Did you know that there are at least eight different types of magic trick effect classifications? While there is no real science or formal agreement as to what classification should or should not be its own category, many mages recognize Production, Disappearance, Transformation, Restoration, Teleportation, Levitation, Penetration, and Prediction as the eight categories of effects to some degree. of magic tricks. Each category represents a certain type of effect, and by knowing a little about each effect, you can easily focus your efforts on learning tricks from that category over others. So let’s take a look at what each category does and look at some example cheats that best represent them.

– Production effects are when the magician reveals something where there was nothing. This is the opposite of Disappear.

-Examples:

Pulling a rabbit out of your hat.

Removing a coin from a participant’s ear.

– Disappearance effects imply that the magician takes something and makes it disappear. This is the opposite of Production.

-Examples:

Reveal an empty box after your assistant has recently entered it.

Make a bird disappear under a cloth.

– Transformation effects are when the mage changes something from one state to another. This is achieved through a combination of Produce and Disappear.

-Examples:

Changing the color of a scarf.

Reveal the card that a participant put in the deck so that it is actually the card in their hand. l Restoration effects involve the mage taking an object that has been destroyed and returning it to its original state.

-Examples:

Put a playing card that has been torn up again like new.

Put back your assistant that you just sawed in half.

– Teleportation effects involve the mage moving an object from its original location to a new location. This effect also encompasses two objects changing locations relative to each other (double teleportation).

-Examples:

The card your participant just placed into your deck is actually the card you have in your pocket.

His assistant who entered the cabinet is revealed to be in the audience.

– Levitation effects involve the magician creating the illusion that an object or themselves are floating.

-Examples:

David Blane hovering several inches off the ground.

Floating a coin between your hands.

– Penetration effects involve the mage taking a solid object and passing it through another solid object.

-Examples:

Placing swords in holes in a cabinet that your assistant is in.

Walking along the Great Wall of China.

– Prediction effects involve the mage determining the outcome of a sequence of events.

-Examples:

Know the card that your participant has chosen.

Describing a picture that their participant drew while their back was to them.

There are many magicians who specialize in one type of effect over another, but most magicians are well versed in fusing the different effects together to provide a diverse routine. Many tricks actually encompass multiple effects in one, such as one of the oldest magic tricks, the cup and balls routine, which actually uses aspects of Production, Banishment, Transformation, Teleportation, and Penetration.