Hello,

I'm not new to magic or even to close up. Actually I've been doing card tricks for about thirty years. However, if you handed me a deck of cards you would quickly learn that I have a couple routines and that is it. Everything I've done with cards is packet tricks.

I have no plans to major in cards. My focus is coins. What I'm looking for is few solid card routines that I can do with a deck [little or no gaffs (ungaffed preferred), by that I mean a double facer or double backer or duplicate, nothing else]. I want to be able to mix things up a little with some cards.

My skills are: A decent pass, double lift, slide, classic palm, Four or five false counts, a couple of forces, a couple of basic false shuffles.

I know some of you card handlers out there know the perfect Book or DVD.

BTW, the only card thing I'm working on right now is the ten card poker deal.

If your in to gambling presentations ect... a must is the "Cardshark" DVDs & "At the card table" book by Darwin Ortiz.

I hope that you don't take this the wrong way Wes.

There are tons of card books and DVDs that use a full deck.
Also, not all routines fit all magicians styles or venues so 'solid card routines' is a matter of preference and presentation.
I'm sure you will be getting a lot of opinions here.

I'm not a card major either but I do have several books pertaining to magic.
I don't use a lot of tricks from any one book. I may use only one routine from any of these books and none from others. Not all fit my style.

If you're looking for one card book with lot's of tricks to pick from I'll suggest Harry Lorayne's "Close Up Card Magic". There's nothing extremely difficult here and your skill should make them fairly easy.

Best,

Jaz,

That is what I'm afraid of. With coins I'll usually learn all the routines and only use one or two....sometimes none....from each source. But I always gain something that can help me. But, I really don't want a library of card material.

Thanks for the feedback.

When I started in magic I had no real interest in doing card magic and sort of avoided it.
A while later I attended a magic auction and won a bid on some books.
One was Lorayne's "Close Up Card Magic".
Not being a card guy and after reading it and working with some of the effects I honestly felt that this was the only card book I would ever need. This may still hold true.
However, I chose to explore further.

Other books with lot of tricks were "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks" and "Scarne on Magic Tricks" which included 'Scarne on Magic Tricks'.

All have lots of effects. The last two can be found for under $15.

DVD wise... I'd put my money down on Bill Malone. Theres 4 DVDs in his collection though

Since Jaz is right about there are a ton of books, it would be better for you to do your homework, Wes, and explain more on what you are looking for by breaking it down. Are you looking for sleight-of-hand, self-working, what book has the most effects, the cheapest book, flourish effects included too, stage or close-up, using bordered or borderedless cards, etc? That way it will be better at getting a specific book. If you do not explain what you are looking for specifically, you are going to get a library of answers because members have different decisions. Good luck.

Coin magic is mostly what I do now....so, it's mostly what I practice and work on. I'm looking for Sleight of Hand routines that, for the most part, fit the skills I have now.

My only flourishes are some fans, spreads, spread turnovers and a couple of one handed cuts, and that flourish everyone is doing now (I don't know what it is called) where you pivot sections of the pack around different fingers and streach them out like a train (bet I lost you on that one!) and a few other basic stuff.

Wes,

think about getting some of the Card College Books or the Royal Road.

Also use the search engine - I remember seeing a couple of very insightful discussions.

best
Andy

I recommend looking into Michael Ammar's Easy to Master Card Miricles. Volume two has a lot of workable material and the one I refer back to most often, Volume two contains:
TWISTING THE ACES (Dai Vernon)
DALEY'S LAST TRICK (Dr. Jacob Daley)
CARD WARP (Roy Walton)
POKER ROUTINE (Dai Vernon)
POKER FACE (Al Baker)
OVERKILL (Harris / Ackerman / Emberg)
CARD THRU HANDKERCHIEF
CARD PENETRATION AND CHANGE (Cy Endfield)
THAT'S IT (Eddie Fechter)
THE AMBITIOUS CARD
BONUS: MACDONALDS ACES

You should be able to find more than a few solid routines for yourself.

I really like Bill Goldman's One For The Money and Boomerang which are super powerful and very easy. Also, Jim Steinmeyer's Impuzzibilities books. You could look at my POW WOW ebook which has some easy and strong card routines, and though they are Native American themed, you can adapt the routines to whatever your style is. I also am a big fan of Alexandre's Ex Nihilo. How about Aldo Colombini's card dvds? I could go on and on....

Anabelle

Wes, I agree with Andy. Since you are looking for card sleight-of-hand, since you are already experienced with coins, and since you do not want a library, The Royal Road to Card Magic seeme like your style: http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=573

Thanks for all the feed back.....I'll be ordering something is the next couple of days....I'm leaning toward Royal Road.

As far as DVDs, I would have to agree with Anabelle and suggest some Aldo Colombini material (Impromptu Card Magic, True Magic). They contain excellent, practical material that doesn't require knuckle-busting sleights. Just my two cents. Good luck,

Ron

Great choice Wes,
Have fun . . .
Andy

Since you have some of the basics down, I would suggest discovering who your favorite card workers are. Check out the video clips for DVDs, and places like YouTube have a lot of clips of card magic (real magicians, not the no names who post their own stuff). Read about magicians in Genii and Magic magazines. Who fits YOUR style?

I like Simon Lovell, so I've had a lot of fun with his book Simon Says. I learned that I like Larry Jennings, too, so got a book of his stuff. I bought Lorayne's Close Up Card Magic because EVERYONE cites its importance, but I've decided that, although it's got some good stuff, it's not my style.

So my advice is to look at other magicians and work out your own style by learning from the magicians you like.

And Wes, when you finish that book, and are still willing to learn more, try Ed Marlo's Revolutionary Card Technique. Everyone of it's 500 plus pages are important: http://www.ronjo.com/Merchant2/merchant.......cardtech

I like the royal road, iot has some very helpful tools along with some fairly easy to do card magic for someone who is at any level. Comes in a 4 disc collection. Very good to start to learn some routines.