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Hello everyone

I am trying to improve my sleight of hand card magic as it is woefully bad, can anyone provide any info as to what sort of things I could try to become more adept?

Do you want books or DVDs - I noticed the title of your post but personally I think that DVDs are better for learning sleights because you can see the way they are supposed to be, instead of trying to imagine it from several sketches.

If you are looking for a DVD, try Oz Pearlman's Born to Perform...

Kati

I've never seen Born to Perform, but trust Kati - he knows what he's talking about. If you're looking for a book, try Expert Card Technique, by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue. There's reviews of both on the site I believe.

J

jimbothegreatest wrote:I've never seen Born to Perform, but trust Kati - he knows what he's talking about

heh heh heh

I've never thought of myself that way .

But you don't have to trust me - just do a search on the forum for Born to Perform or Born To Perform and you'll find oodles of posts extolling its benefits (mostly).

The only problem is that it really is beginner level, so for example, if you can already do some color changes and fans, it's most likely beyond your level. Still, it's a good video to have if you think you're rusty because it goes over everything with just the right level of detail.

Kati

Born to Perform is a great DVD for quick assimilation of the knowledge of basic card work. But if you want to go deeper, try getting some of the following books:

Royal Road to Card Magic - a true masterpiece, and its relatively cheap

Expert Card Techniques - Another great book.

Card College series - A great set of 5 (or 6, I heard of a new one) books. This is also a good book set

All these are good for sleight of hand...

Will add more later

AJ

well it would depend on wether you want to do cards as self working effects or as serious knuckle busters?

for "easier" effects try going for the "Mark Wilsons Cyclopedia of magic" which has a section on cards which is within the reach of most people after some practice.. or i believe theres a Karl Fulves book on self workers that require very little or no sleights which has gotten very good reviews.

I'm not going to recommend the Royal Road simply because i havent actually read it but if your looking for more advanced stuff id suggest that you first get "Counts moves and subtlties" by Jerry Mentzer which will give you a good grounding in "utility" moves. Then i'd suggest books by Darwin Ortiz, Allan Ackerman, Roy Walton, Jerry Sadowitz, Peter Kane or maybe even Ed marlo (but be warned marlo published EVERY idea he had and sometimes you really have to look for gems in amongst the pages)

So i guess it really depends on what you want to accomplish but on the Dvd/Video front id say youd be hard pushed to beat the "Easy to Master Card Miracles" series by Michael Ammar who teaches a wide range of effects with a very clear and patient style.

hope that helps?

Card College is a great serie as well.

rcarlsen wrote:Card College is a great serie as well.

YES! I can't believe nobody suggested this before now! I have this, and have to say that of all my book purchases this (albeit quite pricey!) was without doubt the best yet. It does exactly what is says on the tin.

It's essentially 5 super comprehensive books, I think just about everything is covered! Definately recommend this one! =o)

~Sym~

i Got shown Born To Perform and i was very impressed. Well worth getting

Hey Kati I just noticed that you still have your profile discription noted with a AH (ametuer hobbiest). I would think that after being in magic for so long (over 1000 posts) you'd be at least a SH. Not to put you down or anything.

Hello Absinthegal, I can only assume your here from DB forum too. I agree with Kati and recommend you invest in Born to Perform! You can learn so much more from a DVD than a book in my opinion!
Good luck and see you around! Mark x