Text: How’s tricks?

Context: My informant learned this question from his dad. Growing up, instead of asking him how he was, his dad would ask him “How’s tricks?” He claims this question can be used anytime in a casual setting as a replacement for the question “How are you?” He equated asking this question to asking a close friend or family member “What’s up?” My informant has only ever been asked this by his dad, and on several occasions when he has tried to ask his friends “How’s tricks?” they had not heard the question before and did not understand what he was asking. He admitted that he does not know the origin of the question or what the word ‘tricks’ refers to. 

Analysis: After doing some quick research, there seems to be a general understanding that ‘tricks’ in this question refers to card tricks or magic. “How’s tricks?”, therefore, seems to be a shortened version of asking a magician or card game player “How are your tricks going?” As this question has evolved to be used in a daily manner separate from card games or magic, it has taken on the more general meaning “How’s it going?” The informal nature of this question suggests that it can be used to set a more casual tone in a conversation than asking “How are you?” might establish.