Okay, what is the best way to start learning magic tricks? Well, when I first started learning magic - and we're going back over twenty years now - I didn't have a computer, DVDs hadn't been invented yet and there was certainly no such thing as an ebook! Back then, I think I would have suggested that the best way to start learning magic would be to borrow some magic books from your local library (still an option for many) and then settle down to deciphering the often cryptic instructions held within those probably very out of date pages.
Not ideal.
Otherwise, I'd have recommended trying to get in touch with your local magic circle if you were lucky enough to have one.
However, apart from the fact that most towns are not lucky enough to have one, you pretty much have to have learned at least some magic first before you can apply for membership, so a bit of a Catch 22.
As you can appreciate, it wasn't easy.
But...
...
That has all changed! With the advent of digital technology - pow! Anyone can learn magic quickly and easily and make the most fun of it ever.
Digital media gives us three main ways of learning: the DVD, the instructional website, the eBook and the instant download tutorial.
The instant download tutorial! How easy is that? When I was younger, pawing over those musty tomes trying to make sense of the archaic language and obfusticating line drawings, I would have given my right arm for access to an instant, video tutorial download.
My jaw would have dropped and if you told me that the price range of a download these days was between $0.
99 and $25 max, I reckon my jaw would have plain dropped off.
But those are the facts today.
It's amazing.
Within seconds you can have a magician in your own computer who will patiently show you, in every detail, how to perform some mind-blowing magic trick that has baffled your brain for hours.
Not only that, he'll take you through it step-by-step and you can rewind him and have him do it all over again for you as many times as you like until you have fully understood and perfected the routine.
You can actually see him do the trick and then see him show you how it is done.
Okay, so I'm a bit long in the tooth, but it seems still like the most magical thing.
But don't just ask me or rely on my opinion.
Think it through and check it out for yourself.
It stands to reason.
Why buy a magic DVD (they can cost hundreds of dollars) with more material than you need in it or struggle with interpreting an old conjuring book when you can pick just one trick at a time as you please and download it instantly? There's just no competition.
So there's my answer to the question of what is the best way to start learning magic: with instant, affordable video tutorial downloads.
But don't take my word for it.
See for yourself.