Close-up magic (also known as table magic or micromagic) is magic performed in an intimate setting usually no more than 3 meters (10 feet) from one's audience and is usually performed while sitting at a table. Sleight-of-hand, also known as prestidigitation ("quick fingers") or ''léger de main'' (Fr., "lightness of hand"), is the set of techniques used by a magician to secretly manipulate objects.

Coins A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

and

playing cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a Pap ...

are the most commonly used objects, but any small item can be used such as dice, bottle caps,

sugar cube Sugar cubes are white sugar granules pressed into small cubes measuring approximately 1 teaspoon each. They are usually used for sweetening drinks such as tea and coffee. They were invented in the early 19th century in response to the difficulti ...

s, sponge balls, pebbles, pens, and cups and balls. A magician may use more than one kind of object in a single trick. Close-up magicians may also enhance their performance by combining magic with other elements, such as cardistry. While magic uses misdirection to produce an illusion, these flourishes are more straightforward displays of skill, comparable to

juggling Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...

. Another form of micromagic is micromentalism,

mentalism Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ ...

performed in an intimate session. This form of mentalism involves purported examples of

telekinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ad ...

precognition Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future. There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is a ...

and

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

. Most cold reading takes place in such an intimate session, as do most theatrical séances.

Famous performers

Jewel Aich Jewel Aich (born 10 April 1950) is a Bangladeshi magician and bansuri player. He is a veteran of the Bangladesh Liberation War. Personal life Aich was born in Shomdekathi, East Bengal (present-day Barisal District, Bangladesh), the fifth o ...

* Jay Alexander * Michael Ammar * Tony Andruzzi * Keith Barry * Herbert L. Becker * Ariann Black *

David Blaine David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American magician, mentalist, and Endurance art, endurance performer. Born in New York City, Blaine became interested in magic at a very young age. He gained prominence in 1997, when h ...

* J.B. Bobo *

Derren Brown Derren Brown (born 27 February 1971) is an English mentalist, illusionist, and writer. He is a self-described "psychological illusionist" whose acts are often designed to expose the methods of those who claim to possess supernatural powers, ...

Matthias Buchinger Matthias Buchinger (; June 2, 1674 – January 17, 1740), sometimes called Matthew Buckinger in English, was a German artist, magician, calligrapher, and performer who was born without hands or feet and was tall. Buchinger was especially noted ...

* Charles Cameron * Canuplin * John Carney * John Cassidy *

Milbourne Christopher Milbourne Christopher (23 March 1914 – 17 June 1984) was a prominent American illusionist, magic historian, and author. President of the Society of American Magicians, an honorary vice-president to The Magic Circle, and one of the founding ...

Ali Cook Ali Cook (also credited as Alistair Cook) is an English actor and comedian from Yorkshire. Cook played Sgt. Paul McMellon in the feature film ''Kajaki (film), Kajaki'', which won the ''Producer of The Year Award'' at the 2015 British Independen ...

* Paul Curry * Steve Dacri * Paul Daniels * Daryl * Lewis Davenport * Dedi *

Persi Diaconis Persi Warren Diaconis (; born January 31, 1945) is an American mathematician of Greek descent and former professional magician. He is the Mary V. Sunseri Professor of Statistics and Mathematics at Stanford University. He is particularly known f ...

* Dean Dill * Derek Dingle * Simon Drake * Geoffrey Durham * Tim Ellis * Alex Elmsley * S. W. Erdnase * Fakir of Ava (Isaiah Harris Hughes) *

Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing magic, scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writin ...

* Paul Gertner * Walter B. Gibson * Andi Gladwin * Horace Goldin * Lennart Green *Brother John Hamman * Paul Harris * Ryan Hayashi * Whit Haydn * Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser * Burling Hull * Scott Interrante * Joshua Jay * Ricky Jay * Larry Jennings * Barry Jones * Richard Jones * Charles Jordan * Fred Kaps (Abraham Pieter Adrianus Bongers) * Gustavus Katterfelto * Igor Kio (Igor Emilievich Renard Kio) * Kostya Kimlat * Al Koran (Edward Doe) * Duane Laflin * René Lavand *

Tom London Tom London (born Leonard T. Clapman; August 24, 1889 – December 5, 1963) was an American actor who played frequently in B-Westerns. According to ''The Guinness Book of Movie Records'', London is credited with appearing in the most films in ...

* Harry Lorayne * Simon Lovell * Stuart Macleod * Gérard Majax (Gérard Fater) * Max Malini (Max Katz Breit) * Leon Mandrake * Matt Marcy * Ed Marlo * Doug McKenzie * Lisa Menna * Drummond Money-Coutts * Stephen Mulhern * Oscar Munoz * David Nixon * Lance Norris * Alain Nu * Shoot Ogawa * Okito (Tobias Bamberg) * Darwin Ortiz * Johnny Ace Palmer * Scott Penrose * Jacob Philadelphia (Jacob Meyer) * Franz Polgar * Fay Presto * Dominic Reyes * Étienne-Gaspard Robert * Brian Role * David Roth * Jerry Sadowitz * Jay Sankey * Ian Saville * John Scarne (Orlando Carmelo Scarnecchia) * Howie Schwarzman * Alan Shaxon (Alan Arthur Howson) * Michael Skinner * Tony Slydini * Thomas Solomon * David Stone * Tom Stone * Sylvester the Jester * Cyril Takayama * Juan Tamariz * Harlan Tarbell * Teller * Neil Tobin * Richard Turner * Dai Vernon * Michael Vincent * Val Walker * Roy Walton *

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

* Gregory Wilson * Tommy Wonder * Herb Zarrow * Paul Zenon

Micro magic tricks

* The Best Coin Fold * Cups and balls * Ambitious card * Card warp * Floating match on card * French drop * Palming * Retention of vision vanish * Hummer card *

The Four Burglars The Four Burglars is a magic effect in which the magician shows the four Jacks from a deck of cards, calling them burglars, and tells a story about them entering a house in different ways (the front door, a window, another window, and the back ...

* Scotch and soda * Detachable thumb * Thumb tip * Glorpy *Healed and sealed * Zarrow shuffle *

Card manipulation Card manipulation, commonly known as card magic, is the branch of magic that deals with creating effects using sleight of hand techniques involving playing cards. Card manipulation is often used in magical performances, especially in close-up, ...

References

{{Magic and Illusion Magic (illusion)