talkmagic.co.uk

firstly, a tiny moan...sometimes in this world, just sometimes, people do not see what is directly infront of them...

books...they're often over looked, usually cos they contain words. Long words, hard to pronounce words, and occasionally - badly put together descriptions of sleights and so on...

http://www.cards4magic.co.uk/acatalog/Books.html

However, i feel as if i should draw some of you people to the above link. Old books, cheap books, classics and all those inbetween.

Covering hypnosis, cards, coins and several other magical main-stays and often crop up as requested "help" from here in Support n tips...

Never overlook an old book...thats my advice...ok - they're not shiney or presented to you via dvd format with a man wearing eye-liner, but well...sometimes life's not all about eye-liner...

spend £20 on books - you put in the work, you re-read and put in more work and effort...lo and behold - it sticks in your mind...simple...

cost it out - 6 stand alone dvds of singular tricks = £120...say that over to yourself a few times...one hundred and twenty pounds...

now convert that into books....and be prepared to vomit in anger at yourselves...

Great post Abraxus!

Totally agree, I've gotten so much more out of my books than I have from any DVDs I've bought. I also find it so much easier to study from books too.

True... true..

I do think out of DVD's like Jeff Mcbrides art of manipulation help to get things you may not fully comprehend from books.. but the amount of information you get from books is far beyond anything you would get in a 60 minute DVD

dont get me wrong, im not dead against dvds...that would be silly...my lennart green dvds are very dear to me...

but in general...a single dvd, for a single effect....crazy...i think i've got warp one and mindbender...i'd happily pay the money for the thinking...but on the whole...£20s worth of knowledge from books is priceless...

There's a very satisfying feeling about opening a book of magic, especially if it's an old book. OK, the explanations may not be written in idiot-speak like a lot of today's communications but a little work is all that's required to understand the author's ideas. Even better than all that, if you find such a book at a second hand book sale or a jumble sale for a trifling sum then it's even more satisfying. The downside for me was that last weekend I had to go out and buy, assemble and install a couple of flat pack book cases to transfer and house my accumulation of books - Mrs.M was most insistent!

Thing i find with books is my brain is not able to understand the descriptions in them. I have loads of magic books but i only understand about 3 things per book so i do prefer dvds and i find i get better value because i can visually understand things. I remember when i first got into magic my girlfriend had to translate everything in the books for me to understand but now shes bored of it i have to try and work things out myself . I would agree that books are a lot better for most people but when your a bit dim like me and cant understand alot of things for me i get better value for money out of dvds.

I thing I love about books is that you can just sit down in a quiet corner and browse through any time you want.

I.D wrote:I do think out of DVD's like Jeff Mcbrides art of manipulation help to get things you may not fully comprehend from books.. but the amount of information you get from books is far beyond anything you would get in a 60 minute DVD

I sometimes think that books could do with a lot more pictures. I'm presently reading Expert Card Technique and I know it's Huggard's style, but some of the explanations are very difficult to understand. I feel sometimes like a little clip of video would really help, but I'd not replace the book and nor would I want a DVD of the whole thing, it'd not be worth the massive expense.

I would have liked a one DVD version of "The Hard to Explain Bits in The Royal Road to Card Magic" too; as a companion.

And come with Colouring pencills eh Marvell

If anyone has any of the old Ganson books the routined manipulation serries talk about a difficult to undertand and also whats it with the tone it is writtern in. It is like being told off.

Someone recently donated a copy of Huggard's "165 Card tricks and Stunts". A lot of it's covered in "Royal Road", but there are some nice bits in there that have got the old creative juices flowing,too. Perhaps it's just something about reading a new description of an old effect that does it, but that different perspective is sometimes all that's required to get the old mind rushing off in directions of its own.

EDIT: Coo, I've just realised this is my 3,000th post to TM.

My most recent article at Online-Visions deals precisely with this topic:

Click here.

Mike.

Sorry to break back in, but shortly after that article (above) was published, I coresponded with a professional magician who informed me that Paul Harris will no longer be releasing books. Mr. Harris said that the trend really is to market single tricks on DVD for almost the same price as a good book. For some reason, the "young magicians" of today are happier to spend more for that one trick. Also, it's far cheaper with greater rewards to produce a one trick DVD.

Just for the record, the second volume of Apocalypse is no longer being printed and is very hard to find at dealers shops at this point. Books are becoming obsolete as we watch the magic industry go over to the whole one trick DVD fad.

The industry is going to follow the money, and the money is leading away from books. Really rather sad, to my way of thinking.

Mike.

I think there'e nothing wrong with following the trend, it'll turn around in the end and us book lovers will have a huge library of out of print books.

From my own acquisitive perspective, Marvell, I tend to agree with you. Honestly, it doesn't hurt me very much to realize that I am becoming obsolete along with my books. But, in the long run, I don't view it as being a good thing for the overall health of the magic community.

What do we get with one trick DVDs? Let's face it, we get a lot of generic tricksters who don't know the first thing about magic and all showing the same thing, in the same way, to lots of bored spectators. That cannot be good.

Then again, there are sites, like this one, that help to counteract this effect. Places like Talk Magic are very much like a book that is constantly writing itself and helps the newer folks to magic to see what magic is and what magic is not. So, it isn't all doom and gloom, really.

My own library on magic consists of some 150 books that span from the 1800s manuscripts up to modern day books from Derren Brown and others. It's just that the idea of talented individuals, like Mr. Harris, will no longer be putting out books is a real let down, for me.

It further bothers me to see the younger folks getting into magic and lamenting how much it costs (which is one of the reasons listed by those who copy and file share that their thievery is acceptable). One trick DVDs are a rip off - pure and simple in my way of thinking. I believe that these one trick DVDs are part of the reason that we are seeing so much intellectual theft in and amongst the magic community and, truth be told, there is some validity to the argument that intellectual theft is morally alright, under these circumstances.

Take a look at the bulk of these one trick DVDs and you'll find that very, very few of them are new or cutting edge. They are tricks that have been lifted from old manuscripts or books and re-worked, only to be sold to the ignorant newcomers to magic. Much like that newer one from Ellusionist (you know, with the match and the smoke) that ultimately was taken off of the market for safety concerns - that comes from a mid-twentieth century Anneman book...It wasn't new by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm sorry, but it just bothers me that books are becoming obsolete...

Mike.

I don't think books will become obselete, they'll just become select. If the young magicians complain about the cost, then the pressure will be to revert to books. I don't think it'll last long.

In the mean time, let's repackage some old rubbish and make a few quid.