Magic supplies in Bellevue, Sarpy County, Nebraska

Military functions around Offutt follow a pattern: a formal dinner, toasts, then an hour of mingling where a strolling magician fills the gaps. The audience is adult, sharp and used to being briefed, so short, clean effects beat long patter. A chop cup routine with the Aluminium Chop Cup builds to a finish that gets photographed, and Bending Spoons — Pair give you a moment of apparent mind over metal at the bar. Our guide to building a close-up set explains how to order a strolling hour, and the close-up collection lists what's in stock.

If you are likely to move again in two years, build a kit that fits in one case. A deck does more work per ounce than anything else: the Svengali Deck for a self-working opener, the Marked and Tapered Deck for routines where you find or name cards, and a Waterproof Performer Deck that survives spilled drinks at outdoor events. See the card magic collection.

Use the Omaha Magical Society. Monday Night Magic includes a learn-a-trick section, so a newcomer goes home with something to practise, and the Zoom broadcast means a shift or a snowstorm doesn't cost you the month. The club's adult classes at the Abbott House are the step after that.

Keep the first purchases small. Our article on the best magic tricks for beginners sorts the props that teach you something from the ones that end up in a drawer, and the beginner collection follows the same rule.

We found no walk-in magic shop in Bellevue or elsewhere in Sarpy County. Costume and party stores in the metro stock boxed novelty tricks around Halloween, but nothing aimed at a performer.

Most Bellevue magicians buy online and use the Omaha club to compare notes before they spend. Every Sleight listing says what is in the box and whether instructions come with it, so you are not guessing.

Bellevue runs straight into south Omaha, and the Joslyn Castle is about twenty minutes up US-75. Across the Missouri, Council Bluffs is closer than downtown Omaha by some routes, and Lincoln is under an hour west on I-80, with a university crowd of its own. Papillion and La Vista, Bellevue's Sarpy County neighbours, book the same entertainers. For the state, see magic in Nebraska.

Bellevue's riverfront parks and Washington Park area host summer and autumn community events, and the metro's corporate calendar fills up from October through December. For outdoor work, wind is the enemy of cards and silks; weighted props and coins hold up better. The Transparent Coin — Half Dollar and a coins across routine play outdoors, and our coin magic for beginners guide shows where to start. For indoor stage spots, the stage magic collection has apparatus that reads from the back of a hall.

We send orders to every address in Bellevue and across Sarpy County on the same terms as anywhere in the US. Most of the range comes from our supplier, so we don't give a delivery date; order with time to spare before an event, and if you are expecting a move, have it sent where you will be. Unopened items can be returned within 30 days of delivery. See shipping and returns and refunds.