Pick Your Perfect Trick

Force and Reveal

Most magicians have had the experience of performing something that should have been strong — solid method, clear effect — and watching it land softer than expected. And then, just as

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Performing Magic

The Silence of the Hams?

When I was younger, I learned pretty quickly how to say things that got a reaction. Sometimes that was practical. A well-timed line can cover a secret action. Sometimes it was emotional.
Perfecting Your Magic

From Frustration to Flow

When Steve Reynolds taught his landmark Zarrow Shuffle course, we saw fifty magicians of every level transform over three short sessions. What happened in that room became one of the clearest demonstrations I’ve ever seen of how to move from effort to ease—from frustration to flow.
Perfecting Your Magic

The Real Secret to the Zarrow Shuffle

When I first saw a Zarrow, I was fifteen, outside Al’s Magic Shop. A local magician—who’d taken a few lessons from Darwin Ortiz—riffle-shuffled on the table and I saw nothing. Not a twitch. It was perfectly invisible. I chased that for years. Books, tapes, late nights. Still never looked like that first one.
Perfecting Your Magic

Why “Natural” Is the Last Thing You Should Try to Look

Every magician worries about looking natural. We obsess over it. We film from every angle, hunt for flashes, and try to move the way “real” people move when they aren’t thinking about being watched. And yet — after decades in this craft — I’ve learned the irony hiding in plain sight: The harder you try to look natural, the less natural you’ll ever be.