magician, performing in every environment imaginable: close-up, parlour, stage, at dinner parties, special events, on the streets, and more. He has a deep understanding of how to make sleight of hand deceptive and how to blend magic effects into contemporary contexts. Kevin is constantly searching for new ways to improve his craft.
Homework Offered
Students are encouraged to practice and perform the effects and techniques learned in the course between meetings.1 - 2 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Grades Offered
You will need some playing cards: standard or Rider Back Bicycles will do. I recommend having two decks so you can cycle between them during practice to avoid the cards from being worn out too quickly, which is very normal when you're first starting out in sleight of hand. But if you cannot get two, you will at least need one. Roberto Giobbi's Card College Volume 1 is an optional reading, as much of the content covered in this course contains overlaps with material taught in that book.
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Card College Volume 1 is a recommended reading, but it is not required.
To begin, let me make one thing clear: if a student tries his very best to understand what a teacher is saying, but is still met with no success, it's always the teacher's problem. Credentials aside, not many teachers actually care about the...
Group Class
$30
weekly or $150 for 15 classes3x per week, 5 weeks
90 min
Live video meetings
Ages: 13-18
2-7 learners per class