Close-up magic (also known as table magic or micromagic) is

magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

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 Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' () comprises fine motor skills used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card flou ...

, 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 The cups and balls is a performance of magic with innumerable adaptations. Street gambling variations performed by conmen were known as Bunco Booths. A typical cups and balls routine includes many of the most fundamental effects of magic: the ...

. 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 Cardistry is the performance art of card flourishing. Unlike card magic, cardistry is meant to be visually impressive and appear very hard to execute. The term ''cardistry'' is a portmanteau of ''card'' and ''artistry.'' People who engage in ca ...

. 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 Cold reading is a set of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, and mediums. Without prior knowledge, a practiced cold-reader can quickly obtain a great deal of information by analyzing the person's body language, age, c ...

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 Jay Alexander is an American Magic (illusion), magician and comedian known as a corporate and society entertainer. Early life and education Alexander was born in Houston, Texas. At the age of fourteen, he was the youngest recipient of the Soc ...

Michael Ammar Michael Ammar (born June 25, 1956) is an American close-up magician. Background Ammar was born in Logan, West Virginia. His father's background was Syrian. Ammar earned a degree from West Virginia University in business administration in 1978 ...

Tony Andruzzi Tony Andruzzi (May 22, 1925 – December 22, 1991) was the name adopted by professional magician Tom Stewart Palmer from the age of 45 to the end of his life. He was married from 1947 to 1964 to Gloria Jacobsen, also known as Gloria Marcom. Bio ...

Keith Barry Keith Patrick Barry (born 2 October 1976) is an Irish mentalist, hypnotist, magician and activist for the elderly. Early life Born in Williamstown, Waterford, Ireland, Keith's interest in magic began at the age of 5 with a Paul Daniel's magi ...

Herbert L. Becker Herbert Lawrence Becker (born August 12, 1951) is an American former magician, escapologist, stunt performer, author, and businessman. As a magician, Becker performed as ''Kardeen''. Biography Early life Herbert Lawrence Becker was born in Hol ...

* 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 J. B. Bobo (11 February 1910 in Texarkana, Texas – 12 September 1996) was a magician most known for his work and writing in the arena of coin magic. His work entitled ''Modern Coin Magic'' (originally published in 1952) is still considered to ...

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 Canuto Francia (January 28, 1904 – September 4, 1979), better known as Canuplin, was a Filipino stage performer and magician who gained fame for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin in Filipino movies and the local bodabil circuit. Biography ...

* 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 Paul Curry (August 19, 1917 – February 19, 1986) was the vice-president of the Blue Cross Insurance Company of New York, and a famous amateur magician who became well known in the magic community for inventing highly-original card magic. Man ...

* Steve Dacri *

Paul Daniels Newton Edward Daniels (6 April 1938 – 17 March 2016), known professionally as Paul Daniels, was an English magician and television presenter. He achieved international fame through his television series '' The Paul Daniels Magic Show'', whic ...

Daryl Darryl is a given name, a variant spelling of Darell. Variations of this name include: Daryl, Daryll, Darryll, and Darrel. People Darryl * Darryl Brown (West Indian cricketer) (born 1973) * Darryl Brown (South African cricketer) (born 1983) ...

* Lewis Davenport *

Dedi Djedi (also Dedi or Djedi of Djed-Sneferu) is the name of a fictional ancient Egyptian magician appearing in the fourth chapter of a story told in the legendary Westcar Papyrus. He is said to have worked wonders during the reign of king (phara ...

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 Dean Dill (8 March 1947 – 7 February 2015) was a magician and effects designer who lived and worked in Glendale, California, US. He appeared on ''The Tonight Show'' in November 1990. His performance focused mostly on closeup effects and coin ...

Derek Dingle Derek Dingle (1937–2004) was an English Close-up magic, close-up magician. Early life Dingle became interested in magic after receiving a box of magic tricks when he was about eight years old. Upon joining the Royal Air Force, he met another m ...

Simon Drake Simon Drake (born Simon Alexander; 1 March 1957) is an English magician based in London. He is best known for the television series ''The Secret Cabaret'' made for Britain's Channel 4. Early life Born in London, Drake is the son of a GP. Dr ...

Geoffrey Durham Geoffrey Durham (born 22 July 1949) is a British comedy magician and actor who was known for many years as "the Great Soprendo". Early life Durham was born in East Molesey, Surrey, England. At the age of ten, he developed an interest in magi ...

* Tim Ellis *

Alex Elmsley Alex Elmsley (2 March 1929 – 8 January 2006) was a Scottish magician and computer programmer. He was notable for his invention of the ''Ghost Count'' or '' Elmsley Count'', creating mathematical card tricks, and for publishing on the mathema ...

S. W. Erdnase S. W. Erdnase is a pseudonym used by the author of ''The Expert at the Card Table'', a book detailing sleight of hand (legerdemain), cheating and card manipulation. Still considered essential reading for any card magician, the book (usually known a ...

* 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 Paul Gertner (born 1953) is an American close-up magician from Pittsburgh. He is best known in the magic world for his ''Steel and Silver'' book and set of DVDs. Magic career Paul Gertner's interest in magic began as a child, borrowing library ...

Walter B. Gibson Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897 – December 6, 1985) was an Americans, American writer and professional magic (illusion), magician, best known for his work on the pulp magazine, pulp fiction character The Shadow, and as a ghost-writer ...

Andi Gladwin Andi Gladwin (born May 10, 1983) is a British magician, speaker, and publisher. He has appeared on television (ITV's Next Great Magician, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, The Big Breakfast, Lance Burton's Young Magician Showcase, Masters of Illusion, an ...

Horace Goldin Horace Goldin (17 December 187321 August 1939) was a stage magician who was noted for his rapid presentation style and who achieved international fame with his versions of the sawing a woman in half illusion. Early life Goldin was of Polish Jew ...

Lennart Green Sven Lennart Green (born 25 December 1941) is a Swedish world champion close-up/card magician, a title which he won in 1991 at the FISM convention in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is known for his seemingly chaotic routines which, in spite of first ...

*Brother

John Hamman Brother John Charles Hamman S.M. (September 3, 1927 – December 5, 2000) was a close-up magician and Marianist Brother. The tricks he invented are still an integral part of many close-up magician's repertoire. Hamman was world-renowned in the magic ...

* Paul Harris *

Ryan Hayashi Ryan Lam (born May 28, 1973) known professionally as Ryan Hayashi, is a Chinese Canadian magician, mentalist and performer (while his stage name "Hayashi" is Japanese, Ryan himself has no Japanese ancestry). Hayashi focuses on coin magic and is ...

Whit Haydn Whit "Pop" Haydn (born July 19, 1949 as Whitney Wesley Hadden in Clarksville, Tennessee) is an American magician, and the winner of seven performing awards (for performances in showrooms at the Magic Castle) from the Academy of Magical Arts. ...

* Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser * Burling Hull * Scott Interrante *

Joshua Jay Joshua Jay (born October 30, 1981) is an American magician, author, and lecturer. He has performed in over 100 countries and was awarded top prize at the World Magic Seminar in 1998. He worked with Penn and Teller on the show ''Fool Us'','' '' an ...

Ricky Jay Richard Jay Potash (June 26, 1946 – November 24, 2018) was an American stage magician, actor, and writer. In a 1993 profile for ''The New Yorker'', Mark Singer called Jay "perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to s ...

* Larry Jennings * Barry Jones * Richard Jones * Charles Jordan * Fred Kaps (Abraham Pieter Adrianus Bongers) *

Gustavus Katterfelto Gustavus Katterfelto (or Katerfelto) (c. 1743–15 November 1799) was a Prussian conjurer, scientific lecturer, and quack who travelled through Georgian England. Career Christian William Anthony Katterfelto (known as Gustavus) arrived at Hull ...

* Igor Kio (Igor Emilievich Renard Kio) * Kostya Kimlat *

Al Koran Al Koran (1914–1972), real name Edward Doe, was a British mentalist, author and inventor. He invented the ''Ring Flite'' and popularised a version of the Bagshawe deck which became known as the Koran deck. Life and career Edward Doe was born i ...

(Edward Doe) *

Duane Laflin Duane Laflin is an American Magic (illusion), magician, teacher and innovator. He initially marketed and sold his props, effects and accessories within his company, Laflin Magic but eventually closed his mail-order business to focus strictly on ...

René Lavand Héctor René Lavandera (24 September 1928 – 7 February 2015), known as René Lavand, was an Argentine magician, specializing in close-up magic. He was notable for performing card tricks with only one hand. Biography Lavand was born in Bueno ...

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 Harry Lorayne (born Harry Ratzer; May 4, 1926April 7, 2023) was an American mnemonist, magician, and author who was called "The Yoda of Memory Training" and "The World's Foremost Memory-Training Specialist" by ''Time'' magazine. He was well kno ...

Simon Lovell Simon Lovell (born 1957) is an English comedy magician, actor, and card sharp, who specialises in magic using playing cards. Career Lovell was a regular performer in ''Monday Night Magic'', an off-Broadway show featuring magicians and related ...

* Stuart Macleod *

Gérard Majax Gérard Faier, known as Gérard Majax (April 28, 1943) is a French illusionist. He has appeared in many television programs, magic demonstrations, and movies. From 1987 until 2002 he, along with Jacques Théodor and Henri Broch of the L ...

(Gérard Fater) *

Max Malini Max Malini (born Max Katz Breit; 1875 – October 3, 1942) was a magician who at his peak performed for several List of Presidents of the United States of America, US Presidents and at Buckingham Palace, receiving gifts from monarchs across Europ ...

(Max Katz Breit) * Leon Mandrake * Matt Marcy *

Ed Marlo Ed Marlo (also known as Edward Marlo) (born in Chicago, Illinois, October 10, 1913 – November 7, 1991) was a magician who specialized in card magic. He referred to himself and others of his specialty as 'cardicians'. Career One of the most ...

* Doug McKenzie * Lisa Menna *

Drummond Money-Coutts Drummond Money-Coutts (born 1986), also known as DMC, is an English magician, and the heir apparent to the Latymer Barony.Complete Peerage, "Latimer or Latymer (Nevill), Vol VII, pp. 479–486, and supplement Vol XIV His first professional per ...

Stephen Mulhern Stephen Daniel Mulhern (born 4 April 1977) is an English television presenter, entertainer, magician and comedian. He began his career at CITV presenting the children’s television shows '' Finger Tips'' (2001–2004) and '' Tricky TV'' (2005� ...

* Oscar Munoz * David Nixon * Lance Norris * Alain Nu *

Shoot Ogawa Shoot Ogawa (born 1975) is a Japanese magician. He has been interested in magic from the age of 10. He has been featured on the cover of the Magic Magazine March 2003 issue. He has also appeared on "After Dark At The Magic Castle.""After Dark at ...

Okito Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg (1875–1963) was a professional magician. Born in the Netherlands, Bamberg performed under the name ''Okito'' which is an anagram of Tokio (Tokyo). His father had been court magician to King William III of the Ne ...

(Tobias Bamberg) *

Darwin Ortiz Darwin Ortiz (1948 – 2023) was a magician who was an authority on gambling and card manipulation. Life and work Ortiz was born and raised in New York City, where he had a keen interest in card tricks since childhood. His first exposure to slei ...

Johnny Ace Palmer Johnny Ace Palmer is an American close-up magician. He is famous within the worldwide magical community for his prodigious sleight-of-hand abilities. Early life Palmer was born in Warren, Ohio, in 1960 and attended Lakeview High School in Ohio u ...

Scott Penrose Scott Penrose (born 1969 in Essex) is an English magician and magic consultant and is the son of magician John Penrose. Penrose is a former President of The Magic Circle having been proposed for the post by Paul Daniels. He is Honorary Vice P ...

* Jacob Philadelphia (Jacob Meyer) * Franz Polgar *

Fay Presto Fay Presto (born 17 May 1948) is the stage name of Letitia Winter, a British magician and member of The Inner Magic Circle known for her close-up magic. Career Winter's first job was as a lab assistant at an atomic energy research company, and ...

* Dominic Reyes *

Étienne-Gaspard Robert Étienne-Gaspard Robert (15 June 1763 – 2 July 1837), often known by the stage name of "Robertson", was a prominent physicist, magic (illusion), stage magician and influential developer of phantasmagoria from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. He ...

* Brian Role * David Roth *

Jerry Sadowitz Jerry Sadowitz (born June 1961) is an American-born Scottish stand-up comedian and magician. Notorious for his controversial brand of black comedy, Sadowitz has said that audiences going to see a comedian should suspend their beliefs. He has i ...

Jay Sankey Jay Sankey is a Canadian close-up magician and a prolific creator of magic effects. He has been an active stage performer since the mid-1980s. Work He is known as a stand-up comedian and authored a book about the art of stand-up, ''Zen and the A ...

* Ian Saville *

John Scarne John Scarne (; March 4, 1903 – July 7, 1985) was an American magician and author who was particularly adept at playing card manipulation. He became known as an expert on cards and other games, and authored a number of popular books on cards, ...

(Orlando Carmelo Scarnecchia) *

Howie Schwarzman Howard Schwarzman (November 20, 1927 – July 21, 2020, New York City) was an American magician, card manipulator, sleight of hand expert, and trick inventor. Considered a "living legend" in the Eastern United States magician community, he was bes ...

* Alan Shaxon (Alan Arthur Howson) * Michael Skinner *

Tony Slydini Tony Slydini (September 1, 1900, Foggia, Italy – January 15, 1991), known as Slydini, was a magician known for close-up artistry magic. His public performances and lectures to other magicians inspired Doug Henning, Dick Cavett, Bill Bixby, ...

* Thomas Solomon *

David Stone David Stone may refer to the following people: * David B. Stone (1927–2010), American businessman * David E. Stone (born 1947), American sound editor * David Henry Stone (1812–1890), Lord Mayor of London in 1874 * David John Anthony Stone (b ...

* Tom Stone * Sylvester the Jester *

Cyril Takayama Cyril Takayama (born September 27, 1974) is an American magician of French, Moroccan and Japanese descent who is perhaps best known for his magic performances around Japan. Early life Cyril Takayama was born and raised in Hollywood, Californi ...

Juan Tamariz Juan Tamariz-Martel Negrón (born 18 October 1942) is a Spanish magician. Tamariz is considered to have pionereed close-up card magic. American stage magician Ricky Jay once said he considered him to be a magician people will remember, and ...

* Harlan Tarbell * Teller * Neil Tobin * Richard Turner *

Dai Vernon David Frederick Wingfield Verner (June 11, 1894August 21, 1992), better known by his stage names Dai Vernon (pronounced alternatively as "DIE" or as "DAY" as in David) or The Professor, was a Canadian magician. Vernon's sleight of hand techn ...

* Michael Vincent *

Val Walker Valentine Augustus Walker (15 February 1890 – 17 March 1969) (also known as Val A Walker and Val Enson) was an English magician, escape artist and illusion designer. He was born in Moseley, Birmingham to Joseph Walker, a landscape gardener, an ...

Roy Walton Roy Walton (11 April 1932 – 4 February 2020) was an English card magic expert. Biography First interested in magic at the age of eight, Walton was a world-recognised card magician creating hundreds of card effects, including his most famo ...

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 Herbert Gershen Zarrow (November 4, 1925 – May 11, 2008) was an American magician influential in the profession for his inventions of unique sleight of hand and card tricks. The inventor of the Zarrow shuffle, his skills were held in the highes ...

Paul Zenon Paul Zenon (born Paul Collins) is an English stage and TV Magic (illusion), magician, comedian, presenter and writer. He is the author of three books on magic, proposition bets and practical jokes, and an expert on the history of magic and mag ...

Micro magic tricks

* The Best Coin Fold *

Cups and balls The cups and balls is a performance of magic with innumerable adaptations. Street gambling variations performed by conmen were known as Bunco Booths. A typical cups and balls routine includes many of the most fundamental effects of magic: the ...

Ambitious card The Ambitious Card, or Elevator Card, is a magic effect in which a playing card seems to return to the top of the deck after being placed elsewhere in the middle of the deck. One of many versions of the Ambitious Card Routine available on intern ...

Card warp Card Warp is a card illusion that was created by magician Roy Walton. ''Card Warp'' has many variations in presentation and effect. ''Card Warp'' starts out with the illusionist showing two cards. He then folds one card horizontally and the oth ...

* Floating match on card * French drop *

Palming Palming is a technique for holding or concealing an object in the hand. It is used frequently by magicians to conceal a card, coin, or other object. When it is done skillfully, the hand containing the palmed object is perceived to be completely ...

* Retention of vision vanish *

Hummer card A levitation illusion is one in which a magician appears to defy gravity by making an object or person float in the air. The subject may appear to levitate unassisted, or it may be performed with the aid of another object (such as a silver ball f ...

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 Scotch and soda is a mixed drink consisting of Scotch whisky and soda water or other sparkling water. There is no fixed ratio of the ingredients: the amount of water can vary according to taste from a splash to several times that of the whisky ...

* Detachable thumb * Thumb tip * Glorpy *Healed and sealed *

Zarrow shuffle Zarrow shuffle is a sleight of hand technique that gives the appearance of being a normal riffle shuffle, but in fact leaves the cards in exactly the same order. This is an example of a false shuffle. It was invented by magician Herb Zarrow c. ...

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)