The Intuitive Magician: Mastering Magic Through Improvisation

by Justin Higham

A guide for intermediate students

With over 40 years' experience in magic and as one of only a handful of professional magic teachers worldwide, Justin Higham is in a unique position to write about the challenges magicians face in learning and performing magic. This book offers valuable insights into why magicians find it hard to perform why they forget their tricks and why things so often do not pan out as expected. ‘I have learned the trick, the method, the patter, the misdirection, so why is it not working for me? Drawing from over 3500 individual magic lessons given by Higham over the past 12 years, this guide will help the intermediate student reach their goal of becoming an authentic, spontaneous and confident magician. The real secret as revealed here is to master magic through improvisation.

553 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2026

Reviews

[Roger Woods]

This is an interesting book of magic theory based on long experience. The author argues for improvisation in magic as against set piece performances. He repeats this argument many times throughout the book! However, there is much to think about although I would say this is not a book for beginners. You need to have been learning magic for a few years to understand where the author is going. This is a book you need to go back to to study in depth.