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LearnMagic

Your First Week of Magic

Seven days from complete beginner to performing for a friend.

The path we recommend to everyone starting from zero. Each day introduces one trick and one performing skill, and the whole week takes about twenty minutes a day. By Sunday you will have a short set you can do anywhere, with nothing but your hands and whatever is on the table.

Steps
7 steps · 4 tricks
Time
~20 min per session
Made for
Absolute beginners, age 8 and up

By the end you'll have

  • Three tricks you can perform without thinking about the method
  • A reliable way to direct where people look
  • Comfort performing for a real person, not just a mirror
  • A habit of practising in front of a camera or mirror

The path

Step 1 of 7

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  1. Start with a trick that cannot fail

    Learn a self-working trick so all your attention goes to how you present it.

    Practice: Run it three times start to finish. Say every word out loud, even alone — silent practice teaches silent performing.

    Open lesson: The Self-Working Card Prediction

  2. Learn to hide a move in plain sight

    Your first real sleight. The French Drop teaches the single most useful habit in magic: acting as if the lie were true.

    Practice: Twenty slow repetitions in front of a mirror. Alternate real takes and secret takes until you cannot tell them apart.

    Open lesson: The Vanishing Coin

  3. Add a trick you can do with borrowed objects

    Something impromptu, so you are never caught without a trick.

    Practice: Do it once for a family member. Watch their face, not your hands.

    Open lesson: The Jumping Rubber Band

  4. Practise your eyes, not your fingers

    No new trick today. Perform yesterday's three tricks while keeping your eyes exactly where the audience should look — on the hand that supposedly holds the coin, on the spectator when you ask a question.

    Practice: Film one run on your phone. Watch it back with the sound off and notice where your eyes go.

  5. Learn a mind-reading effect

    Mental magic needs no hand skill at all, and it hits harder than most sleight of hand.

    Practice: Perform it for two different people. Notice how the reaction changes when you slow down the reveal.

    Open lesson: The Mind-Reading Number

  6. Build your three-trick set

    Pick your three strongest tricks and put them in order: quick opener, something with a longer story, then your best one last. A set is a small show, and order matters.

    Practice: Run the whole set twice without stopping, even if you fumble. Recovering smoothly is a skill of its own.

  7. Perform for someone real

    One kind person, in a quiet moment, in good light. That is your debut. Ask afterwards which moment felt the most impossible — their answer tells you what to keep.

    Practice: After the show, write down one thing that worked and one thing to fix. That note is the start of your second week.

Every lesson in this path

FeaturedBeginner
Card Tricks10 min

The Self-Working Card Prediction

A spectator cuts the deck anywhere — and you've already predicted the exact card they cut to.

EasyPlaying cardsPaper
Learn this trick
FeaturedBeginner
Coin Tricks10 min

The Vanishing Coin

Make a borrowed coin melt into thin air, then reappear wherever you choose.

EasyCoins
Learn this trick
FeaturedBeginner
Party Tricks5 min

The Jumping Rubber Band

A rubber band teleports from your first two fingers to your last two — visibly, instantly.

EasyRubber bands
Learn this trick
FeaturedBeginner
Mind Reading5 min

The Mind-Reading Number

A spectator thinks of any number, does secret math in their head — and you reveal their final thought.

EasyNo materials
Learn this trick

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