i have been doing close up magic for a while now, and i have gotten pretty good at it. however, i am thinking about going into stage effects. (now i know their was another post that was kind of like this, but this, as you will tell, is different)

so, my first question: how do i get into stage magic? where do i start? are their dvds i can buy? or books i can get? i would like to learn stage tricks, yes, but i would also like to learn how to perform stage magic. and how to pull it off. any tips or ideas would be great.

for example. with close up walk around magic, if you are out with your friends, you might do 10-15 minutes of magic. (i'll usually do about this much at the bowling ally or movie theator.) for walk around at a barmitzvah or restuarant, depending on the situation, i'll usually do 5-30 min, like i said, depending on the situation.
if i am serounded by people, i'll probably do a card trick, rubberband trick, or tricks like disjointed. if their are only people infront of me, i'll be more likely to do coin in soda, bill switch, ect.

So, i would like to get into stage magic, but i would also like to learn about it. are their different types of stage magic? (ex: performing for 50 people, or pulling a david copperfield and performing for a LOT of people!)
or like going to a school and performing for a classroom, apossed to having the entire school go to the auditorium, to perform. (chances are you would be doing different tricks, for the different audiances, and the amount of people) Any info of where i can get started in stage magic, and how i can progress, would be wonderful. thanks!

First, anytime you go to a magic site, go to their stage magic merchandise area. You can find stage stuff their.

Second, you are correct. Depending on the size of audience will determine what tricks to get. Some stage tricks may only be suitable for 50-100 people while others would be suitable for that 50-100 (most likely), but also hundreds.

Try to look at the picture of the trick and determine if you like it's size. If there is a demo of it, watch it so you can really see the size of it and it's workings.

Also, make sure the trick is one you like and that you'd like to perform. When you conclude that, you can start thinking of routines for it and you'll be on your way to purchasing it.

Third, you may want to do a few free shows to start off, this will allow you to get a few references/noticed so that afterwards, you can look into being hired for cash.

Fourth, there are different stage effects such as levitations, penetrations, card tricks, etc.... and my favorite, mentalism. When you are on a magic site, you may also want to check the 'mentalism' area for some cool mentalism stuff for the stage that may not be listed in the 'stage' area. And if you're looking for kid stuff, check the 'children's' area of the magic site for kid stage tricks, again, many kid stage tricks may only be listed in the kid area. Often, same thing for cards as well (and even other styles of teicks as well). Hope you're following me here.

I haven't answered everything here, check other threads and you'll probably find more info. But I hope that what I said helps. and GOOD LUCK!