Magic tricks with a helper from the audience

About these tricks

Some tricks need somebody else: a person to choose a card, hold a coin, think of a number or be your secret partner. Magicians call them a volunteer or an assistant, and the trick is better for it, because the audience trusts the helper more than they trust the magician. Every trick here is marked as needing a helper.

Ask, never grab: say "Can I have a helper? What's your name?" and use their name for the rest of the trick. Never make a helper look silly; if something goes wrong, it was your fault, out loud. When the trick is over, let them take the clap first. Practise with a grown-up as the helper before trying a friend.

By level, 10 Apprentice (works the first try), 9 Conjurer (a little practice) and 1 Wizard (days of practice). They come off 5 shelves of the shop, most from The Card Cabinet (7) and The Coin Counter (6). What you need most often: cards (7), a coin (6), a pencil (4), and 1 trick needs nothing at all. None has a step only a grown-up can do, and 6 tricks carry the choking note for brothers and sisters under 4. The quickest to learn is The Forehead Coin (2 minutes); the longest is The Card That Keeps Coming Back (3 to 6 days).