What Is Close-Up Magic?

Close-up magic is magic performed a few feet from the audience, usually for a small group standing or sitting around the performer. It uses ordinary objects such as cards, coins, rings and borrowed items, and the magic often happens in the spectators' own hands. There is no stage, no lighting and no distance between the performer and the people watching.

What does close-up magic mean?

The name describes the distance. In stage magic the audience sits in rows and watches from across a room. In close-up magic the audience could reach out and touch the props, and often does. A spectator signs a card, holds a coin, shuffles the deck or names the object to use.

That distance changes everything about the craft. Nothing can hide behind scenery or a curtain. The performer works in normal light, at eye level, often surrounded on all sides. What remains is the performer's skill, the objects in front of the audience and a few minutes of conversation.

What is close-up magic called?

Close-up magic goes by several names. Most of them describe where or how it is performed rather than a different kind of magic.

• Table magic. Close-up magic performed at a table, often for seated guests at dinner.
• Table-hopping. The performer moves from table to table during a meal or reception, performing a short set at each.
• Strolling magic or walk-around magic. The performer moves through a standing crowd, approaching small groups one at a time.
• Close-hand magic or sleight-of-hand magic. Looser terms, usually pointing to the skill that close-up work depends on.

What is a close-up magician?

A close-up magician is a performer who specializes in this format. Most of the work rests on sleight of hand: years of practice with cards, coins and small objects until the handling looks natural from any angle. The other half is social. A close-up magician has to read a group in seconds, decide who will enjoy taking part, and know when to finish and move on.

The best close-up magicians are also good hosts. They introduce strangers to each other, include the quiet guest and keep the moment about the people watching.

What is a close-up magic show?

A close-up magic show is one of two things.

1. A strolling or table-to-table set. The magician performs short pieces, often five to ten minutes, for one group at a time over a longer period such as a cocktail hour or a dinner. Guests do not need to stop what they are doing or move anywhere.
2. A seated show for a small audience. A dozen to a few dozen guests sit close together and watch a continuous program. When the audience grows past what one table can see, this becomes what magicians call parlour magic.

Strolling magician meaning

A strolling magician is a close-up magician who walks through an event and performs for small groups where they already are. The term is common on wedding and event planning sites. It describes the format, not a separate style of magic.

Strolling works because it fits around the event instead of interrupting it. Guests keep their drinks and their conversations. The magician arrives, performs for a few minutes and leaves the group with something to talk about.

Strolling magician for an event or corporate function

At receptions, mixers and client events, strolling magic gives people a reason to talk to someone they have not met. It needs no stage, no microphone and no schedule change.

Strolling magician for a wedding

The cocktail hour is the usual slot. The couple is away for photos and guests are standing around with time to fill. For more options for that hour, see wedding cocktail hour entertainment ideas.

Strolling magician for a party

At a house party, birthday or bachelorette weekend, a strolling magician moves between the kitchen, the patio and the living room. Nobody has to be gathered in one place for it to work.

Close-up vs parlour vs stage magic

Magicians usually divide performance into three formats by audience size and distance. The edges blur, but the differences are real.

Parlour magic (spelled parlor in the US) takes its name from the sitting rooms where it was once performed. The performer stands in front of a seated audience on the same floor, close enough for volunteers to come up and take part. Stage magic is built for distance, with larger props, music and lighting.

Close-up magic is the hardest to fake and the easiest to fit into an event. Parlour gives everyone a shared moment at once. Many events use both: strolling during the reception, then a seated set after dinner. Phillip Moore performs both formats; see close-up and parlour for how each one runs.

How does close-up magic work?

Close-up magic works through skill, not equipment. A close-up magician practices the same handling thousands of times until it is invisible at arm's length. Magicians call this body of technique sleight of hand. It is paired with misdirection, the craft of managing where an audience looks and what it remembers.

Good close-up magic also depends on structure: the order of the effects, the timing of each moment and the words that frame them. That is as far as a magician will go in explaining it. If you want to learn the craft yourself, how to build a close-up magic set is a sensible place to start, and the magic terms glossary explains the vocabulary.