Magic supplies in Cranston, Providence County, Rhode Island

Rhode Island's party and function circuit already has a mentalist as a local favourite, which tells you something about the audience: they like to be read, and they like to laugh while it happens. If you are drawn to that style, start small. A Mental Die — Brass, a set of forcing dice and a Listening Dice Box give you three different predictions with no cards at all. Our article on mentalism versus traditional magic will help you pick a direction. See mentalism.

Cranston's Italian-American restaurants and its summer feasts in Knightsville make for a strong table-hopping trade. Restaurant work needs effects that reset in seconds and play to people sitting down: sponge balls, a chop cup, and a deck with a reliable force. Lay them out on a close-up mat and you have a portable stage. The close-up collection has the rest.

Go and see live magic first. A mentalism show at the Arctic Playhouse, a touring act in Providence or a magician at a function will teach you more about timing than any video. Then buy a self-working deck and one close-up prop, and perform them for family until they become second nature.

Our guide to the best magic tricks for beginners explains which first purchases tend to last. The beginner collection is built from them.

We found no walk-in magic shop in Cranston or elsewhere in Providence County that we could confirm as trading. Toy and party stores at Garden City and along Route 2 carry trick kits, which aren't made for working performers.

Rhode Island magicians mostly buy online. Our listings say what you get, whether instructions are included and how much practice the effect needs. If an unopened item turns out not to suit you, it can be returned within 30 days of delivery.

Cranston, Providence and Warwick form one continuous market, and performers move between them without noticing the city lines. West Warwick, home of the Arctic Playhouse, is just past Warwick. North-east, Boston is an hour up I-95, with a much larger scene; west, Hartford is about the same distance. See magic in Rhode Island.

The Park Theatre on Park Avenue celebrated its hundredth year in November 2024 with a run of concerts under the promoter Spectacle Live, after struggling, closing twice and going up for sale. Its upstairs event space now takes weddings and private parties, which is exactly the kind of room a close-up or parlour magician gets booked into. A parlour set needs props that play to forty people at once: Linking Rings — Set of Four, cut and restored rope and the rest of the stage magic collection.

We send orders to every address in Cranston and the rest of Providence County on the same terms as anywhere in the United States. Most of the range ships from our supplier, so we don't quote a delivery date. See shipping and returns and refunds for how it works.