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LeConte Special user Bay area 830 Posts 
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What are the best books and videos for a beginner?
Please add to this new sticky thread so that everyone who reads it can benefit from your ideas and input. If possible it would be helpful if you could list the particular strengths of the book or video that you are posting about. Why is it so important for a beginner? What can be learned from the material? A general consensus is often hard to reach when the discussion involves topics such as, “What is the best book or video for someone to purchase when starting out in cards or coins?” As far as books are concerned, a mutual agreement amongst the fine practitioners of our art seems to have been reached about the following works and their importance to the beginners library and all of these really should be required purchases. These books are Hall of Fame classics!! There is little to debate about the merits of these particular works. Card Magic: The Royal Road To Card Magic by Hugard & Braue Card College 1-4 by Robert Giobbi Coin Magic: NEW Modern Coin Magic by J.B.Bobo General Magic: Complete Course in Magic by Mark Wilson Tarbell Course in Magic 1-8 The best videos for beginners is a great debate in and of itself. Here are some of my picks in no particular order except for the Ammar series being number one. I hope that other members of the Café will post with additional information on their favorite instuctional videos. 1) Ammar’s Easy To Master Card Miracles Volumes 1-6: Volume 2 receives the greatest praise. These videos contain demonstrations of some of magic’s finest card tricks, that are all within the grasp of a beginner. All 6 volumes are now out on DVD. 2) Gregory Wilson's Double Take (VHS): The best way for anyone to learn DL’s is with this video that is only available on VHS right now. (3) Daryl’s Encyclopedia of Card Sleights 1-8 This set costs a lot but it has helped me more than any other videos that I own. This is a great visual reference for learning sleights. Daryl does not go into much detail about each sleight, but the basics are covered. I find it helpful to read about a sleight then reference it on the DVD so that I can watch it. I do wish the set was cheaper, so that more people could enjoy the benefits of owning such a collection. I watch these all the time, but I do agree, the cost is high. 4) Daryl's Ambitious Card Video: Awesome for learning the Ambitious Card Routine, which is something that most card workers try to learn. Many people new to magic buy this after a couple of months of study. I’ve only been into magic for about 4 months and I can recommend this for a beginner once you have the basics down. Coins: I am not a coin guy, so here is where some good feedback is needed. There is a great new sticky thread on the "Show me the money" forum with a wealth of information. We are also lucky at the Café to have some incredible coin workers who are also frequent posters. See Dan Watkin’s excellent site: http://www.coinvanish.com Here are some good videos to get you started that most coin workers seem to recommend: 1)Introduction to Coin Magic by Michael Ammar: this has a ton of sleight of hand moves and a couple of routines. 2) Easy to Master Money Miracles 1-3, Michael Ammar: mainly routines, he assumes you already know the basic sleights. 3) David Roth's Expert Coin Magic Made Easy Volumes 1, 2 and 3 Please add to this thread as you see fit. There are many more books and videos available to help newcomers to our craft that need to be discussed in a sticky post such as this. Everything from timeless classics to modern works.There are many treasures in our art, as there always will be, for the new student to seek the rewards of their riches!Thank you for your time in both reading and adding to the list!
Drive Carefully
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Terry New user 93 Posts
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As being new to magic, I own most of the material you mention above, and some advanced stuff.
I am very happy with my humble library, and am attempting to master the basics. I think they will provide a lifetime of learning. Thanks for the thread. Terry |
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Dennis Michael Inner circle Southern, NJ 5821 Posts
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There are three parts to magic and each must be understood to do well:
Much of these three parts are covered by the many topics located on the Magic Café. Because the mind works differently for each person, some learn best visually, while others need detail such as what is written in books. Both are necessary for most magicians. The following Books and VHS Tapes top my personal list of items to have in a magic collection. If one is fortunate and can find a private tutor, learning increases at a much faster pace. A Beginner needs to know the the basics of cards, coins, and stage magic and the Jeff McBride DVDs and VHS tapes cover them. Once established as a magician the beginner will need to know how to perform magic anywhere anytime when asked. The Idiot/Dummy guides as well as Mark Wilson's Magic, or Encylopidia Guide to Impromptu Magic will do the trick. (pun intended)
Cards, Coins and Stage Magic There are many more good DVDs and VHS Tapes to enchance your abilities and performce, such as anything by Michael Ammar or Patick Page. It is better to learn and do very well only three good tricks with cards, coins, and stage magic, (9 total) then a ton of magic tricks. It won't be long before a character style will emerge and you'll want to do more. Focus on that with three additional well done and presented effects.
Dennis Michael
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Hernan Regular user San Francisco 126 Posts
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I vote for Magic for Dummies and Complete Idiots guide to magic tricks.
Both books focus on entertaining with magic immediately. They are a gold mine for learning skills in entertaining a crowd. With an introduction to misdirection, patter and presentation. Most of the time tested and extremely good books recommended by most magicians, merely teach you the "skills". And I wonder sometimes. Would Magic be more popular to audiences if magicians were taught showmanship BEFORE they were taught skills? Movie's, Plays/theater, Television, are (with Magic) eqaully illusions. They are not "reality". And yet these entertainments do not have somebody on thier right "Burning" their hand(burning your hand means watching your hand closely during slieght of hand feats). People are more willing to be "Fooled" by television. That is sad commentary on the people who went before us. Along with the 2 books "idiots" and "dummies", I strongly recommend picking up a "Skills" book such as Amateur Magicians Handbook or Mark Wilsons course in Magic. don't learn showmanship without also learning the core skills of our art. For videos I have another controversial recommendation. I bought one or two beginners videos. And they are good if you have $30 to dispose of learning tricks you will read in a book. But there are 2 videos centered around specific tricks that will teach you every basic skill and sparkle you will need to know. From my point of view they are the best beginner videos even though you will not be performing the "trick" anytime soon. "The complete Cups and Balls Volume 1" by M. Ammar.if you have the cash buy the whole set. In this video is vanish's, switchs, productions, routining, patter, presentation. Earplugs by Sankey. In this video is vanish's, switchs, productions, routining, patter, presentation. Go out there and drop some jaws. |
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Jim Morton Veteran user 361 Posts
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Good choices so far! I'll add a couple books that are all too often overlooked by people. One is out of print, the other is back in print. Both are fairly easy to find in used bookstores though.
Magic with Cards, by Garcia and Schindler. This is an amazing little volume. It covers all the basics, key cards, spelling effects, mathematical principles, and Si Stebbins. The Si Stebbins section is worth the price of the book (which is cheap--$15). Magic Digest by George B. Anderson. I would recommend this stunning book over Mark Wilson's any day. For one thing, it doesn't just teach the effects, it tells you who created them (when that is known) and gives lots of historical info as well. It also contains a section that refers the beginner to other books if they are interested in continuing their magic studies. You can find this at used bookstores for around $15, or less. Also worth owning: The Magic Book by Harry Lorayne. Oringally inteneded for the lay audience. This is an excellent book. One of the effects in the book is the basis for a magic trick that would cost you $250 if you purchased it. The Karl Fulves "Self-Working" series. This series of books by Dover is the cheapest and easiest way to build up a library of useful effects and (more importantly, IMO) useful general knowledge of basic magic principles. The titles may put a lot of people off, but they are filled with good--sometimes great--effects (like the now classic Gemini Twins in More Self Working Card Tricks). Encycplopedia of Card Magic edited by Jean Hugard. Okay this one is kind of a hodge-podge, but it's a great reference for most of the principles of card magic, includinog lots of useful info on gaffed decks. As for videos, I still think that if you only bought the Johnny Thompson Commercial Classics of Magic series, and learned everything on them, you'd be set for life. On the subject of improving your presentation, I agree with Den Dowhy's choices completely. I would add Jamy Ian Swiss's Shattering Illusions to the list. Jim Morton |
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Bigmagictrout New user Quebec, Canada 46 Posts
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The Card College series is a little expensive, but it's a must for beginners. Almost everything is in this book. If you can afford it, go for it
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AndrewG Regular user UK 101 Posts
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I own several Brad Burt videos which seem to be a good value.
Best as an addition to a good good book
Andrew
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LeConte Special user Bay area 830 Posts
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Reviewed
Michael Ammar: Easy To Master Card Miracles Vol 1 Price: Around $30 Format reviewed: DVD (also available on VHS) Publisher: L&L Running time: 75 minutes Number of tricks taught: 10 Number of sleights taught: 12 Original date of publish: 1994 Difficulty: a reasonable mixture of fairly easy card tricks ranging from self-working to slightly more difficult effects that require mastery of a few basic sleights (one trick requires a palm). As always hours of practice makes perfect but most of these card miracles are simple enough to allow you to concentrate on your patter and presentation rather than any physical demands. Final Rating: 8 out of 10 Michael Ammar’s Easy To Master Card Miracles is often hailed as the best video starting point for a beginner to properly learn some of magic’s great card tricks. I will post my reviews of each of the first three volumes since those are the only ones available at this time on DVD format. Perhaps volumes 3-6 will make their way on to DVD by this spring if all goes well. The series does have a slightly dated look as we enter 2003. Released in 1994, the hair styles and manner of dress might evoke a chuckle or two. Ammar introduces the video series excited somewhat, obviously proud of his offering and with good reason. Hundreds of cards tricks were researched by Mr. Ammar and he hand selected what he felt were the best effects for new students of card magic to learn. To quote, “these are simple yet powerful effects, material easy enough for a beginner, yet also strong enough to be included in any professional repertoire”. He continues. “You will only need a small handful of these effects from this series and you will be able to astonish people”. These are confident claims that Mr.Ammar indeed delivers! If you decide to purchase these tapes (or DVD's) you will find that they do contain some of the finest card magic that the beginning student can aspire to learn. The tricks are broken into small performance segments that are essentially two or three effects that seem to work well together. These are shot with Ammar surrounded at a small card table (he is standing) with 4-7 spectators. Obviously these are all close up card tricks that must have good angles because of the proximity of the audience. After the short performance segment the explanation follows. Mr Ammar speaks slowly, clearly and concisely. His words are simple and direct. There is nothing superfluous during the explanation phase of the tape. I believe his instruction to be clear enough for his tapes to be enjoyed by all, including magicians whose native tongue might not be English. 1) 8 Card Brainwave (Nick Trost) 8 cards are removed from the magicians pocket to conduct an experiment and shown face up. A spectator freely selects one of the cards and it is placed onto the table. The magician then, in an elegant manner, shows the remaining cards to all, have red backs and tables them one at a time. After cleanly showing the seven cards, the original selection by the spectator is flipped over and revealed to be the only card in the group with a blue back! Sleight learned: Olram Subtlety This is pretty much a self working sleight and Ammar gives great instruction for learning this creation of Ed Marlo (Olram = Marlo spelled backwards). This is a nice routine and uses ordinary cards to achieve it’s startling conclusion. You can do this one right away and it's perfect for jumping into the waters of card magic. An excellent choice to start the series with! 2) Red Hot Mama also known as The Chicago Opener (Leech, Everhart, Ryan) Considered by many to be one of the greatest tricks in all of card magic, yet simple enough for a beginner to learn and perhaps master in a relatively short amount of time. A card is freely selected by the spectator from a blue backed deck and then returned/lost to the center of the deck. Remember the cards are clearly shown to have the same colored back (blue in this case) when the spectator selects their card. When the deck is then spread (after the magic of course) one card is revealed to be in the center of the deck with an odd colored back, in this case a red back. The contrast is very strong! The red backed card is turned over and revealed to be the spectators freely selected card. This red backed card is tabled in front of the spectator. The magician attempts to repeat the feat one more time. Again the spectator is asked to freely select a new card. The deck is squared up and then spread, but this time the magician, after a wave of his or her hand, fails to produce a red backed card in the middle of the deck. It would appear that the trick is a bust, when attention returns to the red backed card on the table that has remained in view the whole time. The one and only red card, the card that previously had been revealed to be the spectators first selection, is flipped over and incredibly has now become the newly selected card! Sleights Learned: Dai Vernon’s Double Lift & The Hindu Shuffle Force The instruction for the double lift are very poor in my opinion. Almost no real detail is given by Mr. Ammar, which is surprising considering the relative importance of this sleight in performing a variety of card tricks. The working of this sleight are not detailed, nor the subtle mechanics of the replacement of the double. This is one of my main points of criticism of the ETMCM Volume 1. This sleight needs much more attention. The Hindu Shuffle Force is, however, well taught (it’s pretty easy after all) and Ammar’s instruction are easy to follow on this clever little force. 3) Acrobatic Aces (Braue/Forton) This is a nice little 4 ace routine and quite clever, well within the reach of a total newcomer to card magic. The magician asks four spectators to each pick a card in an attempt to select the four aces. They of course all fail to pick an ace and the random cards are returned to the deck. The magician then takes the four cards face down from the deck and tables 3 of them in a face-down fan. The fourth card that had been selected by one of the spectators is now held face-up in the magician’s hand and is used to scoop the 3 packet assembly into the air, which remains nicely balanced on the card. With a quick wrist motion the cards are flipped over in a blur and land on the table to reveal themselves to be the four Aces including the one card that had been held face up in the magician’s hand just seconds before! Sleight Learned: Braue Add-On Easy to learn sleight so it’s well covered. 4) The Secret To A Perfect Royal Flush (no credits) Gambling routines are an important aspect of card magic, so it is only fitting that Ammar would include a nice and easy trick on Volume 1. Some practitioners of our fine craft do not enjoy these particular types of routines very much, so this might not be everyones favorite trick, but it is still a nice introduction to this type of card magic. This is a basic presentation of a magician dealing himself a royal flush in spades. This is done by first clearly demonstrating how a false bottom deal can be used. The magician then proceeds to deal five hands of poker with his hand containing the aces of course. The five poker hands are squared up onto the deck. five more hands of poker are dealt, this time cleanly from the top of the deck. The result is a royal flush for the card handler. If you throw in some false cuts and shuffles (which are not taught on the video) then you have a great routine here. Ammar, like always, keeps things nice and easy for the beginning student. He does make a special mention of Harry Lorayne’s fine version of this classic gambling routine. This version in particular is found in The Royal Road To Card Magic. Sleights Learned: none, just patter and presentation 5) Triumph (Dai Vernon) Yet again, another one of the most highly regarded card tricks in all of card magic makes an appearance in Volume 1. Dai Vernon’s Triumph is a true classic of modern magic and has spawned countless variations of it’s themes. Ammar teaches the original version taught by Mr. Vernon and tells a story about some time he spent personally with the “professor” himself. The spectator selects a card and it is returned to the center of the deck. The magician cuts the cards and turns over one of the halves so that it is face-up. The magician then proceeds to shuffle the cards into each other in a convincing manner, at which point they are ribbon spread onto the table, clearly shown to be interlaced and indeed about to be mixed up thoroughly, half face-up into half face-down. The shuffle is completed and the cards are squared. The performer proceeds to cut into the deck several times to show that the cards are truly mixed up every which way, some face-up and some face-down. Magic words follow or perhaps a magical wave of the hand, regardless, the deck is flipped over and spread onto the table to reveal that the cards are all now magically facing one direction (face-down) with the exception of one card, and one card only, in the middle of the deck. The card is of course the spectator's original selection that had been previously lost into the deck. This is a tremendous effect and one that most card handlers attempt to master. Ammar’s performance is a bit stiff, and I don’t find his shuffle in the performance to look particularly convincing, however, the trick is well taught and every aspect of the basics is covered. With practice this routine will astound your audience and seem like “real” magic. Sleights Learned: Triumph Shuffle Well taught but somewhat stiff in the live performance. Maybe others will have differing opinions, but I have seen other magicians perform this shuffle and have it look a lot smoother. Ammar does teach it just fine, so get to practicing! 6) Further Than That (Stewart James) This is practically a self working card trick. The effect is easy to follow. The spectator is asked to pick a number between 10-20 (hey, it’s for beginners remember, no laughing) and then using that number a random card is chosen (yea right). The magician, being careful not to see the card himself (or herself), reveals it to the spectators to be the ace of spades. The card is lost into the deck. Now the magic begins. The cards themselves appear to communicate to the magician the identity of the chosen card as he holds the deck close to his ear. The magician tells the audience that the selected card is the ace of spades and that many tricks might stop there, but not this one, “it goes further then that.” Since the selection was the ace of spades, the magician deals out the letters to spell “ace of spades” all face down. The first three cards (spelling ace) are turned over to reveal the AC, AH, AD. The cards spelling spades are turned over next to reveal a straight flush. Again the magician states that many tricks might end here, but not this one, once again, “it goes further then that.” The final revelation is a royal flush which is dealt out containing the ace of spades. All in all this would never be considered strong card magic, but one must remember the context of this first volume of Ammar’s ETMCM. This trick is specifically on this tape for someone who is completely new to the art and this effect is self working Sleights Learned: 10/20 Force: is simple to learn and put into use 7) Las Vegas Leaper (Paul Harris) Here we have the first semi-advanced trick in the series. The magician starts by demonstrating how cards are counted in Las Vegas with a small packet. This packet is handed to a spectator who is told to finish counting off the cards which in this case equals ten. The spectator then sits on the cards! The magician proceeds to vanish in a clear and clean manner 3 cards from the deck. The last card to vanish is clearly named to the audience and in this particular performance is a 2C. The cards are then removed from under the tush of the spectator and counted out to now total 13 cards. The 2C is clearly shown to among them, having indeed traveled over! The spectator is next asked to hold the cards close to their chest so the magician can in no way get to the cards. Once more the magician is able, under great scrutiny, to send three cards to the spectator's tightly held card packet, which again is counted to now reveal 16 cards! This is an incredible trick that can play huge to an audience. It is also the first semi-advanced trick in the series, but it is well worth learning. The palm is an important sleight to master and is often intimidating for the novice, but the misdirection taught in this card trick makes it fairly easy to pull off with confidence. The effect can be a center piece type of trick in most young magician’s routines. Bill Malone has a tremendous version of this Paul Harris classic (which is originally found in the amazing Art of Astonishment Vol 1) on his On The Lose DVD set. Sleights Learned: Biddle Steal 2 as 3 False Count Tent Vanish Simple Palm A nice assortment of sleights are all well taught by Ammar for this trick. 8) Cannibal Cards (Lin Searles) The 4 Kings are removed from the deck by the magician and three spectators each chose a card from the remaining portion of the deck. The three selections are placed face-up on the deck. Now here is where the trick gets interesting. The first spectator selected card is placed into the packet of Kings. When they are squared up and flipped over and then cleanly spread out, the card is no longer seen, it has been eaten by the “Cannibal Kings”. The next card is placed into the Kings without delay and once again after spreading the card packet, the spectator’s card is found to be missing. The final card meets the same fate as the first two and disappears. Now that the 3 selections have vanished, the magician clearly counts off the four Kings one by one to show that the spectators cards have truly vanished and places the Kings on top of the deck. The magician states that now the “Cannibal Kings” will eat themselves. One by one the First 3 Kings disappear as the magician cleanly flips them over from the top of the deck. The last King is cut into the deck and in one quick motion the deck is spread revealing in it’s center the 4 Kings with the spectators original three selected cards sandwiched between them. This is a great trick and is somewhat fun to perform. The audience laughs a good bit while Ammar performs the effect. There are many variations of this card classic and Eugene Burger has a great one. This card trick is a little harder to master than some of the other tricks so far. Sleights Learned: Ascanio Spread This is taught very well by Mr. Ammar. No problems here. 9) A Night At the Improv (Eric Mead) This is a story trick along the lines of the classic Sam the Bellhop (which rocks and Bill Malone’s handling is highly regarded), but much more watered down. No false cuts, false shuffles or false anything’s are taught. I don’t really care for this trick, but this is a beginners series and a routine such as Sam the Bellhop would be quite difficult to master (see Malone’s On The Loose Volume 1 for the routine). The effect is simple as the magician basically tells a story using the cards, which are turned over one by one from a face down deck. With enough thought and practice you could come up with your own story using a stacked deck that could potentially suit your needs far better than what is taught here. Sleights Learned: none, all patter here 10) The Insurance Policy (Tommy Windsor) Every video in the series contain one so called bonus effect and the gimmick or prop is supplied. In volume one’s case the trick is an old standby of card magic. The effect is very simple. The spectator is allowed to select a card by cutting the deck and then shown the card. The cards are then squared up and the magician attempts without success to name the selected card. He or she repeatedly fails to name the card and the trick appears to have gone awry. The magician explains that he has an insurance policy in case this happens and produces a folded piece of paper from his coat pocket. The policy essentially unfolds to reveal the spectators chosen card, which is printed quite largely on one side of the “policy”. Once again this trick is not my cup of tea, but this a great trick for someone who is utterly and completely new to magic. It is pretty easy to perform and introduces the concept of time misdirection quite well, so it is important to understand the inner working of this old effect. This is not something that will appear in any professional repertoire in my humble opinion because it feels like it came from some cheap magic set. Also, there are a multitude of better ways to reveal a card, but they will be learned latter in the series. Hey it’s only the first volume so far, and I understand why this effect was included on the series. Sleights Learned: The Criss-Cross Force Once again well taught by Ammar. One of the most basic forces in magic, so it is appropriate to be taught here on the first volume of the ETMCM series. Well there you have it. Volume 1 serves the young card worker well and it makes a clear introduction to the format that the remainder of the series is to follow. The variety and careful selection of each card trick is for the most part outstanding. From this volume alone I feel that most will agree these 3 tricks are keepers for the beginner. 1) 8 Card Brainwave 2) Red Hot Mama 3) Triumph I like the fact that Ammar also includes a more advanced trick in Las Vegas Leaper on the first volume as well. Palming is an important aspect of card magic and Ammar does not shy away from teaching a trick that employs this sleight. There are effects to grow into, kinda like clothes that are too large for you when you get them. The complete beginner can master all of this stuff in due time and I like that. The difficulty slowly ramps up from when you first learn the Olram Subtlety. Once the final volumes (4-6) are released on DVD format, you will have no excuse not to pick up the whole series. This is not the strongest volume of the series but it serves as an excellent introduction to card magic. Some of the material might be viewed as old or outdated by some, but please remember that this series is designed for the sole purpose of being viewed by someone who is new to magic. Some people will not enjoy Ammar’s patter and nervous laughter that is exhibited at times, but the focus here is ultimately the tricks themselves, and you should not strive to copy Mr. Ammar’s presentation anyway. The magic of volume 1 is sound and practical. My final score is a solid 8 out of ten and yes there are better volumes in the series. I am not pleased with the lack of descriptions for the ever important double lift, as I feel that the first volume in the series must properly teach this incredibly important sleight. The explanations are clear and simple for the other sleights however, so you won’t be disappointed. This video is highly recommended for any beginner to magic who is looking to learn some good tricks from a source other than a book. This is a great place to start. In due time I will continue to review many more videos and books for beginners and post them (my review of volume 2 is next) to this thread. I hope that someone out there in cyberspace finds this helpful and that it answers some questions. Please PM me with any suggestions or criticisms!!
Drive Carefully
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amazingboz New user 67 Posts
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Posting here is a great start. However nothing can beat hands on. Find the nearest magic shop and call them. Better yet, if you can stop in and make yourself known.
Network with magic events in your area (i.e. clubs, magicians in the phone book...). Only you can answer what style or type of magic that you want to learn and perform so keep coming back. We all started at the same place. Feel free to email me if you want. Magically yours, AmazingBoz aka Phil 
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atkinsod Regular user VA 196 Posts
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Conte,
A very thorough review of Ammar's video. Have you considered contributing it also to Bryan Dean's http://www.magictalk.com They have a good review section. The advantage is that your review won't get buried in a thread that not everyone will see. It wouldn't hurt to post them in both places, of course, for Magic Café readers who don't frequent both places! Doug A. |
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amazingboz New user 67 Posts
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I always recommend Mark Wilson's complete course on magic! I also look for used Genie, Magic and other used Magic magazines for useful thoughts and bits. Obviously having a computer will make you light years more resources than us older timers from the BC era. (before computers).
AamazingBoz
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Majestic12 Special user Maryland 643 Posts
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I recommend Micheal Ammars World Of Magic Video, you will learn a bit of everything. Magic, recommended videos and reading, how to buy magic etc.
I also love Bill Tarrs books, Now you see it, now you don't. Lessons in sleight of hand. 2 editions of that book and his 101 easy to do magic tricks. You will learn good fundamentals in all of this material. 
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pennypinch New user Toronto 2 Posts
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Majestic12, I got the Bill Tarr book, "Now you see it, now you don't" and think it's fantastic. It's packed full of great tricks, but to me, the best thing about it is that the tricks have a difficulty rating. This is great for beginners like myself. Anyway, I heard about the very rare "The Second Now you see it, now you don't" and I heard that it was just as good, if not better. Tracking a copy of that book down has become my new obsession.
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gandolf Loyal user Hillsborough,NC 236 Posts
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LeConte:
Thank you for your outstanding review of Ammar's DVD. You write extremely well and clearly. I decided to purchase the set of DVD's today based primarily on your review. It is one of the best reviews of any product I have read on any web site. I certainly hope you will continue to provide the members at the Café with your input. I will look forward to reading anything you post! 
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LeConte Special user Bay area 830 Posts
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Man, thanks a lot for the kind words as they mean a great deal to me. I have been working so much lately that I've had little time to work on the next review. I promise to get Volume 2 posted this week (I'm off Monday and Tues). It's great to hear that the review helped you to make your purchase!
Drive Carefully
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Dr. TORA Inner circle TURKEY 1439 Posts
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All the above mentioned are really the finest sources. I want to add just another one for manipulation. Davenport's publication titled "Willane's Complete methods for Miracles" It virtually covers a variety of sleights. I have learned a lot from it. It is slightly over 10 pounds sterling as far as I know. (It was 12.5 pounds when I bought mine)
Magically Yours,
OZLEN TUNCER /Dr.TORA Have you visited my new Website in English, yet? www.magictora.com or www.torasmagic.com |
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pennypinch New user Toronto 2 Posts
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I managed to get Bill Tarr's book 'The Second Now You See It, Now You Don't'. It's so amazing. So much magic presented in such an inviting way. HIGHLY recomended, if you can find it.
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magician_carter New user 79 Posts
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Bill Tarr's book, Now you see it, now you don't is a great book and I also recommend it. IT has done wonders for me. I would also like to add to this the video "Inside Magic" from the ellusionist.com site. I just got it and think all, but a couple of effects are good beginner effects. Not too difficult sleight of hand.
Above all, remember, without practice, the books and videos are useless. Carter
Without Magic, Life is Boring.
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Zidane New user 3 Posts
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where do you get the magic with cards???????
 
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philwalker_wba New user England 15 Posts
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Just been to the Blackpool convention in the UK. A guy that really impressed me was Michael Vincent who did a couple of magnificent routines. I purchased his tape whilst there, the first half of which doesn't show a single trick, it covers psychology how to put a trick together, etc.
Since I had lots of young lads aching to show me their latest trick, shuffle handling of which showed they could handle cards well, they didn't put together an entertaining or 'proffesional trick' just convinced me how hard magic is to quote (I can't remember now). When asked for my opinion, silly really since I took this up as a hobby not long ago, I could only say, great handling now work on your presentation.
If at First you dont succeed try a little magic.
Regards phil |
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Posted: Jan 7, 2003 01:57 am 