Beginners Card tricks video help

[Guest]

Hello all, this looks like a great forum! Basically i am just starting out working with cards. I am a fairly slow learner with magic books since they dont show exactly what is supposed to be happening all the time. So i am hoping someone could direct me to a great video directed towards beginners. Id like the video to show the basics of false shuffles, fans, slips etc. That way i can see how it should be done and I can practice correctly. With the books i feel like i dont even know if im practicing correctly or not sometimes. There are a lot of videos out there and i dont want to spend a ton of money on them if they are not any good. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! :)

[Kevin Wiese]

Try the Basic Card Technique DVD by Richard Kaufman. Here's a link to the description:

http://www.dennymagic.com/cgi-bin/hazel ... tem=006178

Also don't forget books like the Royal Road to Card Magic and the Card College series if you don't already have them.

Kevin Wiese

[Guest]

Thank you very much! That looks like the perfect video. :)

[Guest]

hey bob, starting out with a video is definitely a good idea, but make sure you dont stick with them for too long; always learning by video sort of limits your creativity because you never really have to think about what you are doing, you are just copying someone else

try to get down to your local magic shop as well, i found that to be the best way to learn the basics was to see someone do them for ya

[Guest]

Learn to decipher the books. There's nothing wrong with video, and Richard Kaufman is probably about the most knowledgable person you could ever hope to learn from, but don't neglect your books. For every half-hour you spend with the video, spend an hour trying to learn from the books. You'll thank yourself later on.

[Guest]

I've enjoyed the Gerry Griffin complete card magic. for a price you can get it at penguinmagic.com . It seems to have most of the basic to the most extreme effects so it grows as you grow. But Get "the royal road to card magic," it's the bible and has been the most effective book I've got in the library because it show history, and how to present yourselfas a repectable magician. This can help you out as a new magician so you do repeat a history.

The good thing about DVD's that books don't do for me is show really good timing and it's a lot easier to understand handling rather then trying to figure out bad pencil sketches. But the Royal road to card magic is a must and guess what it's affordable!!

Royal ROad to card Magic

also very good:
Card Control: Practical Methods and Forty Original Card Experiments


-Joel

[Bill Palmer]

All of the items mentioned so far are excellent. Let me also suggest the Michael Ammar Easy to Master Card Miracles DVD series, as well as Simon Lovell's DVD set, Madness Behind the Methods.

I must also chime in with my support for books. Learning from books is an acquired skill. It's almost like trying to decipher something. One of the most neglected titles in the world of card magic is Walter Gibson's Complete Illustrated Book of Card Magic. It is easy to read and understand. Also Anthony Norman's Basic Card Technique. It has many of the things you are looking for in it.

But about learning from books, here's what I suggest. Take one item you are trying to learn, and if it is not cleary written, make an outline of the text. Figure out what each basic step is, and what you have to do to master it.

Harry Lorrayne is very good about writing up card magic. So is Richard Kaufman. But some of the others are really horrible.

Some writers leave little to the imagination. But others require careful analysis to get the work done.

Good luck in your quest.