A collection of tools and techniques to make your magic stronger, from the creator of 'The Lottery Ticket' and author of 'Here is Real Magic' and 'Clouds and Kingdoms.'
“. . . one of the most profound experiences of my magical life.” - Joseph Walker
Get Instant Access to Making Tricks Into Magic
Sign up once, watch any time.
Why is it so easy to deceive an audience but so hard to enchant them?
Magicians use words like 'wonder' and 'awe' all the time, but how do you actually put it in the work?
'Making Tricks Into Magic' is an online course about making magic tricks feel magical. We look at technical considerations like structure and design, performance techniques like the use of silence and the management of dramatic tension, and intangible factors like atmosphere, character, and mindset.
You'll learn two of my favorite inventions—a close-up workhorse and the closer to my stage show. But mostly it's a collection of specific tactics and techniques to amplify the power of any piece of magic—to make it stronger and more effective, and, I hope, a little more magical.
“…a literal game changer.”
Daniel Chard | Professional Magician
“This is probably the best $50 investment into magic that I’ve ever made.”
Lesson Guide
Preview
Welcome and Housekeeping
An Introduction to the Problem
Section 1: Technical Considerations
Effect Design Part 1: Cone of Attention
Example: Rubber Band Through Spectator’s Arm tutorial
Effect Design Part 2: Cancelation
Effect Design Part 3: Layering
Effect Design Questions
Technique
Section 2: Performance
7 Things I Believe About Performing
Tension and Release
Example: Name tutorial
Atmosphere
Silence
Character
Section 3: The Inner Game of Performing Magic
The Most Important Thing
Closing Thoughts
NEW: Questions and Answers
“. . . it reminded me how much of a difference there is from someone merely showing tricks compared to Nate’s way of affecting his audiences by creating true moments of magic . . .”
- Marvin Berglas
Course Features
Two Original, Unpublished Routines
Making Tricks Into Magic features two of my strongest pieces. Rubber Band Through Spectator’s Arm is a close-up workhorse—the sort of anywhere, anytime effect that you’ll end up doing everywhere. Name is a piece of mental magic I use to close my platform/stage show. It’s one of the strongest pieces in my show—certainly the strangest—and I teach it here as a way to illustrate some of the techniques we explore during the course.
Specific Performance Tools and Techniques
We’ll unpack a collection of tools designed to amplify the power of your performances, from standalone techniques you can add to your show tonight to more foundational skills like the use of silence and the manipulation of dramatic tension throughout a routine. These techniques are style-agnostic so you can integrate them into your work regardless of your performance character and can be used in both close-up and platform/stage environments.
Creative Models for Stronger mAGIC
During the course we’ll examine a few different models that can improve the impact of a piece of magic. The Cone of Attention is a tool to guide the spectator’s experience throughout a routine so the effect is clear and the method is invisible. Cancelation and Layering are two techniques to enhance the impossibility of a piece of magic, both during the performance and in the audience’s memory afterwards. Each of these models are presented with practical examples and applications, and also with guided questions to help you apply them to your own work.
“This should be compulsory for every performing magician.”
Get Instant Access to Making Tricks Into Magic
Sign up once, watch any time.
“Genuinely has changed my outlook and will forever change the way I approach performing my stage shows. ”
- Madison Hagler, Magician and Actor
Early Reviews
“If you’ve become jaded and bitter from years of spending money and time on material, effects, the latest and greatest gadgets and gaffs—only to be consistently underwhelmed, it is with great relief that I echo others in how good Nate Staniforth’s new project is.
This is a huge growth package for the amateur performer, and a streamlined toolset for the professional. The effects are great, but if you are like me and more interested in how the sausage is made, Nate not only parses his process of making an effect deceptive, but streamlines it. You are getting a template, or formula, that you can immediately begin measuring your own material with, and make adjustments. The ideas Nate points out might seem deceptively simple, even overthinking or running without being chased, but there is a reason Nate Staniforth’s material was used by Blaine, featured on television, and used by working professionals: details.
I’ve been doing a similar approach to my own professional work for a few years with unbelievable success. Nate just showed me how to do it more efficiently.
I earn a living with magic, but I only spent money and time on 3 things this year, and this was one of them.”
Sean Beard, Professional Magician
“. . . one of the most profound experiences of my magical life.”
“The workshop given by Nate that I attended was one of the most profound experiences of my magical life. It made me think; it challenged me deeply. In this world of ours, Nate is a visionary and a luminary - he cares about creating magical experiences so greatly that he approaches the line between genius and insanity. He has attempted to distill the art of human connection in to a science.
When selling a magic product, people will often claim ‘This will immediately change the way you perform’ or some other grandiose proclamation. I will not claim something like that about Nate's work. What I will say is this: what you are being offered here is framework for magic - something that, if you work with it, will improve your magic maybe 10%, maybe 20%, maybe 50%, maybe only 1%. After all, even when done badly, to the uninitiated magic is still amazing. To a serious practitioner of magic, to make that improvement is absolutely worth it. I will never forget the workshop, and I sincerely recommend you get this course."
- Joseph Walker
“This should be compulsory for every performing magician.”
“Real magic lies not in methods. It is in the cerebral and visceral experience of our audiences. To seek wonder anywhere other than within ourselves and the experiences and connections we offer others is futile. From Fitzkee, Mead and Ortiz, to Wonder, Weber, and Tamariz, with a few others in between, there have been only a few books written on the most important subject of our art. Nate Staniforth has lit a beacon to shine the way forwards with ‘Making Tricks Into Magic’ and the future looks truly magical. I can’t recommend his genial, transfixing style and his fiercely passionate intellect on the subject nearly enough. This should be compulsory for every performing magician.”
- Jez Rose
“Nate is someone I’ve kept an eye on since being really impressed with a performance I first saw on line. I know he is a big fan of my father David Berglas - and I know they hit it off when they met. I can see why - as Nate’s passion, thinking and attention to detail is also evident. I really enjoyed spending time with Nate during his trip to the UK and it reminded me how much of a difference there is from someone merely showing tricks compared to Nate’s way of affecting his audiences by creating true moments of magic and miracles that will be forever cherished and recounted amongst their favourite memories.”
- Marvin Berglas
“. . . creating true moments of magic. . .
". . . an investment in yourself and your magic.”
“This course is an investment in yourself & your magic. Nate puts his money where his mouth is by teaching us effects that he has applied these techniques to. This not only makes us more willing to approach our effects with the same level of scrutiny, but makes the process seem fun & exciting, instead of daunting.”
- Joe Diamond
I was amazed to watch Nate speak on the subject. He speaks so eloquently and it is clear he knows what he is talking about. He has an amazing way of getting the point across without belaboring the point. If some magicians had presented this amount of material, the project would be 4 hours long. Instead, Nate is very meticulous and every sentence he says is important. There’s no fluff.
For the content itself, it could change your performing forever. Nate discusses things which you can add into your performance immediately, and some things which will require you to go back to the drawing board to really resolve the issues he brings up. Nothing is too complicated to follow. I have a feeling some performer’s toes will be stepped on in the course as Nate explicitly rebukes some attitudes and performance styles as destructive if you want to create something that feels like real magic (and I agree with him wholeheartedly.) Unfortunately these attitudes he rebukes are far too common in the magic realm. Hopefully this will be a wake up call for some.
The two tricks taught are fabulous examples of the principles he is teaching. The first is a simple one that can only be done close up and the second one is an effect that can only be performed with a larger group (mainly on stage.) I absolutely love the second routine taught and I will 100% be doing it in my shows. It allows you to effectively practice some of the techniques taught as you perform the trick. This will be invaluable as a tool to learn how to implement the thinking in every other trick in your show.
I can not recommend this enough. Genuinely this has changed my outlook and it will forever change the way I approach performing my stage shows. If you don’t get this, you are missing out on some thinking which will REALLY elevate your performances to the next level.
- Madison Hagler
“Genuinely has changed my outlook and will forever change the way I approach performing my stage shows.”
“Nate’s workshop was a literal game changer. Using his structure/theories I’ve noticed a sizable shift in the reactions I get from the magic I perform. I’d recommend anyone take this workshop.”
- Daniel Chard
“. . . a literal game changer.”
“Finding excellent information on how to make tricks into magic is like playing the lottery. Most information about this topic are barley practical or abstract high in the clouds thinking. Thankfully, Nate Staniforth’s new course will not only teach you how to transform your tricks into REAL MAGIC, but he’ll share the secrets behind the secrets that have made Nate a master of astonishment. If you want to be a better performer and create a real magic experience for your audience, this is for you.”
- Ran’D Shine
“. . . the secrets behind the secrets. . .”
Nate has removed all thoughts of ‘razzmatazz’ from his magic and replaced them with in depth thoughts on how to make his magic better, more powerful, and more thought provoking. I can’t recommend his workshop enough. This should be a rite of passage for all magicians.
- Mark Shortland
“This should be a rite of passage for all magicians.”
About the Instructor
For the past 15 years, Nate Staniforth has toured the United States with his stripped-down, ‘unplugged’ stage show, performing direct, no-frills magic at colleges, clubs and theaters. His Lottery Ticket prediction has been featured by superstars like David Blaine and Dynamo, and his recent memoir Here is Real Magic has been embraced by magicians around the world for its open and honest exploration of wonder, disillusionment, and magic. “Nate is one of my favorite magicians,” wrote Derren Brown. “This is a beautiful and original book by a beautiful and original mind.”
Nate has lectured about his work as a magician at Google, Mayo Clinic, and Oxford University. Current projects include this course, a new YouTube series, and a second book for the public.
FAQ
Q. is this course right for me?
A. This is a course for professional magicians/mentalists or amateurs who are interested in performing for the public. If you’re just beginning in magic, or even if you’ve loved magic all your life but don’t perform regularly, there are probably better resources out there for you. I’ve spent almost all of my life performing magic for audiences—some big, some small, but all gathered together for the purpose—and this has necessarily shaped the way I approach my work. If you do magic most often for friends and family in a social environment, I’d wholeheartedly recommend you skip this course and read Andy’s thinking at The Jerx instead. BUT—if you perform for the public and are eager to rekindle your creative spark and dig into some new ways of approaching magic, yes. I think you’re going to love it.
Q. Does this course apply equally to stage and close-up magic?
A. Yes, more or less. My background is mostly as a stage performer, but I’ve worked hard to balance this course material as closely as possible. I use my close-up piece ‘Rubber Band Through Spectator’s Arm’ as the main example for many of the lessons, for instance, and many of the subjects (atmosphere, silence, tension, etc.) apply to magicians in any venue.
Q. Is this a one-time, limited edition release like ‘The Lottery Ticket’ and ‘Clouds and Kingdoms’?
A. No, I see this as an open and ongoing project. In 2019 I published this course in an early-access release capped at 500 people to gauge the interest of the magic world, and the response was so strong that I’m making it available again here. I’ve expanded this current offering of Making Tricks Into Magic with a 28-minute Question and Answer video based on the feedback I received from the original group of 500, and I have a few additional expansions I’d like to make over the next year or so as well. Anyone who registers for the course will receive these expansions as free upgrades in an email. So, once you’re in, you’re in.
Q. Does the magic taught in this course require additional equipment or other outside costs?
A. No. Rubber Band Through Spectator’s Arm requires one rubber band (and, you know, an arm). For Name you’ll need a small notecard and pencil for everyone in the audience.
Q. This is cool but I’d rather just learn as many tricks as possible. is ‘Clouds and Kingdoms’ still available?
A. Yes indeed. www.cloudsandkingdomsbook.com. And incidentally, I developed each of the pieces in ‘Clouds and Kingdoms’ using the techniques in this course. Dollar, Constellation, Phone Call, and Two-Card Transposition each adhere devoutly to the ‘Cone of Attention’ model, and you’ll see the ‘Cancelation’ and ‘Layering’ techniques woven through each of them. Just. . . get both.