Different Kinds of Magic

There are different kinds of performance magic. The sooner a future magician can decide what type of magic they are going pursue the better. The benefits of a decision made sooner are those of cost and time. Being indecisive about the type of magic can be very costly because you may end up buying several props, books, dvds and/or lessons you may never use in your magical career.

That being said, this decision-making process is something that each magician must go through. I have compiled a brief pro and con list of the major types of magic to assist you in making that decision.

CLOSE UP MAGIC

Description:  This type of magic is performed “very close up”. The audience is often just on the other side of a table. The magician often requires an audience member to assist in the performance. This type of magic is performed with ordinary items, such as cards, coins, rubber bands, etc.

Pros:  Props are inexpensive and they pack up small. The magician often does not require a special performing environment.  In some cases, the magic can be performed while surrounded by your audience. This type of magic frequently uses borrowed items, adding to the legitimacy of the magic.

Con:  Due to the small prop size, audiences must be close to the magician. This in turn makes audience sizes small. The lower number of people in the audience the lowers the revenue. Often this type of magic depends more on sleight-of-hand or a high level of dexterity. This skill can take years to develop.

PARLOR MAGIC

Description:  This type of magic is performed in a large room. The magician would be at one end of the room and the audience would be at the other. Audience members are seldom seated to the side of the room and are never behind the magician. This type of magic is performed with larger props. Silks, ropes, tubes, bottles, and balls are among the common props.

Pros: Larger props allow the audience to be further away from the magician. This is the  compromise between close-up and parlor magic. Props are often portable and can be brought in the trunk of a car. Because the performing environment is more flexible than stage magic, it is a popular choice for a show to be performed in a residential home. This is the type of show used most often for kids’ parties.

Cons: The tricks tend to be more angle sensitive than close-up magic. It cannot be performed with audience members behind, below, or to the sides of the magician. Some effects require that the audience be at a distance from the magician or the audience might see how the trick is done. Props are generally not ordinary items. Tubes and small "magic" boxes fit in this category. Other props can pose as ordinary items, as long as they are viewed at the proper distance and from the proper angle.

STAGE MAGIC

Description:  This type of magic is performed on the large stage, the home of the grand illusion, and includes tricks such as cutting a woman in half and levitating a woman on a broom, or a sword.  Levitating the magician over the audience (flying). All are types of stage magic. Props for this kind of magic are large. They need to be easily seen from the cheap seats in an amphitheater.

Pros: This type of magic has the ability to have the largest audience. Therefore the most revenue. The most famous magicians were stage magicians. Las Vegas books more  stage magic acts than any other kind of magic. More magicians on television do stage acts, than any other kind of act.

Cons: Very expensive props. Often custom built. It is very common to have at least one assistant, sometimes several. As well as a setup and take down crew. If you have your own lighting and sound then you will have personnel to run that as well. This means payroll. You will have people working for you. The stage magic environment is very precise. Lighting, angles, position of the props on the stage, the backdrop, all play a very important part of the show. If it is not orchestrated properly, you can go broke very quickly. Transporting your props will be done in trucks, ether rented or owned. Long trips may require the props to be shipped. To rehearse your show you will need to rent or own a building large enough to accommodate the props, and closely emulate the stage environment.

MENTALISM

Description: Magic of the mind. The demonstration of the magician’s ability to do extra ordinary things using the power of his mind. It could be mind reading (ESP) or moving objects (kinetic), or making a prediction, it is all mentalism. The props are simple, and take on the role of "needed supplies" more than props. The most common times are pads of paper, index cards, envelopes, pens, and pencils. Some might use some form of a blindfold as well.

Pros: This is the one form of magic that at the end of your show, there will be a percentage of the audience that truly believes you have magic powers. Props are generally inexpensive, packs small.

Cons: This type of magic is difficult to practice, due to the need for an audience. Much of mentalism could be explained if you consider that some of the people in the audience are working for the magician (plants). Because of this, the vast majority of mentalists do not use plants. But the mentalist is still faced with proving to the audience that this method in not used. If the audience thinks they know how a trick is done, that is almost as bad as if they really know.

-John