talkmagic.co.uk

Sorry if this kind of thread has been run before - it is hard to search on such a generic title.

But I was just wondering, how do you read magic books? Do you like to curl up with them for a few hours at a time and read all the way through, then go back trying out things that interest you. Do you try each thing on the way, and spend much longer getting through them?

I have got a few excellent books recently (Dear Mr Fantasy, Theatre of the Mind, Lorayne's Close Up Card Magic etc.) and have really enjoyed delving.

But I have learnt not to read them just before I go to bed. Otherwise my mind is churning and thinking about possibilities and variations and routines all night!

Set out your book and whatever props you need, and work slowly through the book, a bit at a time.
If you read ahead without learning the earlier stuff, I think you're more likely to get too excited about what's to come and forget about the basics.

Although it depends on the book. With Mark Wilson, because there's so many different sections, you can just choose whichever one interests you and work on it.

Reading is not enough though. You have to try it all out.





There's currently a topic floating about on how to work through the Royal Road to Card Magic. Similar idea and question to yours, just more specific to that book.

WIth big tomes, I can only read one section at a time or I start to get the effects or idea muddled if they are similar

It depends on what I'm wanting to read the book for really. If I'm wanting to learn something new, then I'll work from front to back nice and slowly, learning pretty much everything in the book. When I'm happy with it, I'll go back over the book again and make notes of what I can use from it.

If it's a book on something that I'm already quite skilled in, I usually just scan it, making notes of what's in it that interests me and then go back over these sections in more depth later.

I tend to use my library for research nowadays.
so if a book has an index, i tend to read that first.

the last book i devoured from cover to cover, in one sitting , was Steinmyers art and artifice last christmas.

In order to soak up all of the different effects on offer, I'll read the book cover to cover before attempting to try anything. I'll usually stick a post-it note on any page that is of interest: maybe a sleight or nice bit of script, or a whole routine.

Having read the book there will usually be one or two effects that I think suit my style and have piqued my interest enough for me to sit down and learn them. I'll usually then narrow these down to one effect and then concentrate on it alone, altering the script to suit my style. I then hammer it until I've got it down and then try it out for lay people.

If all goes well, I will probably then be reminded of another effect that I saw in another book I read cover to cover a while ago, and then the creative juices can get going - new routine possibly / combination of effects / improvements etc. etc.

I feel this approach has contributed greatly to my general knowledge of magic. It works well for me at least, I guess everybody has their own way of filtering and absorbing information. It's definitely a good question as the amount of material contained in a single book can be overwhelming.