talkmagic.co.uk

All right, I am looking into getting into magic, preferably card magic, since I like up close type stuff.

In the past I have had a few of those "k-mart" 101 tricks in a box, garbage trick sets, you know the ones?

I have always liked watching magic of all sorts and i have always like to do the 101 tricks, even knowing how much c*** (not the best) they were.

Recently I found a small (well actually its pretty large considering) magic shop, not 2 miles from my house, and it sparked my interest. I bought some juggling balls, something I have wanted to learn for a long time, and a flame from fingertips, well, simply because I like fire!

Anyway, to the help part. Since I want to do card magic primarily, I was thinking a good place to start would be to learn some flourishes, or some false cuts, or other such acts that involve a lot of dexterity. Would I be mistaken here, and would I just want to go to google and type in card tricks, and click the first site and do some things that involve no skills?

Either way, I would like to learn some slight of hand, some flourishes as well, so can someone recommend a book, or a video, and explain which they prefer to learn from, since I have heard both sides of that argument, I would like to spark it here.

I tried to learn some slight of hand simply off of the internet, but to be honest my computer is really slow, and most of the web sites main attraction to learning would be the videos, which take me days to open, that is if my computer doesn’t freeze up during the process.

So, I need some help, a starting point, somewhere to go from nothingness.

Thank you all in advance,

-Tony

Welcome to TM! I'm sure all the card specialists here will be able to offer advice but initially the best thing to bear in mind is Keep It Simple. It doesn't matter whether you're into cards, coins, sponge balls or whatever, your audience won't know or care whether you've spent years perfecting sleights and cunning moves - all they want to see is entertainment. Don’t go for the difficult finger crunching stuff until you know you're ready for it and that you really need to do it - and don't overlook the self working stuff or effects with special cards, your audience won’t know the difference.

We usually mention The Royal Road to Card Magic as being the basic book for all cardies but it was written many years ago and is sometimes considered to be dry and uninspiring compared to more recent publications. It's still a useful item to have and to work through but why not have a word with your Magic Shop and ask what they have for a card beginner? Things by Darryl are usually reasonably priced and straightforward to learn from and you can be sure they have a good effect on the spectators. Karl Fulves published many books on card magic and all his range are available from Dover Publications - if you use the Search function here on TM you'll find links and reviews to help.

i forgot to mention my age, i am currently 17, its sorof disterbing because the magic shop i found has a "show" every weekend, its more of a class type thing though, the one that i went to so far was abut stage performance, so not too much help for me. the other children in the class that day had to be 10, and all of them were doing flourishes, and one kid in particular (must have been 13) was doing false shuffles and some other really really interestning things.

i just got a job, like first day of work is tomarrow, so i should have some money comming is, aswell as the 200$ or so i have set aside as spending chash, so that may put you all into perspective of how much moneney i can actualy spend.

thank you all in advance to any relpy with anything at all,

-Tony

Hi there!

For a beginner of card magic, I can't do better than recommend Oz Pearlman's Born to Perform Card Magic. It starts right at the beginning with different grips and DLs and stuff, and moves right on to some nice false cuts and controls, with some flourishes thrown in there too.

Kati

Both books and videos have pros and cons. Books are usually cheaper than DVDs and contain more material. However many people find learning from a book less exciting and more difficult. I would suggest buying both. Get a good DVD (e.g. Oz's "Born to peform" mentioned by katrielalex is a good one) and a book that covers more tricks and sleights (5 volume "Card College" is one of the best). And buy the Royal Road to Card Magic just for the sake of having it. That'll keep you busy for a long time.

Videos make it easier to see and learn what they talk about. But as el topo said they tend to be more expensive and tend to have less material.

I don't have any good videos on card magic. But I have a really good book. The Amazing Book of Magic and Card Tricks. It doesn't do so many flourishes but has several really good card tricks. Very good for beginners

I like videos/DvDs as I find these easier to learn from.

Not only can I see what the sleight/trick is performed.. but I also find the visual lessons of where fingers go etc.. far easier than with a description in a book.

OK.. a book makes you figure it out for yourself (which isn't a bad thing and you usually adapt it to suit your natural style like this) but I find the visual aids far easier to learn the basic technique from and then adapt it to my style (I did this with the Elsmley Count for instance where my technique is similar to the deep count but slightly different.. but it works for me !).

So.. visual for me I'm afraid.

Slippery

Videos (sometimes) - I find it easier to see someone perform the trick.

What I've noticed is that some of the instructions that come with a trick try to explain stuff without the use of photos (whats the saying - a picture paints a 1000 words)

I've got the Lips trick, and to me this is an excellent example of instructions - clear and with photos.

I've also got the Card Thru Card, and this has got a typed sheet trying to explain how to position the cards etc, and no pics. I'm sure just one picture would've cut down about a paragraph of writing.

Basically if the printed material is of a good clear qualitity then OK, but otherwise videos are a good option.

Cheers
Rob

This Site is the number one source for me, Been sooo helpful! So thanks to all at TM!

Second to this I have been pointed in the direction of some great resources such as Born To Perform by Oz Pearlman and the royal road. As for whats best I think it really depends on how you learn best! ie reading or viewing.

Hope this helps

Najis

Hey!!! I was I guy just like you about three months ago. Ya know, wanted to get into the whole magic stuff (especially with card tricks). I spent hours researching tricks and learning secrets. And I'd say I've become quite a jounior magician with plenty of tricks and I'm getting better week by week. So I've got some websites I could tell you about to learn stuff. But I don't want to uncure the wrath of our fellow TM hosts, so I send you the info through PM messages (if that sounds cool to you).

I would go for books for the following reasons:

1. When you read how a trick is done, even if there are good illustrations, you have to interpret the moves and then make them work.

2. Having done 1. the moves you are doing are often basically the same as everyone else, but the fact you have interpreted them means that there is an element of originality.

3. You learn the trick from a book but the patter and the timing are yours (just like the interpretation) this means that the trick becomes yours. Many people using DVDs copy the moves, copy the timing, copy the patter and are only different from the person on the DVD because they can't afford the plastic surgey and clothes!!

4. Books rarely need power to use them. They are great on a train, in a plane, in the bath (don't drop them!) and are a great source of reinforcement and repetition. Funnily enough, re-reading once you're good at a trick often yeilds invaluable results in terms of understanding and quality of magic.

For me, it's books first every time.

Hope this helps,

Vic

Hi and welcome to TM

Videos/dvds are by far better to learn the actual techniques in my opinion, and you dont have to worry about dropping the book all over the place, turning page with your nose etc.

But....

I do feel, if you are new to magic, and learning from dvd's, its harder to develop your own style of patter and magic personality. You arre watching a pro, and the trick is hard enough etc, and so beginners tend to just copy the patter.

If you read from a book, you create your own images of how it will be peformed, and tend to use your own imagination. Some of the great tricks I have learned are from Paul Harris' Art of Astonishment. Advanced, but I've still developed my own style from them.

So, the summary....
Video for learning the sleights, see the motions etc
Books for learning routines, and actual tricks.

Good Luck with your magic, and don't go rushing in to the thumbusting moves, the simplest things CAN appear as miracles, if you perform well.

Regards
Mark

Hi and welcome.

As you're new to magic, don't worry about developing your own style just yet - this will come with time and experience. My personal preference has been to learn from DVD's for many of the reasons already stated.

You want to concentrate on the basics so most DVD's marketed for beginners should be OK, especially Born to Perform. As previously said, keep away from flourishes for the time being - it's basics to start off with and these will lead you into card tricks. Flourishes will not!

I'm surprised that you didn't get on with a magic set. Perhaps you should re-examine it again. there are some great sets on the market which will teach you many of the basics. Personally, I think people like variety so I would also learn other types of magic such as coins, rope, cups and balls etc.

Finally, how lucky to have a magic shop that also has a weekly show!

As Kat and Dat said, you have to be your own performer, stories (patter) to accompany a trick should be your own.

Go for Born to Perform and then put some of your own patter into the tricks.

Learning Magic From site is certainly not acceptable, this is being stopped becuase many magicnas feel this is a throaway, its ok to sell not to give away., try books not only dose it make your mind work by reading, your alos learning at the same time.