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by **Klangster1971** » Mar 5th, '10, 20:46

It's a very tough call. I actually like DVDs for the very reason that others seem not to - so I can see the performance.

However, books/notes are far better for reference or revision purposes.

Sean

by **SamGurney** » Mar 6th, '10, 17:16

He tells people to not use DVD's and video's because you will end up copying the person's rhythm instead of finding your own which you will do with written instructions.

An analgoy which comes to mind is music- you can learn from looking at the music and that is generally the best way to develop a personal style because the rythm, intonation, split second timing and other tiny differences which consititute personal style, but if you listen to someone perform it then you unconciously pick up their little idiosyncracies. Sometimes that is a good thing, sometimes it can start to infect your own personal style.
I think this thread has shown there are different and unique arguments for both and both are valid. For example, Osterlind released the 13 steps on dvd, which probably doesn't leave as much room for personal interpretation as the book and could never come close to replacing the book, but there are certain aspects of it being a dvd that makes it more 'user friendly' and aparently Corinda sent Osterlind a letter after the release to commend him and say that he would have released dvds had that option been available to him.
Personally I the best way is a combination of books and dvds. (But I still prefer books)

by **Matthius88** » Mar 6th, '10, 18:27

I generally learn better from books. I find that way I can sit and slowly go through everything in my own head as I read it, whereas with a DVD or any video explaination I sometimes feel like I am trying to keep up with the person teaching. Not all DVD's are like this, some are better than others for me.

I think its mainly me being a fusspot, I like to get acquainted with each detail at a time before moving onto the next, rather than taking the whole explaination in at once.

Oddly, it is only magic I learn this way. With most other things, I learn much better visually. Learning songs or scales on the guitar is horrible for me when reading tabs or music, I just can't do it.

by **SamGurney** » Mar 7th, '10, 00:17

In true 'on the shoulders of giants' manor, I have conveniantly stumbled across the philosphy of a giant on this topic. I bet I don't even need to tell you who it is.

I don't read books of tricks any more, although I'll watch performances or lectures to get a sense of another magician's approach to performance and the way that they imprint their personality on the audience. As something of a bilbliophile, I sympathise with those that say that books are worth far more than lecture videos. Perhaps, but you need to see a performance for the effect to come alive. And presuming that you don't just want to go through a book and pick out a whole load of effects to do, I feel they have limited value. The only contact I really have with the 'learning effects' market now is borrowing tapes and watching the performances, fast-forwarding through the explanations. If you are trying to follow your own vision and not be distracted, seeing or reading other people's stuff can be either irrelevant or infuriatingly appealing. I find the latter can be the case with Guy Hollingworth's 'Drawing Room Deceptions': we have different ideas about magic, but his methodologies are so delightful to practise that I can spend hours immersed in fiddling and come up with ideas that take me way off course and very far from the aesthetic I am trying to realise. There are few magic books that I have really enjoyed. I imagine that Darwin Ortiz' 'Strong Magic' would be top of the list, and it is criminal that this book is now out of print. This is a densely packed work on showmanship and improving your performance, free of the old-fashioned dicta or smug aphorism of other works on the subject. Other than that I enjoy reading biographical works and character studies of the greats: I really enjoyed Vernon's book on Malini. The collected 'Jinx' has a real charm about it as well: marvellous to read.

by **Robbie** » Mar 7th, '10, 13:47

I've always learned everything better from the printed word. Apart from that, a writer can go into far more depth of discussion than any film commentary.

The only thing I've been especially glad of seeing on a DVD was a selection of card forces and shuffles. Seeing the cards handled "live" made it easier to understand what I'd read about.

by **cymru1991** » Mar 7th, '10, 13:50

I've always learned stuff from the printed word, but I find a visual aid such as a DVD incredibly useful as a point of reference.

by **phillipnorthfield** » Mar 7th, '10, 13:53

Mentalism from DVD's, Magic from Books. Purely because Mentalism is about the performance rather than the moves and if you learn moves from a book, you find the best way to do it for you, rather than copying someone else.

by **Robbie** » Mar 7th, '10, 13:57

phillipnorthfield wrote:Mentalism from DVD's, Magic from Books. Purely because Mentalism is about the performance rather than the moves and if you learn moves from a book, you find the best way to do it for you, rather than copying someone else.

Funny, I would have said the other way round. Mentalism is so much about the performance that it's risky to learn by watching other people's performances. Magic is so much more about the moves that it can be helpful to see the moves being done.

The one super-helpful mentalism DVD in my tiny collection is Max Maven's Nothing, because you can watch the performance with a running commentary that dissects it minutely.

by **wezev511** » Mar 7th, '10, 14:56

learning styles plays a big part in this.
there are 3 ways to recieve and learn information.. and so therefroe 3 learning styles:

visual- like written instruction
auditory- like listening to instructions
kinaesthetic- learn by doing

different people learn if different ways, sometimes its down to a simple matter of preference, sometimes its down to our experience, so what was said about it being a generational thing plays into this.. and sometimes individuals literally will not grasp something until it is delivered in their particular learning style.

there will be a lot of varied responses to this I would imagine, because there are people of different ages, form different backgrounds and all practising different styles of magic.

it is quite an interesting subject when you get into it... but maybe just for me! haha, the pitfalls of working in education!

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