Beginner: Crash Course/Born to Perform

[druix]

Hi, I'm am somewhat new at magic. did it for a couple years when i was younger, but not really much of anything. maybe like 4 or 5 tricks. I was wondering what would be a better option to go with between E's Crash Course (1 AND 2) or Born to Perform at Peng Magic.

I don't want any "better bang for your buck" because money is completely not an issue. well...it is since i'm getting married, but the price difference in this case makes no difference, so ignore it. and i might end up getting both in the future anyway, but if not, i don't know which to get.

oh yea, if it makes a difference, i REALLY like ACR, which is what i wanna learn the most (i know both will teach it, in fact CC2 is about ACR)

 

[ElisG]

This may sound like a Cliche, but buy Royal Road to Card Magic if you want to get in to Cards, and Modern Coin Magic for coin.

Coins take a lot longer to get the basics down but once you have the basics down it becomes quite easy from there.

Whereas there a lot of card tricks which you can learn in a few minutes.

Although Born to Perform is the best out of the two you named. RRTCM and MCM will give you the more extensive course(although sadly they are quite a boring read).

 

[druix]

thanks
by the way. because of how much i like ACR (and with CC2 being about ACR), i'd like to know
a. which of the 2 is a better choice overall
b. which is a better choice strictly for ACR

 

[bugula]

thanks
by the way. because of how much i like ACR (and with CC2 being about ACR), i'd like to know
a. which of the 2 is a better choice overall
b. which is a better choice strictly for ACR

I think you answered your own question, no?

 

[jpmorganjeromy]

if u want to learn ACR get daryl's dvd ambitious card

 

[Steve_K]

I personally liked CC2 better than Daryl's ACR. First of all, Ellusionist DVDs, like Theory 11 (because the same people that did E DVDs came to T11) are very well produced, so CC2 is much more interesting to watch. There are better angles, in my opinion, and the intermittant real life performances are fantastic. I Daryl's DVD it is him simply sitting in a room the whole time. CC2 has more of a street magic feel because Brad performes in the streets, which is what I do most of the time, and therefore prefer.

Also, I thought CC2 had a better organization of sleights. And all of the sleights are very easy for a beginner to perform. I definitely prefer that DVD over Daryl's. If ACR is all you want to learn, I would say CC2. Plus, it adds some torn and restored effects/ card to pocket effects to enhance your ACR if you get bored of the coming to the top plot.

I do not have born to perform, but CC1 was great when I first started. The only problem is that it only has like 5 tricks on it. Great teaching for a beginner, but not much material. The cliche route would probably be better for general magic knowledge.

I would get Royal Road, and then just CC2 to complement your love of the ACR.

 

[jimmah01]

hey,


i've got both and i'd say go both of the crash courses.

brad is a much better teacher than oz. he breaks everything RIGHT down and is much easier to follow.

born to perform is good, but i'd say CCs are better.

i started with the CCs.


as for the ACR, you learn all the fundamental sleights with brad so you can make your own ACR, as well as learning brad's routine. with BTP, oz doesn't teach as much as brad does.

that's my vote.

 

[adjones]

Born to Perform goes over everything you need to know to get into card magic, for much, much cheaper. If you want an ACR DVD, stick with Daryl. E DVDs are way too overhyped and underdelivered. But yes, like previously mentioned, if you're a true beginner in card magic, get Royal Road to Card Magic and work through it... that's how I started.

 

[Steerpike]

Born to Perform goes over everything you need to know to get into card magic, for much, much cheaper.

The question is whether or not your ethics jibe with Penguin's and you think that money you saved is worth it.

Personally, I think Crash 2 is one of the best teaching aids out there for novice card workers. The sleights are taught in extreme detail and multiple presentations for each are covered. The actual performances give hte invaluable addition of seeing it done in a practical setting so you can better understand how to put it to good use.

Royal Road is a must-have for any magician's library, but there's something to be said for seeing a move taught in real-time and then seeing it used in performance.

 

[adjones]

Personally, I think Crash 2 is one of the best teaching aids out there for novice card workers. The sleights are taught in extreme detail and multiple presentations for each are covered. The actual performances give hte invaluable addition of seeing it done in a practical setting so you can better understand how to put it to good use.

How is this different from BTP? Oz is a great teacher, goes over everything very well, and includes performances of each effect and sleight. I guess I don't get how you can use those examples against BTP.

And I'll just ignore the jab at Penguin's ethics, as from what I've seen, they're much better than Ellusionist's, and everyone who has made a comment about Penguin's ethics to me, thus far, has been incapable of backing it up with any real facts. From what I've seen, Penguin has great prices, shipping, forums, Customer Service, they have many contests over there (from the users and sponsored by them), they have a promo like 5 times a year where they give away upwards of $150 worth of magic to anyone who spends upwards of $150.

 

[Steerpike]

How is this different from BTP? Oz is a great teacher, goes over everything very well, and includes performances of each effect and sleight. I guess I don't get how you can use those examples against BTP.

I wasn't using them as example against anything. I was simply saying why I like the DVD. Not everything is a bloody competition.

And I'll just ignore the jab at Penguin's ethics, as from what I've seen, they're much better than Ellusionist's, and everyone who has made a comment about Penguin's ethics to me, thus far, has been incapable of backing it up with any real facts.

People will believe what's convenient for them.

Rambling about the money you saved does not consitute proof and isn't going to change my mind any more than a thesis from me will change yours. So don't bother. This is the first time I've brought up the subject of Penguin in months, and that was simply because I felt like playing the devil's advocate.

 

[Medifro]

And I'll just ignore the jab at Penguin's ethics, as from what I've seen, they're much better than Ellusionist's, and everyone who has made a comment about Penguin's ethics to me, thus far, has been incapable of backing it up with any real facts.

Penguin did have some ethical issues years ago with some creators like Sankey, but the major ones are fixed now ( the Sankey issue in particular ), now they are just like any one-stop-magic-shop, selling DVDs from every distributer, usually there are mis-crediting DVDs and books but thats from the authors, penguin is just selling, just like any magic shop in the world. Thats according to my knowledge anyway.. Names like Jermay and Josh Jay are not easy ones to get either.

Anyway, lets leave that topic. I smell fires of battle starting!

I didn't see Born to Perform, but I did see Crash Course 1 and its extremely good for beginners and I recommend it. ( ethically, there is a Vernon trick .. but thats not the focus of this thread so lets not make this into a battle .. )

Crash Course 2 is excellent too.

I also recommend Card College vol.1.

Cheers,

 

[druix]

thanks for the abundance of replies everyone. i've decided that i'm going with the CCs. i'll definitely also look into royal road afterwards as i have heard MANY good things about it on these forums AND e's forums.

 

[adjones]

I've seen a performance of an effect from CC1... it was taken directly from RRTCM, if anybody cares. That PLUS the Vernon effect. Was any of it credited? I doubt it. Oh well.

People will believe what's convenient for them.

Rambling about the money you saved does not consitute proof and isn't going to change my mind any more than a thesis from me will change yours. So don't bother. This is the first time I've brought up the subject of Penguin in months, and that was simply because I felt like playing the devil's advocate.

Well, feel free to PM me with proof of Penguin's bad ethics. And Medifro- I'm pretty sure most of the Sankey issue was Jay's fault. I know it's all been cleared up, but from what I've heard, Jay issue a letter of apology, and admitted fault. But, I could be wrong... I wasn't involved in the online magic community at that point.

 

[Steerpike]

Well, feel free to PM me with proof of Penguin's bad ethics.

I know better than to think my word would carry any weight. Ask Lee Asher about Penguin and MagicMakers. And if you can get ahold of them, ask Colin Gilbert and Rick Maue as well.

 

[Medifro]

Ask Lee Asher about Penguin and MagicMakers. And if you can get ahold of them, ask Colin Gilbert and Rick Maue as well.

All major magic shops carry Magic Maker's stuff now, not only penguin. MJM, Magic Depot, MagicPro ... etc. Not sure about Mr.Gilbert and Maue. Anyways, this is unfortunately is and have been something in magic for a long long time and still happening, before M.Makers, Pengiun, E and others too. Its still happening, examples include a mis-credit on an Alakazam.com.uk DVD, and currently an issue in a cardwarp dvd. People used to xerox magic magazines and books in the 80s, some magic shops sell copied CDs and DVD-Rs, that and p2p things going on recently, and the list go on. Thats the magic market.

Adjones, you are correct about Jay issuing an apology. The trick in Crash Course was out of Card College 1, which is an Annemann trick.

With this post, I hope this discussion is over. Lets focus on the thread at hand.

Cheers,