theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

Good Books For Beginner Cardicians on a Budget?

Karo-K54

Karo-K54

Jan 31, 2018
59
16
What are some good books to buy relating to card sleights and maybe flourishes (that's only a bonus) for someone between beginner and intermediate (can do imperfect faros, one handed cuts like Charlier, revolution and knuckle, beginner controls i.e. shuffle controls, push off double etc) that don't cost too much?
 
Scarne on Card Tricks - Effects with a minimum of sleight of hand. Amazing book.

Royal Road to Card Magic - The best starting point forbsleight ofnhand.

Encyclopedia of Card Tricks - Primarily Card Tricks using gaffed cards (double back, double face, short cards), gaffed decks (rough/ smooth, Svengali, Mene-Tekel) s arranged stacks as well as some self working effects)

Expert Card Technique - The next level of sleight of hand after Toyal Road

Counts, Cuts, Moves and Subtleties - Essential for learning counts used for packet tricks.

Each of those books is $10 to $15 dollars.

I would also reccomend looking at the Card College Series. Each book is $35 but it is really worth it. The descriptions and teaching is much better than the books I listed. Each book would take you three to six months to work through. When you are done with the series, you will be better than the vast majority of card guys.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hgagnon, Gabriel Z. and Karo-K54
RealityOne said:
I would also reccomend looking at the Card College Series. Each book is $35 but it is really worth it. The descriptions and teaching is much better than the books I listed. Each book would take you three to six months to work through. When you are done with the series, you will be better than the vast majority of card guys.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Where is the best place/site I can buy The Card College Series from? And can you fill me up on the details? I haven't heard of Card College, although I have heard about those other books you've mentioned. How many books are there? Each costs $35? How many pages, and is it illustrated?
 
Card College is a series of books written by Roberto Giobbi, generally considered to be a master class in sleight of hand with cards. If you genuinely did read every book and practice everything to competence you would certainly have more knowledge and skill than the vast majority of card men out there.

Yes, it is illustrated. Penguin has them for around $40 each I believe, here's volume one: http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/497

Look around, though. You can probably find it a little cheaper, that's just the first thing I thought of. There's 5 volumes total.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Karo-K54
Karo-K54 said:
Thanks! Where is the best place/site I can buy The Card College Series from? And can you fill me up on the details? I haven't heard of Card College, although I have heard about those other books you've mentioned. How many books are there? Each costs $35? How many pages, and is it illustrated?
Click to expand...

I just checked prices and they are $40 per book. Good places to buy from are Penguin and Vanishing (which sells individual volumes but has all five for $185). Volume 2 is currently out of print, but I've read that they will be reprinting the series in the next month or two.

The first two books were written to be a complete course on card magic. Then the next three books were written to cover advanced topics. Each is around 250 pages. There is an index to each book and a cumulative index in Volume 5. There are a lot of diagrams in the book that show you the correct hand positions and motions. The books have very clear instructions (there is a chart on the inside cover of each book showing the terminology used for each part of the hand and the deck). The book also has a bunch of check points at the end of teaching each sleight so that you know you have it correct. Roberto Giobbi's writing is wonderful and he has a very clean and open style of handling cards where every action is justified. The effects taught in the book are excellent.

The table of contents for Volume 1 is here: http://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/book/127

The table of contents for Volume 2 is here: http://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/book/126

I would buy the first two Card College books over all the other books I've listed.
 
Hugard's Royal Road to Card Magic is the book you're looking for.

It's inexpensive, at the skill level you're after, and is a classic. You'll find it often recommended in threads like this.

7182a.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.