The Online Magic Store Blog: Magic Explained

Who was John Nevil Maskelyne?

The Cheltenham watchmaker who exposed the Davenport Brothers, ran the Egyptian Hall for 31 years, wrote Sharps and Flats and started a magi…

A coil of hemp rope on a woven mat beside a lidded wicker basket in a sunlit stone courtyard

The Indian rope trick: the famous trick that was never performed

How a hoax newspaper story from 1890 turned the Indian rope trick into a world-famous trick that nobody ever performed.

An empty Edwardian theatre stage seen from the wings, with footlights and an ornate prop table

Who was Chung Ling Soo? The magician behind the mask

The life of William Ellsworth Robinson, the American who performed as Chung Ling Soo, his rivalry with Ching Ling Foo and his death during …

Antique iron handcuffs and chain beside an old steamer trunk in a shaft of dusty light

Who was Harry Houdini? From King of Cards to escape legend

Harry Houdini went from card magician to world-famous escape artist, then spent his last years exposing fake mediums.

A deck of cards and a glass on a round wooden table in a dim club library

Who was Dai Vernon? The Professor who fooled Houdini

Dai Vernon, known as The Professor, fooled Houdini with a card trick and shaped modern close-up magic from his base at the Magic Castle.

An empty vaudeville stage with a long painted illusion box on trestles and an antique crosscut saw

The history of sawing a woman in half

How P. T. Selbit, Horace Goldin and Robert Harbin turned sawing a woman in half into one of magic’s most famous stage illusions.

A magician’s worktable with a top hat, red silk, brass cups, a ring, a wand and a lit candle on dark velvet

The 7 Types of Magic Tricks: Every Illusion Explained

Transformation, teleportation, production, vanish, levitation, penetration and restoration: the seven basic effects behind almost every mag…

Four polished steel linking rings on black velvet, two of them linked together

The Chinese linking rings: a history of magic’s great metal mystery

Where the linking rings come from, from an eighteenth-century Japanese book to Philippe’s Paris stage and the three-ring routines of today.

Three performers’ hands: one showing a single card, one cutting packets, one holding a fan of cards

Card Magic vs Cardistry vs Card Manipulation: What's the Difference?

Card magic, card manipulation and cardistry compared: what each one is, how they differ, and which to learn first.

A nineteenth-century magician’s study with a clockwork automaton, an orange tree and a candlelit desk

Who was Robert-Houdin, the father of modern magic?

Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin turned conjuring into elegant theatre in 1840s Paris and gave Houdini his name; here is his story, his famous ill…

Hands arranging silver coins on a black mat beside a jeweller’s loupe and a velvet pouch

Coin gimmick combinations: why magicians mix shells, flippers and magnets

Why coin magicians combine shells, flippers, folding and magnetic coins in one routine, how it works in principle, and the risks.

A silver coin standing on its edge against a small black magnet on a wooden table

Magnetic coins explained: what they are and how magicians use them

What magnetic and steel core coins are, the principle behind them, and where they fit in real coin routines.

A silver coin balanced on the fingertips of an open hand

Flipper coins explained: mechanics and handling

What a flipper coin is, where it came from, how magnetic and elastic versions differ, and how to handle one so the change looks like magic.

Two silver coins stacked on dark velvet beside a jeweller’s loupe

Coin shells explained: weight, balance and types

What a coin shell is, how expanded, regular and shim shells differ, and why weight, balance and fit decide whether a shell fools anyone.

A hand holding up a single red-backed playing card with a blur of motion beside it

Classic effects with flap cards

The classic flap card effects, from the visible change and double change to the torn corner and colour change, and when to use each.

A hand holding a single red-backed playing card at an angle over dark velvet

Flap cards: mechanics and theory

What a flap card is, the principle behind the hinged half-card, and why the seam, grip and timing matter more than the gaff.

A solid clear acrylic block the size of a deck beside a face-down deck of playing cards

The Omni family: how the clear-deck idea evolved

How the Omni idea grew from a deck that turns into clear plastic to pens, coins and props with a second surprise inside.

A clear transparent marker and its cap beside a white card and red-backed playing cards

What is the Omni Pen? The clear Sharpie explained

What the Omni Pen is, who made its routines, how it builds on the Omni Deck and whether it is worth adding to your act.

A clear acrylic disc beside an ordinary silver coin on black velvet

Omni Coin explained: the coin that turns clear

What the Omni Coin is, how it grew out of the Omni Deck, where it fits in a set and how to build the coin skills it needs.

A close-up table with cards in front of rows of chairs and a lit stage with a red curtain

Close-Up vs Parlour vs Stage Magic: What's the Difference?

Close-up, parlour and stage magic compared: audience size, distance, props, and which style to start with.

A hand holding up a clear block shaped like a deck of cards above scattered red-backed cards

Omni Deck explained: the card trick that ends in solid plastic

What the Omni Deck is, who it is credited to, what the audience sees and how to learn it, without giving away the secret.

A hand pushing one red-backed card out of a ribbon spread on green felt

Forcing decks: all cards identical

How one-way, two-way and three-way forcing decks guarantee the chosen card, and the handling habits that keep them secret.

A jeweller’s loupe over the back of a red playing card on dark wood, a fan of cards behind

Marked decks: types and systems

The published types of marked deck, from block-out and cut-out to juice and luminous readers, and how magicians use them honestly.

A Victorian dressing table by candlelight with a spool of black thread, a needle, beeswax and white gloves

The history of thread magic: from a single hair to elastic loops

From a hair in a 1584 exposé to Victorian black silk and modern elastic loops, here is how thread magic developed.