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Hi, Can anybody tell me where can I study card magic? I've learnt the basic moves i.e: False Shuffles & Cuts, Double Lifts, Passes, Palming etc. I'm looking for Card Handling tuition? How I present my act to spectators? How I handle cards. I want to wow my spectators with my confident card handling. I've so far studied Royal Road to Card Magic Book and DVD Set, I'm currently learning tricks from Malone meets Marlo DVD Set. Which has some fantastic effects in them and also explained very well. But there's only so much u can learn from a DVD set or a book. Does anyone recommend anything or there services which may help me progress alot further. Someone preferably who specializes only in Card Magic. Thanks!

What do you mean exactly? By the end of the Royal Road, your card handling should be pretty confident!

Just more confidence in my handling, I tend to learn more when I'm shown rather than studying. I just need someone who I can go over my routines with and give me the tips I need to shape things up a bit.

I agree, go back over the royal road to card magic a few times. Learn that. And most importantly no book or whatever will give you any skills with cards. What will give you skills is practice, a little bit of rehearsal, a little bit of time practicing infront of the mirror, practicing, practicing infront of the mirror, rehearsing, More practice more rehearsing oh.. and did I say practice? Oh and on top of that, more practice.
I have been practicing this one slight non-stop for 3 days. When I'm wacthing the tv, I'm repeating it and repeating it. When I'm revising, I'm repeating and repeating it, then when I get some time I look in the mirror and do it as many times as I can in the mirror, I look at where I'm going wrong and try and correct it. I can tell you now, I can honestly say, I must have done this damn slight over 3000 times during the past 3 days. But I've nearly got it to a level that is 'nearly satisfactory'. I could practice it for 100 years and still find improvements. You see, the point I'm making in a long winded and ott manor is that the great magicians out there aren't great because they know thousands of super secrets, but because they thirthy years of practicing behind them and they are constatnly refining their palms, top changes, passes e.t.c.
I refer your honarable gentlemenness to the very start of the royal road in which I tells the story of the amateur who proudly declairs he knows 300 card tricks to which the master replies: 'I can, in all honesty, say, I know in all, about 8.'
So, don't expect to amaze people if you rush through the basics in search of some magical secrets- the only magical secrets are the most obvious- practice, misdirection, presentation e.t.c. Before I perform any card trick I spend several months preparing for it, experimenting on my close friends with different sleights, different presentations and I think about it. Then I perform. Then I refine. I now have a small collection of personal effects which are constantly evolving and I enjoy performing them. They are adapted to my audience. They are adapted to my style, my skill level and they suit me perfectly. That is when you begin to really get satisfaction out of magic. Not from copying others.
They say in martial arts- 'You can only ever master this art once you begin to love the fundamentals'. They say in music 'the master plays the scale better than the student' and in magic it's the same.
SO-
In Conlusion- practice, be origional, take your time, practice, read the royal road, practice, think and consider, practice, refine, practice, create, practice, read the royal road. Then when you have exhausted every page, scentence and word move on. Then come back to it and use hindsight to take more from it. I'm pretty sure you have the magic hobbyist syndrome of having more than enough material to produce an entire show, but all that is needed is practice and thought. You already know everything you need to amaze. Reading (or wacthing dvds) will not turn you into cardini. Reading is part of it.

Well I can't reccomend personal tutors as I'm completely self taught, but if you want to become confident in your card handling then perhaps regular performances will help

Thankyou SamGurney for you excellent reply.

It would be foolish to attempt to match Sam's reply, but three things that greatly helped my card work...

1.) Becoming a student of Michael Vincent. Impossibly brilliant advice.
2.) Starting fresh. I was so hung up on trying to side steal to tenkai, table faro and all sorts of silly moves that I forgot what it was to mystify a lay audience.
3.) I bought Card College One. Although it is very simple stuff, it talks about how to look after your hands, the history of playing cards, mats etc...all the little tid bits you never learnt.

My one piece of advice is that of Fred Kaps. Treat the cards like they are your £10,000 violin. They aren't just a set of pieces of paper you can drop and bend etc, treat them with you and let them become an extension of yourself.

Lenoir wrote:It would be foolish to attempt to match Sam's reply, but three things that greatly helped my card work...

1.) Becoming a student of Michael Vincent. Impossibly brilliant advice.
2.) Starting fresh. I was so hung up on trying to side steal to tenkai, table faro and all sorts of silly moves that I forgot what it was to mystify a lay audience.
3.) I bought Card College One. Although it is very simple stuff, it talks about how to look after your hands, the history of playing cards, mats etc...all the little tid bits you never learnt.

My one piece of advice is that of Fred Kaps. Treat the cards like they are your £10,000 violin. They aren't just a set of pieces of paper you can drop and bend etc, treat them with you and let them become an extension of yourself.

Lenny old boy I envy you for being able to turn to someone like Michael Vincent for guidance. how did you come about meeting him anyway?? And with regard to Card College, it's amazing how Giobbi's respect for his deck of cards comes accross in any performances of his that I have ever seen. He really does treat them like his £10,000 violin like you say!

Quite an odd story really...I had never even heard of him until somebody posted a video on TM...I really liked it, watched everything he had uploaded several times...left it at that.

Next day, went to International Magic in London to buy an Ed Marlo book, low and behold, he casually strolled into the shop and we chatted away and became friends!

Lenoir wrote:Quite an odd story really...I had never even heard of him until somebody posted a video on TM...I really liked it, watched everything he had uploaded several times...left it at that.

Next day, went to International Magic in London to buy an Ed Marlo book, low and behold, he casually strolled into the shop and we chatted away and became friends!

You lucky sod!! I'll try not to be too jealous.... honest... damn FAIL

I could be wrong, (but I'm usually not) but from your post it sounds like you know stuff you have just not performed. Your best teacher is going to come from performances. So go out there fall on your face a few times, get up brush yourself off, learn from your mistakes and keep going.

Starting fresh. I was so hung up on trying to side steal to tenkai, table faro and all sorts of silly moves that I forgot what it was to mystify a lay audience.

There we have a wonderful piece of advice to add to your collection.

Without digressing into an essay again xD I would just like to make one final point which isn't really card related but as bmat said, perform! That is what magic is about and most importantly- enjoy performing. The uneasy feeling of nerves is picked up by an audience- you have to enngage with them and entertain them- Nearly all of my favourite magicians don't actually do anything for the first 10 minutes of their act and I don't even realise. Anyway, I must physically restrain myself before I continue with my nausious tedium.
Thanks, Sam

cymru1991 wrote:Well I can't reccomend personal tutors as I'm completely self taught, but if you want to become confident in your card handling then perhaps regular performances will help

This ^^

Try to perform for friends or family as much as you can. They're the toughest of audiences so by practice and performance, you're card handling will get better.

I'd say for practice, pick maybe five or six tricks that you know well and just go through and practice those tricks two or three times a day, more if you have the time. That way they will just become smoother and the sleights used in them will become more like a second nature to you.

Whilst I can only agree wth the sentiments of the above posts 100% an additional option (which is realy just an extension of the "go out there and perform" line) is to join a local magic club. There, with like minded folk (some times) you can learn from experienced members and practice with/on them they may also have shows etc where you can cut your teeth.

Much is learnt from performance that no book or DVD will ever give you. Remember magic is the art of entertainment. So after you have "learnt" the trick spend as much time again learning the MAGIC.

The temptation when you begin in magic is to learn as many secrets as you can. But this isn't the source of great magic.
Keep practicing start performing and most of all GOOD LUCK!

I don't know about the magic club bit. That is usually when you start to go downhill and become as bad as all the other members.