talkmagic.co.uk

Hi guys!

I am 19 and I have just began to take an interest into the world of magic....I was just wondering what books would you recomend for me revise and learn bareing in mind I am learning mark wilsons complete course and am throughly enjoying it!

Thanks

Hiya and welcome along to TM.

You've picked the perfect place to get started with Mark Wilson's book. The best thing to do is to work your way through that book and when you've finished have a think about any specific area that you'd like to learn more about.

Yes that is a great way to start and welcome to TM

Welcome to TM. Have a nice stay. Regards Garry

^^ What Lady of Mystery said. Try all sorts of things and see what sticks.

There are a couple of standard books if you decide you want to pursue a specific area. I know that for card magic, the place to go is The Royal Road to Card Magic by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue. For coin magic, it's Modern Coin Magic by J.B. Bobo. These books are quite old now, but they are the real classics which are still relevant, and can fortunately be picked up at very reasonable prices. But yes, it depends on what you choose to specialise in - certainly Mark Wilson is generally considered the place to start.

If you seek other books at this stage you will fall into the trap of buying & buying. Then in the end you will have lots of books but never know fully which to turn to.
STICK to Mark Wilson till you are 20. Or 12 months with it.
After learning much of what Mark Wilson teaches, including basic Sleights & handling you will be ready to make a wiser choice of what else to buy & study.

One book you might buy though is:
Milbourne Christopher's 'Illustrated History Of Magic'
Usually priced around £11 in paperback. You might find a secondhand copy.

This will NOT teach you any tricks BUT will give you the Background to our Magic-- its traditions & legendary performers.

Too many magicians neglect this side of Magic. They miss out on a lot only enjoying doing just tricks, usually with the inevitable deck of cards.
You will learn that what has GONE BEFORE is what has paved the way for TODAY's Magic.
The History of Magic will make you feel part of an Eternal Brotherhood & help develop your future interests.

Allen Tipton

.. The inevitable deck of cards... Dan and Dave would love you...

so would it not be a good idea to jump into mentalism and hypnotism (thats what im interested in) before throughly learning MW's book right?

Johnny - learn whatever you are interested in. start wherever you like.
The fact is, in your lifetime you will never have time to learn it all. There is no set starting point, there is no perfect formula. There are no rules.

Older magicians are very wise, but can only speak for themselves. I learnt all the stuff that gave me a buzz and made me come back for more. In fact, if I pushed enough for an answer, the older guys probably didnt learn that history stuff first...

You can learn all the history later. You can have respect for an art without knowing everyone involved in it, and if ready a history book is likely to diminish your interest AVOID IT!

Just being around other magicians, you will learn about the greats anyway.

Get involved, learn what you like, and pick the rest up later.

Just make sure you practice enough so you don't mess up... don't be that guy picking up cards from the floor.

Hi Johnny,

I too am pretty new to magic, however I'm in my 30s with 3 kids. I don't have the time to try every different style so I would agree with shuffleshuffle. I just jumped pretty much straight into mentalism/hypno (I am working through royal road and Bobo when I get the urge). Royal road did teach me some basics you need for mentalism like the false suffle and bobo will teach you palming of coins hich is also useful for billet work.

If you are interested in mentalism and are gonna buy one book, make it corindas 13 steps, you will not be disappointed, pick up a n..l w....r while you are at it and you will have several instant miracles.

Also, try to avoid the urge to perform (even for family) until you can do the effect backwards. I practice with my n..l w....r every day and am confident now to use it infront of friends and colleagues.

And don't forget the three golden rules:
1. don't ever reveal, or else al your hard work and practice is wasted.
2. Don't perform for anyone until you are 110% sure you can do the effect perfectly
3. don't repeat an effect for anyone immediately no matter how often they ask. I always say sure no probs and then do a slightly different effect

all the best,

Sea.

Shuffleshuffle makes an interesting point but not one I personally agree with. I'm not sure you can start anywhere you like and only practise the things that appeal to you if you want to become a good performer. As an example, if you wanted to learn piano and you really liked some complicated Chopin piece or whatever, then that might be something you aspire to but you wouldn't start there. Surely you'd learn the scales and the musical theory first. In the same way, it would make sense to start with the fundamentals and then work towards the more advanced things in magic. Mentalism is considered advanced, I gather, from the fact that its impact on the audience depends on showmanship; this quality is normally first acquired by performing standard magic first.

That having been said, if you just do it as a hobby and for your own enjoyment then you can do whatever you like. I think to be a great performer, however, a more structured approach to learning might be better.

Best of luck with whatever area you decide to work on anyway. The main thing is that you enjoy it.

You have actually made my point again. Like you said, all that matters is that you enjoy it! As for building up...

What?! I could buy something that Dynamo or Derren performs, give it to my 11 year old cousin, and with a weeks practice he could be performing it just as effectively with no other knowlege whatsoever, as long as he has charisma (which he does, the kids a legend!).

Granted, to do cards/coins you may need to learn some groundwork, but you can do a million tricks with one D/L.

There literally is no starting point. You learn the skills for the trick you want to perform as you go along.

There is not a hundred different ways to play piano either. Its all pressing keys with fingers.
Magic has aspects of hundreds of different fields.

i am actually really passionate about the start anywhere principle because thats how we get people really drilling into a certain type of magic, and thats how we get specialists/experts.

Whats the point in magic drones all starting from the same point, learning the same tricks. Lets get kids to master an area, then spread. We'll invent so much more! The really serious ones learn it all anyway - why force them the dull stuff like school? Its a habby damnit.


Oh and the 'to be a great performer' comment is silly. Great performers are born with it, and develop it with passion. Its nothing to do with reading the royal road.

Seriously. Start where you like. And eat less man, you kids are all too fat. And for gods sake get a hair cut. I seriously don't know which gender you are :/

Kids!

<3

shuffleshuffle wrote:You have actually made my point again. Like you said, all that matters is that you enjoy it! As for building up...

What?! I could buy something that Dynamo or Derren performs, give it to my 11 year old cousin, and with a weeks practice he could be performing it just as effectively with no other knowlege whatsoever, as long as he has charisma (which he does, the kids a legend!).

Granted, to do cards/coins you may need to learn some groundwork, but you can do a million tricks with one D/L.

There literally is no starting point. You learn the skills for the trick you want to perform as you go along.

There is not a hundred different ways to play piano either. Its all pressing keys with fingers.
Magic has aspects of hundreds of different fields.

i am actually really passionate about the start anywhere principle because thats how we get people really drilling into a certain type of magic, and thats how we get specialists/experts.

Whats the point in magic drones all starting from the same point, learning the same tricks. Lets get kids to master an area, then spread. We'll invent so much more! The really serious ones learn it all anyway - why force them the dull stuff like school? Its a habby damnit.


Oh and the 'to be a great performer' comment is silly. Great performers are born with it, and develop it with passion. Its nothing to do with reading the royal road.

Seriously. Start where you like. And eat less man, you kids are all too fat. And for gods sake get a hair cut. I seriously don't know which gender you are :/

Kids!

<3

Fair enough, if that approach works for you then that's great. Depends what you mean by 'start anywhere' though. For example, if you start in mentalism you probably buy '13 Steps' or whatever, so you still start with the fundamental skills. If you start with some more advanced mentalism stuff - Psychological Subtleties etc.(I'm not a mentalist so insert alternative title here) - then I think that's not the best way of learning. Learning and getting better at anything requires starting with the basics and moving on to more advanced stuff as you improve. I really don't know how you can argue against that shuffleshuffle. Besides, if you start with really difficult stuff that can lead to frustration and it might discourage people from doing a hobby anyway.

seamagu wrote:Hi Johnny,

I too am pretty new to magic, however I'm in my 30s with 3 kids. I don't have the time to try every different style so I would agree with shuffleshuffle. I just jumped pretty much straight into mentalism/hypno (I am working through royal road and Bobo when I get the urge). Royal road did teach me some basics you need for mentalism like the false suffle and bobo will teach you palming of coins hich is also useful for billet work.

If you are interested in mentalism and are gonna buy one book, make it corindas 13 steps, you will not be disappointed, pick up a n..l w....r while you are at it and you will have several instant miracles.

Also, try to avoid the urge to perform (even for family) until you can do the effect backwards. I practice with my n..l w....r every day and am confident now to use it infront of friends and colleagues.

And don't forget the three golden rules:
1. don't ever reveal, or else al your hard work and practice is wasted.
2. Don't perform for anyone until you are 110% sure you can do the effect perfectly
3. don't repeat an effect for anyone immediately no matter how often they ask. I always say sure no probs and then do a slightly different effect

all the best,

Sea.

why thankyou for the advice seamagu.. I am very aware that I am not to perform anything without perfection then some more perfection before anything is performed to anyone yes. i have ordered corindas book, but i am afraid i do not understand what u mean by 'n..l w.....r' im sure it is something obvious i am just very new to magic ofcourse,

Thankyou