Good Table Card Magic

[Johan S.]

Hello all.
im looking for a good book (or dvd, but i perfer books) on Card Table Magic.
I now own Royal Road, Expert at the card Table and Expert Card Tecniques.

I am think of buying Aaron Fishers book The Paper Engein.

Any advice?

Thank you.

 

[Erik]

While Aaron Fisher's book doesn't involve table magic as such, it's still a book you need in your library. Buy it, biatch!

-Erik

 

[Travis]

If you're looking for a good book on card magic done on a hard surface ( table .. ) than I would recommend the book By Forces Unseen by Ernest Earick. The effects in the book aren't for a beginner but once you have the technique down the effects become amazing. The trick A Flippant Triumph is my favorite, they choose any card, you shuffle the deck, shuffle the cards face up and face down and show that the only card face up is there card.

 

[Sean_Raf]

If you're looking for a good book on card magic done on a hard surface ( table .. ) than I would recommend the book By Forces Unseen by Ernest Earick. The effects in the book aren't for a beginner but once you have the technique down the effects become amazing. The trick A Flippant Triumph is my favorite, they choose any card, you shuffle the deck, shuffle the cards face up and face down and show that the only card face up is there card.

Don't forget Lonely At The Top. That one is seriously sweet and seriously easy too! I'd wager one of the easiest in the book.

But I agree with Travis. By Forces Unseen is an awesome book for Table Magic. Take a look on youtube for a guy called Almanacia (I think?) he performs these VERY well and will give you an idea of whether you would like the book.

WARNING: This book is NOT AT ALL for beginners.

Aaron Fisher's The Paper Engine has some very good material in it, a few for the table are his 2001: An Ace Odessey and Three Kings my favourite table effects in the book.



- Sean

 

[Asuka]

Haha don't even think about getting By Forces Unseen untill you have decades of experience under your belt. The guy in the video doesn't even perform them very well.

For table I would recommend anything to do with gambling. False riffle shuffles and what not. Weapons of the card shark 1 and 2 are not bad. He teaches you the mechanics very well, even if he can't do them himself.

False deals are good to learn. Tops Seconds and Bottoms is a good DVD by Ian Kendall, but be prepared to practice HARD. Once you can second and bottom deal, you can do some pretty incredible stuff with it, very worth the practice. And once you can do them, they are easy as pie.

Ben Earl in Past Midnight has some good table routines. Cardshark by Darwin Ortiz is another good book, some effective routines in there.

Errrrrm thats pretty much all that comes to me for now. That should keep you busy for years

 

[Sean_Raf]

Haha don't even think about getting By Forces Unseen untill you have decades of experience under your belt. The guy in the video doesn't even perform them very well.

I agree. Although I have to say I think the video is well done. Granted I don't have much to compare it too hehe.

Any chance you could point me in the direction of other demonstrations? Watching someone else do them well is usually very helpful in the learning process.

- Sean

 

[Asuka]

I don't know if there are any others, probably because it's so hard!

Ok I take the comment about him performing it badly back. It's been ages since I saw the video. His performance was good but he has just got annoying habits. Like rubbing the table, and stuff he does with his hands. Ahh it's hard to explain, forget I said anything

 

[Erik]

By Forces Unseen is my favorite book, that's why I didn't recommend it.
It doesn't matter how technically skilled you are, you should still read that book. It's interesting in many aspects, apart from the technique.

-Erik

 

[Sean_Raf]

His performance was good but he has just got annoying habits. Like rubbing the table, and stuff he does with his hands. Ahh it's hard to explain, forget I said anything

Hehe, I know what you mean

By Forces Unseen is my favorite book, that's why I didn't recommend it.
It doesn't matter how technically skilled you are, you should still read that book. It's interesting in many aspects, apart from the technique.

-Erik

Hahah touché Erik. I agree with what you're saying, but a beginner to card magic may feel a little discouraged when trying some of the sleights. They're not per se EXTREMELY hard, but they're hard to get looking good and smooth. Mr Earick's humour in the opening is quite good too

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alas we digress. Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic has some nice table card magic, very simple stuff but very good stuff nonetheless; it's filled with other stuff than card magic too!

- Sean

 

[abuzarym]

Hey guys.....
I have John Guastafero Brainstorm Vol 1 and 2. I must say it is pretty Darn good.
The fun of having this DVD i think is the practice. Just watching him perform his tricks is so encouraging.

See ya'll

 

[Shodan]

Brainstorm has some excellent effects in it - I'm a huge fan of "Jazz Fusion" on volume 2.

Harry Lorayne's "Classic Collection" has enough card magic to keep you going for years, learning the tricks, tinkering with them and whatnot. A lot of it uses a table too. You get some classic routines in there - Gambler vs Magician, Lorayne Poker Deal, Out of this Universe, Impromptu Out of this World to name but a very, very few. It's not "sleights for the sake of sleights" either; the methods are very streamlined and a lot of fun to perform. If you do get it, check out the Backfire Assembly routine in the final section (Brand New Stuff!) - there's a lot of scope to play with this and it's a real stunner.

 

[Shodan]

You might also want to consider Larry Jennings' "Classic Magic" - a book no card worker should fail to read. And, if you can find a copy nowadays, John Bannon's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" has great table card magic in it. Anything by John Bannon is well worth a look to be honest.

 

[Loz]

Bill Malone's On The Loose Volume #1 might be a pretty good buy if you want to learn Sam the Bellhop, which even though is slightly dated would probably still go down well.

I would also reccomend Benjamin Earl's Past Midnight, which also has a very nice thought of card Triumph routine which is pretty snazzy

 

[TKH]

Just about anything by Bill Malone is good table magic. Past Midnight is excellent for table magic, but it doesn't go in depth on moves, so you really need to know how to do things like classic palm a card, zarrow shuffle, copping and such.