Learning what was left out of the book or video.

I have been learning magic for 2 years now. I have quite a few DVD's and books. What I have noticed is most books or DVD's seem to leave out the information not related to the method of the trick.

I don't understand why it is acceptable for an author to simply say "misdirect audience while doing the pass" or "patter here about ...." I consider the patter and the misdirection to be as much a part of the tricks as the method.

Can someone advised me of some books for people just beyond beginner cardmen yet include effects, patter, & misdirection?
 
Jul 13, 2010
526
34
I don't understand why it is acceptable for an author to simply say "misdirect audience while doing the pass" or "patter here about ...."
Because this is very personal and is different for every magician. It`s also the reason why explanations of sleights are not always given. Too much variations exist and which you use is a personal choice and often depends on your character/style etc. The same goes for presentation and misdirection. It is adequate for a comedy magician to misdirect with jokes. But a more serious magician who tries to make jokes the whole time appears odd.

Can someone advised me of some books for people just beyond beginner cardmen yet include effects, patter, & misdirection?
Card College 5. He describes everything in the most fussy way I`ve seen. Except most of the sleights. He refers to CC 1 - 4 for the sleights.
 
If you would like some awesome books that will teach you a wealth of information about misdirection, audience management, and just great ways to improve your magic beyond the tricks, Tommy Wonder's Books of Wonder are great!
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
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I don't understand why it is acceptable for an author to simply say "misdirect audience while doing the pass" or "patter here about ...." I consider the patter and the misdirection to be as much a part of the tricks as the method.

The answer is because the performer or author doesn't have a strong foundation in theory. They can't tell you how to do something that they don't understand. Also, most magician's are after the tricks... presentation is secondary. Most magicians are wrong.

Card College is a must if you are a serious student of card magic, however I think you would be better served if you check out John Gustaferro's One Degree.

Also, the use of the term misdirection is inaccurate. As Tommy Wonder points out, it is really direction. You are not having the audience look away from something, but rather having them focus on something else. The Books of Wonder are excellent, but are not focused solely on cards.

A good book on how to use your body to direct the audience's attention is Juan Tamariz's Five Points in Magic. It is a short book, but you will want to read it several times.
 
The answer is because the performer or author doesn't have a strong foundation in theory. They can't tell you how to do something that they don't understand. Also, most magician's are after the tricks... presentation is secondary. Most magicians are wrong.

Card College is a must if you are a serious student of card magic, however I think you would be better served if you check out John Gustaferro's One Degree.

Also, the use of the term misdirection is inaccurate. As Tommy Wonder points out, it is really direction. You are not having the audience look away from something, but rather having them focus on something else. The Books of Wonder are excellent, but are not focused solely on cards.

A good book on how to use your body to direct the audience's attention is Juan Tamariz's Five Points in Magic. It is a short book, but you will want to read it several times.

I just read a sample of one degree and it looks brilliant. I will also look into the Tommy Wonder books. Thank you for the suggestions.
 
His material is predominantly intermediate to advanced, but Tyler Wilson's Reinventing The Real is a book that does just what you are looking for, and a majority of the material is card work (there's some other fun non-card things peppered throughout the book as well).

Keep in mind that he is sharing how he presents each effect, and it may be that his presentation will not fit you, even though the trick itself could. (This would be the case for any resource that fills in a script and presentation for you)

Cheers!
Matt M.
 
Jul 13, 2010
526
34
You may also take a look at "The Secrets of Brother John Hamman" by Richard Kaufman. Great book. One of my favorites. And still available.
http://londoncardexpert.co.uk/carde...ing-part-three-the-secrets-of-brother-hamman/

Darwin Ortiz new book "Lessons in Card Mastery"
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=485234&forum=110&start=0
and Roberto Giobbis new book "Confidences"
http://www.hermeticpress.com/product_info.php?products_id=71

Although I don`t own any of the last two yet, I recommend everything that has been published by these two authors without hesitation. They both are at the top of the food chain when it comes to teaching stuff in-depth and comprehensive.
 
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His material is predominantly intermediate to advanced, but Tyler Wilson's Reinventing The Real is a book that does just what you are looking for, and a majority of the material is card work (there's some other fun non-card things peppered throughout the book as well).

Keep in mind that he is sharing how he presents each effect, and it may be that his presentation will not fit you, even though the trick itself could. (This would be the case for any resource that fills in a script and presentation for you)

Cheers!
Matt M.

I understand what you are saying about it being the author's presentation and everyone has a unique style. The different ideas on scripts certainly help. It also helps to here thoughts, ideas, and feedback from people who actually preform the effect. This is where I feel a lot of authors are lacking .

Let me give an example of a situation I was dealing with and how I made my presentation better....

One of my favorite openers is two card monte. I would show the audiences card then show them my card and show them in "slow motion" how I was going to switch the card. Then I would "do the switch at real speed".

After "the switch at real speed" I was holding a card and still needed to do a move. I was catching a lot of heat from everyone in the audience. If it was one person I could try and make eye contact. If it was several people I tried to do a covering motion and execute the move. After many performances it finally came to me, I needed to do the move when the heat wasn't on me.

So I made the following adjustments. Before the slow motion switch I tap the spectators card with my deck hand asking them to point the card down, up or whatever. This is just to get them use to me asking them to make an adjustment to their card. Then after the slow motion switch I announce I am going to do it at real speed. I have them make an adjustment to their card using my deck hand, ..... While they are adjusting the card, I execute the move. This worked great because everyone is focues on the spectators card which needs to be adjusted.

Now I just build everything up and stretch the arm or make some other "warming up manuevers". I announce to the audience to keep a close eye and this is going to be "it". Then I make the real speed switch and they can burn me all they want.

This was an easy adjustment, but it's a small detail that was overlooked by the source when I learned this trick. These are the types of "tips" ...etc. That really help.
 
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I picked up Eugene Berger's "Mastering the Art of Magic"

I am about 120 pages deep, but it is the best book I have read so far on magic. It has great information about misdirection, hecklers, and practicing. While it doesn't include a lot of effects (maybe 8 or 12), it does have a couple of effects I really like. It also has patter for the effects. While the patter does seem to be more 70's themed, I could see it being effective by updating some of the phrases.

I find this book to be more useful than The 5 Points by Juan Taramiz (which did have some good ideas on coordinating the movements),

Nice to see some authors include the theatrics and not just the methods.
 
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