Magic tricks for team building: a buyer’s guide

At a team event, magic works best when the team takes part, not just watches. Either perform tricks where several people shuffle, choose and hold the cards, or run a short session where everyone learns a simple self-working trick and performs it for a colleague. Keep it short, keep it kind, and make the group the hero.

Magic can break the ice at an offsite, liven up a team meeting or give a remote team something to talk about. This guide covers the two ways to use it, what to look for when you buy, four pieces from our shelves and two free books full of puzzles for a team round.

What are the two ways to use magic for team building?

• Perform with the group. You do the magic, but several people shuffle, choose and reveal. Let the strongest moments happen in their hands.
• Teach the group. Everyone learns one self-working trick, then performs it for a partner. Learning a secret together and fooling each other can get people talking.

For a teaching session, these free tutorials of ours are self-working: the 1089 number trick, the magic number nine trick, the princess card trick and the age cards trick.

What should you look for when you buy?

Question	Why it matters for a team event
Do several people take part?	The more hands on the cards, the more the trick belongs to the team.
Is it self-working or close to it?	You can focus on the people, not the method.
Does anyone get put on the spot?	Choose tricks where volunteers look clever, not foolish.
Can you repeat it with different results?	A trick that works for several small groups in turn suits a room split into tables.

What helps you take it further?

These four come from our shelves and suit a team event. Every detail below is from the product’s own description.

• Infinity Deck by Craig Petty & Lloyd Barnes: a deck of pictures that does over 20 tricks straight out of the box, taught in a six-hour tutorial. In one routine, four participants each shuffle a pile of cards and think of a card, and you name all four, even from out of the room. The description says most of the tricks are almost self-working.
• Savant Deck by Craig Petty & Lloyd Barnes: with your back turned, the cards are shuffled, a participant cuts off a pile and spreads it face up, and you turn round for less than a second and name the total value. It’s a full deck printed by the USPCC that can be examined and shuffled, with over a dozen effects in a three-hour-plus tutorial. Some routines need extra props.
• The Deck of Fortune by Liam Montier: three predictions marked past, present and future, a spectator freely names any three cards and chooses which prediction each one goes with, and all three match. It comes with a custom fortune-telling deck, and the description says it is self-working with no secret moves.
• Unreal by Bruce Bernstein: a 242-page linen hardcover of mentalism with slips of paper, cards and money, plus ten essays. The description says none of it needs complicated sleight of hand and all of it is within the skill set of the average mentalist.

For more mind reading that suits a group, browse our easy mentalism collection.

Are there free books that help?

• Puzzles Old and New by Professor Hoffmann (1893) is a free 416-page collection of puzzles with their solutions: matchstick and coin problems, card and domino puzzles, arithmetical teasers and catch questions. Good for a puzzle round between tables.
• Mathematical Recreations and Essays by W. W. Rouse Ball (tenth edition, 1922) is a free 394-page classic of mathematical puzzles and amusements, including arithmetical card tricks, magic squares, the Tower of Hanoi and string figures with a dozen string tricks.

Both are public-domain scans of library copies, so expect the odd stain or stamp. See all our free ebooks.

How do you run a short magic session for a team?

1. Open with one strong trick. Perform one piece with several volunteers to set the mood.
2. Teach one self-working trick. Walk everyone through it step by step, with a deck or paper for each pair.
3. Pair up. Each person performs it for a partner, then swaps.
4. Perform for another pair. Fooling people who didn’t learn the same trick is the fun part.
5. Close with a group moment. End on a trick where the whole room takes part, so everyone leaves together.

What are the common mistakes?

• Making someone the joke. At work, a volunteer’s colleagues are watching. Make every volunteer look good.
• Performing for too long. Team building is about the team. Keep your own spot short.
• Teaching a trick that needs practice. In a short session, self-working tricks are the safest choice.
• Forgetting the room. Check that everyone can see, or move to small tables.

Frequently asked questions