Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Smart Course in Magic: Secrets, Staging, Tricks, Tips
    Smart Course in Magic: Secrets, Staging, Tricks, Tips
    Smart Course in Magic: Secrets, Staging, Tricks, Tips
    Ebook248 pages1 hour

    Smart Course in Magic: Secrets, Staging, Tricks, Tips

    By Nakul Shenoy

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook


    Learn to do magic from one of India's most thrilling performers.Magic is about the ability to convince. It is about performance. You don't fool your audience, you amaze and entertain them. Nakul Shenoy, mind reader and internationally successful magician, can teach you how.Smart Course in Magic is a simple and effective off-the-shelf course that teaches the craft as it should be: focusing on the theory of performance and presentation. Whether you want to take up magic as a hobby or improve your skills as a professional performer, this is the book to set you on your way.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCollins
    Release dateJan 1, 2015
    ISBN9789351363071
    Smart Course in Magic: Secrets, Staging, Tricks, Tips
    Author

    Nakul Shenoy

    NAKUL SHENOY is the Mind Reader - an expert magician and hypnotist based in Bangalore, India. A speaker and entertainer on topics of communication and people behaviour, he travels the world addressing elite audiences drawn from top corporates. Having taken to magic at the age of five, via his fascination for the comic book series 'Mandrake the Magician', Nakul performed his first public show at the age of fifteen. Twenty years on, he continues on his self-professed journey to be 'a real-life Mandrake'. A compulsive reader 'on every topic under the sun and beyond', he haunts Twitter as @nakulshenoy. You can also connect with him at www.nakulshenoy.com.

    Related to Smart Course in Magic

    Related ebooks

    Crafts & Hobbies For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Master Of The Cards

      May 1, 2020

      Master Of The Cards
      14 min read

    • Article

      Magic In A Bottle

      Aug 17, 2019

      Magic In A Bottle
      5 min read

    • Article

      Master Of The Cards Cards

      May 1, 2020

      Master Of The Cards Cards
      14 min read

    • Article

      Now You See It

      Sep 1, 2020

      Now You See It
      5 min read

    • Article

      It’s A Kind Of Magic…

      Mar 17, 2023

      It’s A Kind Of Magic…
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mind Reader Extraordinaire

      Aug 22, 2022

      Mind Reader Extraordinaire
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Unique Estate Planning Idea: How to Write Your Memoir

      Jul 6, 2018

      Do you sometimes feel like your life isn't valuable? Everyone does at one point or another. I've interviewed all kinds of impressive people about their legacies, and you know the most-common response I get? "My life isn't that interesting." Some of t

      6 min read

    • Article

      The truth HURTS

      Jun 11, 2019

      The truth HURTS
      4 min read

    • Article

      IMPROV Your Life

      Oct 25, 2022

      Tom Young is an improvisor, founding member of The Same Faces improv group, and an organiser of The British Improv Project. british improvproject.com Emma Hackett is a wellbeing coach who works with people who are chronically stressed, drawing on p

      6 min read

    • Article

      Do You Have The Charm-factor?

      Jun 17, 2021

      Do You Have The Charm-factor?
      8 min read

    • Article

      Picture book PITFALLS

      Aug 4, 2022

      Picture book PITFALLS
      5 min read

    • Article

      Witching Hour

      Dec 19, 2023

      Witching Hour
      4 min read

    • Article

      Once Up On A TIME

      Mar 16, 2021

      You may think fairy tales are simple stories full of childhood joy and magic, but there’s more to these narratives than meets the eye! From Snow White to Cinderella, these stories borrow from folklore and mythology, and are littered with archetypes a

      4 min read

    • Article

      How To Get Discovered

      Dec 1, 2022

      How To Get Discovered
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Creative Hero’s Journey: 5 Reasons You Should Write Your Book, Paint Your Picture, Sing Your Song

      Dec 9, 2021

      Estimated reading time: 10 minutes — I used to be a professional disease hunter, a board-certified surgical pathologist. I was the M.D. in a white coat who stared at your skin (or breast, brain or bone, etc.) biopsy under the microscope and let your

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Rules Of Magic

      Dec 7, 2023

      The Rules Of Magic
      5 min read

    • Article

      Springboard To Success

      Jul 6, 2023

      Springboard To Success
      6 min read

    • Article

      Maximize Your Mind

      May 18, 2021

      Maximize Your Mind
      9 min read

    • Article

      Jessica Jane Peterson

      Oct 1, 2022

      Jessica Jane Peterson
      4 min read

    • Article

      Todd Oldham

      Mar 13, 2018

      Todd Oldham
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Things We Can’t Control Are Beautiful

      Jul 8, 2020

      Poker players like to brag they win with skill not luck. So do investment bankers. Scientists. And writers. Skill, we insist, is our ticket to success. Who can blame us? It’s a useful delusion to bank our identity on skill, says Maria Konnikova. We c

      13 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Smart Course in Magic

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Smart Course in Magic - Nakul Shenoy

      Foreword

      Peter Lamont

      I first met Nakul when he was a student in Udupi, an extremely bright young man, who was also a magician, and a very knowledgeable one. He was bright in the full sense of the word; not just intelligent, but hungry for knowledge – always asking questions.

      I was lecturing at the wonderful Gili Gili convention organized by the magician Prof. Shankar, and it was around then that Nakul interviewed me about my work. If I had known the interview would end up being published here, I would have tried to be more interesting. But it felt like no more than an extension of our ongoing conversation, one in which he was always asking questions.

      Since then, Nakul has gained something of a reputation in India and further afield. He is known to many of the finest minds in the esoteric worlds of magic and mentalism, and has exchanged ideas with them in Europe and America. In our own conversations, online and in person, in India and Scotland, we have discussed many topics. Over the years, Nakul has retained his insatiable appetite for knowledge. He continues to ask questions. But he is also asked questions, and he is able to answer them.

      When I was unsure about how to lecture to a roomful of Indian magicians, it was Nakul I asked. When an American documentary film-maker wanted a reliable source on magic in India, it was Nakul I asked. When I am curious about possible research topics (which might give me an excuse to return to India), it is Nakul I ask. And if I wanted an introductory book on magic … but then there is no need to ask, because he has already done it.

      It is hard to find the right introduction to magic, and I honestly do not know if there is a better one than this book. Read it carefully, there is much to learn, and soon you will be asking your own questions. When you do, remember that no matter how good this book is, it does not contain all the answers. Magic is something that needs to be performed, and some answers can only be found in experience.

      Dr Peter Lamont is an author, magician, historian and a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

      Introduction

      Michael Weber

      You Are Not a Magician

      After you have learnt one or more tricks from this book, you will not be a magician; in spite of Nakul’s best intentions, you will be a person who knows how to do some tricks. It is not a bad thing to not be a magician, most people aren’t. If you want to become a magician, you can, but just knowing the secrets to magic tricks is not even the beginning of the beginning of becoming a magician. Be aware that the path to truly becoming a magician is long, challenging and completely worth every bit of effort. It is the most wonderful thing you can be.

      If knowing how the tricks work is not enough, what more does it take, what more can you do? Here are some sincere observations and suggestions that come from my magical journey that has lasted close to a half-century.

      Secrets Matter

      Do not give in to the temptation to reveal how your tricks work. Do not expose the workings of the tricks of other magicians. Our magical secrets are both powerful and fragile at the same time. Apprentice magicians respect the teachings of real magicians and are appreciative of the secrets shared along the path. To expose or explain a trick to your audience, your friends, your family or the public is proof that you do not have what is required to become a magician. The true magician understands that we do not keep secrets from our audiences; we keep secrets for our audiences.

      Never Repeat a Trick

      The performance of magic is a gift from the magician to his audience. It is a rare, special and important gift of wonder. Just as you cannot give the same gift to the same person twice, you cannot twice give a person the gift of the same piece of magic. The second time lacks the original surprise and risks reducing a moment of wonder to a mere puzzle. There are times when you will feel pressured or tempted to repeat a performance for the same audience; always resist this thought.

      You Are One Per Cent

      Magic is an art that is powerful enough to support a weak performer. The secrets are simple but deep, and tested by time. Just because you receive positive reactions do not instantly believe your work is done. Most likely, your work is only beginning. At first, 99 per cent of the praise you receive will be earned by the trick itself. Over time, the magic will become a part of you, and you and your magic will move closer to a 50-50 partnership.

      ‘So Much The Better’

      The real magic is the magician, the tricks are a means of expressing the magic. The most important element in any performance is the connection between the performer and his audience. When I was eight or nine years old, a wonderful magician, humorist and storyteller named Senator Clarke Crandall watched me perform. Afterwards, he took me aside and said, ‘Young man, you are a talented young magician and you have a nice way about you. So I’m going to tell you a secret: if you can do a card trick and tell a story and make them like you, that’s good. But if you can drop the card trick, so much the better.’

      The Connection

      The smartest, best and most talented performers I know understand the importance of connection. Real connection with your audience is something you cannot fake. We can truly connect with our audiences by telling the truth – not about how the tricks work, but about why the tricks we perform matter to us. The connection comes when the audience decides that the ‘why’ also matters to them.

      Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Self-Loathing

      The best way for you to perform magic is your own way – the one you discover through trying many different stories and presentations, by varying the objects you use to perform the tricks. It is greatly tempting to copy the presentation and style of performers we admire, but this is neither fair to them nor ourselves, and certainly not to our audiences. Because the ‘why’ is one of the most important aspects of your magical performance, taking someone else’s presentation is also taking their ‘why’. Find your own path, and you will be a more powerful and worthy magician for it.

      There Is No Misdirection

      You will read and hear about something called ‘misdirection’. It is often described as a technique to leading the audience’s attention away from the thing you do not want them to see or notice. In reality, there is no ‘misdirection’, only direction. You must understand that good direction will provide you with everything you need. Your audience will be more likely to look where you look. So learn to execute sleights and secret manoeuvres without looking at your hands. It is also important to direct your audience’s attention to the correct places and ‘facts’ during your performance so that they do not miss the moment of magic. When you hear your audience remark ‘you made me look away’ or ‘I didn’t see it’, they are telling you that your direction needs more work.

      The Power of Presentation

      Presentation is the way you perform a trick. It can include the words you say, the story you tell and even the objects you use. Presentation and story are deeply connected to the ‘why’ of your performance – so the more you understand your ‘why’, the easier it will be for you to craft an effective performance. In the end, it is about telling a story based on a feeling or idea that you believe in and care about and that story connects you to your audience because they believe and care about it as well. For example, this book will teach you how to craft and manipulate a little book that can be shown to have blank pages, or shown to contain printing and images.

      Here is a sample presentation you can try:

      ‘People are always asking me to tell them how my tricks work, they want to know the secrets. The truth is that the secrets are only the seeds from which mysteries can grow. Telling you one of the secrets would be like giving you one apple seed when you wanted me to give you an apple. Magic has the secret growing at its core, but it takes a long time and a lot of care to make the seed grow into the apple. Here is a little book in which I keep my secrets, but even my secrets have secrets. If I was to lose this booklet, the secrets would still be safe because there is nothing written on the pages. But because I am a magician, I can make the secrets appear by simply blowing on the pages, but only for a moment. As soon as the warmth of my breath fades, so does the writing in the book.’

      As you can surmise, by simply adding some handwriting to the alternate pages, you can have a small object to carry in your pocket that can transform a moment of audience interrogation into a moment of magic, power and control – all based on presentation. Remember, whoever tells the best story, wins.

      The Single Perfect Miracle

      You will likely not hear or read about this secret from other magicians, but it is true and real and important. The most powerful magic you can perform is a single, perfect miracle. This is the right trick, for the right audience, at the right time, in the right place.

      You can craft these miracles by thinking about your audiences in advance. Where might you want to perform? What will be there? Who will be there? What do they know? What do they care about? By discovering the answers to these questions, you will be able to choose the perfect trick for the perfect time and the result will be better, more magical and more memorable than any two-hour stage show filled with big illusions.

      As you read about the history of magic and great magic performances, the stories which are told over and over are descriptions not of shows or routines, but of miracles that were performed at the right time for the right audience. Read about Max Malini and his Block of Ice production, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin and his Light and Heavy

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1