Glossary Of Terms
Magic, like all specialized subjects, has its own language and technical terms.
WARNING
These terms are used by Magicians
and contain information
on how some magic
is done.
BE WARNED!
Acquitment : The secret transfer of a concealed object from hand to hand to enable both hands to be shown apparently empty.
Angles : The magician should always be aware of what the audience can see when they are performing. Some tricks can only be viewed from certain positions. When performing close up these angles of visibility become especially important.
Backpalm: A sleight that allows the hand to be shown empty, at the same time concealing something behind the fingers
Black Art: A principle that states that anything painted black cannot be seen when placed against a black background.
Book Test: Any mental effect using a book or several books in which the mentalist predicts or divines a word or words selected by a spectator.
Close-up Magic: Tricks designed to be performed with the magician close to the audience.
Continuity Gag: A joke that is repeated several times during an act. A trick that appears to go wrong each time the magician tries it is one type of continuity gag.
Cut : To take apart of a deck or pack of cards and to move them either to the top or the bottom of the deck or pack.
Double Backed Card : A playing card that has no face. Both sides of the card show the back design.
Double Faced Card: A card that has no back. Both sides of the card show a face. It could show the same card on each side, or different cards, for example, Three of Diamonds on one side and Ten of Hearts on the other.
Double Lift: A sleight in which two cards are lifted from the pack but the audience believes that only one card was removed.
Effect: The trick as it appears to the spectators.
Fake: A gimmick. Often spelled feke.
False Count: A count of cards or other objects which appears genuine but where the number of objects is more or less than it seems to be.
False Cut: An apparently fair cut of a pack of cards that does not disturb the order of the pack.
False Shuffle: An apparently fair shuffle that keeps all, or some cards, in a set order.
Fan: Spreading the cards to form a neat fan shape. To make this move easier, magicians use fanning powder.
Fanning Powder: Powder, usually French chalk, applied to cards to make them slippery and therefore easier to fan. ( I found that a little corn starch goes a long way)
Finger Palm: The concealment of an object between the fingers of the hand.
Finale: The finish to a trick or an act usually something bigger or more impressive than whatever has gone before.
Flash Paper: A chemically treated paper that creates a brilliant flash when ignited.
Force: To give a spectator an apparently free choice but really making them select a predetermined card, color, number and so on.
Foulard: A very large scarf or silk.
Gimmick: A secret piece of equipment.
Glide: A sleight in which the magician retains the bottom card of the pack and deals the next card as if it were the bottom card.
Glimpse : To look at a card in a secret way. .
Jog : To move a card slightly off to one side of the rest.
Keys or Locators : These are specially prepared cards that can be easily located in a pack of cards.
Illusion: A stage trick using people or large animals. Often illusions involve the vanishing, production or apparent mutilation of people.
Lapping: The technique of secretly dropping cards or other objects on the lap while seated at a table.
Legerdemain: See Sleight-of-hand.
Levitation : The effect of something or someone floating in the air without visible means of support.
Load: 1. Object or objects to be produced.
2. The introduction of a load into a piece of apparatus.
Mat : A piece of cloth or material that has a rubber backing usually used in close up.
Misdirection: The art of drawing the spectator 's attention away from a secret move. This is one of the most important aspects of the art of conjuring and is best learned from experience.
Move: The execution of a sleight or other secret movement.
One Ahead: A principle of mentalism in which the performer is at least one step ahead of the audience.
One-way: Refers to a pattern on the back or face of a card. If it is turned over end to end it is different from the rest.
Palm or palming: The concealment of an object in the hand.
Patter: The story line, jokes or other talk used by a magician.
Production : Making things appear from thin air or from an apparently empty container.
Props: This is short for properties the apparatus and other objects used by a performer.
Pull : A gimmick that vanishes an object by pulling it up the sleeve or beneath the jacket.
Riffle: To flick the ends of a pack of cards in order to make a clicking noise or to show the cards.
Routine: The order of events that make up ²a trick or ²a series of tricks that follow one another in an act.
Servante: A concealed shelf at the rear of a chair or table.
Setup: 1. The secret arrangement of playing cards. This can be just a few cards or the whole pack, depending on the trick to be performed.
2. The way props and gimmicks are arranged for a trick.
3. An ideal situation where a spectator is manipulated to the performer's desired situation .
Shuffle : To mix up items so that they are not in the starting order.
Silk: A square of silk or silk handkerchief.
Sleight: A skillful movement of the fingers by which a magical effect is accomplished.
Sleight-of-hand: The performance of sleights.
Slide : To move a card from the bottom or the top of the deck off the deck to another position.
Spring goods: Items, containing springs, that can be squashed into a small space prior to production. They expand to their normal size when produced.
Steal: To secretly remove something from the place where it is concealed.
Stripper : A female that....(oops sorry wrong kind of stripper) A stripper deck is a deck of cards that is shaved (trimmed) down a little bit on the side near one corner making it so you can slide a reversed card out easily.
Square : To make a deck or pack of cards so none of the cards are sticking out.
Sucker Trick: A trick in which the magician lets the audience believe that they have worked out how t he trick is done or that they have seen the magician make a mistake. Then he proves them wrong at the end.
Switch: To secretly exchange one thing for another.
Talk : The accidental sound made by something hidden, thus revealing its presence to the audience. For example: The clinking of coins in a hand which is supposed to be empty.
Transposition: When one item or person is exchanged for another in a seemingly impossible way.
Thumb Palm: The secret concealment of an object by holding it at the base of the thumb and first finger.
Thumb Tip: A fake plastic piece that fits on the end of the thumb to conceal an item
Walk-around : Walking from table to table either in a bar or a restaurant.
Well: A secret pocket in a magicians table.