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Hi everyone I'm new here, but i always loved magic, the idea around it and most of all the shock value. The problem is I don't know where to start.
I've searched the net but there's just way to much info its overwhealing.
then I went to the book store and all they had were card tricks, and only the kiddie ones not the amazing and shocking kind and also i would like to learn magical illusions. (at least i think thats what there called)

So if anyone knows a good beginner (but cool) magic books
or a web site to help me begin my magic jouney,
I would be so greatful.

Thanks guys

peace&love
nailz

Hi nailz and welcome to talkmagic.

Only me an you up at this time in the morning it seems

A great book to start would be Royal Road to card magic, which is available at Waterstones, and you can order through other big book stores if they don't have it, most magicians have it in their library, even if its for the sake of having it.

There are some great dvd's available to learn from, and easier than books, as you don't have to have eight hands, to turn pages and do the moves etc. depending on what you learn from best.

A good site I can recommend would be Alakazam.co.uk, or magictricks.co.uk and go into the beginner sections. The sites are well laid out, and give difficulty ratings.

Before you purchase, check for a review on this site, or ask for one to be left, there won't be any freebies around here, but some good pros and cons and thoughts from experienced and new magicians alike.

There is so much different magic available, cards coins, close up, stage, mentalism, childrens, so decide what you want to get into, as it can be an expensive, but worthwhile and rewarding hobby. You'll need lots of patience, and practise, and don't even mention the word "CAN'T" if you want to be good.

Some of the 'cool' magic as you say... what do you mean by cool? The simplest magic can be sometimes the most powerful.... its the performance you put into it.... I mean, how many kids were impressed by the grandparents pulling their thumb apart??? (I was)

Hope to see you around the forums, and keep us posted on how you get on with the books and websites, and good luck with your quest

Some good advice form Mark there

Also, You might want to go and introduce yourself in the introductions forum.
A DVD i would recommend from reviews and the fact that Oz teaches it would be 'Born To Perfom' By Oz Pearlman.
Good luck!

I wouldn't buy Royal Road to card magic as your starter book, it's written in a very old and boring way with very few illustrations. The Oz pearlman DVD above is a great introduction to card magic. A great beginners book on a range of magic is currently available in the "Works" bookshop at the staggering bargain price of £2.99. It's called something like " The art of magic and sleight of hand" and it's by Nicholas Einhorn.

It is beautifully illustrated and well written and covers a wide range of types of magic, much of which is easy to perform.

If you look in the reviews section of this board you will also find a lot of helpful info on great tricks and where they can be purchased.

Hi Nailz

I will also recommend Born to Perform by Oz - it's a great DVD that contains all of the basics that you will need to master and it is also a great source of reference once you have progressed. It's not too expensive either

I will also recommend that you put some good time aside to study many of the articles posted on this site. You will learn things about technique, style, presentation etc. without it costing you a penny. There's more 'real world' experience here than in many a book.

Anyway, enjoy and see you around.

Mark Wilson's complete course in magic is a good book. Agree with Royal Road, it is good but the style can be a little dry. How about the Michael Ammar DVD series "Easy to master..."

Buy a trick, practise it, perform it.

Seriously, it's all well and good suggesting all these great resources (and they are good places to learn from by the way, don't get me wrong) but I am of the opinion that at the beginner level all you should really be doing is having fun with magic.

However, there are some guidelines to go with that premise:

1) Don't stray to far from "beginner's tricks". There are plenty of great websites out there which are dedicated to the sale of magic tricks (most notably Magic Box, Alakazam, and MagicTricks.co.uk) and many of them have a vast range of beginner tricks. These are the best places to start due to the fact that alot of the more "advanced" tricks require previous knowledge of certain principles.

2) Ask questions. If there is something you're not sure about, ask. Places like this and other internet forums are great places to learn from more experienced magicians (a fact many member's here, myself included, will attest to). Also, if you can get in contact with magicians in your area, or if you can join a society (although you may wish to wait a while before you shell out on subscription fees etc) do so. Anywhere that you can talk to fellow magicians and like minded people if somewhere that you will learn.

3) Manage your money well. It's very tempting to buy everything you can lay your hands on, and I think that is where many new magicians go wrong. They buy the earth, and don't have time to perfect all of their new things, and then get bored very quickly because they're not getting the results they expected. Also if you buy all the latest and brand new tricks and effects you will end up with alot of junk. Unfortunately, not everything is as good as it first seems.

4) Be patient. Magic is a hobby which takes time to master. The really good, professional magicians who are respected the world over are those people who have spent decades perfecting their own personal magic. Unfortunately, you won't become Paul Daniels over night (although, maybe that's a good thing. Might be quite a shock in the morning).

That's all I can think of right now

stephenmagic wrote:Mark Wilson's complete course in magic is a good book.

Absolutely.

nAiLz wrote:I've searched the net but there's just way to much info its overwhealing.
then I went to the book store and all they had were card tricks, and only the kiddie ones not the amazing and shocking kind...

I'll take any "kiddie" trick and make it jaw dropping magic. It's NOT the trick that counts, it's how you present it that makes it amazing and shocking. I'm appalled by how many magicians overlook the beginner books on magic. I'm further appalled at all the suggestions to go with DVDs over books.

As always, I make this offer:

I will start recommending DVDs when anyone can show me one DVD that scratches the surface of Mark Wilson's "Complete Course in Magic." Come on - tell me...What DVD on the market today teaches 1/10th of what you'll find in the Wilson book?

I agree with Simon Lovell on this subject, when he wrote:

"Sorry to say but if anybody tells me they are a "visual learner" I regard that as meaning that they are too lazy to read and study a book. This instant "I want it now" syndrome is responsible for a lot of very bad magic."

Mike.

I will start recommending DVDs when anyone can show me one DVD that scratches the surface of Mark Wilson's "Complete Course in Magic." Come on - tell me...What DVD on the market today teaches 1/10th of what you'll find in the Wilson book?

I agree with Simon Lovell on this subject, when he wrote:

"Sorry to say but if anybody tells me they are a "visual learner" I regard that as meaning that they are too lazy to read and study a book. This instant "I want it now" syndrome is responsible for a lot of very bad magic."

Ok Mike I'll take up the challenge to debate this with you as I disagree.
I accept that a good boo will contain more teaching but not that it's better. Let me ask you a question, which is better to learn a brand new sleight from a book or a real person?

Another question, why do so many men throw away the instruction manual and try and figure out for themselves how to make/build/work etc the new product they have just bought?

if markwilson brought out a dvd / dvd's of his book then there would be no discussion needed.
till then i recomend the complete course in magic as a good starter book as it covers prity much every area of magic including illusions.

this book has been my bible for several years and accompanies dvd's which are more specific to one form of magic, so start with the book then see which line or style takes your fancy then get a dvd on theat topic.

thank you all very much, and the replys where so fast too.
I just want to say that i"m glad I found this site and also I am very excited to start to learn magic. I know it won't happen tomorrow, but I do feel really confident and in high spirits about learning and performing.

Thanks again and I will let you all know how it goes.

peace&love
nailz

I agree with you Michael regarding your Simon Lovell statement. Juan Tamariz said something on a similar bases.

When reading a book you are learning to perform the effect by trying rather then taking the copy paste routine by watching a dvd.

Its strange when people say that the royal road to card magic isn’t a good book to recommend to beginners, when it is the book that allot of our seasoned professionals first studied in their beginning years. Gregorry Willson for example, and look at him now. You think that if he studied the material from DVDs he will be as accomplished? I somehow doubt it.

That’s my 2 pence. Or is that an old half penny?

Just to add my opinion, I think books are very valuable in learning magic but there are some times when you just need a DVD - for me the perfect format would be Syd Segal's Gaft Card Magic, where you get a booklet and a performance-only DVD.

I mean, can you imagine trying to learn a Sybil cut from a book?! It took me ages just to figure out which way to pivot the packets, and that was from a DVD!

So my theory is that for effects, go for a book, but sometimes you will need a DVD just because you need to see how something works.

Call me a "visual learner" if you want though!

Kati

Both books and DVD's have their place in magic and if you think that one or the other will disappear, then you're in for a long wait.

Gochos said:

When reading a book you are learning to perform the effect by trying rather then taking the copy paste routine by watching a dvd.

There are some sleights where there is one way, and one way only to do the sleight correctly so what's wrong with learning if from a DVD? The DVD allows you to see someone actually do it, instead of trying to visualise it by reading a text book? Just because you see a magician performing on a DVD does NOT make you competant at that trick. There is still the investment in time to practice and having to try.

Its strange when people say that the royal road to card magic isn’t a good book to recommend to beginners, when it is the book that allot of our seasoned professionals first studied in their beginning years. Gregorry Willson for example, and look at him now. You think that if he studied the material from DVDs he will be as accomplished? I somehow doubt it.

Most of the posts that I have read state that RRTCM is a difficult read for a beginner. I suspect that many of the seasoned professionals would have read this book as there was little else in their day to use as a reference or learning source. Times have changed and newer technology, such as the DVD are now providing the same or similar material in a different format and I personally don't see a problem with that. Gregory Wilson, who's used as the example, may well have become just as accomplished as a magician had he had the opportunity to learn from DVD's. Who knows? You're missing the point that it's the magician that makes the magic and not the source of his or her learning.

Simon Lovell wrote:

"Sorry to say but if anybody tells me they are a "visual learner" I regard that as meaning that they are too lazy to read and study a book. This instant "I want it now" syndrome is responsible for a lot of very bad magic."

I don't agree with this. Everyone has their own learning style that's nothing to do with being lazy. What works for one person will not necessarily work for another. The advent of the DVD gives us more choice.

There are some great books and some great DVD's out there, equally there are some bad examples of both. There are just as many bad magicians out there as a result of books - they've been around much longer!

Books and DVD's will become dated. Some will withstand the test of time better than others but this doesn't necessarily make one better than the other. It's up to the individual to decide what is best for themselves, what's most suitable for what they want to achieve, perhaps buying both in some circumstances.

Learning magic is a journey. Pick the best mode of transport that you think will get you to your destination, whatever it may be. We will all make mistakes along the way, but if you learn from those mistakes then that is progress in itself.

And remember (as someone has already said) do enjoy the journey and that's how you will find your own magic.

Its strange when people say that the royal road to card magic isn’t a good book to recommend to beginners, when it is the book that allot of our seasoned professionals first studied in their beginning years. Gregorry Willson for example, and look at him now. You think that if he studied the material from DVDs he will be as accomplished? I somehow doubt it.

I think this thinking mixes up a few key facts. No one is suggesting that DVDs should be studied in place of books. What is being suggested is that for someone that is just starting in magic a DVD such as Oz Pearlmans is a great place to start.

The reason I and others don't reccomend RRTCM is that we listen to beginners and hear many of them tell us that this book was not for them. They find it dry and boring and whether it's laziness or any other reason, it is a fact that while it may have been the best route in to magic 50 years ago, today there are other more exciting easier media to get started with, that have many advantages over books like RRTCM.

We can debate and have done many times the pros and cons of books vs DVDs what we can't debate as it is a clear fact is that many people starting out to not find RRTCM the best way for them to start. I happen to be one of them, my business partner is another and based on past threads there are quite a few of us.