The Online Magic Store Blog

A pendulum hanging over an open palm

How to do the pendulum trick: the swing that reads your mind

Learn the pendulum trick, where a ring on a thread follows a volunteer’s thoughts, and the ideomotor science that explains why it moves.

How to do the pendulum trick: the swing that reads your mind
A deck of cards sitting on the edge of a table with a pencil and notepad

How to do the down-under deal card trick

Learn the self-working down-under deal card trick, where a chosen card survives a simple “one down, one under” deal, and the maths behind i…

How to do the down-under deal card trick
A close-up mat, a deck and a laptop on a home desk

Magic tricks for team building: a buyer’s guide

How to use magic at a team-building event, whether you perform for the group or teach everyone a trick, with four pieces from our shelves a…

Magic tricks for team building: a buyer’s guide
A wooden stage floor with chalk marks and a single top hat

Magic tricks for your first open mic: a buyer’s guide

How to choose and plan a short magic set for your first open mic night, with four pieces from our shelves and two free books on presentatio…

Magic tricks for your first open mic: a buyer’s guide
Linking rings in a dark studio catching a hard side light

Silent magic tricks: a buyer’s guide

How to choose magic you can perform to music without saying a word, with four visual pieces from our shelves and two free books on manipula…

Silent magic tricks: a buyer’s guide
A deck inside a wooden practice tray with a felt lining

Card magic for intermediate magicians: a buyer’s guide

How to choose your next step in card magic once the basics feel easy, with four card books from working professionals and two free classics…

Card magic for intermediate magicians: a buyer’s guide
Red sponge balls on a green mat beside a closed hand

Magic tricks for parents to do with kids: a buyer’s guide

How to choose magic to learn and perform with your kids, from easy kits you can learn together to tricks that happen in their hands and fre…

Magic tricks for parents to do with kids: a buyer’s guide
Silk scarves in red, gold and blue flowing out of a closed fist

Visual magic tricks for noisy rooms: a buyer’s guide

How to choose magic for loud parties, bars and receptions, with visual tricks that need no explanation, quick resets and props that read fr…

Visual magic tricks for noisy rooms: a buyer’s guide
An empty theatre stage with red velvet curtains and footlights

Magic tricks for public speakers: a buyer’s guide

How to choose a magic trick for a talk or keynote, with pieces the whole room can see, reveals that carry your message and free books on pr…

Magic tricks for public speakers: a buyer’s guide
A packed travel case with magic props neatly arranged

Magic tricks for trade shows: a buyer’s guide

How to choose magic for a trade show booth, with short, repeatable tricks that reset fast, ones that use a business card, and props that st…

Magic tricks for trade shows: a buyer’s guide
A deck and a cup of black coffee on a café table in morning light

Magic tricks you can do sitting down: a buyer’s guide

How to choose magic you can do seated at a table, with four close-up picks from our shelves and a free book on the cups and balls.

Magic tricks you can do sitting down: a buyer’s guide
A mug of tea, a deck and a pair of glasses on a windowsill

Magic tricks for introverts: a buyer’s guide

How to choose magic if you’d rather not hold the floor, with quiet one-to-one tricks, ready-made patter and pieces where the prop does the …

Magic tricks for introverts: a buyer’s guide
A birthday cake with candles beside a magic wand

Magic tricks for adult birthday parties: a buyer’s guide

How to choose magic for an adult birthday party, with four tricks from our shelves that put the birthday person at the centre.

Magic tricks for adult birthday parties: a buyer’s guide
A back-to-school desk with a beginner magic set and notebook

Magic tricks for scouts and youth clubs: a buyer’s guide

How to choose magic for a scout troop or youth club, with two beginner kits, free ebooks and self-working tricks a whole group can learn.

Magic tricks for scouts and youth clubs: a buyer’s guide
A backstage prop table with wands, hats and boxes in dim light

The history of the multiplying billiard balls

Where the multiplying billiard balls come from, from de Kolta’s billiard-ball trick in Hoffmann’s More Magic (1890) to August Roterberg’s f…

The history of the multiplying billiard balls
A top hat upside down on a table with a white silk in it

The history of the egg bag

The egg bag from Isaac Fawkes at Bartholomew Fair in the 1700s to Hoffmann’s Modern Magic (1876) and the routines magicians perform today.

The history of the egg bag
A pocket watch hanging from a chain over a dark table

The history of the ball and vase

Where the ball and vase comes from, from Hoffmann’s Modern Magic (1876) to the wooden and plastic vases of the 20th century.

The history of the ball and vase
Rows of empty velvet theatre seats seen from the stage

Who was Horace Goldin?

The life of Horace Goldin, “The Whirlwind Illusionist”, who presented his own sawing-through-a-woman illusion in 1921 and patented it in 19…

Who was Horace Goldin?
An antique magician’s trunk with brass corners on a stage

Who was P. T. Selbit?

The life of P. T. Selbit, the London magician who presented sawing through a woman at the Finsbury Park Empire in 1921.

Who was P. T. Selbit?
Folded paper billets in a small brass bowl

Who was Ted Annemann?

The life of Ted Annemann, the American mentalist who founded The Jinx in 1934 and wrote 202 Methods of Forcing.

Who was Ted Annemann?
A black-and-white magic wand lying across an open book

Who was Okito?

The life of Okito, Theo Bamberg of the Dutch Bamberg magic family, Thurston’s hand-shadow artist and the name behind the Okito box.

Who was Okito?
A stage illusion cabinet painted black and gold under lights

Who was Servais Le Roy?

The life of Servais Le Roy, the Belgian illusion designer behind the act Le Roy, Talma and Bosco and the Asrah levitation.

Who was Servais Le Roy?
A 1920s magic poster wall, posters too blurred to read

Who was David Devant?

The life of David Devant, the English stage magician who partnered John Nevil Maskelyne, showed some of Britain’s first films and was the f…

Who was David Devant?
Three brass cups stacked on a dark table with a small ball

Who was Bartolomeo Bosco?

The life of Bartolomeo Bosco, the Italian conjuror from Turin who survived Napoleon’s Russian campaign and became famous across Europe for …

Who was Bartolomeo Bosco?