What are the best book to buy
- Thread starter Suchir
- Start date
What type of Magic do you want to learn? Card, Coins, Stage, all around, mentalism, sponge balls, etc.
And why can't it be similar to the Royal Road? The Royal Road is the basics. A lot of things will stem from it.
And why can't it be similar to the Royal Road? The Royal Road is the basics. A lot of things will stem from it.
Here is a list I made on another post recently (with a couple changes). This also has other stuff on it, but I bolded the major categories.
Cards
For basic sleight of hand, A Great place to start is The Royal Road to Card Magic. It is a great beginner source. It will work you up from the very basics, all the way up to more advanced moves. It has a ton of tricks in it, as well as presentation. It will keep you occupied for ages! After you finish it, also check out Expert Card Technique. It is essentially part 2 of the Royal Road, but much more advanced stuff. You can also get The Encyclopedia of Card Tricks, which is similar to these two, but is much more open, with new principals coming into play. All of these are roughly about $10 each.
If you are looking for more so Self Working Card Tricks, or Tricks that don't require too much sleight of hand, pick up Scarne on Card Tricks or Card College Light. Self working tricks are great because they allow you to create amazing presentations. Scarne on Cards is 155 tricks, most of which are self working/semi automatic, and a few that require some basic sleight of hand. It costs about $10. Card College Light is part of a Trilogy (alongside it's brothers "Lighter" and "Lightest") by Roberto Giobbi. It is amazing self working stuff, a long with a ton more. It even teaches you super advanced moves that are done with self working methods (Mainly Card College Lightest. Check out THIS thread for more info on it. You're gonna have to read through a few posts on it. Roberto Giobbi has also written a 5 volume course entitled "Card College". It covers a ton of card magic, all the way up to advanced stuff. However, buying all 5 books is very pricey, so the Royal Road is a great alternative (the Royal Road still has a ton of info in it, and is only $10 for a paperback copy).
There are a ton more books you can pick up, but this is where I would start.
Coins
One of the best beginner coin magic books is J. B. Bobo's Modern Coin Magic. Most coin magicians would recommend you start there. It is also very cheap ($10)
A lot of Coin Magic can be applied to Ring Magic too! However, there isn't a major book on Ring Magic (at least as far as I can find), but there are a ton of effects out there on the market that will be of use.
Mentalism
I have no experience with Mentalism (as of yet), but I do know that a lot of Mentalists recommend Theodore Annemann's Practical Mental Magic. If I am wrong about this, I'm sure someone will correct me and give you a better book
Also very cheap btw.
All Around
Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic is a HUGE book that covers almost all aspects of magic; Cards, Money, Rope, Sponge balls, Cups & Balls, Make at Home & Impromptu, Mental, Bets, Handkerchiefs, even full on Stage Ilusions! Now, the link I gave you says $15, but I have found people selling it for 3 - 5 dollars. It is very cheap and easy to get a hold of. Check the "more sellers" or look for it on ebay. You may even have a local magic store that might be selling it!
The Tarbell Course in Magic is a 8 Volume course put that covers almost all aspects of magic (literally almost everything available at the time of it's printing as far as the categories are concerned. Obviously, new things have been discovered, such as magic with your phone, or with a picture, but for the most part, everything is covered). It even goes over non performance stuff like advertising. It is however VERY pricey, a very tough read (in my opinion, if not just for the shear size of it). Thus, I would recommend getting a pretty good grip of magic before trying to tackle it.
Hope this was of help!
If you want more help, or more direct info about a topic, I will be happy to help! Also, if you are looking for some easy products you can buy and practice, then go out and perform to your friends as a one time trick, I can help you with that too!
Cards
For basic sleight of hand, A Great place to start is The Royal Road to Card Magic. It is a great beginner source. It will work you up from the very basics, all the way up to more advanced moves. It has a ton of tricks in it, as well as presentation. It will keep you occupied for ages! After you finish it, also check out Expert Card Technique. It is essentially part 2 of the Royal Road, but much more advanced stuff. You can also get The Encyclopedia of Card Tricks, which is similar to these two, but is much more open, with new principals coming into play. All of these are roughly about $10 each.
If you are looking for more so Self Working Card Tricks, or Tricks that don't require too much sleight of hand, pick up Scarne on Card Tricks or Card College Light. Self working tricks are great because they allow you to create amazing presentations. Scarne on Cards is 155 tricks, most of which are self working/semi automatic, and a few that require some basic sleight of hand. It costs about $10. Card College Light is part of a Trilogy (alongside it's brothers "Lighter" and "Lightest") by Roberto Giobbi. It is amazing self working stuff, a long with a ton more. It even teaches you super advanced moves that are done with self working methods (Mainly Card College Lightest. Check out THIS thread for more info on it. You're gonna have to read through a few posts on it. Roberto Giobbi has also written a 5 volume course entitled "Card College". It covers a ton of card magic, all the way up to advanced stuff. However, buying all 5 books is very pricey, so the Royal Road is a great alternative (the Royal Road still has a ton of info in it, and is only $10 for a paperback copy).
There are a ton more books you can pick up, but this is where I would start.
Coins
One of the best beginner coin magic books is J. B. Bobo's Modern Coin Magic. Most coin magicians would recommend you start there. It is also very cheap ($10)
A lot of Coin Magic can be applied to Ring Magic too! However, there isn't a major book on Ring Magic (at least as far as I can find), but there are a ton of effects out there on the market that will be of use.
Mentalism
I have no experience with Mentalism (as of yet), but I do know that a lot of Mentalists recommend Theodore Annemann's Practical Mental Magic. If I am wrong about this, I'm sure someone will correct me and give you a better book
Also very cheap btw.All Around
Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic is a HUGE book that covers almost all aspects of magic; Cards, Money, Rope, Sponge balls, Cups & Balls, Make at Home & Impromptu, Mental, Bets, Handkerchiefs, even full on Stage Ilusions! Now, the link I gave you says $15, but I have found people selling it for 3 - 5 dollars. It is very cheap and easy to get a hold of. Check the "more sellers" or look for it on ebay. You may even have a local magic store that might be selling it!
The Tarbell Course in Magic is a 8 Volume course put that covers almost all aspects of magic (literally almost everything available at the time of it's printing as far as the categories are concerned. Obviously, new things have been discovered, such as magic with your phone, or with a picture, but for the most part, everything is covered). It even goes over non performance stuff like advertising. It is however VERY pricey, a very tough read (in my opinion, if not just for the shear size of it). Thus, I would recommend getting a pretty good grip of magic before trying to tackle it.
Hope this was of help!
If you want more help, or more direct info about a topic, I will be happy to help! Also, if you are looking for some easy products you can buy and practice, then go out and perform to your friends as a one time trick, I can help you with that too!
If you can afford it, get the Card College series.... even if you start with the first two books and get the next three later.
To add to @Maaz Hasan list of affordable books - Buckely's Card Control, The Card Magic of LePaul, Karl Fulves' Foolproof Card Tricks and Fulves' Self Working Mental Magic.
To add to @Maaz Hasan list of affordable books - Buckely's Card Control, The Card Magic of LePaul, Karl Fulves' Foolproof Card Tricks and Fulves' Self Working Mental Magic.
For mentalism, 13 Steps To Mentalism by Corinda is a pretty awesome book. For cards, Expert At the Card Table by Erdnase has always been a favorite of mine (may want an annotated version).
Yeah, it is a great book, but I don't think it's easy to jump from Royal Road to Erdnase, simply because Erdnase needs to be read differently. It is definitely more of an advanced book. If you get an annotated version, it'll be a lot easier though, but still not beginner - intermediate level.