So anyway, just wanted to ask, what are magic books that are now on DVD like the Royal Road? Thanks!
I think the better question is whether any DVDs based on books are as good as the books. Even with Royal Road, there is the Magic Makers version and the R. Paul Wilson version. One is better than the other.
One of the few DVDs that comes close to the books is Giobbi's Card College 1 & 2 DVDs. Again, there is material left out of the DVDs -- mostly effects and the one thing I would like to see Giobbi teach on a DVD-- the pass. The key here is that the author of the books is the performer on the DVD.
To answer your question here is a very incomplete list off the top of my head:
- Encyclopedia of Sponge Ball Magic by Frank Garcia (OOP) - Encyclopedia of Sponge Ball Magic by Ben Salanas
- Ambitious Card Omnibus by Daryl (OOP) - Daryl's Ambitious Card DVD
- Ammar's Complete Cups & Balls (OOP) - Ammar's Cups & Balls 1 & 2 DVDs
- Art of Astonishment by Paul Harris - True Astonishment by Paul Harris (limited number of effects are based on the books but variations plus a whole bunch of other stuff)
- 13 Steps to Mentalism by Tony Corinda - 13 Steps to Mentalism DVD by Richard Osterlind
- Books of Wonder by Tommy Wonder - Visions of Wonder DVDs by Tommy Wonder (don't have DVDs but they appear to only be the effects and haven't taken the time to check that the effects are in the books)
- Hidden in Plain Sight by Kirk Charles - Hidden in Plain Sight DVD by Kirk Charles (DVD is missing best effect in book)
The recent trend is to release one or more effects from books on DVD -- Aaron Fisher, John Bannon and John Gustaferro have done this (although some of Bannon and Gusterferro's DVD effects are not in their books).
Except for the Royal Road you already mentioned, DVD version of Expert at the card table should keep him busy for quite some time.
Again, two versions -- the Alan Ackerman version and the Wesley James version. One is definitely better than the other, but neither has gotten rave reviews. The problem with these is that Expert at the Card is for experts. Someone who isn't willing to struggle to learn from a book will not get any value from even the Ackerman DVDs - a lot of Erdnase is very difficult to master.
MORE IMPORTANTLY....
I think that if you are not going to learn from books, you are better off getting DVDs that are not based on books. That is, there are a lot better DVDs for handling cards than the videos that were made of RRTCM and EATCT. With the exceptions of the Card College DVDs and True Astonishment, most remakes of books into DVDs aren't the best material to learn from (usually because they are made by someone other than the author of the book). If you get a DVD, get the best DVD for what you want to learn regardless of whether it is based on a book or not.
The best thing your friend can do is get the Card College 1 & 2 books and the Giobbi DVDs. Read through the books first and try to learn from the book and THEN go to the DVD to see the explanation. This will help him to learn how to learn from books. If you are serious about magic, learning how to learn from books is essential.