talkmagic.co.uk

Type: Book, and an old one at that


Cost: From free upwards (it is one of those available from TLPP)



Difficulty up to 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 was a book written by reformed card cheat to give the card player an advantage against the unscrupulous fellows he might meet at his club. It covers everything from cheating in pairs to working alone and assembling cards as you gather together the last hands ready to shuffle, or culling them from particualr positions as you shuffle. It then mives to stock shuffling during which an apparently innocent shuffle arranges the culled cards intot he right positions to be dealt to you naturally. Aslo covered are second and bottom deals as well as false shuffles and cuts, there are also a couple of card tricks.

This is a book that will teach you to cheat and get away with it. It is not a book that teaches you to do magician style gambling routines or anything like that, and in fact warms against showing that you have any skill at all with cards.


Overall
If you buy this hoping to learn some tricks you will be dissapointed, however, you will learn the more 'useful' card sleights and methods, but it will be up to you to apply them to magic (or to cheating!). It is also old, written very drily and is a little confusing in places which is not very nice since some of the stock shuffles are quite involved: run 2 less than twice the number of players, outjog and shuffle off, cut to outjog blah de blah. The diagrams aren't the best in the world either, thought I have seen worse.

I would give it 10 for content, only 6 for quality of instruction but 10 for value (you can't get better than free!)

nickj wrote:Cost: From free upwards (it is one of those available from TLPP)

TLPP? Je ne comprends pas...

(or is it je ne comprend pas, without the 's'... damn my French teacher...)

its

je ne compend pas, i think

The Learned Pig Project.

boywonder wrote:its

je ne compend pas, i think

Actually I think zack was right
Sorry mate.

Personally I think this book is an absolute classic (As I think many magicians view it), I would give it an overall 10/10 but I do see where you are coming from in terms of quality of instruction, it is a little difficult to follow at times.

I think that this book is acclaimed as a classic because it is probably the most famous book on Card Cheating as opposed to Card Manipulation. It adds a completely different angle on cards compared to the view that magicians generally have of a deck of cards. S.W. Erdnase (a backward spelling of the famous drunkard and gambler E.S. Andrews) saw a pack of cards in a totally diferent creative light to that of a magician because his primary interest was using them to win at cards and amass large sums of money by doing so. He was a Card Cheat in the purest of terms; he cheated at cards. Nowadays the phrase "Card Cheat" has been used by magicians in an attempt to rationalise their skills but like Nick quoted, Erdnase suggests that your opponents shouldn't even know you have any skill at cards (The episode of "Hustle" comes to mind where Mickey uses his card cheating skills to lure in an artist. If you've seen it you'll understand what I mean.)

Expert at the Card Table is a great book for both researching card cheating methods and also to see card manipulation in a completely different light.

An essential addition to any magician's library in my oppinion.

PS

Zack wrote:nickj wrote:
Cost: From free upwards (it is one of those available from TLPP)


TLPP? Je ne comprends pas...

TLPP stands for The Learned Pig Project. Delve into the fray

GoldFish wrote:

boywonder wrote:its

je ne compend pas, i think

Actually I think zack was right
Sorry mate.

I got it wrong, and im doing GCSE french!