Hi guys, I'm starting to learn some card tricks; I'm quite new to these stuff. Can you please kindly give me some advices on what I should start off first? Cheers guys.
What should I do first?
- Thread starter TroyTheGreat
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Card College books. After learning the basics I'd suggest Maximum Entertainment, Designing Miracles, so basically stuff on becoming a better performer
Start with some of the card magic on the wire. All of the artists have a creative view of card magic, whether it be through sleight of hand, gimmicks, or self working card tricks. Jason England also has tons of sleights available on the magic tricks section of theory11 that are really worth getting.
Thanks. Should I start with sleight of hand? I've seen stuff on google that said sleight of hand tricks are the first steps in cardistry.
Another book to consider for magic card work is Expert At The Card Table.
As for cardistry, there's free tutorials of various moves and move bundle tutorials on this site as well as several others.
Are you looking to get into magic? Cardistry? Both?
As for cardistry, there's free tutorials of various moves and move bundle tutorials on this site as well as several others.
Are you looking to get into magic? Cardistry? Both?
There are two paths you can take regarding card magic. The first is the classic path (which is less expensive) and the second is the more modern path (which is more expensive).
Classic Path
Scarne on Card Tricks (lots of self-working effects)
Royal Road to Card Magic - Hugard and Braue (basics of sleight of hand and effects using sleights)
Encyclopedia of Card Tricks - Gravatt and Hugard (self-working, basic sleight of hand and gimmicks)
Expert Card Technique - Hugard and Braue (more advanced sleight of hand)
Those should take you six months to a year or more. I don't recommend Expert Card Technique for beginners - it is difficult material and really should be studied after you have a strong grounding in the basics. After going through the basics, you would take a look a the following books:
The Magic of LePaul (sleight of hand)
Counts, Moves and Subtleties - Mentzler (title says it all)
Card Control - Buckley (title says it all)
and then Expert at the Card Table - Erdnase
Modern Path
Card College Light by Robeto Giobbi (self working effects presented in routines)
Card College by Roberto Giobbi Volumes 1 and 2 (sleight of hand)
Those books should take about 6 months to a year. And then..
Card College Lighter and Card College Lightest
Card College Volumes 3 though 5
The classic books are a little harder to learn from and the presentation is outdated. However, there are some great effects in those books which I frequently use. Most of those books are $10 or less. The modern books are easier to learn from because there are more pictures and Roberto Giobbi breaks down the moves and explains each step. Roberto then gives you the subtleties and tips that allow you to take what you have learned and make it performance ready. The first two Card College books were designed to be a complete course... until Roberto added the next three books. I've included the self-working effects because that gives you some material you can perform to build confidences. That being said, a lot of my performance material is self-working and that material has fooled magicians looking for tell tale signs of sleight of hand.
After you have taken one of those paths, there are a lot of choices of where to go from there.
Good luck.
Classic Path
Scarne on Card Tricks (lots of self-working effects)
Royal Road to Card Magic - Hugard and Braue (basics of sleight of hand and effects using sleights)
Encyclopedia of Card Tricks - Gravatt and Hugard (self-working, basic sleight of hand and gimmicks)
Expert Card Technique - Hugard and Braue (more advanced sleight of hand)
Those should take you six months to a year or more. I don't recommend Expert Card Technique for beginners - it is difficult material and really should be studied after you have a strong grounding in the basics. After going through the basics, you would take a look a the following books:
The Magic of LePaul (sleight of hand)
Counts, Moves and Subtleties - Mentzler (title says it all)
Card Control - Buckley (title says it all)
and then Expert at the Card Table - Erdnase
Modern Path
Card College Light by Robeto Giobbi (self working effects presented in routines)
Card College by Roberto Giobbi Volumes 1 and 2 (sleight of hand)
Those books should take about 6 months to a year. And then..
Card College Lighter and Card College Lightest
Card College Volumes 3 though 5
The classic books are a little harder to learn from and the presentation is outdated. However, there are some great effects in those books which I frequently use. Most of those books are $10 or less. The modern books are easier to learn from because there are more pictures and Roberto Giobbi breaks down the moves and explains each step. Roberto then gives you the subtleties and tips that allow you to take what you have learned and make it performance ready. The first two Card College books were designed to be a complete course... until Roberto added the next three books. I've included the self-working effects because that gives you some material you can perform to build confidences. That being said, a lot of my performance material is self-working and that material has fooled magicians looking for tell tale signs of sleight of hand.
After you have taken one of those paths, there are a lot of choices of where to go from there.
Good luck.
I'm currently not too sure of my desire. Holidays are near and I want to spend my time efficiently. I found these card tricks and all those magic stuff very interesting. So in general speaking, this is probably my current hobby. And yes, I like card tricks, magic and all those illusion tricks. So, how should I start? Cheers.
Thank you very much. I'll surely act on the advice, yet I wonder whether I should buy them all at the same time or should start off with a certain one? Cheers.
Start with Scarne on Card Tricks and Royal Road
OR
Start with Card College Light and Card College Volume 1
OR
Start with Card College Light and Card College Volume 1
Thank you. One quick question my friend: where can I purchase those? I mean when Ebay doesn't seem trustworthy to me.
I can't really add much as far as study material, but I have a few words of advice.
1. Invest in a few decks of quality cards. Standard bicycles will do the trick. The value of using a quality deck can not be overstated.
2. Stay away from YouTube tutorials. There is far more bad than good on there and chances are you'll learn bad habits or even more likely will learn the completely wrong thing.
Finally, this might not be for everyone, but I found my ability to handle the cards improved massively once I started moisturising my big bear paws.
Good luck, and have fun.
1. Invest in a few decks of quality cards. Standard bicycles will do the trick. The value of using a quality deck can not be overstated.
2. Stay away from YouTube tutorials. There is far more bad than good on there and chances are you'll learn bad habits or even more likely will learn the completely wrong thing.
Finally, this might not be for everyone, but I found my ability to handle the cards improved massively once I started moisturising my big bear paws.
Good luck, and have fun.
Thanks for the advice. But should I take your meaning as books are more highly recommended than those tutorials on Youtube?
Australia my friend. And where should I go find it? Well, I don't trust Ebay but a trustworthy within Australia should be fine since I can handle the order more easily.
For the classic books, try Booktopia and do a search for card magic. If you are interested in more than cards, add Matk Wilson's Complete Course on your list. Most of those books are available at any bookstore.
For the modern path, your best bet is ordering all eight books from Hermatic Press (you get a discount on the 5 Card College books plus 10% off your order. Shipping to Down Under is expensive but it is still less expensive than Aussie magic shops.
For the modern path, your best bet is ordering all eight books from Hermatic Press (you get a discount on the 5 Card College books plus 10% off your order. Shipping to Down Under is expensive but it is still less expensive than Aussie magic shops.
Correction - Hermetic Press has free shipping on international orders over $200. L&L Publishing has 10% off the purchase of 3 or more books and ships internationally at cost. Either is a good source.