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The Effect
The encyclopedia of card tricks. by Jean Hugard.
How to perform over 600 card tricks, devised by the world’s greatest magicians. 66 illus.


Cost
not expensive around £10 from many retailers


Difficulty
1-5

(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)



Review
This is a great companion to Royal Road and was one of the first books i bought on magic it remains one of the most comprehensive and exhaustive texts on card effects even after 60 years of being in publication. A brief summary of the table of contents shows the variety of effects covered: impromptu card tricks, spelling effects, "you do as I do", special cards, special decks (Svengali, Mene-Tekel, Stripper), calculation effects, and miscellaneous card tricks. Hugard describes the effects clearly and accurately, attributes the originator of the effect (if known), and occasionally offers an editorial comment or suggestion. The book is quite literally a gold mine of information, awaiting an interested and motivated magician to mine its contents. I continue to amaze audiences with Stewart James' original handling of "Miraskill" (p. 330). And Kli Ban's "The Spectator Finds Your Card" (p. 348), in which the spectator finds the card I chose, has been in my routine for years. Virtually all effects require no difficult sleight-of-hand. However, Hugard does devote a chapter describing important card sleights, and an amazing chapter to the Nikola card system. This Dover reprint is one of the best values in magic. With this volume, and possibly the addition of John Scarne's "Scarne on Card Tricks", any magician can develop an entertaining card routine that audiences will enjoy. "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks" belongs in every magician's library. it is a valuable stand alone resource however if you take the time and work with it along side Royal Road then you have in your arsenal a classic collection of brilliant material


Overall
on its own as a stand alone book 9/10
along side Royal Road to card magic 10/10

i activly encourage every magic retailer to sell these book as a pair as they are indispensible resources to any magician

Dont forget theres quite a good svengali chapter too

absolutely in fact this book has so many great chapters i think evryone of them is a treasure trove of information. the tricks with wax the use of short cards and meni tekil packs the numbers tricks all excellent chapters

Is there much duplication of tricks between this and Royal Road?

Lord Freddie wrote:Is there much duplication of tricks between this and Royal Road?

Newp. I don't think there's any overlap of effects. There are far, far more effects in here than in Royal Road (it's almost twice as long!).

Thanks!
Looks like another addition to my library is coming up....

Lord Freddie wrote:Is there much duplication of tricks between this and Royal Road?

Royal Road is a course in sleight of hand techniques and effects using them. The Encyclopedia is mostly on "self-working" non-sleight effects and mechanical packs. The few "indispensable" sleights are simple ones.

Barry

Thanks, I already have the excellent Royal Road and was hoping that the same tricks weren't in this one. Definitley sounds like a good purchase.

Just bought it today hopefully it be good..

looks pretty good from what I've seen

This is not my favourite book but it's been my utility book. I've referred to it so much when coming up with new tricks. I've recently started mashing tricks up for experimentation.

Excellent resource on double backs and double face and blank cards as well as 'rough and smooth'.

I got this book and its my first as I'm a beginner. It does me rightly and is teaching me the basics of sleights.

I'd say it is a good book but my one criticism would be the lack of sleights. I'd like to see more false shuffles and forces.

the royal road to card magic has more of the false shuffles and sleights.
Also you might want to consider Erdnase's Expert at the Card table, which has loads of shuffles, sleights, cuts, etc...

Thought I'd add that some magic dealers sell this book for up to £15 but on amazon.co.uk it's under six quid.
Quite a difference!

And what do you think about Jean Huguard's Card Manipulations? Are this good books?

Beowulf

Got the Encyclopedia last week and have been reading through it.
Excellent! Particularly, as pointed out before, when combined with the RRTCM.
There really is a wide range of effects in here, all waiting for you to add your own twist and interpretation.