Is the Card College series by Roberto Giobbi a Good Read?

I'm about 3 weeks into card magic, so I barely know anything about this art yet.

(you don't have to read this part...)
I went to my local (2.5 hours away) magic shop last week looking for The Royal Road to Card Magic because Chris Ramsay suggested it, but the guy told me I should get Card College, at least try out the first volume. He spent at least an hour going through almost all the individual books that he has on his bookshelf with me, after that, he went on and taught me more about the art of magic. I felt really guilty not buying the book after his talk, so I got the first volume for $45 + tax CAD. Since this is my first magic book, so I really have nothing to say about it besides that fact that I'm in love with it so far cause it's a godam beautiful MAGIC book!.

Anyway, I'm sure all magic books are good reads, but I have never heard of this series in all my book research (not until the magic shop guy told me of course...), nor have Google been able to find a review for it. That's why I'm here to find out what you guys have to say about Card College for a complete beginner. So, thoughts?

Thanks for your responses, and I know that was a lot of words, sorry.
 

RealityOne

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Nov 1, 2009
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The Card College series is an amazing set of books. I strongly recommend it over Royal Road . Roberto Giobbi's writing and teaching is wonderful. It is well worth the price.

The guy at the magic shop did right by you. He could have sold you Royal Road and a bunch of beginner tricks that looked really cool but that you would never use after you started learning more about magic. Instead, he set you off on a path that will having you start off by learning things correctly.

My advice is to take you time with the book and really make sure you have the fundamentals, such as the various grips, down. It is a lot easier to learn advanced sleight of hand if your fundamentals are correct.

Enjoy the book.
 

Gabriel Z.

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Apr 26, 2013
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The Card College series is complete. If you follow it to the letter you will be a master card magician. That being said, I still think you should buy and read The Royal Road to Card Magic. If you are still interested in card magic get these books as well.

 

Jason England

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May 6, 2015
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Because as wonderful as Roberto's Card College series is, it is still a distillation of 20th century magic literature. The techniques, concepts and effects from his series (5 main volumes and 3 Card College Light volumes) have been largely culled from classic texts like Royal Road, Expert Card Technique, Dai Vernon's books and the works of Juan Tamariz. Of course there are many modern effects and ideas that do not come from those foundational sources, but you would be foolish to think that reading Card College means that you don't need to source those other classic texts.
 

DominusDolorum

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Jul 15, 2013
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Because as wonderful as Roberto's Card College series is, it is still a distillation of 20th century magic literature. The techniques, concepts and effects from his series (5 main volumes and 3 Card College Light volumes) have been largely culled from classic texts like Royal Road, Expert Card Technique, Dai Vernon's books and the works of Juan Tamariz. Of course there are many modern effects and ideas that do not come from those foundational sources, but you would be foolish to think that reading Card College means that you don't need to source those other classic texts.
I would like to add to this by saying that if you are just beginning in magic, and if you don't want to make such a large investment, then Royal Road is the perfect place to begin. It lays the foundation to build your card magic technique upon because it is essentially a course in card magic fundamentals. You can pick it up very cheaply, so you don't lose much if it happens that you don't stick with magic. If you follow along with Paul Wilsons video series on Royal Road to Card Magic, then your technique with cards will skyrocket. I hope you consider this text.

https://www.amazon.ca/Royal-Road-Ca.../ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
http://shop.conjuringarts.org/store...-Magic-Text-Based-PDF-52p742.htm#.WiY10UqnHIU
http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/4074

Welcome to the forums!
 
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largely culled from classic texts like Royal Road, Expert Card Technique, Dai Vernon's books and the works of Juan Tamariz.

What about Vernon's books and the works of Juan Tamariz? Sorry I'm a bit confused of what you meant. You mean large amounts of content in Card College are from Royal Road and Expert Card Technique? And those classic books are the works of Vernon and Juan Tamariz?
 

Gabriel Z.

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Apr 26, 2013
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Because as wonderful as Roberto's Card College series is, it is still a distillation of 20th century magic literature. The techniques, concepts and effects from his series (5 main volumes and 3 Card College Light volumes) have been largely culled from classic texts like Royal Road, Expert Card Technique, Dai Vernon's books and the works of Juan Tamariz. Of course there are many modern effects and ideas that do not come from those foundational sources, but you would be foolish to think that reading Card College means that you don't need to source those other classic texts.

WOW!! Jason England answered for me what an honor.......I have listened and watched that video at least 100 times by now, whenever someone needs help with what to read that is my go to video. No Joke. I'm still working on the Bottom Deal. I'm by no means an expert yet but I'm starting where the good stuff starts, on page 52 :D. I'm still using the Erdnase Grip ocassionally I'll experiment with the Mechanics Grip. Yes , I know the finger flash is horrible but elimination of that will come with time. I wouldn't expect you to look down this far, as much as bottom dealing evolution is concerned. However, If anyone else wants to check out my bottom deal here it is.

 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
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@7ri_Kings

I think what @Jason England is saying is that Card Colllege is just the beginning of your learning. I remember when I bought the Card College series, I told my wife that I wouldn't need any more card magic books. I've bought well over a hundred since then.

As Jason said, Roberto Giobbi collected a tremendous amount of knowledge from a variety of sources and compiled it all in the Card College Series. Roberto is very good about crediting his sources. Much of Roberto's approach to magic comes from the Madrid School of thought which was developed by Arturo de Ascanio and Juan Tamariz. A good number of the moves and techniques were published by Jean Hugard and Fred Braue in Expert Card Technique, Royal Road, Magic Monthly and other places. For the most part, the material was not developed by Hugard and Braue but was just published by them (often without crediting). Dai Vernon's breadth of work during his lifetime is tremendous. There is a reason he is called the Professor. Let's not forget Erdnase (whoever he was) and Marlo and all the other giants in magic upon whose shoulders we stand. Card College curates that material for you.

My advice is to continue to work through the Card College Series. The explanations and teaching are better than Royal Road and Expert Catd Technique. Many of the techniques reflect refinements and improvements. The performance theory is wonderful.

THEN, continue your learning. Read Royal Road, Expert Card Technique, Card Control, Expert at the Card Table. Then branch out into reading the works of Vernon, Marlo, Ascanio, Tamariz and the works of their students. And that is just the beginning.

Card College will give you an amazing foundation. There are lots of books that provide the basis for that foundation and lots of books that that you can use to build on that foundation.
 
Jun 30, 2017
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So does this series only stricktly teach card magic and techniques (such as double lifts) or does it also teach cardistry techniques and shuffles
 
Mar 15, 2018
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There's also a couple of videos made by Giobbi and available as DVDs which are companions to the first two volumes of Card College.

Are these any good, and are they worth getting in addition to the books? Or perhaps instead of the books?
 
Dec 31, 2016
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The DVDs are an absolutely fantastic compliment to the books, get V1 & 2 plus the DVDs and you will really understand the moves. They are also newer and so he mentions improvements to his approach and teaching since he wrote card college. I waffled on buying the DVDs and was so glad I got them. Giobbi is just a great teacher.
 
Mar 15, 2018
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Since my post a couple of weeks ago, I got the digital downloads of the video course. It's terrific, and I highly recommend it as a wonderful companion to the classic Card College books. It can also be used independently even if you don't have the books, and is probably THE resource I would point people to if they were looking for a video series to learn the fundamentals of card magic. Roberto Giobbi is an excellent teacher, with real insight into how magic works, and few are better at this than he is.

As mentioned already, this was originally sold as a set of 4 DVDs of nearly 8 hours, but is now available as a digital download via his website. You can buy the 23 individual chapters/lessons for €4.95 each, or purchase the entire set as a package (a very good deal at €49.95).

Card College 1 & 2 Personal Instruction The Complete Course
https://www.robertogiobbi.com/site/product/card-college-12-personal-instruction-the-complete-course

The first lesson (Fundamental Techniques) is available in entirety for free here, as a sampler:

Lesson 1: Fundamental Techniques
https://www.robertogiobbi.com/site/product/card-college-12-personal-instruction-the-fundamentals
 
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