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Hi there - I've been interested in magic all my life really, and used to perform a lot to my family and freinds when I was younger (mainly card magic). I have a fairly good basic knowledge of some of the more simple techniques and manipulation, and the numerous gimick decks that are out there.

However, I've now reanimated my interest and would love to start learning more seriously and get some good forces and false cuts, and fans under my belt. Could anyone recommend a good DVD that isn't too basic, but will give me a good series of lessons for card handling techniques - not necessarily actual tricks.

Second question - there seems to be dozens of sources for magic props and gimmicks on the net - could you also suggest a good place to start (I live in the UK).

Cheers,

Howdy! Best thing to start with would be to check through the Review section and use the Search function as these topics have been discussed many times. I think the general consensus is that most of us have our own favourite DVDs or videos, others insist that learning from books is by far the best and, as for the best source, it all boils down to price and delivery plus whoever you get on with! cards4magic, alakazam, emagictricks, magicbox and many others are all worthwhile sources - try bargainmagic.co.uk for price comparisons but visit each store as they may have bargains for a short term which aren't picked up by a broad search.

Best of luck!

Hi

A good set of DVDs to learn card manipulations Are Back to Basics DVDs Vol 1 and 2. These sound like the kind of material you are looking for.

Back to Basics Volumes 1
http://www.worldmagicshop.co.uk/product ... cts_id=379
You will learn:
Finger Flexing
Twirl False
Grips
Thumb Fan
Swing Cut
1 Hand Fan
Swivel Cut
1 Hand Reverse Fan
Charier Cut
Sequencing
Twirl Cut

Back to Basics Volumes 2
http://www.worldmagicshop.co.uk/product ... cts_id=380
You will learn:
Pressure Fan
Springing the Cards
S Fan
Perfect Table Spread
Faro Shuffle
Faro Waterfall
Giant Fan
1 Hand Shuffle
Giant Fan Transition
Boomerang Card
Le Paul Spread
Throwing Cards

Hope this helps.

Mandrake's already named The Card Collection:

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

Alakazam:

http://www.alakazam.co.uk/

Magicbox

http://www.magicbox.uk.com/

I'm quite fond of magictricks.co.uk

www.magictricks.co.uk

I've used all four of these and they've been very good. I haven't tried the other two Mandrake mentioned, but he's a sound fellow, so you can trust his judgement.

Daryl's series "encyclopaedia of card sleights" is superb, but not really trick based and expensive if you're just getting back into it.

Daryl's "card revelations" is also brilliant and has numerous techniques which are more rapidly applicable to "tricks".

Michael Ammar's series "easy to master card miracles" is another superb series and is more trick oriented (whilst also giving you the necessary techniques for each trick.

I'd go for Ammar in your position + move onto Daryl's series should the bug bite.

Just to confuse the issue (!) Richard Kaufman's Basic Card Technique DVD is quite good - I bought it on Video but I guess the DVD version would give swifter access to the various sections. It's just under £26 plus P&P from http://www.emagictricks.co.uk/product_i ... ts_id=4572 and, although it has some quirky camera angles during the intro to each move, the guts are presented well and in a straightforward manner.

The Techno Card Magic booklet is very good as well - not as easy as a vid or DVD but not really all that difficult to follow either!

Thanks for all your help!
I'm going to spend "my lunch break" going through the net and having a look at all your sites and suggestions! - I'm really looking forward to getting back into magic!

Thanks again, and I'm sure I'll be dropping by to let you know how I'm getting on.

Cheers!

Hi, if I can add my tuppence worth, I would recommend Jeff McBride's excellent "The Art of Card Manipulations".
This 3 dvd set goes from basic to really quite complex manipulations. Jeff McBride is an amazing manipulator, and some of his productions are out of this world.
The layout is also very user-friendly (on the dvd version at least). He has a slightly weird looking manner, but is one of the best card manipulators out there.
Gopal

Hi all,

Just wanted to thank you for your comments and for replying.

I went for RK's Basic Card Techniques DVD and the Royal Road to Card Magic book. Both arrived on Saturday, and I can't believe how much I've learnt already!

Cheers!

I can't recommend Oz Pearlman's 'Born to perform CARD MAGIC' DVD highly enough!

It has all that you are asking for as well as four extremely good and effective routines using a normal deck.

The footage is extremely well shot in both a studio and on the street with each trick broken down into segments with excellent commentry and instruction.

Well worth the £17 from Penguin Magic and it's one of the best card DVD's that I've bought.