How long to finish/master Card College series?

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Bicycle 808
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How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Bicycle 808 » January 8th, 2014, 8:16 pm

Hi all, I am trying to set a resolution for card magic learning in this new year, and want to set a goal for myself. At the moment, I would like to focus on the 5 volume Card College series. (without dvds, I could only afford the books)

And I need a little help with the scheduling, so my questions is: how long does it takes to really master the materials in these 5 books? Would 1 year per book be a reasonable pace as a magic hobbyist? I know everyone requires different time, but I would just like to hear what your opinion about this based on your experiences. Thank you in advance.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Leonard Hevia » January 8th, 2014, 8:23 pm

How long? The rest of your life. Stop looking at the clock and immerse yourself in your books. Be that as it may, I believe Vernon said it takes roughly 7 years of practice to get really good with a deck of cards.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby erdnasephile » January 8th, 2014, 9:24 pm

Leonard Hevia wrote:How long? The rest of your life. Stop looking at the clock and immerse yourself in your books. Be that as it may, I believe Vernon said it takes roughly 7 years of practice to get really good with a deck of cards.


Yep.

First of all, 808, I applaud your desire to study Card College. It's a great series and method to learn card magic. The thought behind your question is a worthy one.

That said, the bugaboo is the term "master". Malcolm Gladwell (and others) have made famous the general guide that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to master a complex skill. (Although I used to scoff at this notion in my younger days, I've been at my profession for nearly 25 years and have come to believe this aphorism is true).

Could you work though Card College in 5 years? Easily, if you are determined.

However, the tack I would suggest is to find tricks you want to do and then learn the sleights to do them, using Card College as a reference. As Jennings and Carney have opined, it's much more useful learning sleights in the context of routines. Learning disembodied sleights won't teach you how to get in and out of them in performance, which is half the battle. (The exception might be if you are complete novice--working through Volume 1 step by step might be worthwhile, but at that point, I'd suggest considering the above strategy).

Since I had a decent background in card magic prior to the publication of Card College, I use the set to polish up sleights I already know, but again, those are sleights I've deliberately chosen to learn as tools to perform effects for people, which is my primary goal.

Finally, don't forget to have fun! I appreciate your seriousness (and indeed, encourage it), but make sure you are practicing in such a way that is enjoyable, not drudgery. (As a hobbyists, we have that luxury--take advantage of it!) Even Vernon said that practice should be enjoyable!

With this in mind, not only will your magic bring you more joy, but I suspect your mastery will come that much sooner.

Good luck!

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Leonard Hevia » January 8th, 2014, 10:46 pm

Wow Erdnasephile! That was a great response. I wish I had read that when I was twelve.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Pete McCabe » January 9th, 2014, 11:40 am

I would suggest that you set your goal based on the process and not the result. So instead of having a goal that you will "master" Card College 1 by the end of the year, set yourself a goal of spending, say, 30 minutes each day working on it. If 30 minutes isn't enough, shoot for an hour, or whatever (but let me tell you there will be some days where it's difficult to get 5 minutes in).

You might also set more long-term goals: each month you will choose a trick, learn the moves, practice the handling, develop a presentation, rehearse it, and then perform it for [insert desired audience here].

In other words, I think your goals should be based on what you are going to do to increase your mastery, and not an arbitrary end product.

Good luck and enjoy the work.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Doomo » January 9th, 2014, 12:12 pm

Pete McCabe wrote:I would suggest that you set your goal based on the process and not the result. So instead of having a goal that you will "master" Card College 1 by the end of the year, set yourself a goal of spending, say, 30 minutes each day working on it. If 30 minutes isn't enough, shoot for an hour, or whatever (but let me tell you there will be some days where it's difficult to get 5 minutes in).

You might also set more long-term goals: each month you will choose a trick, learn the moves, practice the handling, develop a presentation, rehearse it, and then perform it for [insert desired audience here].

In other words, I think your goals should be based on what you are going to do to increase your mastery, and not an arbitrary end product.

Good luck and enjoy the work.


What Pete said. That is how I approached the Kama Sutra.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Jonathan Townsend » January 9th, 2014, 12:55 pm

Bicycle 808 wrote:Hi all, I am trying to set a resolution for card magic learning in this new year, and want to set a goal for myself...



How about a vow to motivate your lifts and turnovers? Or a vow to cease and desist twitchy pointless actions which are not part of your character work in performance?

Maybe a decision to find the magic in a routine and to keep your actions from cluttering, crowding or distracting from the action before, during and after the magic?

Still working on avoiding that first turnover problem here - been only thirty years - maybe in the next few decades I'll have made more progress.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Richard Kaufman » January 9th, 2014, 2:32 pm

Every sleight needs to be learned, and then practiced at least three or four times a week for the rest of your life. Or you'll lose it.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby John McDonald » January 9th, 2014, 2:58 pm

The 10 000 hour rule is a good one but I have heard Richard Turner (quoting the professor?) talk about the importance of practicing correctly. You can spend 10 000 hours of practice and learn the sleight incorrectly. The practice needs to be focused and mindful at first until it becomes automatic.


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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Bicycle 808 » January 9th, 2014, 9:25 pm

Thank you very much for the helpful and informative feedback. I guess the reason I asked this question is because I wasn't really a beginner in card magic, as I have been learning for about 5 years or so, but I still consider myself a beginner for I could only do a few tricks comfortably.

Because I don't like to perform to anyone until I am 100% that I won't fail or until the sleights are completely invisible from spectators, I practice each trick and slights for a very very long time, even the ones that seems easy. For example, various overhand shuffle controls in Card College volume one, I have been practicing for more than 3 years now, and have yet to really feel comfortable to perform a trick with it. And the cull, I have been trying to learn from the book, but after 3 years, I am still concerned about the sleights being visible to spectators. Although I don't mind taking the magic-learning-process slow, but at this pace, I am just worried it might be too slow.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby lybrary » January 9th, 2014, 10:12 pm

erdnasephile wrote:That said, the bugaboo is the term "master". Malcolm Gladwell (and others) have made famous the general guide that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to master a complex skill. (Although I used to scoff at this notion in my younger days, I've been at my profession for nearly 25 years and have come to believe this aphorism is true).


A few weeks back I would have second this. However, then I read "The Sports Gene" by David Epstein and it totally changed my worldview. Read it and you will understand that Gladwell took a lot of liberty how he interpreted the '10000 hour rule', which isn't a rule just one narrow study. Epstein gives many examples where genes trumped thousands of hours of deliberate practice. Just one of many examples in the book is the high jumper Donald Thomas who took up high jumping in 2006 without any prior track and field or high jumping experience and just one year later he won the World Championship with a 2:35m jump. He probably trained no more than a few hundred hours. Read the book. It is amazing.

That of course doesn't mean that practice isn't important. But as we all know, some are just a lot better than others regardless of how much one practices. I believe the trick is not to practice like a maniac, but to find the area you are also naturally good at. In magic it could mean that perhaps you should drop those big box illusions and try out mentalism, or vice versa, ...
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Richard Kaufman » January 9th, 2014, 11:53 pm

Chris, finding the area in which you naturally excel is not the same as finding the area in which you're interested.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Brad Henderson » January 10th, 2014, 1:23 am

Seems to me when we declare ourselves to have mastered something we stop learning. The more time I spend working and thinking about magic, the more I discover. I can't imagine that ever changing, at least as long as I am willing to work.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby lybrary » January 10th, 2014, 8:36 am

Richard Kaufman wrote:Chris, finding the area in which you naturally excel is not the same as finding the area in which you're interested.


Richard, I think that depends on the individual and at what time in ones life one is starting to look for something interesting. From my own experience as well as observing kids around me it is often the case that one is drawn to things one is naturally good at. Which games does my son like to play? The ones he typically wins or is fairly good at. Which sports do kids tend to keep doing? The ones they are naturally good at. Of course, there are many other influence factors - culture, what your friends are doing, ... But life offers so many paths and pursuits that I think it should be possible to find an overlap of where you are good at and what you like to do. Once you are a middle aged adult it is harder to find something new you like.

Even staying inside magic, we have literally millions of tricks to choose from. I am certain that there are at least one or two tricks for everybody where natural ability overlaps interest. Tricks that one can be the best in the world performing. My advice therefore is spend more time exploring your options and doing lots of different kind of magic, until you zoom in to one particular area and work relentlessly on getting better. As illustrated in the "Sports Gene" book, an early indicator of natural ability is speed of progress. If a good amount of practice doesn't improve your performance it is probably better to look somewhere else.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Richard Tremblay » January 10th, 2014, 12:37 pm

Doomo wrote:What Pete said. That is how I approached the Kama Sutra.

If there was a "LIKE" function as on Facebook, I would have liked your comment!

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Jon Racherbaumer » January 10th, 2014, 2:54 pm

When I was 17 and volunteered to join the Navy, my wistful goal was to be a member of a UDT team, which then was a forerunner of the Navy Seals. I was, as they termed it then, a gung-ho naif. (I had seen too many John Wayne movies.) Once in the service, I physically and mentally qualified. I was in pretty good shape. That qualification of course was the first and easiest step. When asked if I understood the rigors of initial mastery, I nodded. When then asked why I wanted to be an Underwater Demolition Technician, my reply was not what my interrogator needed to hear.

He bluntly said, “You will not make it. Forget about it.”

He then saw that I was profoundly disappointed. He paused a few seconds and added, “You may make it through all the tests to qualify to BE a UDT. But BEING one and STAYING one are different things. Staying one is the true test of mastery!”

Lesson learned.

We magicians may master sleights, tricks, and presentation.
We may have mastered all of those aspects but successfully testing and succeeding in the trenches over time is what validates such claims of true mastery.

How long does this take?
If the answer isn’t obvious, you don’t really understand the question.

A few days ago I was asked, “How do you define an expert?”

Answer: “I agree with the person who said that an expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less.”

I was then asked, “Are YOU an expert?”

Answer: “Nope.”

My questioner seemed puzzled, so I added: “But I definitely know that I don’t know.”

That apparently pleased him.
He also didn’t ask me to show him a trick.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Pete McCabe » January 10th, 2014, 3:03 pm

808,

Learning the sleight in your room is important, but when you use it for an audience you have to learn to do it in performance. In other words, no matter how much you practice it by yourself, there will still be a second learning curve when you begin doing it for real.

So maybe you want to start using your sleights on people before you get 3 years in. Especially since you may find that you want to modify the way you are doing it based on real-world feedback. I wouldn't want to drill a sleight into my hands for 3 years before learning this.

Find someone you can practice performing on, in other words.

Also what Brad says is very true. I frequently look at people and think that they've mastered something, but I never feel that way about myself. There are things that I am good at—maybe even very good—but I never feel like I have "mastered" something. In other words I think that if "mastery" is your goal, you may never feel that you have gotten there. Don't let that bother you. Just keep working.


Pete

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Brad Jeffers » January 10th, 2014, 5:10 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:Chris, finding the area in which you naturally excel is not the same as finding the area in which you're interested.

lybrary wrote:Richard, I think that depends on the individual and at what time in ones life one is starting to look for something interesting.


I wonder how many people never find the "area in which they naturally excel". How many future world chess champions were there, who never even learned to play the game?

How many potential Wimbledon winners, and Master's champions were there, who never held a tennis racket or touched a golf club?

The answer could be hundreds or thousands. Or maybe the answer could be none. Maybe people don't find the things that they are good at, inasmuch as the things that they are good at find them.

I guess it all depended on how much one believes in the concepts of fate and destiny.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby lybrary » January 10th, 2014, 9:00 pm

Brad, I think there are too many options for anybody to try out everything. Consequently I am pretty sure many of us will never find the one thing we might be world-class material for. That is why I think the best advice to give to kids and youngsters is to try out many things. Explore what is out there.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby erdnasephile » January 10th, 2014, 9:14 pm

Jon Racherbaumer wrote:A few days ago I was asked, “How do you define an expert?”


My favorite answer to this question is:

"An expert is an ordinary man away from home."
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby lybrary » January 10th, 2014, 10:01 pm

Jon Racherbaumer wrote:A few days ago I was asked, “How do you define an expert?”


My favorite answer is: "An expert is one who has already made all errors one can make."
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby erdnasephile » January 10th, 2014, 11:19 pm

Brad Henderson wrote:Seems to me when we declare ourselves to have mastered something we stop learning. The more time I spend working and thinking about magic, the more I discover. I can't imagine that ever changing, at least as long as I am willing to work.


I completely agree with this. These days, I always get a huge kick out of learning a new finesse that improves something I've been doing for years. For example, I recently saw a tip that Johnny Thompson just casually threw out there that made a particular sleight so much better for me. I just want to smile every time I do it!

BTW, if anyone is interested in the book Chris cited above, here is an excerpt published in Sports Illustrated this year: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/n ... cerpt/#all

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Bill Mullins » January 11th, 2014, 11:53 am

Expert: An ex is a has-been, a spurt is a drip under pressure.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Pete McCabe » January 12th, 2014, 6:43 pm

Came across this today. It says basically what a few of us have been saying.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230333



Bill,

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Bicycle 808 » January 13th, 2014, 6:52 pm

Pete McCabe wrote:808,
Learning the sleight in your room is important, but when you use it for an audience you have to learn to do it in performance. In other words, no matter how much you practice it by yourself, there will still be a second learning curve when you begin doing it for real.


Thank you for your advice. I think the main reason that I am scared to perform, is that I truly take grading the magic secret seriously, I am worried that if I made a mistake, I would have "reveal" the secrets. So I don't like to "practice performing" with real audience. And second, I am worried that if I don't practice good enough, I would looked like those spoiled youtube magic-kids who perform magic tricks the same day they got the tricks, which is what I think that gives magicians bad names. But you are right, I should go out and perform. It is probably my physically fear that I need to overcome.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Pete McCabe » January 13th, 2014, 10:49 pm

Find a couple of self-working tricks that you can not screw up and start with them. I am partial to Gemini Mates for this reason.

Then stop worrying about revealing a secret. That energy is completely wasted.

If you want something to worry about, worry about revealing yourself, or more precisely, worry that you are not revealing enough of yourself in your presentations.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby erdnasephile » January 14th, 2014, 11:01 am

Bicycle 808 wrote:
Pete McCabe wrote:808,
Learning the sleight in your room is important, but when you use it for an audience you have to learn to do it in performance. In other words, no matter how much you practice it by yourself, there will still be a second learning curve when you begin doing it for real.


Thank you for your advice. I think the main reason that I am scared to perform, is that I truly take grading the magic secret seriously, I am worried that if I made a mistake, I would have "reveal" the secrets. So I don't like to "practice performing" with real audience. And second, I am worried that if I don't practice good enough, I would looked like those spoiled youtube magic-kids who perform magic tricks the same day they got the tricks, which is what I think that gives magicians bad names. But you are right, I should go out and perform. It is probably my physically fear that I need to overcome.


I agree with Pete--no substitute for "flight time".

However, in today's tech age, I think there is already an intermediate step between solo practice and real audiences you may find useful.

Perhaps you could find a trick you want to learn, develop a presentation and practice the routine solo (using mirror or video to help yourself learn) until you're ready. Then, film your performance and post it here and get some feedback.

While it's not as good as getting feedback from a trusted mentor or a group of competent magician friends in person, it does have the advantage of being anonymous. Plus, if you make a mistake, just keep practicing until you get a video of a performance you are happy with--no time pressure at all--you can practice/retape as often as you like.

Once you get the feedback, you could polish the routine and then go find a real audience when you are ready, confident that you've got something worth showing.

The downside to this is that you'll have to separate the good advice from the bad (since you don't know any of us, our level of competency, artistic sensibilities, motives, etc.). However, if you don't have access to a mentor(s), this might at least be a good start. Also, I get the sense that several people on this thread are willing to give you constructive feedback and actually have the expertise to do so as long as you are serious about improving (which it certainly seems like you are).

If you actually do this, the chances of you ending up a "spoiled youtube magic-kid" are about zero.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Pete McCabe » January 14th, 2014, 11:16 am

Your chances of becoming a spoiled YouTuber are already zero. None of those kids come to the Genii Forum asking for this kind of advice and guidance.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Bicycle 808 » January 14th, 2014, 7:14 pm

Thank you all, I will certainly do so then. I am really glad I found this forum, I found it very helpful, and feel it is much "cleaner" compare to other popular forums.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Pete McCabe » January 15th, 2014, 1:30 pm

You can thank Richard for that. He enforces a certain level of decorum which occasionally annoys a few of us, until the next time we go to a forum that lacks it. He also attracts a very high level of magicians. There are some real knowledgeable folk posting here on a regular basis.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby This is Daniel » June 18th, 2014, 3:58 pm

Well, it should take at least 67 years....ok, maybe not.
It depends of how often you practise, also, you don't really need to master everything once you read it. I didn't learn everything from the card college series with a direct hit, I read it from time to time when needed.

I have 6 years on card magic (not really a lot) and I still find the card college series useful sometimes.

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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 18th, 2014, 3:59 pm

The answer to the initial poster's question is: the rest of your life.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby whitecat » July 1st, 2014, 4:56 am

Oh well, I believe magic is supposed to be like something you would dedicate any free minute to. You really have to be into it. If you have to force yourself to practice it, better find something that would make you happy and give you energy during learning process.
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Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Mark Collier » July 2nd, 2014, 11:02 am

808,

One of the reasons I love magic is that it is not only academic but also a performance art. You seem to be focused more on the academic aspect. That’s fine. Knowledge should precede ability but eventually you need to practice performing by actually performing.

There are certain things you can’t practice. Magic, especially close-up magic, is interactive. It’s like learning a language, you can learn the words, sentence structure etc but you will never be fluent w/o conversation.

Don’t be so afraid to make mistakes. Practice outs. Deck switches, color changes, top changes, culls, forces, card to pocket, reversals, just to name a few, can all be used as outs. You can try and imagine a trick going wrong and practice recovering but it is very different when it actually happens. It’s not always your fault. You ask a spectator to cut the cards and they shuffle. What do you do? It depends on more variables than you can imagine. You get through it and then later consider what other options you might have employed. You will be better prepared next time. It’s difficult to understand the value of experience when you don’t have it.

The timing and pacing of sleights and routines need to be adapted to the group you are performing for. It’s hard to practice that. You can be all set to do a pass, top change, etc but sometimes (not always) there needs to be a delay while you engage the audience’s attention with eye contact and pull the trigger at the proper moment. You have to be present and pay attention to make the needed adjustments. It’s more than academic.

Also, when you perform, you will learn more about what style of magic you are drawn to. Are you comedic? Dramatic? Mysterious? A storyteller? What is your approach to flourishes? It’s possible you don’t need to be able to do every false shuffle, cut etc. Performing will help you find the sleights, effects and presentational style that are natural to you.

Don't worry about mastering it all. Get really good a little bit at a time. Start showing trusted friends some magic and ask for honest feedback. Pretend you’re confident and have fun!

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Re: RE: Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Wondy » August 22nd, 2016, 10:54 pm

erdnasephile wrote:
Leonard Hevia wrote:How long? The rest of your life. Stop looking at the clock and immerse yourself in your books. Be that as it may, I believe Vernon said it takes roughly 7 years of practice to get really good with a deck of cards.


Yep.

First of all, 808, I applaud your desire to study Card College. It's a great series and method to learn card magic. The thought behind your question is a worthy one.

That said, the bugaboo is the term "master". Malcolm Gladwell (and others) have made famous the general guide that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to master a complex skill. (Although I used to scoff at this notion in my younger days, I've been at my profession for nearly 25 years and have come to believe this aphorism is true).

Could you work though Card College in 5 years? Easily, if you are determined.

However, the tack I would suggest is to find tricks you want to do and then learn the sleights to do them, using Card College as a reference. As Jennings and Carney have opined, it's much more useful learning sleights in the context of routines. Learning disembodied sleights won't teach you how to get in and out of them in performance, which is half the battle. (The exception might be if you are complete novice--working through Volume 1 step by step might be worthwhile, but at that point, I'd suggest considering the above strategy).

Since I had a decent background in card magic prior to the publication of Card College, I use the set to polish up sleights I already know, but again, those are sleights I've deliberately chosen to learn as tools to perform effects for people, which is my primary goal.

Finally, don't forget to have fun! I appreciate your seriousness (and indeed, encourage it), but make sure you are practicing in such a way that is enjoyable, not drudgery. (As a hobbyists, we have that luxury--take advantage of it!) Even Vernon said that practice should be enjoyable!

With this in mind, not only will your magic bring you more joy, but I suspect your mastery will come that much sooner.

Good luck!

I am a sort of a newb as well. I had you magic sets as a kid but stopped when I figured out tricks and puberty hit. I'm 41 and picking up magic again.
I'm finding that yes, Card College, is basically disembodied sleights. I'm finding I'm getting much more out of Royal Road and other books lately.

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Leonard Hevia
Posts: 1951
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Dai Vernon, Frank Garcia, Slydini, Houdini,
Location: Gaithersburg, Md.

Re: RE: Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Leonard Hevia » August 23rd, 2016, 12:44 am

Wondy--I don't perceive disembodied sleights when I read the Card College books. The chapters on sleights also contain effects that put those moves to good use. In addition, Giobbi includes his thoughts and theories on the performance of card magic throughout the series. His eight page forward "Words for Enthusiasts" in Card College 3 is worthy of attention.

performer
Posts: 3508
Joined: August 7th, 2015, 10:35 pm

Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby performer » August 23rd, 2016, 5:02 am

Pete McCabe wrote:Came across this today. It says basically what a few of us have been saying.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230333



Bill,

I first heard that line from Bob Elliott at Tannen's. Circa 1973.


I read that. I like it and I agree with it.

But to answer the question. Sure, you can study magic the rest of your life. I have certainly done that. However, to answer the original question you can actually be good very quickly. You can do it in 6 months. I know I did, once you get a good system and get down to it seriously. I first started with a load of books that didn't get me anywhere. I wasted a lot of time with those. However, I suddenly got hold of "Card Conjuring" by Wilfrid Jonson. I am glad I came across that before Card College was ever written. I believe if I had gotten Card College first I would still be struggling with magic and in fact would probably have given it up by now. The book is just too big and very discouraging to a beginner simply because of its size. It would probably have been a good idea for the author to suggest a study plan for people like the original poster to get through the books more efficiently.

However, I didn't need any of that. I learned Card Magic originally from the Jonson book. Very basic sleight of hand and pretty easy to master material. A small book and easily digestible. This book emphasised the presentation of magic not in one or two chapters devoted to the subject but throughout the book. I knew early on this was more important than the trick itself.

I still remember getting great reactions and people asking me, "how long have you been doing this?" and I would respond,
"six months" and getting surprised reactions of awe and admiration that I could do something so amazing within such a short space of time. And then I got hold of The Royal Road to Card Magic by Hugard and Braue and it changed my life. I got REALLY good then. And it didn't take me years despite what that Gladwell chap said. And I bet he never did a card trick in his life. Again within 6 months I was getting just as good if not better reactions from laymen as all the top names of the day. Well, top names in magic which of course don't mean a thing. As I have always said being well known in magic is on a par with being well known in your apartment building.

You can get going pretty quickly. Very quickly indeed. Within weeks and even days. I once mentioned (actually complained would be more accurate) to Ali Bongo years ago that you can become a good magician very quickly indeed, within weeks yet a ballet dancer or an acrobat takes months if not years. He responded, "Yes, you can get very good results very quickly with magic. You can become very good in the short run but to really embed the skills and become immersed in the subject to a deeper level it does take years"

I am not in favour of the original poster posting videos of his work on here. He will get all sorts of bad advice by the blind leading the blind. He can be led in the wrong direction very easily by all the tosh he will read. I thank God every day that I never met a single magician the first two years of my study. If I had I would have ended up as mediocre as the rest of them.
I learned magic from DOING it. For laymen NOT magicians. And that is what I suggest Bicycle 808 does. DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!

Don't worry about exposure. Everybody and his mother is exposing magic nowadays and it makes me ill. Your own exposure from ineptitude is a drop in the bucket and won't mean a thing. But you can't keep sitting at home waiting for the moment to perform. Get out and do it TODAY. You have been faffling around long enough. Get three good self working tricks and show them to PEOPLE. Magic is PEOPLE. But not magicians-they are not normal human beings. LAYMEN.

I am not saying abandon your studies. I am merely saying that the time you are agonizing over sleights and tricks would be far better spent finding ten real live people over the next couple of weeks and PERFORM to them. Once you start getting the reactions you will find it addictive and within 6 months you will be just as good as all the dodos on this forum who hardly perform at all. That is because you will be finding more and more people to show the tricks to.

In fact if all your magic books were confiscated the odds are you could go out right now with the tricks you already know. Go DO them! That is how you learn. If you find ten people in the next couple of weeks to show the tricks to you will make ten times more progress than learning the next move in Card College.

Besides, I prefer the Royal Road to Card Magic and I don't care what Bill Duncan says.

Bill Duncan
Posts: 1639
Joined: March 13th, 2008, 11:33 pm

Re: How long to finish/master Card College series?

Postby Bill Duncan » August 24th, 2016, 12:06 am

Bill Mullins wrote:Expert: An ex is a has-been, a spurt is a drip under pressure.


Ex means outside of or formerly, and pert attractive. So I guess I'm an expert now.


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