What is Sleight of Hand Magic?

Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or legerdemain (listen)) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card flourishing and stealing.

Because of its heavy use and practice by magicians, sleight of hand is often confused as a branch of magic; however, it is a separate genre of entertainment and many artists practice sleight of hand as an independent skill. Sleight of hand pioneers with worldwide acclaim include Dan and Dave, Ricky Jay, Derek DelGaudio, David Copperfield, Yann Frisch, Norbert Ferré, Dai Vernon, Cardini, Tony Slydini, Helder Guimarães and Tom Mullica.

 Here is a video from famous magicians Pen and Teller that explain what sleight of hand is.

There's also a highly entertaining video tackling the subject of sleight of hand from comedy magician Jack Rhodes.

We also posted about The Best Definition of Sleight of Hand here, where you can read about Derek DelGaudio's story and how he sees sleight of hand. We highly recommend heading over there to continue this subject.