The Genii Forum

What do you think are the best card tricks taught in Card College 1 & 2 by Roberto Giobbi?

Let's not include tricks from Giobbi's next three books, Card College 3, 4 & 5, because that covers more advanced material. Card College 1 & 2 is more suited for beginner to intermediate level, and also has a companion video course (available for digital download here). So for this thread let's restrict ourselves to the material from the Card College 1 & 2 books.

Which tricks from these books are your favourites and do you perform?

In case it helps jog your memory about your favourites, here's a complete list of all the tricks included on the DVDs and the books for Card College 1 & 2:

CARD COLLEGE 1 (book): Thought Stealer • The Spectator Cuts to the Aces • Hat Trick • Court Card Conclave • The Shamus Card • The Question Is... • The Lie Detector • Triple Coincidence • Seventh Son of a Seventh Son • The Red-black Location • Royal Flush Finale • The Acrobat Family • The Coue Test • Rise and Swap • A Card In Hand • A Phenomenal Memory • Your Number Your Card • Thot Echo • The Magus Card • The Lucky Card • The Magic Phone Number • As You Like It • The Jumping Pulse • Headliner! • Metamorphosis • The Lucky Coin

CARD COLLEGE 2 (book): Subconscious Poker • Aces Off the Cuff • Homing Card Plus • The Cards of Capistrano • Finnegan's Rewake • Card Through Handkerchief • The Really Wild Nine-card Trick • The Royal Acrobats • Vanished Without a Trace! • The Ambitious Card • Transposition Extraordinary • Card Catcher • Impossible! • The Whistle • Reversible Mix-up

CARD COLLEGE 1&2 (DVDs): • Belchou Aces Revisited • Subconscious Poker • Hat Trick • The Question Is? • Think Stop • Further Than That • The Mind Mirror • Seventh Son of a Seventh Son • The Coué Test • Impossible! • A Phenomenal Memory • Rise & Swap • Vanished Without a Trace • Dave’s Delight • Transpo Excelsior • The Magus Card • Voilà, Four Aces! • Aces off the Cuff • X Marks the Spot • Homing Card Plus • The Magic Phone Number • The Time Machine • Twisting the Aces • The Lucky Coin • Psychic Stop • The Whistle

Annemann's Card in Hand is one of my favorite tricks of all time.

I prefer the tricks I like.

Your mileage may vary.

Chris Aguilar wrote:I prefer the tricks I like. Your mileage may vary.

Well said!

So which of the ones listed above do you like?

EndersGame wrote:

Chris Aguilar wrote:I prefer the tricks I like. Your mileage may vary.

Well said!

So which of the ones listed above do you like?

All the really good ones of course.

I like The Lucky Coin from Card College 1 because it has a one-two punch and the spectator seems to find their own card, plus it has irresistible (mis)direction for a Top Change. It lends itself to easy customization; I've done it with a mini card fastened under a card box and once under a small toy truck. Also, the routine is easily extended with Card Under Glass phases and such.

Or one could get the the lowdown on all the good 'uns from this identical post, cross posted to to the Magic Cafe (and probably another half dozen magic forums.)

Yes Chris, this isn't the only magic forum I participate in (surprise, surprise!). But I very much respect the knowledgeable and experienced contributors here, many who are only active on the Genii forum. So I look forward to and appreciate input from my fellow magi here.

Thanks Ryan and Russell for your comments and input!

That Echo, Homing Card Plus, Really Wild Nine Card Trick.

I generally don't care for the presentations given, however.

EndersGame wrote:Yes Chris, this isn't the only magic forum I participate in (surprise, surprise!). But I very much respect the knowledgeable and experienced contributors here, many who are only active on the Genii forum.

I figured you were just spamming dumb "what are the best tricks" posts (now with more useless embedded images! I had forgotten what Roberto looks like!) to several forums to drive traffic to your site. Or perhaps get more people to send you freebie product for one of your excessively padded out, insight free "reviews".

Silly me.

Endersgame,

I have to say my initial reaction to this thread was very similar to Chris's.

In my case, the reason I thought that was because you did not include any of your own opinions in your initial post. If you had started by giving your favorites, which you perform, and what you like about them, and then asked for others to share their opinions, I would have felt quite differently. But if you don't have favorites, or aren't willing to share them, why are you asking other people to do the same?

Why did you post this? The fact that I can not tell, I think, is what makes me feel that this was primarily a commercial post.

Just some feedback.

I think a lot of folks are wise to this somewhat common internet scam. It's certainly been pointed out before here on the Genii Forum, indeed the behavior is identical across multiple magic forums.
The postscript was removed from his Genii posts, but it remains on his Cafe posts:
"Want me to write a review of your playing cards or magic? Contact me via Private Message."

It's pretty obvious what the text seeks to discuss by private message ... that being free product to be "reviewed".

Besides steering traffic to his website, there is also a slight reek of somebody who is exercising the old Kardashian money maker of accepting cash or merchandise for posting about specific products while trying to disguise the post from being so blatant as to be exposed as a paid advertisement.

Perhaps most grievous though, is that the posts are ridiculous, as if penned by a child ... asking questions so ridiculous that the answers (even if they're given) are utterly irrelevant.

Not gonna link to this anonymous "reviewers" site, but here's part of his mission statement:

Ender the Anonymous Reviewer wrote:Ender's comprehensive pictorial reviews, and the contributor of more than 300 game reviews, and also numerous playing card reviews.

If you are a game designer or publisher and would like me to consider your game for one of my reviews, feel free to send me an expression of interest by GeekMail or email. Generally speaking I am only willing to commit the time to writing a review for games that I am personally enthusiastic about and consider to be worthwhile recommending to other gamers, so please contact me directly to help determine whether your game would be a suitable candidate for review.

The good news is that he isn't limiting himself to free magic product in return for good reviews! He'll also favorably review your game, deck of cards, etc.

What a mensch!

I've grown weary of this nonsense, and he'll be heard from ne'er more.