by cymru1991 » Jul 30th, '07, 23:28
A good way to start (if you haven't done this already) is to familiarize yourself with a pack of cards. By this I mean holding them in your hands, getting used to the overhand shuffle, the riffle shuffle and cutting the deck fluently and without looking at your hands. From what I gather, you are a beginner, but I don't know how much of one (you may know how to handle and shuffle a pack of cards fluently). Another thing to do is to think of your own ways of eg. bringing a card to the top or locating a card in the deck (as has been said). With regards to RRTCM, you will not be dissapointed!! It is a brilliant book for the beginner/intermediate in card magic. By the time that you're half way through the first chapter, you will (theoretically) be able to controll a card to the top of the deck, controll it to the bottom, retain the top and bottom cards in position as well as many other techniques.
With regards to coins, I am no expert, but again, getting the feel of coins and finding ways of concealing them in your hands is always a good idea.
Hope this helps.
James, 19, Lifelong student of magic and will carry on learning for the rest of my days if I'm a very lucky boy.