(Where Top 10 is defined as a handful…)
Top 10 lists are completely subjective — what may make the list for me, might not even show up on your Top 50 list. And even our own individual lists will change over time as we grow. But still, sharing what each of us thinks is important can be a good thing.
I hope you find at least one thing here you didn’t know about that helps you become a better performer.
Here they are in alphabetical order:
The Game Crafter
https://www.thegamecrafter.comYou’ve come up with a neat routine and done your arts and crafts to create a prototype. And it’s cool enough you want to do that routine long-term, so now’s the time to use The Game Crafter to have professional props created. TGC is aimed at people creating board games, but I use them to create props for many different routines. Get your artwork in digital format, upload, specify the size cards or other types of pieces you want, and a few weeks later you’ll be using professional props that are unique to you alone. I highly recommend this company for anybody who gets off on creating custom props.
[2023 Note: While TGC used to deliver your items within a week or two, they’re now taking at least a month, even for a single deck of cards. You can get it in about a week if you pay double (which I have, at times), just know going in that patience is a virtue.]
The Jerx
https://www.thejerx.comLots of snark, but so much good stuff is on this blog. Not tricks, but thinking about performing magic (typically close-up, 1-on-1). And snark, did I mention that? The Jerx isn’t for everyone, but whenever I spend some time reading through the archives I always come away better for it. Give it at least a couple tries.
The Learned Pig Project
https://www.lybrary.com/tlpp/index.html
The Learned Pig Project’s goal is to digitize public domain magic books, so what you’ll find there are downloadable version of dozens and dozens of ezines, articles, and books that have all fallen into the public domain. So yeah, old stuff. But anybody who’s been around for more than a minute knows you can find gold in them stacks of old stuff. Find a cool foundation and then build a modern miracle on top of it. So much fun to browse through everything there.Magic Business Podcast
http://magicoracle.clubThere are several magic-related podcasts I listen to, but this is my favorite of the bunch. Some of the people they interview I know of, some I don’t, but whoever it is ends up giving me things to think about that will help my own performance. I don’t care about “tricks” as much as some magicians — I want to know what can help me book more shows and create a more powerful performance for my audience. That’s what I get with this podcast.
[2023 Update: Looks like they made it just over 30 episodes before it died. But all of the episodes are worth listening to at least once. I’ve listened to many of them twice and a couple of them even more than that. Still great information, which is why it stays on my list!]MagicStream
https://magicstream.comIt’s like Netflix for magic, they say, and that describes it pretty well. Streaming magic tutorials from Ellusionist so the videos are top-notch. And at $10 a month (no contract!) you can spend a Hamilton and binge watch a ton of great magic. Cards, coins, mentalism, theory, etc. There are several free things over there, too, so check it out. Yes, You can get a lot of magic tutorials free on YouTube, but these are curated — you know going in they’re going to be good quality.)
The Noun Project
https://thenounproject.comThis fits in well with The Game Crafter I linked up above. It’s a site with millions of icons that can be used for free — even for commercial purposes (sometimes you may have to attribute the artist, so read the terms for each icon). I’ve used icons from the site for my Lo Shu Deck, Coincidence At Play, Addicted to Love, Lights Out, and other tricks. If you’re an artist, you probably don’t need The Noun Project, but for schlubs like me, it’s awesome.
Reel Magic Magazine
http://reelmagicmagazine.comThis is a monthly video magic magazine that’s dirt cheap, but if you’re a close-up card/coin magish there’s a ton of stuff for you there. 50+ issues on demand at the time of this writing, plus a ton of extras. I said it’s great for card/coin folks and I’m NOT either of those, but I spend more on ONE large iced decaf sugar-free Cocomo at Dutch Brothers than I do for a month of RMM and so consider it money very well-spent. Plus, there have been some really cool close-up mentalism pieces (usually from the talented and creative Christian Painter) and those things thrill me.
Are you counting because you don’t think that’s 10 items? Wish I had some misdirection right about now…
…but here’s the deal. Those are the things I’m happy to point EVERYBODY to and the rest of the places I know about, well, I’m just not sure they’re Top 10 material.
So I’m leaving this list a little short for now, but I’m open to hearing what you think should be on a Top 10 link list for mystery performers. Comment below!
Honorable Mention
These are links that were on my Top 10 list at one time or another, but were replaced for some reason. But they may be valuable to someone else.
Ellusionist Discord
https://discord.gg/ellusionist
Want to talk to someone about magic? Show your latest move or get feedback on a routine? And want to do that almost any hour of the day or night? The Ellusionist Discord server is an online text/audio/video chat that’s free to access. There are specific “channels” for card, coins, mentalism, etc., and it’s probably the friendliest “social network” focused on magic that I’ve seen. (It’s kind of the anti-Magic Cafe in that regard.) For best results, have your webcam ready and jump into one of the video chats and say hi.
[2023 Update] This was removed from my Top 10 List because activity on the Ellusionist Discord has slowed down in the past couple years, but it’s still a friendly place where you can find magicians to talk to.]
