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While talking to another TM member on MSN and discussing venison and the likes, I remembred that there use to be a van in York that sold venison burgers and the likes. So I would like to review said van… it was white probley a high box transit van…I mean I reminded me that’s where I learnt my first card trick. In York not the van and then flicked through the book I learnt it from so here is a review of this little book :

The Effect

Collins Gem card tricks (yeah the same people who publish S.A.S survivale guides.) it is a full colour little book on card trick from the self worker to card novelties such as braking the pack in to two halves.


Cost

£4.99 Bargain! From Waterstones of all places!



Difficulty

1-3 from simple self workers to using the double life and false cuts.

(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

Well this book will all ways be special to me because I learnt the first trick I ever did from it. The two detectives it was called. 192 full colour pages guide you through , forces, cuts , shuffles and even the palm amongst other things. Ok it is no Royal road to card magic it lacks certain things that royal road has in it. But full colour and clear explanations and photos help a lot.

Now it is a beginners book but it has some pretty advanced stuff in it such as the Si Stebins stack I kid you not and even a cards across. And one of the best bits of advice “don’t use cheap paper cards” words to live by that.

Each section is colour coded in the cornner of the page so you get to what section you want with out flicking through.

So full colour and pretty indepth for a beginners book, it dose not cover for instance a side jog or a pass, but that is to be expected the slights are very handy and the book its self is very well published.
Saying this however a few of the tricks (60 in total) are kind of like uncle Charlie’s deal down tricks which I hate with a passion ( the type of trick not uncle C.) but it is good to start of with the basics.


Overall
8 / 10
So lets wrap this up. Its not royal road to card magic. It is however a small book that fits in your pocket with lots of good material not all is good but most books of this nature are like that. Outstanding value for money this is a solid 8 of ten for sheer quality and value for money. I suggest whacking it in your pocket for a crafty read when you have run out tricks and people want more!

The effect

Sleight of hand basics, arranged decks, maths tricks, some novelties and bet type tricks

Cost

no more than £5

Difficulty


1-3 basic tricks kids could learn through to longer more complicated tricks with sleights and arranged decks.

Review

It's a lovely little book, I bought it years ago and its still one I come back to learn new tricks and to relearn old ones. It explains how to do the sleight of hands pretty well. The diagrams are useful and show them pretty clearly. The most recent print I believe uses photos rather than diagrams. Personally I think the older editions with diagrams show the tricks more clearly, so it's worth getting it used and new off amazon or where ever.

It covers arranged deck systems including Si Stebbins, which was one of the first arranged deck tricks I learnt. It also introduces the idea of using specials decks like svengali along with a few tricks to do with them.

This is not the most in depth book you can get, but it is very good for learning basic skills. The skills section will give you most of the talents needed to make up new tricks and devise your own routines. The fact that it is only a little bit bigger than a pack of cards makes it nice for just carrying about and learning the odd new trick on the move.

Overall

8/10

Agreed with the rating above. Its value for money, gives you most of the basic skills to develop other tricks. Most of the routines can be adapted. The older copies were also made of quite solid covers making it quite a durable book as well. One of the best intros to cards I've read over the years.

I've got this little book and it's pretty good for the money; there are a few decent tricks in it and you can't go wrong for a fiver. I couldn't believe it when I realised the Si Stebbins stack was in it - you don't expect that in a book at this price point. I haven't read this in some time, but I remember some of the advice on presentation being quite good, too. I think anyone who buys this book will be pleasantly surprised at what it contains. Size, as they say, is not everything.

Is this a book that can be found in the US? I'm past the basics but it sounds like a book that I would want in my library. Is the author Stanley Collins? Would appreciate any help in getting a copy of this.
Thanks
Al

Al, the author is Trevor Day. If you go to Amazon and search for "collins gem card tricks" you'll get three results. Looks like it may be out of print because you can only get it used and new from between $6 - $115!

Thanks for the help. All of you talk highly of this book and thats good enough for me. I'll check Amazon now.
Cheers
Al

Don't expect any earth-shattering tricks, but for its size and price it does a good job.

Agreed, if you already know quite a few card tricks it won't really teach much new. It has a good section on glimpse tricks and maths tricks. A lot of them people will realize roughly how their done, but its a bit more convinient to carry round than the royal road to card magic.

Hey Al Doty,

There's another one you could actually try. I've got a copy of it. It's actually sort of a bonus item, not the main item itself. It's listed as Encyclopaedia of Card Tricks (i think it's Bonus No.2 or No.3) on the http://www.mgtrix.com website.

It's very comprehensive. You can buy the package just for the card tricks, and ignore the others. Pretty affordable, and instant too...