Magic supplies in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan

Between Western's campus and Kalamazoo College, a lot of this city's audience is under twenty-five and close enough to touch the cards. That favours decks that let the spectator do the work. The Hummingbird Card Gimmick makes a selected card fly from the deck, and the Floating Card Gimmick lets a card hover between your hands; both are visual enough for a crowded bar. Pair one with a Svengali deck opener and you have a short set for a dorm lounge or a brewery patio. More decks are in the card magic collection.

The county's big employers, in pharmaceuticals and medical devices especially, run sales meetings, retirements and client dinners in the downtown hotels and the Radisson's ballrooms. Mentalism plays well with those professional audiences, because it feels like a demonstration rather than a trick. Start with Forcing Dice or the Mental Die — Brass for a prediction that lands every time, and read mentalism versus traditional magic for how to pitch it. The mentalism collection has more.

Make a summer trip to Colon. The Get-Together's street magic, dealer room and lectures are the fastest education available to a Michigan beginner, and the craft show and graveyard tour make it a day out even for a companion who doesn't perform. Out of season, Abbott's showroom is a short drive away.

For regular contact with other magicians, the nearest monthly clubs are on the east side of the state, in Plymouth and Clawson. Until you get there, a Three Cups and Balls — Chrome Finish set and a deck will teach you most of the basics. Our best magic tricks for beginners explains the choice, and the beginner collection is built around it.

We found no walk-in magic shop inside Kalamazoo or Kalamazoo County. The nearest is Abbott's Magic in Colon, in St. Joseph County, which sells its own apparatus from a showroom on South Saint Joseph Street and keeps limited hours out of summer, so call before you drive.

For everything else, Kalamazoo magicians buy online. Our listings say what is in the box and what practice it takes, and Abbott's and Sleight sell different things, so many performers use both.

Colon lies about forty minutes south-east of downtown Kalamazoo; you can see its page at magic in Colon. Battle Creek is twenty-five minutes east on I-94, and Grand Rapids an hour north on US-131. Lansing and Ann Arbor are each about ninety minutes away, and Chicago is a little over two hours west. For the rest of the state, see magic in Michigan.

Kalamazoo's two big rooms, Miller Auditorium on Western's campus and the Kalamazoo State Theatre downtown, both take touring entertainment, and magic has played Miller more than once. If a touring illusion show comes through, go: watching how a professional company paces a two-hour show is worth more than any purchase. When you are ready to build stage material of your own, the Appearing Cane — Metal and the Linking Rings — Stage Set of Six are classics that read from a balcony. See the stage magic collection.

We send orders to every address in Kalamazoo, Portage and the rest of Kalamazoo County on the same terms as anywhere in the US. Most items ship from our supplier and we don't promise a delivery date, so order ahead of a booked show. Unopened items can come back within 30 days of delivery. Full terms are on the shipping and returns and refunds pages.