Hi John,
I've a teenage (15) nephew who's shown an interest in card magic. I was wondering, if you were just starting out in the world of card magic, but had all the knowledge you have now, where would you begin? How would you map out the journey of complete novice to expert? Based on all the wonderful resources available today, what do you recommend?
Many thanks,
Jason

Hansen,

Interesting question. Funny you should ask. I have been considering writing a series for rank beginners. Self-working tricks that don't suck steeped in a discussion of principle. Borrowed and shuffled--no moves. Hopefully, the discussion will be intersting to those who have been around the block as well.

The problems with entry level magic: Too many self-working tricks require a stack. Too many suck. Too many books accelerate the skill/understanding requirements too fast. So a newcomer has to be somewhat resilient just build a basic understanding.

My series would carry a beginner through his or her first ten or twelve tricks in a structured way--before any sleight of hand is required. What do you all think about this idea?

Otherwise, the Card College Light/Lighter books are the best entry level books around that I've seen. Every other book suffers from one or more of the above issues.

Once you are in the game, the options open up tremendously. Easy To Master Card Magic DVDs are a great place to start. They remind me of the Frank Garcia red and green books from my formative years. Art of Astonishment books--if you can ignore the goofy parts. Stars of Magic. Vernon. Begin Card College. Follow your interests. Learn to think critically.

Any help?

John

Thank you so much, John. Extremely helpful. And your idea for a beginner's series sounds brilliant. A real winner. I'm absolutely sure your efforts would result in a whole new generation of intelligent and talented card magicians.

In fact, I'm also sure that those with years of experience would also love to get their hands on your beginner's series. I, for one, certainly would! I've found, no matter what the field, it is always highly beneficial to regularly review the basics. There's beauty in simplicity.

Thanks again, John.

Should you write a series for rank beginners, I, for one, will be very disappointed that I'm no longer a rank beginner.

Dear John,

Thank you for your advice,indeed very practical to the situation nowaways. (Information overflow for every subject in this world.)

Count me in for your beginner card magic series book.

Best,

Steven

Hi John,

Since starting with magic not too long ago I've definitely become a fan of your creations (especially Spin Doctor has become a working horse and a very appreciated effect). I definitely think a book for starting out magicians with "exciting" self-working effects would be a success. I for sure would recommend it to anyone starting since I would have liked to have one when I started myself.

Best wishes,

Shu-Ren

John,
In response to your comment that "the problems with entry level magic: Too many self-working tricks require a stack. Too many suck." I'm glad you used the modifier "too many" rather than "all." There are a small percentage of self-working tricks that are foolers. I remember an impromptu session after a World Magic Seminar in Washington when Del Ray got together with a group of magicians. Del did what seemed to be an impossible card discovery that fooled most of the knowledgeable magi there. I recognized it, though, as a basic card location that I had read in Joseph Leeming's _Fun with Magic_ book for kids. Totally self-working, non-sleight... but obviously a fooler. But then Del understood the basic principle that just because you _can_ do every complicated sleight under the sun doesn't mean that you have to every time you do a trick. Frank Garcia's _Million Dollar Card Secrets_ has a self-working item called the "21 Force" (on page 44) that I know is a powerful weapon when used performing for both laymen and cardmen. Totally sleightless but an extremely powerful weapon if you want to use a force that doesn't look anything like a force.

Jay Ose was another magician who understood that once you establish yourself as a skilled prestidigitator, the audience will assume that every trick that you do is accomplished by skills that took eight hours of practice seven days a week.

Speaking of Jay Ose reminds me of two of the greatest books ever written for the lay public: _Scarne on Magic_ and _Scarne on Card Tricks_. One of the underappreciated tricks in the latter is "Scarne's Drunken Poker Deal," which as I recall was actually based on a real gambler's scam that Scarne had described in his autobiography. (In his preface to one of those books, Scarne states that his intent was to take some of the strongest effects in magic and restructure them so that a beginner could do them. I'd say he succeeded.)

BTW, anyone know who illustrated the two Scarne magic books? I checked Chuck Romano's _The Art of Deception_ and didn't see any references to those two books. Whoever illustrated those two books did an outstanding job. I don't have my copy handy to check credits, but I don't think any illustrator was mentioned.

----- Sonny

Sonny,

You're right. I would not say all. There are a lot of good ones that don't suck--but many of those require a stack. Even in the venerable 21 Force (a Marlo idea, I believe), requires a card at the 21st position. Childs play now maybe, but a daunting task 35 years ago. I cut my teeth on Scarne on Cards. Out of 60 or so tricks, probably less than ten were "workers."

John

John,
I was in the middle of penning (strange verb choice in the electronic age) a response to your comment that "Out of 60 or so tricks [in _Scarne on Card Tricks_], probably less than 10 were 'workers.'" That makes about 16% of the tricks. I'm sure that we discussed Sturgeon's Law during some of our get-togethers. How do you think Sturgeon's Law applies to magic--in regard to magic books, tricks published in magic magazines, and packaged tricks? (For the non-SF readers on the Café, Sturgeon's Law states that "90% of everything is crap.")

I feel that occasionally--maybe even more often than we realize--something appears in the world that proves the exception to Sturgeon's Law, and those of us who are most dedicated to magic consciously endeavor to elevate our craft to art. But that's a whole 'nother thread--whether magic is an art. I've always agreed with the Bard: "If this be magic, let it be an art." (_A Winter's Tale--Act 5, Scene III.

----- Sonny

Sonny,

I don't know the context of Sturgeon's Law, but with magic it seems like a plea for filters. Back in the day, some judgment was exercised before a trick was released to the magic market. There were barriers to entry--production cost, editorial discretion, etc. It was the age of the anthological magic book--Greater Magic, for example.

Now there are fewer and fewer barriers to entry. In the old days, filters meant you saw only the top 20%--in which case half was chaff. Now we darn near the whole 100%. It appears that there is an explosion of mediocre magic--but nothing's really changed but the filters have been turned down.

As far as art goes, remember Cardano: "usless matters" "practiced by men of low degree."

John