Best books to get:

Royal Road to card Magic
This book teaches many, many slights and contains a few tricks that are gr8. This is probably the greatest book to start with!

Expert card technique
The number of slights in this book are fantastic! It is like a 2nd Edition of Royal Road but contains much more and has very in depth teaching things step by step.

Videos:
Kaufman Basic card technique
Excellent video for a first buy! A visual Royal Road to card magic type of thing.

Darryls encyclopedia of card slights
This comes in a set of 8 Volumes. I cannot recommnd this set enough!

Things to start with:
Deck of cards (Duh!)
Best to buy 2 decks. One that you will use in performence, the other for practicing the moves that involve bending/crimping cards.

Brainwave deck
I say brainwave rather than the invisible deck as it is easier to remember the order.

Trick tutorials:
One of the best books for learning tricks is the "Encyclopedia of card tricks" It has an infinite amount of tricks that are great for both beginners and expert alike. I highly recommend this book!

Videos:
Ammars Easy to master card miracles. This comes in various volumes but for the beginner to it all, I recommend Vol 1.
There are some fantastic effects on there that are simple to do and will make you look like you are a pro!


Don't look at this list and think "I can't afford that lot!!!!!!!!!!"
After buying a deck of cards, Buying any one or two of the above books or videos will get you on the road to learning some great magic and as you progress, you can build up your collection!

Hope this has been of help.

Sorry Baz, but I hope you don't mind if I disagree with you on one small point. (I know it looks as if I'm always doing that!)

Brainwave Deck - One and only one card is face up, and it's their card! Bam! And, incidentally, the back is different.

Invisible Deck - One and only one card is face down ..... long drawn-out moment of suspense ..... and it's their card! Bam bam!

The moment of suspense makes ID significantly stronger than BD, in my opinion.

Dave

Dave, you are a pest! (j/k)

The reason I recommended the Brainwave was because for a beginner, the order is easier to remember. Plus you can have the effect lenghthened at the start by saying a story and ending it about putting the wrong card in the wrong box...... bam.. it's the card they named.... you remind them that it's from another box.... bam, different back.

you could also spread the deck, 1st to show ALL are face down. then close the fan, ask speck to imagine their card travelling from another deck, into the one on your hands.
fan again and show the reversed card

The ID is slightly more complicated to use because of what you need to remmber. That was why I said The BW deck is best for the 1st buy for someone thats "Just Starting" in card magic

I still stand by the Brainwave

That's fair comment, Baz. And especially the bit about me being a pest.

Personally, I found Brainwave Deck more problematical when it came to locating the card. But a pencil dot on the top left corner of the backs of the Aces and Sevens facilitates the location. (That may be recommended in the instructions nowadays, for all I know.)

Dave

And with the Invisible Deck, you don't have to remember ANY order. You just make sure you take the deck out of the box properly, then look for the correct card, and there it is!

I don't really recommend either a Brainwave, or an Invisible Deck for someone starting in magic, for a couple of reasons.

First, a problem beginners often encounter is that people think they are using trick decks, or trick cards. They don't exude the aura of craftsmanship that lets people know that the magic is in them and not in their props. Learning how to eliminate this suspicion takes some practice time in front of real people. The best thing a beginner can do, IMO, is never use anything but legitimate decks, until they understand when and how their audiences react to their presentations.

Second, the ID and BW deck are powerful tools for many close-up magicians. I'd hate to see the Invisible Deck (which I personally prefer) go the way of the Svengali deck, where every schoolkid in America knows the secret (although, if you know your stuff, you can still fool 'em with a good old Svengali deck when the need arises) Beginners often approach magic with a great deal of enthusiasm, but when they discover that to do it, well they are going to have to put in some serious hours of practice, they often lose interest. When this happens, they take with them the knowledge of how many things are done, but no longer feel bound by the magician's code. Since they can't impress people with their ability to do tricks, they impress people with knowledge of how things are done, thus robbing their immediate group of friends and family of the wonder of many effects.

Jim

Jim,

I completely agree with you. I think the best recommendation for a beginner would be to buy one of the books or vids/DVDs Baz94 gave in his list. And use a standard deck.

Some basic sleights are not so hard to master after some hours or days of serious practice (glide, breaks, etc.) and provide to the beginner a real satisfaction, when used in simple but sometimes impressive tricks, IMHO.

Earl.

I agree whole heartedly with Jim. When first starting out the people you perform for are your friends, family and workmates. They are very familiar with you and are quite happy to reach in and touch where/what they aren't supposed to. Strangers are less (note I said less, but still able to) likely to maul your props.

If you can prove that you are using a straight deck then farther down the track it's easier to ring in a gaff or stack.

There are so many relatively easy impressive tricks that can be done with a straight deck that it's worth going that way.

Just my two knuts worth,
cheers
Maynooth

Good points. The I.D. is a knockout, but needs to be presented with the supreme confidence of somebody who could probably get the same effect with a regular deck, (like for example, Paul Harris). I don't use mine because I'm still learning to squeeze a little magic out of a straight deck. It's like you have to pay your dues or something, before you can present a really impossible effect like I.D. so that the whole thing seems credible (because it is so clean, "too perfect" even?) Otherwise it's going to look like a trick deck. And that would be a pity.

Ok, I'll pipe down now.

Folks...
Here with another opinion...FWIW...

For beginners, and I was one not too terribly long ago, I think gaffed decks like the ID and the Mental Photography Deck are great. Yeah, Svengali *is* known by every third grader in the school...but keep in mind that a beginning magician wants to see results. And while it may be tough to learn a double lift or even a finger break...the ID and its ilk help them get the results they want off the top.

If these tricks work for the novice, they will inspire him/her to do other, more complicated things. I have my Svengali, ID, MP decks and more sitting on the shelf...I love the MP deck, because it's so obviously gaffed that nobody reaches for it, yet it produces a great effect. Of course, most of my gaffed decks sit on the shelf; it's tough to go to the office with 20 decks crammed into my pants.

Could someone explain the effect of the invisible deck? It sounds very similar to a trick in "Mark Wilson's Complete course in Magic". He calls it Automatic card discovery. It is done with a straight deck, and some minor preparation.

grieve

grieve, here ya go...

Invisible deck description from a magic store: "Before you even touch the deck, spectator FREELY CHOOSES any card. As you fan out the deck face up, the chosen card is the only one face down!"

That is quite a bit different.

Thanks,
grieve

great post baz!
but why hasn't anyone mentioned Card College?
james

r4bit, I think the magic store should have worded it this way: "Before you even touch the deck, spectator FREELY "NAMES" any card"

When I mentioned the BW deck as something for the new person to cards, I didn't exactly mean to get it from the of.
I meant more as a 1st special deck.

But BW an ID seem to have an equal amount of good and bad things said about them so a stale mate on that one

Is it against any copyright laws to make home versions of, say, the Invisible Deck? I am just reviving my old interest in magic, but I seem to remember that a buddy used either sandpaper or dull-coat to make a Svengali deck work like a ID. I am now living in China where it's hard to order magic and may (try to) resort to making my own.
After many years, I still remember some effects and sleights. I still remember some of the psychology of doing card tricks--that is, still have a feel for how people respond, what they will do, how to misdirect attention. When I handle cards, however, I certainly do not look like I am smooth or deft with cards. This can work to my advantage too. I hope I don't need to pay my dues before I can use prepared decks. At the same time, I appreciate the desire not to have the ID go the way of the Svengali deck!

There are quite a few Invisible Deck routines done with a normal deck of cards.

This is brilliant because you can use it as an opener and then move straight into other card stuff without having to go back to your pocket or simply put the deck away.

Also, the look on their faces when THEY spread the deck on the table is priceless!

No, it isn't.

I think people did not mention Card College in their list because you finish school before you start college (thank you to whoever I read that from!). Meaning that there are other sources that can start you off before you progress to Card college, even if it does start from the beginning.

I started with RRTCM then ECT, and then got Daryl vols 5-8. Daryl really helped because when I was starting I needed to see what a smooth card-handler should look like. Now however, there is so much more to be gained from a book (the thoughts behind the effect) than a video for me. [whoops I think this section of my post belongs in the Video/book debate!]