Interesting article in Mental Floss by Judy Colbert……

Whether they’re performing a big illusion that makes a tiger disappear or showing off card tricks on a table, magicians spend years perfecting their performances. We spoke to several from across the country (and beyond) to find out how they learn their trade, the type of resource they spend thousands of dollars on, what they hate most at shows, and the one question they really wish you’d stop asking.

1. THEY DON’T GO TO MAGIC SCHOOL.

Surprise: There’s no Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry out there. “There’s no real training,” says Dave Taylor (a.k.a. Magic Dave) from Southend-on-Sea in England. “It’s all personal experience, lecture notes, DVDs, books, etc. You can go to workshops, but for most things you have to be self-taught.” One big asset, he notes, is a local magic club, which can provide feedback on shows.

Randy Follis, a magician from southwest Missouri, agrees: “The training is mostly independent. Researching books, DVDs, and—if you’re fortunate enough to find them—fellow magicians.” After that, all that’s left is a lot of hard work and practice, practice, practice.

2. THEY SPEND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON BOOKS.

“Most magicians are serious scholars,” says Las Vegas magician Xavier Mortimer. “I don’t know any professional magicians who don’t have their own extensive libraries about our craft.” (One notable example, Harry Houdini, assembled close to 4000 books on magic and spiritualism, now held at the Library of Congress.)

The costs of those books can add up, though: “Most books are small print runs, for a small audience, which can lead to high prices,” Mortimor says. As an example, Denny Haney, who owns the Denny and Lee Magic Shop in Baltimore, Maryland, says that one book he sells—Soirees Fantastique by the French illusionist Christian Fechner—goes for $3000.

3. THEY MIGHT SPEND A YEAR PERFECTING ONE TRICK.

Magicians are nothing if not obsessive. Danny Whitson, a comedian and magician from Knoxville, Tennessee, says he spent a year in front of the mirror mastering one particular move. “It sounds insane,” he says, “but a great magician is always learning.”

All that rehearsing can take a toll on loved ones. “You spend most of your time rehearsing a trick over and over again, to the point where it annoys everyone else around you,” Taylor says. “My wife threatened (jokingly) to leave me if I kept playing with a Rubik’s Cube after I spent a solid two weeks learning the ins and outs of a trick.   Read More….     http://mentalfloss.com/article/533621/secrets-of-magicians