Magic supplies in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York

With RPI on the hill, a lot of Troy's audience is made up of engineers, and engineers want to work it out. That is an argument for effects that survive scrutiny rather than ones that rely on distraction. Mentalism holds up well: a spectator's free choice predicted by a Listening Dice Box or a Mental Die — Brass leaves nothing to inspect. With cards, a marked deck gives you information without visible handling. Our guide to mentalism versus traditional magic helps you choose a lane.

Downtown Troy's street events, from the Saturday farmers market to the Victorian Stroll in December, reward strolling performers who can work outdoors and in cold. Cards bend and stick in damp air, so carry plastic cards; the Waterproof Performer Deck shrugs off a wet glove. Sponge balls and a cut and restored rope both play to a crowd standing on a pavement. The close-up collection has more.

Join the Capital Region's clubs. The I.B.M. ring meets on the fourth Tuesday at 7 PM and the S.A.M. assembly on its own Tuesday, both at the S. W. Pitts Hose Company hall on Old Loudon Road in Latham, and the morning group welcomes anyone interested in magic. Open-mic nights there are the cheapest stage time you will ever get.

For props, buy a self-working deck and one strong close-up piece, then perform them until they bore you. Read magic tips for beginners before you start, and choose from the beginner collection.

We found no walk-in magic shop in Troy or the rest of Rensselaer County that we could confirm as trading. Antique and curiosity shops downtown sometimes turn up old tricks, and the clubs in Latham sometimes sell donated tricks, books and magazines at meetings to raise money, which is worth knowing about.

For new props, most Capital Region magicians order online. Our listings say what ships, whether instructions come with it and how much practice it needs, which matters when you can't try it in the shop.

Troy works as one market with Albany and Schenectady, and the clubs draw members from all three as well as from Saratoga and the Hudson Valley. Latham, where both clubs meet, is in the Town of Colonie, between Troy and Albany. Further afield, Syracuse and Rochester have scenes of their own. For the whole state, see magic in New York.

The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, at State and Second Streets, has been in use since 1875 and is known for its acoustics, its 1,180 seats and the nineteenth-century Odell concert organ installed in 1890. It is mainly a music venue, but it is a lesson in how a room carries sound, and a reminder that stage magic needs props big enough for the balcony. If you are building a stage act, the Dove Pan — Silver and the stage collection are where that starts.

We send orders to every address in Troy and across Rensselaer County, Lansingburgh and South Troy included, on the same terms as anywhere in the US. Most of the range comes from our supplier, so we don't quote a delivery date; order well ahead of a show. Unopened items can be returned within 30 days of delivery. See shipping and returns and refunds.