Why Do Some Sleights Get Forgotten?

Magicians use various tools to perform the tricks you all know and love. One of these is sleight of hand - the ability to manipulate an object, such as a deck of cards or a coin, to help you achieve a specific magical effect. We call these skills that magicians learn and practice “sleight of hand techniques” or “sleights.”

For example, one of the most popular sleights you might know of is palming. Palming is the act of secretly holding out a card in your hand while the audience perceives your hand to be empty.

A magic trick is often the combination of multiple different sleights. In magic, just as in any other industry, there are performers and creators. Creators come up with new sleights or tricks, which they then publish in various magazines or, more recently, websites, and performers pick them up and then use them in their shows.

Since “The Discoverie of Witchcraft,” the first-ever ‘manual’ of magic, was published in 1584, thousands of sleight-of-hand techniques have been published. Some have survived and evolved throughout time, while others have been forgotten between the brown pages of old books.