I'm new here and have a few questions

[r29]

well welcome to T11
yea pretty much what the others have said Royal Road to Card magic is goodo for the basics slieghts..as for cards Bicycles or if u want the gaurdian by T11 i found them amazing nd those should last u awhile other then that have fun enjoy nd one last tip PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!!

 

[Rasengan]

But are these ordinary bicycle playing cards plastic? the ones I have at the moment are so hard and almost don't bend.

 

[PjPinsonnault]

No, Bicycle Bee, and Tally Ho cards are not made of plastic. They are made from card stock, which is like a thick, flexibly stiff paper, basically.

Stay away from plastic and plastic coated for magic purposes, and you'll save yourself a lot of frustration.

Welcome. Prepare to become obsessed.

Pj

 

[dragon521]

You don't want to be taught by somebody who is still learning.

Lol, so you think after a certain point in your magical career you become the perfect magician? There are always new ticks, sleights, books, DVDs and material coming out. The magician that thinks he's so perfect, that he doesn't have to improve or practice sleights and presentation, is not a perfect magician, but rather a really sucky one

As for a good starting point I say go to your local library and pray they have the RRTCM. If they don't look in a local magic store or order it online. If you find you like card magic and want to pursue it, I would then reccomend buying the whole Card College Series. It is a hefty investment but it will be well worth it. Hope I was helpful.

 

[Aos]

You think after a certain point in your magical career you become the perfect magician?

Who said that? I said you don't want to be taught a trick/sleight/etc by somebody who is still learning it. Just because there are new ones doesn't mean the old ways of doing the older effect are invalid. Also, I meant that you want to be taught by somebody good enough to create their own _good_ effects.

And yes, given the right conditions there is a perfect way of doing something.

 

[Rasengan]

Thanks for all the advice. But could anyone name any good beginner tricks that aren't hard to learn but look good?

Thanks

 

[manipulation4food]

wow, your lucky i looked at this post. now to start off on my experties!

1. For magic any cards will do, i recommend for performing and practicing normal bicycles/tally ho's. You can get both at Kardwell.com or a local cvs or supermarket.

2. Sigh basic moves. There are so many depends what you want to be able to do. I have put off learning a pass for 5 years. Finally i'm just starting to practice it. But things like double lifts, passes, forces, controls, exchanges. So many things if you want specifics you can pm me but if i told specifics on here my post would be a page long.

3. WHAT ARE SLEIGHTS? hah they're pretty much sneaky moves if you want to have it simple.

4. Nothing is a beginner trick, unless you really mean expert card handling. But for tricks that are soo easy and i still do now. I would recommend penguinmagic. Tryout the Renegade or Do as I do. Both are cheap and hard hitting. I love them and they're impromtu and they're my openers.

5. Now ones that look good. All look good just depends on your taste.

 

[iq92]

First of all, welcome!

I'm trying to stay on topic here and avoid the arguments so here's what I have to say:

1. I started out by using just random decks, both plastic and paper. I used plastic decks, very thin, and smaller than regular Bikes, but I switched after finding difficulty in some maneuvers. After a while, you kinda have to get used to the norm, which for me are Bicycles. Since you're just starting out, there's really no need to get fancy decks, unless of course you want to. Bikes for me are already suitable enough, for practice and even for performance. It's very much comparable to other decks out there and they're quite versatile. Also, try to get used to using them, poker size too, since these are widly used and very common.

2. Sleights are basically "the moves". They're what you do to accomplish the effects. Lifts, passes, changes, palming and many others. Definitions of these, how to do them, and the different sleights, are too many to mention. Of course, the more basic ones can be found in one of the sources said by the posters above. Get them down. Start with the simpler ones, like grips and lifts. I used to think grips were not very important but actually, they are.

3. I started out with tricks that came from ordinary magic books. They were not very popular and I just found them in the libraries. The first tricks I learned were self working and didn't require too much sleights. You got to start somewhere right? Find ones that are easy to do, then work your way towards the more complicated tricks. You'll develop your skills gradually, so don't worry about it.

That's it for now. Any more questions, just ask. Good luck to you!

 

[Rasengan]

thanks a lot, manipulation and iq
but then one complicated card trick is actually a bunch of sleights? that's how I understand

 

[Rasengan]

I've got another question:
Should I get myself two of the same decks?? Because I know that some tricks require two same decks or cards.

 

[Aos]

Depends on if you know such tricks... Usually I open two identical decks and take one card from one put it in the other, giving me doubles in both and 52 cards in both. It is quite easy to get away with a single pair of doubles in your deck. I've even had spectators grab the deck out of my hands after a trick where I used a double and they couldn't find it (they were looking for the wrong card heh).

 

[Rasengan]

I was looking that Oz Pearlman DVD born to perform, and there was one trick called something like transpo, and that was really cool one, that I would like to learn. But here's another question, how many are there that kind of tricks that require 2 same cards/decks?

 

[Aos]

How many are there that kind of tricks that require 2 same cards/decks?

InfiniTy. Everybody always makes up new oNes. And some of those require a cRazy amount of duplicates.

 

[iq92]

Ok, the possibilities are actually endless here, tricks are always getting made and remade. You can't put a definite number if you're asking for "the number of tricks that use these" or the like. When you start to get better or when you get more experience, you'll be able to make your own modifications to other effects. Doubles are only 1 of so many other ways to accomplish different effects. Sometimes you won't even need doubles and such if you know or come up with a different handling of an effect.

As for your question on complicated tricks, it's not necessarily complicated if it requires a lot of sleights. Also, some effects use only a few sleights but are still complicated. There are other factors that make the effect complicated or simple. Misdirection, patter, memorization are some. Sleight of hand is only one way to accomplish an effect, there are others too, like i mentioned.

Maybe it's just your perception of "complicated". At first maybe an effect is complicated but if you practice it a lot, it becomes more simple to perform.

Again, good luck