Magic Books

Nov 3, 2018
542
427
Hi Bob!
What kind of magic do you do? Cards, coins, sponge balls? Which books do you already own? What are you looking for in those new books? Techniques, routines, theory or punctuation?

Welcome to the site!
 
Oct 31, 2018
2
0
Hi Bob!
What kind of magic do you do? Cards, coins, sponge balls? Which books do you already own? What are you looking for in those new books? Techniques, routines, theory or punctuation?

Welcome to the site!
um, I do mostly card magic and I have royal road two others(both are more card magic). I need more of everything I guess what do you think I need?
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
Thousands of books on magic have been printed. I've heard it said that there's more books on magic than any other single subject but I really doubt that is true. However, it does tell you how many there are, that someone would even think that.

That being said -

I am assuming you're fairly new since you've only mentioned three books and that's just the impression I get. For new folks I always recommend the same books:
Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic - you can find this all over the place for around 15-25 USD.
Bobo's Modern Coin Magic - 8-15 USD is normal

You already have RRTCM, that's the other one I usually recommend. Following that with Expert Card Technique by the same authors is quite a lot and you probably wouldn't really need any more after that, but you'll keep wanting to learn I assure you.

I will also recommend:
Maximum Entertainment 2.0 by Ken Weber - recently released updated version. I read the first one and it's excellent. This is a book on how to perform well - no tricks, just performance help.

Scripting Magic by Pete McCabe - you can get a nice box set of both volumes, or just vol 1 will be helpful, too.

Alchemical Tools by Paul Brook - this one has some tricks in it, but the real value is Paul's thinking and construction of effects

Showmanship for the Magician by Henning Nelms - general performance advice. When I read this it felt like someone had taken all the jangled thoughts in my head and put them into a codified, logical order.

That's a pretty good start, I'd say.
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
I'll second what Christopher (@WitchDocIsIn) said.

Mark Wilson's Complete Course is just that. It has a little bit of everything including cards, coins, bills, rope, sponge balls (just don't point to the empty hand), illusions and mental magic. Even more, if you read it cover to cover, you get a good sense for many of the principles behind magic.

I like the Card College Series better than Royal Road / Expert Card Technique. It is more up to date and the explanations and drawings are better. However, it is more expensive.

I also like self-working card tricks, so I'd add Scarne on Card Tricks, Encyclopedia of Card Tricks (which also addresses a lot of gaff cards and special decks) and Card College Light, Lighter and Lightest.
 
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