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Hi Guys,

I'm a big Derren Brown fan and I've found some copies of Derren Brown's Absolute Magic and Pure Effect floating around online and I have decided that I'm going to get one of them, but I can't really afford both, nor can I warrant paying 300 plus pounds for 2 books, so which one of these do you think is better?

The type of magic I do is mainly cards & close up, but I'm trying to incorporate bits of psychological and mentalism acts in as well.

I guess what I'm asking is.....which one would benefit a card magician more?


Regards,

Liam

Liam wrote:300 plus pounds for 2 books,
Regards,
Liam

Hello Liam,

I am reading this correct. £150 per copy

CArl...

Save yourself some cash and buy the Naked Mentalism books instead.

Hi Carl,

It depends on whether it's a new or used copy, and what conditon it's in, etc. I've seen ones going for in excess of 300 pounds per copy, of absolute magic that is, because it's an unread copy signed by Derren himself, and copies for 70 pound which are used, but unsure of conditon.

I think I'll get an unread copy for about 110 pounds, give or take depending on which book I go with.

I'm just curious as to which book benefits a card magician more?

Regards,

Liam

I think (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that absolute magic was a limited edition that is no longer available. You are probably looking at a collector's price.
There any several current books that are much cheaper and are probably better introductions to the kind of magic you are interested in.
Those two books are probably excellent works but, personally, I would leave those particular books for now.

If you want card stuff, buy Derren's Devil's Picture Book instead. (and save yourself some money).

Hello Liam,

I'm not much of a book person myself. More a dvd man.
having said that. When I decided to start learning card slights, & tricks.
The problem was, I didn't understand a lot of the terminology, so being shown in dvd format was easier for me.
Now several months on I could probably learn from books just as well.

I too like Darren Brown, but £110 seems a little on the steep side mate, even if you are a big fan.
I'm sure there are much better deals out there, where you will get more for your money.

I do believe Lady of Mystery is pretty well clued up in this field, & recently she had some good bargains to be had.
You might want to give her a PM, & ask her advice.

Whatever, good luck mate.

CArl...

Edited to add.
She's probably better looking than D Brown too...probably

Heckler wrote:Save yourself some cash and buy the Naked Mentalism books instead.

Are these the ones by John Thomspon?

If so, I've seen a few reviews that don't rate them all that much. I don't know, maybe that's one for the hardcore mentalist, which I'm definitely not......I'm into card magic mainly, but I do like to be able to perfom mental acts and stuff like book tests, sound reading, etc, because I believe they can strengthen many card effects and you can tie them in nicely, so long as they are performed correctly and not overused.

I hear that when Derren wrote Pure Effect, he was still quite into cards, which is something I'm very interested in, Derren's slant on mental and psychological card tricks.

Liam wrote:

Heckler wrote:Save yourself some cash and buy the Naked Mentalism books instead.

Are these the ones by John Thomspon?

If so, I've seen a few reviews that don't rate them all that much. I don't know, maybe that's one for the hardcore mentalist, which I'm definitely not......I'm into card magic mainly, but I do like to be able to perfom mental acts and stuff like book tests, sound reading, etc, because I believe they can strengthen many card effects and you can tie them in nicely, so long as they are performed correctly and not overused.

I hear that when Derren wrote Pure Effect, he was still quite into cards, which is something I'm very interested in, Derren's slant on mental and psychological card tricks.

The Naked Mentalism books are excellent, can't recommend them enough. The point is you could buy the Devil's picture book which is Derren's card DVD and Jon's books and still have a chunk of change left over from the pile of cash you would've spent on the DB books.

Also for about six quid you can buy Tricks of the Mind by DB, which actually has a lot of useful information in it about DB's thoughts on method and presentation.

In fairness, if you have that kind of money going begging, you could probably get far more benefit from ignoring Brown's collectibles, and kitting yourself out with a selection of 10 or more really good card books

Rob wrote:In fairness, if you have that kind of money going begging, you could probably get far more benefit from ignoring Brown's collectibles, and kitting yourself out with a selection of 10 or more really good card books

Fair point, for about £150 you could get all five card college books.

CArlight1958 wrote:Hello Liam,

I'm not much of a book person myself. More a dvd man.
having said that. When I decided to start learning card slights, & tricks.
The problem was, I didn't understand a lot of the terminology, so being shown in dvd format was easier for me.
Now several months on I could probably learn from books just as well.

I too like Darren Brown, but £110 seems a little on the steep side mate, even if you are a big fan.
I'm sure there are much better deals out there, where you will get more for your money.

I do believe Lady of Mystery is pretty well clued up in this field, & recently she had some good bargains to be had.
You might want to give her a PM, & ask her advice.

Whatever, good luck mate.

CArl...

Edited to add.
She's probably better looking than D Brown too...probably

Thanks Carl, I really appreciate your input on this.

I had the same trouble when I first started, and I did think about getting some DVDs, but I got RRTCM instead, but that didn't really help at the time. For the beginner, there is not enough illustrations, in my opinion. So I go hold of Card College volume 1, and that made the world of difference, and after reading that, RRCTM became totally clear, simply because of all the illustrations in Card College. Card College is brilliant, and I can't sing it's praises enough.

I will contact Lady of Mystery, and see if she can point me in the right direction. Thanks.

Regards,

Liam

Heckler wrote:

Rob wrote:In fairness, if you have that kind of money going begging, you could probably get far more benefit from ignoring Brown's collectibles, and kitting yourself out with a selection of 10 or more really good card books

Fair point, for about £150 you could get all five card college books.

I've got them............and I love them.

Best thing I've invested in, thus far.

They are extremely clear, and I highly recommend them if you haven't got them.

The Devils Picture Book and Pure Effect have pretty much the same contents although the knob gags are different. The dvd is probably a better buy as you get to see Derren performing the routines rather than trying to understand them from his descriptions and it's a hell of a lot cheaper. I would only advise you to shell out the money for the book if you're a Derren completist and you want to try to own everything he's ever put out- if you're trying to become a better card magician £150 is to much to pay for what you'll get out if it in new techniques. Everything that Derren does with cards can be learnt elsewhere.

Heckler wrote:

Liam wrote:

Heckler wrote:Save yourself some cash and buy the Naked Mentalism books instead.

Are these the ones by John Thomspon?

If so, I've seen a few reviews that don't rate them all that much. I don't know, maybe that's one for the hardcore mentalist, which I'm definitely not......I'm into card magic mainly, but I do like to be able to perfom mental acts and stuff like book tests, sound reading, etc, because I believe they can strengthen many card effects and you can tie them in nicely, so long as they are performed correctly and not overused.

I hear that when Derren wrote Pure Effect, he was still quite into cards, which is something I'm very interested in, Derren's slant on mental and psychological card tricks.

The Naked Mentalism books are excellent, can't recommend them enough. The point is you could buy the Devil's picture book which is Derren's card DVD and Jon's books and still have a chunk of change left over from the pile of cash you would've spent on the DB books.

Also for about six quid you can buy Tricks of the Mind by DB, which actually has a lot of useful information in it about DB's thoughts on method and presentation.

Heckler, the Devil's picture book DVD sounds great, just what I'm looking for. Do you know where I might be able to find a copy? I've just searched a few places, but I can't seem to find a copy.....any ideas?

Regards,

Liam