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I know this is going to sound so stupid but, I have purchased the book

The Royal Road to Card Magic

Obviously I would like to get started as soon as the book arrives so is there a pacific card set I should get? what set of card would you suggest to get.

I'm completely new to all this

In principle you can use any deck of at least half-decent quality. In fact, one point of RRTCM tricks is that you can do a majority of them with someone else's deck, proving that you don't need any specific deck.

However, for magicians there are a few preferred types, top is probably Bicycle cards, but also Tally-Ho cards for example. I'd go for Bicycle and I think many would agree with me there, but really it's up to you. The advantage of such brands is also that many trick cards only come as certain types, though obviously you don't need any for the Royal Road.

Thanks can't wait to get started my first magic order will be

Bicycle Cards: Black back
Close-up mat, black, large
Card Guard, stainless steel


looks like a nice deck to start with.

Not a bad choice for a first order and nice to hear from a newbie who has avoided wasting their money on a whole host of DVD's from Ellusionist.

dat8962 wrote:Not a bad choice for a first order and nice to hear from a newbie who has avoided wasting their money on a whole host of DVD's from Ellusionist.

Yup, Burn, you're absolutely spot on there.
Good attitude, man.

Thats all you will need for a good few months. The card guard will protect your cards and help them last a bit longer.. though eventually you will benefit from investing in a Joe Proper clip for £30.. every so good I cant praise the Porper clip enough..

When going through, just make sure you go slowly, study each section well. A lot of new people want to rush through.. Take your time, by the end of the book you will have some astonishing routines you can pull out of the bag!!

Good Luck

Joe Porper clip looks nice.

I suggest having one pack for practice that you will wreck. This will be used for riffling, throwing, springing and otherwise knackering.

When you get into using your good deck for card tricks involving card distruction like ripping, signing or crimping. You will want a "feeder deck" which is a good deck you replace cards from. This is also good for duplicates and gaff making.

Some tricks require two different decks. I use red all the time (see Marvell Ubiquity theory) and blue for the above purposes only.

So, in summary ..

red bike practice
red bike performance
red bike feeder
blue bike other

A card guard is good for the performance pack.

Other than that, RRTCM is going to be all you need for ages, though you'll be tempted by other things

Mark Wilsons's complete course is also a great book to have, it'll introduce you to lots of other areas of magic that are out there.

Good luck to you

If you're into that sort of thing.

I wondered how long it would be before Mark Wilsons Spokesperson showed up

Mark Wilsons course is great.. NOT the best source for card magic by a long shot.. but has enough in there..

For cards.. 1) Card College but at £120 quid.. grab RRTCM and use this a a great source.. then get expert card technique.. then expert at the card table.. then card manipulations 1-4.. then more card manipulations

For Cards.. get Bobos modern coin magic.. then David Roth dvd's ( I forget the title ) or David Stone basic coin magic 1-3.. then Jay Sankeys Revolutionary coin magic

For imromptu magic... MARK WILSONS COMPLETE COURSE ( for Lady of Mystery's benefit and because its true )... then Jay Sankeys No card tricks

Well I guess it's always good to start slowly so you keep the info in your head. I’ve got some good info from you guys thanks, and I'll be sure not to let my head turn by all the c*** (not the best) gimmicks that are high in price, but low in value.

(that's for COINS Bobo and Roth ID)

I bought Expert Card Technique after RRTCM. It's a perfect second book. It costs about the same as RRTCM.

Scarne on Cards, Anneman's Card Tricks and the Encyclopedia of Card Tricks are good sources for low cost.

Yes, buy Mark Wilson if you're into sponge balls, cups and balls, napkins, rope and other ... 0£% $(^**£ magic but don't if you're not.

Bobo is the coin book of pleasure. Get New Modern Coin Magic if you can.

13 Steps to Mentalism and Practical Mental Magic for mentalism.

Seventh Heaven is my favourite compilation so far, but I've not got Art of Astonishment which is on my list.

Burn wrote:Well I guess it's always good to start slowly

A sensible start.

Burn wrote:and I'll be sure not to let my head turn by all the c*** (not the best) gimmicks that are high in price, but low in value.

Indeed, but don't underestimate cheap gimmicks such as short, double face or similar card gimmicks.

I have art of astomishment.. so many cool effects, Paul Harris is genious..

Also Banacheks PSI series 1-4.. stunning, very good effects and banachek is a great mentalist

Marvell wrote:Yes, buy Mark Wilson if you're into sponge balls, cups and balls, napkins, rope and other ... 0£% $(^**£ magic but don't if you're not.

But how do you know you're not into sponges, silks, ropes etc unless you give them a go? I'd highly recommend anyone starting out to give absolutly everything a go, you never know what you're going to enjoy otherwise.

As I said in my 'Do you try new things' thread, I never thought I'd like sponges until giving them a go. Now I love them, they're just so much fun and go down amazingly well. My sponge balls to music (something a few months ago I'd never have imagined myself performing) looks elegant, fun, entertaining and is such fun to perform too.