5 Reasons To Start Learning Magic Tricks
People of all walks of life are fascinated by magicians and magic. During any display of the sleight-of-hand arts, audience members watch closely to ascertain how the trick works. But a skilled magician employs techniques that leave people wondering if magic is real. Of course it is. Learning magic tricks proves beneficial to those who know the secrets used to mesmerize others and these are reasons why.
1: Magic Tricks Can Provide Levity In A Tense Situation
True story: a restaurant owner has multiple kitchen staff employees call out on a busy Saturday dinner service. Orders are backing up and seated parties are growing antsy. Serving warm rolls and butter isn’t cutting the mustard any longer as the annoyance factor peaks. Fortunately, a member of the waitstaff works children’s parties performing magic tricks for extra cash.
In an effort to avoid disgruntled customers walking out, the restaurant owner offers the magic arts practitioner extra money to go around and do a few tricks to appease hungry patrons. With a few card tricks and coin-behind-the-ear maneuvers, patrons forget their appetite and applaud the show while the kitchen catches up. When business gets tough, and clients or customers are unhappy, magic tricks put a smile on their faces.
2: Learning Magic Tricks Improves Social Skills
Learning magic tricks tasks people with becoming an audience’s focus. During the training, hobbyists or would-be pros also learn how to use gestures, hand signals, and eye contact in meaningful ways. Magicians also engage in a form of public speaking as they lead people through illusions. A magician is a type of performer who engages people at an intimate level to see things their way. Social skills are learned behavior and performing magic will only enhance your interpersonal knowledge.
3: Performing Magic Tricks Hones Mental Acuity
Everyday people — particularly children — are subjected to short bits of information, images, and tweets that tend to dull cognitive skills. Practicing magic is akin to other disciplines that require heightened mental focus. Learning a new illusion calls for the magician to practice each step over and over. Once perfected, the next step in the series must be repeated again and again. Learning magic requires a step-by-step process that involves full engagement over time. Essentially, learning magic tricks will make you smarter.
4: Learning Magic Improves Dexterity
It may come as something of a surprise but learning magic tricks includes rigorous finger exercises designed to increase hand strength, flexibility, and improve motor skills. Magic tricks involving playing cards, aka “cardistry,” calls for incredibly refined hand and finger skills.
Card cuts, shuffling, and placement are anything but random. The ability to position certain cards without being detected calls for developing the hand-eye coordination often reserved for virtuosos. You may not achieve the mastery of a cellist like Yo-Yo Ma, but you can expect to be better at a great many things that require fine motor skills.
5: Magic Tricks Are A Go-To Icebreaker
Imagine your hosting a party and some of the guests are meeting for the first time. It’s difficult to tell whether they are shy or socially awkward in this setting. But you understand that your valued reputation as a good host is in jeopardy. You change the music up, but that only seems to exasperate the problem. It seems members of the group don’t like the same genres. Now, people are starting to stare at their cell phones. That’s when knowing a few magic tricks truly comes in handy.
There’s a certain innocence and wonder around magic that entertains wide audiences. After just one illusion, people are smiling and naturally interacting with each other. That’s because you provided a common interest that puzzled people enough to talk about how the magic trick was orchestrated. Had you not learned magic, attendance may have been sparse at your next social event.