Magic Props and Gimmicks

Magic props and gimmicks are essential items magicians used in performing magic.

In the course of performing magic, the items used vary from ordinary daily objects in your immediate surroundings or a borrowed objects from the audience to specialized magical items made to create magical effects. Although some items used in performing magic are ordinary objects but they are favorite items used by magicians such as playing cards, silk and ropes.

Tony Slydini, the master of misdirection, used playing cards as well as ropes and cigarettes in performing his magic routines. Other items are made to look ordinary but in actual fact they are not. They look ordinary because we want the audience to believe that they are ordinary. For example, some playing cards are modified in a specific way that certain magical effects could be performed. These items vary from big props used in stage magic to smaller items used in close-up magic, generally referred to as gimmicks.

Stage Magic Routines & Props

In stage magic, there are standard routines performed by stage magicians which we are familiar with as children watching magic show on television. In the field of stage magic, only the more exceptional magicians are able to present more innovative routines which the general public is less exposed to; or they could present a standard routine in a more entertaining manner.

This is due to the fact that the props of stage magicians are pretty standard just as what we have been regularly exposed to. These are pigeons, rabbits, playing cards, guillotine, hat, custom made boxes for assistants to be locked up in, magic wands, silks, rings, etc. As many props for stage magic are relatively big as they are needed to be presented from the stage to audience seated a distance away, they are pretty expensive to purchase.

Thus amateur magicians may find it financially difficult to get more expensive props to incorporate into their repertoire and this is apart from the cost of learning the secrets to performing them.

This is due to the fact that the props of stage magicians are pretty standard just as what we have been regularly exposed to. These are pigeons, rabbits, playing cards, guillotine, hat, custom made boxes for assistants to be locked up in, magic wands, silks, rings, etc. As many props for stage magic are relatively big as they are needed to be presented from the stage to audience seated a distance away, they are pretty expensive to purchase. Thus amateur magicians may find it financially difficult to get more expensive props to incorporate into their repertoire and this is apart from the cost of learning the secrets to performing them.

David Copperfield

If you have watched David Copperfield’s performance, you would have noticed that he is able to perform very simple and standard routines interwoven into a dance with a storyline in it. David Copperfield is able to inject entertainment into his performance that makes his show more interesting than an amateur magician who merely performs the standard routines as performed by many other magicians.

Close-Up Magic & Props

My brief discussion on stage magic is to show that items used in stage magic is standard stage props which we would not be using. What I would like to focus on here are items used in close-up magic. Close-up magic is more relevant to the non-professional magicians (since we are only interested in amusing our friends and ourselves) whether you are just a hobbyist or someone who intend to pursue magic as a profession in the future. The most common objects used are:

1. Playing Cards
2. Coins
3. Balls and Cups
4. Sponge Balls
5. Rubber Bands
6. Ropes
7. Silks
8. ESP Cards
9. Business Cards (Name Cards)
10. Money (Bills)
11. Handkerchief
12. Cutleries from dining tables
13. Invisible Thread

They could be almost any objects lying around you. Among these items, playing cards and coins are among the most common followed by sponge balls and rubber bands. Many close-up magicians are dedicated particularly in the field of card magic and coin magic and the magic tricks devised for playing cards and coins accumulated since early 20th century are numerous and so are the sleights involved in these two types of magic.

ESP Cards are more commonly used by mentalists (mind reading magicians) and magic tricks involving the use of ESP cards can be modified and replaced by normal playing cards generally. The magic act performed by mentalists is known as mentalism.