Hello,

Are the "basic card skills" discussed in the royal road to card magic book? I already ordered it, but I still would like to know. With basic card skills I mean shuffling, double lift, and basically just the "handling" of cards.

Thanks,
Sander

Yup.

http://web.doverpublications.com/cgi-bin/toc.pl/0486408434

Certain things will not be covered in the book... Small Packet false displays, full deck false riffle shuffles, variations on the pass, more modern handlings of the DL, etc. However, it's still a very good resource to get started on. If you want to expand upon that knowledge, look into R. Paul Wilson's Royal Road DVD.

Royal Road remains a true and useful classic. If you can find a used copy in hardback of the Amateur Magician's Handbook by Henry Hay I highly recommend it also.

For the modern and vitally useful "Small Packet" material, the VERY useful booklet Counts, Cuts, Moves by Jerry Mentzer is well worth looking at.

Best,