Category: Magic

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.

 

The first field that people may think about that’s not related to an office, but you can apply real life lessons to, is sports. There’s a reason why so many people have quotes from players and coaches etched into posters, their email signatures, etc. However, the world of magic has just as many valuable life lessons as sports. Don’t believe me? Here are five principles used in magic that you can use in life immediately.

5. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Of all of the magicians that ended up becoming famous on a global scale, you can probably count on one hand how many of them didn’t have a mentor or teammates. Just like in the professional world, you’re not going to make it very far if you’re not a good team player. Magicians learn from each other, share experiences and help to propel their peers to the next level. This is generally great life advice, as you need to lift people up and, in turn, they will lift you.

4. Impress Yourself First

Have you ever had a time where you find yourself doing something and think “what’s the point?” These are feelings we get when we may accomplish a task we believe nobody will be impressed by. However, if finishing that task made you feel proud and impressed, it doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks. This applies to magic, as well, with some magicians’ favorite tricks being ones that aren’t massive crowd pleasers. As long as it makes you happy, that’s all that matters.

3. Cause and Effect

In everything in life, including magic, there is a cause and effect. After all, every action has a reaction. “We need to believe in free will to live,” magician Penn Gilette said. “Part of built into the way we live in order to remain sane is cause and effect. And in magic, you have separated cause and effect. You have a false cause and an unrelated effect very often.”

2. Misdirection

One thing that you absolutely must be able to perfect as a magician is the art of misdirection. This may sound like a shady thing because the first thought that pops up is lying to people by drawing their attention to something else. However, the magician’s form of misdirection has a more innocent connotation. Think of misdirection as putting someone at ease because they feel confident that they know the right answer. Misdirection is more of a teaching tool in terms of psychology in that people shouldn’t believe what they see or jump to conclusions too quickly.

1. Practice Makes Perfect

Whether or not you fully got into magic, there was a time when you were a kid and saw a magic trick and tried to replicate it yourself. Many aspiring magicians tend to give up pretty quickly after finding out just how hard it is to pull off a lot of the tricks, but there’s a tenacity you can learn from magic. Those that end up at the top of the field practice their craft until they can do it without thinking. This applies to just about any professional situation. Think of it like a basketball free throw, where some can do it with their eyes closed because they’ve practiced for so long.