Words of the trade
Glossary
The vocabulary magicians use, explained plainly. These are definitions, not secrets. You'll learn what a force is here, not how any particular one works.
Billet
Break
A small, secret gap held in a deck or packet, usually with the tip of a finger, to mark a position. It lets you find or lift a group of cards later.
Related: Control, Double liftIn a lesson: The Ambitious Card
Close-up magicAlso called Table magic, Micromagic
Magic performed for a small group at arm's length, often with everyday objects like cards, coins and rings. The audience is close enough to touch.
Related: Parlour magic, Stage illusion
Control
Any technique that secretly moves a chosen card to a known position, like the top of the deck, while appearing to lose it.
Related: Key card, BreakIn a lesson: The Key Card, The Ambitious Card
Ditch
Double lift
Turning over two cards held together as if they were one. One of the most useful sleights in card magic.
Related: Sleight, BreakLearn it: The Double LiftIn a lesson: The Ambitious Card
Effect
Elmsley count
A false count, created by Alex Elmsley, that shows a small packet of cards while keeping one of them hidden. A cornerstone of packet tricks.
Related: Sleight, Packet trickLearn it: The Elmsley Count
Exposure
Revealing how a trick is done to people who are not magicians. Magicians consider exposing a creator's method a serious breach of trust.
Related: Method
Flourish
A display of skill done for its own beauty, like a one-handed cut or a fan of cards. Flourishes show skill openly rather than hiding it.
Related: Sleight
Force
Making a spectator "freely" choose an object you decided on in advance. The art is in making the choice feel completely free.
Related: Mentalism, Svengali deckIn a lesson: Svengali Deck Basics
GimmickAlso called Gaff
A secretly prepared object, like a special card or coin, that does part of the work for you. A gimmicked object usually can't be handed out for examination.
Related: Svengali deck, Stripper deck
GlimpseAlso called Peek
Secretly catching sight of a card or other information without the audience noticing.
Related: Key card, PeekIn a lesson: The Key Card
Key card
A card whose identity or position you know, used to locate another card next to it.
Related: Glimpse, ControlIn a lesson: The Key Card
Load
To secretly put an object into a place where it will later be produced, like a ball under a cup or a coin into a hand.
Related: Ditch, Production
Mentalism
The branch of magic that seems to show powers of the mind, such as mind reading, prediction and influence.
Related: Billet, Force, PeekIn a lesson: The 1089 Prediction
Method
Misdirection
The craft of guiding the audience's attention so a secret happens where nobody is looking. Good misdirection feels like nothing at all.
Related: EffectLearn it: MisdirectionIn a lesson: The French Drop
Out
A prepared way to recover when something goes wrong, so the trick still ends with a strong moment and the audience never knows.
Related: Routine
Packet trick
A card trick done with only a few cards, often four to six, rather than the full deck.
Related: Elmsley count
Palm
Parlour magicAlso called Stand-up magic
Magic for a medium-sized audience, like a living room, a party or a small theatre. Bigger than close-up, smaller than a full stage show.
Related: Close-up magic, Stage illusion
Patter
Peek
Production
Routine
SleightAlso called Sleight of hand
A secret move done with the hands, like a palm, a control or a double lift.
Related: Palm, Double lift, Flourish
Stage illusion
Large-scale magic performed on a stage for a big audience, often with assistants and big props, like levitations and vanishing people.
Related: Parlour magic, Close-up magic
StoogeAlso called Confederate, Plant
A secret helper in the audience who appears to be a random spectator.
Related: Method
Stripper deckAlso called Tapered deck
A classic gimmicked deck that lets a magician find a chosen card in ways that seem impossible. It's sold in magic shops with its own instructions.
Related: Gimmick, Svengali deck
Svengali deck
A famous gimmicked deck that can show all different cards, force one card, and then appear to be all the same card.
Related: Gimmick, Force, Stripper deckIn a lesson: Svengali Deck Basics
Transposition
An effect in which two objects magically change places.
Related: Vanish, Production
Vanish
Making something disappear. The opposite of a production.
Related: Production, TranspositionIn a lesson: The French Drop
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