The ongoing debate about whether it is better to learn from books or from videos is moot because one medium is not intrinsically better than the other. They are complementary, and the best strategy is to find strategies for using them both.

Watch out for copying too much. You could end up a simple copycat. Don’t forget that magicians in videos perform THEIR tricks in THEIR style. Never copy their patter or the little idiosyncrasies that make up their personalities. Better, use videos as a source of inspiration, taking them for what they are: a tool that can help you create your own routines.

What’s more, the majority of tricks explaining on magic videos and DVDs for beginners are not actually tricks per se. They have been created and conceived to foreground certain techniques or principles to make learning easier. For this reason, it’s better not to perform these tricks but to use the techniques as a point of departure to create your own tricks. For example, you might take the beginning of one trick and connected with the end of another—in the process, you will have created something new!

Besides the fact that books can be used anywhere, they stimulate creativity much more than videos by forcing the reader imagine his or her own version of the trick described on the written page.

By contrast, video gives you the effect ready-made, exactly as it is performed by its creator. All that you gain by immediately understanding the creator’s vision of a trick, you loose in your own creative process. It’s not uncommon for a poor explanations or simply a reader’s misunderstanding to lead to the creation of new techniques! In this way, books lend themselves to the discovery of new ideas. Don’t some of the best ideas often begin as simple mistakes?

This being said, it’s hard to deny that videos offer the best way to progress quickly, because they allow you to learn through imitating. The gestures and moves you learn, though, are those of the magician and may not necessarily correspond to your personality. In addition to the techniques necessary for any given trick, students will inevitably pick up a bit of the magician serving as their instructor. If beginners are not careful to avoid making a carbon copy, they will have trouble getting rid of derivative mannerisms down the road.

When you’re starting out, it’s hard to resist the temptation to send away for the incredible tricks that you read about in magic catalogues. These catalogues may make amazing claims: “a 100% automatic trick! Nothing to hide! Nothing to do! Nothing to say! Works by itself!” Even though the tricks they sell are often ingenious, they are also expensive, especially when they generally end up in the bottom of some drawer.

Think about it: if the effect described really corresponds to the trick you want to buy, there are certainly some complications they will conveniently fail to mention—because that’s business. The best thing is to go to a magic shop and ask for a demonstration from the person behind the counter. If they do their job well, they’ll tell you about the advantages and disadvantages of a given trick, and may even suggest a similar effect better suited to your skill level, personality, or budget.

If you are a beginner, you should know that it’s incredibly bad form to try to pass yourself off as an advanced magician in the hopes of gleaning a few secrets from the clerk! (The same thing goes for magic clubs.) The world of magic is protected by a jargon so specialized that insiders will know as soon as you open your mouth weather your a magician or a layman. Rather than trying to pull a fast one, it’s better to be up front: tell the clerk you are a beginner hoping to discover the world of magic. Then, listen attentively to what they have to say: just like you, they started out as beginners!

Before choosing a particular trick, ask if it goes well with your style or personality. Each trick was created by a magician, who went on to sell it. Each trick will reflect the imagination of its creator. Think of it like a piece of clothing: it’s unlikely that another magician’s shirt will fit you.

Ask as many questions as possible before you make a purchase. Given that tricks are often based on a simple gimmick, magic shop clerks are often reluctant to reveal too much information. Some clerks may prove more willing to help than others, and some shops more open.

Try out this search engine to find different magic dealers in your area. Instead of getting all your magic equipment at the same place, comparison shopping will help ensure that you’re always getting the best price. Or try an advanced search! Subscribe to different dealers’ mailing lists, and don’t be surprised to see the same tricks advertised under different names—and at different prices!

If you haven’t put it away in the bottom of some drawer by the end of the week, then you must have found something good! So learn to do it correctly. Then, don’t just settle for the routine sold along with the trick, but experiment with other ways of performing it—make it YOUR TRICK! Perform it backwards, or using a different storyline. Don’t be afraid to mix up the suggested presentation. Hopefully you’ll find a new presentation all our own.

You can certainly order tricks, props, and equipment over the Internet. However, if you’re a beginner it’s much better to go in person to a magic dealer. By seeing products first-hand before you buy them, you may avoid some unpleasant—and costly—surprises.

Still, along as a site is secure, there’s nothing wrong from making purchases online. E-merchants generally respond quickly to orders, and with different sites competing with each other to build up a loyal consumer base, the customer always wins.

If you are interested in playing cards, don’t expect to perform the tricks you’ll encounter in videos and books using any old deck of cards laying around the house. Besides automatic tricks (and barely even then), the smallest card effect demands professional quality cards. Otherwise, it would be like trying to learn to play golf with a set of toy plastic golf clubs. You’ll find there are a number of different brands available (Bee, Aviator, Tally Ho, etc.), but Bicycle is the best-known and most widely-used brand among magicians. They might seem expensive at first, but Bicycle is to playing cards what Weston is to shoes. Finally, get yourself a high-quality close-up mat.

It is certainly best to do “impossible” magic tricks such as the cigarette through the coin or coin in the bottle with local coins borrowed from spectators. This will help avoid suspicion of gimmicked coins.

But to do “technical” tricks (productions, vanishes, traveling coin routines or any other effect that couldn’t be produced with a gimmicked coin), half dollars and silver dollars are the most practical. They are the shiniest, the biggest, easiest to grip and most visible coins available.

The same thing is true for silks, ropes or any other prop magicians generally use. Ask the advice of your local magic dealer or from the new friends you’re going to meet thanks to MagicZoom’s Magician Locator.

Just as buying a violin and some sheet music is not enough to become a violinist, buying magic tricks is not enough to make you a magician. At the very beginning, it’s normal to spend a lot of money on magic tricks: you’ll learn how to fool your friends and family with little mysteries that you couldn’t have imagined existed just a short time ago. With the passage of time, though, if your approach doesn’t evolve, you will be just an exhibiter of little tricks, not a real magician. The only difference there were be between you and your spectators is that you went to the magic dealer before they did!

While many of the tricks sold by magic dealers are of the highest quality and will no doubt impress and astound your audience, you will quickly learn that it is more enjoyable to perform magic without expensive props. Just a simple deck of cards or a few borrowed coins is enough to work miracles, once you have learned the art of manipulation. Only then will you truly have the impression of making magic. Only then can you truly call yourself a magician. The art of magic is about creating out-and-out illusions, and learning to combine tricks that involving skill and tricks that rely on props is an important part of that. From the public’s perspective, everything should depend on your skill, your knowledge of secrets, and the air of mystery that surrounds you.