Levent’s Fundamental Rules of Stage Magic

1. When making a steal, the visible movement should have a natural motivation.

2. The big movement masks the smaller, secret movement.

3. When palming an object onstage, you have only a few seconds before you must either produce the object or add a visible object into the fingers of that hand.

4. The easiest way to secretly dispose of a palmed object is to discard it under the guise of picking up a visible object at the fingertips.

5. The simplest way to steal and palm an object is under the guise of picking up a visible object at the fingertips.

6. Secretly maneuvering a palmed object from one hand to another is better if the procedure employs a visible object.

7. Deception can be enhanced by lengthening the time and/or the physical distance between the secret move and the magical effect.

8. When stealing an object from inside a coat under cover of misdirection, it is more deceptive to have the object travel to the palming hand than the other way around.

9. When performing a routine with a repetitious effect, it is more deceptive if you vary your methods.

10.You should only break these rules, if you fully understand the rules and can offer an intelligent reason for breaking them.

© 2012 Levent Cimkentli

Version 1/2015