The Old School or the New Wave?

Good magic is good magic, whether it comes from a tuxedo-wearing, old school performer like Paul Daniels, who sharpened his wits and his routines in the gruelling round of the working men's clubs before he become a worldwide TV personality, or a mindfreaking goth/punk like Criss Angel presenting high-impact fantasy magic on the streets of New York. We are all well-advised to put aside our prejudices about age and era and give credit where credit is due. At the end of the day, any magician who wants to make an impact is never going to succeed by imitating the look or presentation of someone else but only by slowly developing their own distinct, individual persona and style that will make them stand out from the crowd. So, the tricks in this Magic 7 include both old school and new wave. You can enjoy and, more importantly, learn from both.

Do you dream of being one of the Magic 7?

You can be. You really can. Why not? The same skills are required to perform a great trick to your friends at home, in the park or the pub as are required to wow an audience of hundreds in a theatre or millions all over the world watching a TV show. If you are determined, dedicated, choose good tricks, build your persona and practice your skills to perfection, there is no reason at all why one day you shouldn't find yourself at the top. And the wonderful thing about this art is that you don't need to spend a lot of money to get set up. Download some video tutorials for just a few dollars, study them carefully and then all you need to get started are your hands and maybe a pencil, couple of coins or a pack of cards!

So here they are - our Magic 7!

1 Johnny Ace Palmer
- Johnny Ace Palmer is a great performer and a master of sleight of hand using everyday objects that you can carry in your pocket or even borrow from your audience. This is magic that really causes wonder but has no need of complex props or gimmicks. You can learn rolls, vanishes, productions and passes with coins, cards and other objects here at Magic Tricks with our excellent video tutorials.

2 Paul Daniels
- Paul Daniels is an undisputed master of his art whether you like him or not. He displays not only consumate mastery of misdirection but wit and humour that keeps his audience with him all the way. Oh, and there are no gimmicks here: you can do this classic routine with any cup, a lemon, an orange and a ball: it's all sleight-of-hand.

3 David Copperfield
- Perhaps better known for his spectacular TV stunts - flying, disappearing the Statue of Liberty and sawing himself in half, in this video he demonstrates infront of a live audience that he remains an elegant master of card magic. Even if the intro is a bit sentimental for your tastes, the routine itself will blow you away.

4 Doug Henning
- What a star! If you want to do magic for all the family or kids, this is your man. Such a likeable fellow and behind the loveable persona a very skilled sleight-of-hand magician. And it's just as he says: no camera tricks! You can now learn the rubik's cube trick yourself with a video tutorial. You can download it here

5 Lance Burton
- Very much the stage magician Lance Burton is justifiably renowned for the theming and style of his shows. Even though this is big stage magic and he does use some gimmicks (pyro effects for example) he also uses some beautiful sleight-of-hand.

6 Penn and Teller
- These guys have caused controversy everywhere: amongst the public for some of their more shocking routines; the religious establishment for their de-bunking of the miraculous; magicians for teaching magic in public! And that's exactly what they are doing here. These are the essentials of all magic ably explained and demonstrated by two very talented exponents. Personally, I don't know why magicians get so upset by this. Even if the audience know the principles, they are still totally baffled by expert execution. Watch them, they have no idea what happened to the cigarette at the end!

7 Derren Brown - Derren Brown undoubtedly deserves his worldwide reputation as the best mentalist working today. Here he does wonders, working the whole room but watch this as it grows - even as he explains his methods he is in complete control. This is pure psychological magic at its very best. You can learn much from this and apply it to simpler mentalism routines. (This clip overruns slightly so anyone who is offended by strong language just click pause when Derren's act is finished.)