Book for practical card tricks

Feb 3, 2013
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Hi all ! First i want to say, i have developed lot last half year. I have so much great material and learned lot. But i have just dvd:s. So what i'm asking is book, what includes card tricks with minimal set-up. I dont say i want just no-setup tricks, but good mix about set-up, selfworking and sleight of hands book is something what i'm watching. And last thing, what is probably main thing about my magic, these have to be PRACTICAL, real world magic. I know hundreds of great camera tricks, what have to be set-uped, and what cant be used real world close-up magic. So dont know is there book like that, but hope you guys get my point. And what about price, thats not really problem. Thanks !
 
May 2, 2010
207
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New York, New York
As mentioned by Louis Royal Road is a great book to learn from and has good effects. You also may want to look in to Roberto Giobbi's books Card College light.

A good choice would be looking in to Harry Lorayne's books. A great card man who believes card work shouldn't be hard in-order to be great and his work proves it. It has a great mixture of what your looking for. Close-up Card Magic is a staple for many. Harry has put out bound collections of his older books called you guessed it: The Classic Collection.

Kind Regards,

Mike
 
Feb 3, 2013
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Thanks for answers ! What you guys think about these books:

- Dear Mister Fantasy book John Bannon
- Designing Miracles by Darwin Ortiz
- Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz - Book
- Mnemonica by Juan Tamariz

And i dont want kind "beginners" stuff, becouse i have many dvd:s what are good for that. I'm looking some serious "advanced" stuff.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
What have you already studied and how long have you been doing magic?

Most people think they are 'advanced' long before they actually are.
 
May 2, 2010
207
1
37
New York, New York
Thanks for answers ! What you guys think about these books:

- Dear Mister Fantasy book John Bannon
- Designing Miracles by Darwin Ortiz
- Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz - Book
- Mnemonica by Juan Tamariz

And i dont want kind "beginners" stuff, becouse i have many dvd:s what are good for that. I'm looking some serious "advanced" stuff.

Laymen wont know the difference between beginner and advanced tricks only you. The Mishap poker deal is one of the easiest things I perform but with proper presentation is a killer.

What type of card stuff you want?? Table, walk around ??? Gambling, visual, story deck effects??

John Bannon stuff is great and so is Tamariz. The two magic books by Ortiz you mentioned is contains Magic Theory and Creativity.
 
Feb 3, 2013
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I have doing magic serious like just one year. I do table and walkaround magic. I have studied Brad Christian's, Michael ammar's, dani ortiz's, lennart green's, jay sankey's magic. There are more, but you know what kind magic i do. So i know much and have huge DVD materil to use. Meaby one for my "weakness" is, i'm so critical about some tricks, they have amazed me, but when i know how it works, its not good anymore becouse i think "oh, its that easy, they catch me so easily". I always dont understand, i dont do these things to magician, i do it for laymen who dont know what is going on. But i want to expand my repertoire of card tricks, and i think books are good for that, becouse there is lot tricks what use. Inversely what you guys think what i really have to study right now. I'm serious about this thing, i do something (practice passes, dribble, dl etc.) with cards every day, 30 mins to 2 hour and love it. I have done some presentations for my family but no more. Thanks !
 
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Feb 3, 2013
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I have question about Giobbi's Card College 1-5, are these books just sleight or what? Are these really that good like they are hyped? And another question abour Harry Loraine's books, are these? And the last one, i have Paul Harris's TA, so should i buy AoA volumes? Thanks !
 
May 2, 2010
207
1
37
New York, New York
I have question about Giobbi's Card College 1-5, are these books just sleight or what? Are these really that good like they are hyped? And another question abour Harry Loraine's books, are these? And the last one, i have Paul Harris's TA, so should i buy AoA volumes? Thanks !

Card College is a crash course in cards... Its wonderfully structured and written. It will teach you a few sleights then a effect using the sleights you just learned. Its probably one of the best volume sets you can own no matter what your skill level you are. Everything from overhand shuffling, second dealing, culling etc.

Harry Loryane's work is excellent but probably not a fit for you since you have admitted you dont care for easy card tricks which is a shame since a lot of people use his work one form or another and great reactions. I use effects such as The Sting, Out of This Universe, Halo Aces, Fortitude etc.

Paul Harris stuff I wouldnt have a clue on. Im a table card worker. All his work looks great and is very visual though.

If you type in some of these books into a search engine you will come up with a table of contents for some and reviews of the books to get a better idea what your getting
 
Oct 5, 2012
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Art of Astonishment has everything, so if you want to move beyond just cards and into all sorts of impromptu feeling close up stuff, definitely get AoA. I am just starting to work with Mnemonica now, and obviously the whole deck needs to be set, which seems to be different than the sort of stuff you are looking for. Strong Magic and Designing Miracles are the best books on magic thinking that I have read, but they don't have effects. However, it seems like you might really benefit from both of them, as they have certainly helped me to maximize the stuff I already know and to construct some effects of my own. Someone mentioned the idea that hard magic and easy magic is a difference that only the performer really knows, the important thing is the impact on the spectator. I thought I had a pretty good grounding in card magic, and I have started working through card college and finding tons of value there as well, so really, you can't go wrong. But I would highly recommend both of the Ortiz books, because they will change the way you read and apply every other book you read.
 
Feb 3, 2013
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I really think i should buy Roberto Giobbis books. So my question is: should i buy all light, lighter and lightest? What are differences? Have these books just self working tricks? I have "Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks " DVD, so is this for me just recap or just stack new great tricks? And if you buy these, should i still buy Card College series? Sorry about many questions. :) And thanks for great answers, helped lot !
 
May 2, 2010
207
1
37
New York, New York
Here is a link that I use for my research and a ton of magicians use. Its the best archive out there for books. Type in a move, author or book and you will get a wealth of information. I use it for crediting and for my purchases. Dennis is a great magician also.

http://archive.denisbehr.de/

The difference is that Light, Lighter and Lightest is that its self working card tricks that require almost no sleight of hand and that are self working. Card College is where its at a huge crash course in cards. Everything from crimps, forces, counts, shifts, faros, deals, palms etc is in the series and Tricks that use the. These are tricks that Roberto uses himself in his works.

You can get the set at a good price if you look.
 
- Dear Mister Fantasy book John Bannon - A good book that has new takes on many of the classic tricks. I prefer his book "Smoke & Mirrors". I like Mr. Bannon and this he has very good effects.

- Designing Miracles by Darwin Ortiz - No tricks just theory

- Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz - Book - No tricks just theory

- Mnemonica by Juan Tamariz - You will need to know how to Faro Shuffle perfectly for a majority of the effects in this book. The books deals with a memorized stack. If you buy the David Blaine ... (Double Spades or Split Spades can't remember) cards they come out of the box in the Mnemonica stack.
 
As mentioned by Louis Royal Road is a great book to learn from and has good effects. You also may want to look in to Roberto Giobbi's books Card College light.

Mike

I may catch flak, but I don't like the card college light series. They all seem to involve a good deal of set up. I don't find it practical to have so much set up involved. I was under the impression the op was looking for a sleight related book with little set up.
 
May 2, 2010
207
1
37
New York, New York
I may catch flak, but I don't like the card college light series. They all seem to involve a good deal of set up. I don't find it practical to have so much set up involved. I was under the impression the op was looking for a sleight related book with little set up.

I prob misunderstood his original post. If thats the case then card college would be the better of the two. For me personally I never found the set ups to be a problem. There are some yes but most could be achieved with a good cull or just toying around with the deck
 
Feb 3, 2013
18
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I may catch flak, but I don't like the card college light series. They all seem to involve a good deal of set up. I don't find it practical to have so much set up involved. I was under the impression the op was looking for a sleight related book with little set up.


Thanks for that ! For me too i dont really like setup tricks, becouse most of them are not practical at all and in my view, most of them are "camera tricks" and dont work in real time. You have to pointlessly change decks lot. Thats my view. And you are right "spook", i'm looking just what you said; book for a sleight related book with little or non set up. So now i have ordered John Bannons Dear Mister Fantasy and think i should get Paul Harri's Art of astonishment. I'm not sure whether there is a book what i'm looking, but thanks lot for interest and answers !
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
Thanks for that ! For me too i dont really like setup tricks, becouse most of them are not practical at all and in my view, most of them are "camera tricks" and dont work in real time. You have to pointlessly change decks lot. Thats my view. And you are right "spook", i'm looking just what you said; book for a sleight related book with little or non set up. So now i have ordered John Bannons Dear Mister Fantasy and think i should get Paul Harri's Art of astonishment. I'm not sure whether there is a book what i'm looking, but thanks lot for interest and answers !

It's entirely possible to set up tricks right in front of a spectator. Someone just posted a video of David Blaine doing just that. It's called routining and knowing your skills.

Anyway, the suggestions you've been given should give you plenty of material to work with.
 
I would suggest

The Secrets of Brother Jon Hamman - There are lots of good effects that don't require advanced sleights, but are very powerful. The book is very sleight intensive but they are within reach of anyone who practices. Some effects require a minor setup like a duplicate card or 2 or 3 card stack. Plus there are some DVD's around that follow along with the book. I believe it's Richard Kaufman's filming of Bro Hamman doing the effects to actually write the book. These DVD's will require some internet sleuthing to find. I think it's title "The lost works of Bro Hamman".



The Magic of Matt Schulien - This isn't in print, but should be fairly easy to find on flea bay or in the for sale forums. It's a spiral bound book from the late 50's or early 60's. You will need to be able to palm a card for some of the effects. It also has more than just card tricks. I like how bold many of these effects are. There are many examples of how Matt uses misdirection or buys time when necessary. Just reading his work makes my balls grow. There are a couple reputation makers like card on the wall or card under the table cloth. Matt has some great ideas on card revelations. I also like the fact this book teaches a sleight then several tricks using the sleight. It's not an encyclopedia of tricks, but the few tricks you use will really shine. I believe Matt's philisophy was that you only needed a control, a steal, a force, and a change to do great magic.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...The+Magic+of+Matt+Schulien&_sacat=0&_from=R40




Anthology by Daniel Madison - Many of his effects use the gamblers cop. You will need to learn this sleight to make this book worth while. It's expensive as it's England pricing and England shipping. The book is paper back and the materials are NOT high quality. I wish a high quality option was available, as I would gladly pay the difference. I also suggest emailing Mr. Madison as on ocassion he has been know to be unaware an order was placed. The content is awesome. He has many effects you can do with no set up. He has many gimick effect and gaffed card effect. He teaches you how to make the gimicks and gaffs cards. He also has some psychological effects. This book was a complete collection of all his "pamplets?" - book from 2000 - 2010. His magic seems to feel a bit darker to me, than most. On second thought ....... "This is not the book you are looking for ..."
 
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It's entirely possible to set up tricks right in front of a spectator. Someone just posted a video of David Blaine doing just that. It's called routining and knowing your skills.

Anyway, the suggestions you've been given should give you plenty of material to work with.

Agreed, but sometimes it's nice to have effects that don't require a set up. Like an ACR routine or the Biddle Trick.
 
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