With tens of thousands of magic tutorial videos on YouTube, this article will help you sort through the endless amateur videos and learn professional magic tricks and effects from some of magic’s newest innovators.
No one can deny the influence YouTube has had on the internet. With over 800 million unique users a month and roughly 60 hours of video uploaded each minute, YouTube utilizes as much bandwidth each year as the rest of the internet combined. If one goes searching, you’ll find videos on virtually everything imaginable and tutorials on tens of thousands of different subjects – magic not being the least of them.
Because of the secrecy surrounding magic and the practice and performance of magic tricks, videos on YouTube attempting to disclose these secrets are endless. Search for ‘easy magic tricks’ or ‘magic trick tutorials’ and the results will number in the tens of thousands. Unfortunately, quantity far exceeds the actual quality. The number of young and/or inexperienced video posters probably outnumber the good ones at least fifty to one.
This brings us back to our original question.. can you actually learn magic from YouTube?
First, I’m not going to get in to the moral and philosophical question of whether or not one should publish magic tutorials on YouTube. The videos are there.. and they are NOT going away. Second, many of the videos demonstrate effects and variations of effects and techniques that are readily available in classic magic publications and obtainable by anyone with a library card or a credit card and internet access. I’m not going to get in to copyrighted vs. public domain either. If a tutorial is of copyrighted material, then the copyright holder can request the material (video) be removed.
That said, lets assume the videos we’re talking about are legal and/or original.
Personally, I have discovered several magic channels on YouTube that regularly publish outstanding tutorials. If you want to learn card magic, card tricks, and both mental and mathematical magic card tricks, you can learn enough impressive magic to keep you busy for months. Same for magic with paper, silks, matches, dice, balloons, birds, coins, magnets, glass bottles and a host of other forms of magic.
There are also categories of magic ideal of street magic, parlour magic, and walk around magic. Exploration of YouTube will disclose tricks and effects you’ll not find in print.
As diverse as the subject matter, YouTube’s one big drawback is the time limit. Since most videos are limited to ten minutes or less, all the nuances and fine points that make an effect magical are usually missing. This is the argument for magic books, extended DVDs, and mentoring. Some things simply cannot be taught in a matter of minutes.
Although I am a fan of methods of learning that offer me the greatest chance of success, I can’t ignore YouTube. There is simply too much material, too much original thinking and ideas, and too many video tutorials for me to choose to pass on this endless pool of resources.
If you want to discover the best YouTube has to offer, search for ‘magic trick tutorials’, and ‘card trick tutorials’. Also, Google search for ‘best YouTube magic trick channels’.
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