Hey people,

Okey, I was reading through the free sample of this ebook by the magician Tim David. First, you might want to read through it, you're in for a good laugh.

http://www.highimpactcardtricks.com/freesample.html

Okey, my problem is this guy ( who I used to respect his stuff ) is that he's saying that hard card magic is bad, and the easy one is good. Now I do realize that many simple card magic is very powerful, but simply making the statement about "hard card tricks" is ignorant. I personally cannot believe the crap in this ebook, and its sold for laymen. Don't know about you, but Darwin Ortiz got a lot of decent stuff that needs faro shuffle ...

This is not a review, this is a discussion, which is why I posted this in the Workers forum instead of reviews forums.

I really wish to see some thoughts on this crap that is published, its destroying the art by introducing people to myths.

Unless this guy is extremely frustrated about getting a "hard trick" down, he got issues .. ( that's a conclusion I came up with after seeing his attitude in the ebook .. )

I really, really hope that this guy won't teach double lifts in this ebook. Last thing we need is an ebook encouraging people to practice less than a day, then mess up.

Best part is that its sold for 17$. I know that Harry Lorayne's The Magic book sells for almost the same, and its billions more time better ( and I don't need to buy that ebook to know this )

Interesting! Obviously we nerd magicians have no clue, so everything we post here will be more ridiculous than the ebook sample. Although... That IS really hard to top.

Don't worry about the sleights he will teach, with the amount of hype most are bound to be self workers.

Michael

He could have made his point in a few sentences. What a wonderful way to waste my time

Charles

I'll bite...

First the sample is poorly written, but I'll focus on the content.

I think I see his point of view and for the most part (if I have understood correctly) I share it. Most magicians that are heavy into moves don't understand what makes an effect play well for an audience. Being able to perform difficult sleight of hand does not make a magician "good". A magician (he essentially makes this point at the end of the sample) that has personality will be more enjoyable to watch as opposed to a technically gifted magician with little personality.

The problem with this ebook is that it is SO poorly written it becomes difficult to understand what he is getting at (I could be way off with my evalution as I said). Without reading the rest of the book it is unfair to judge 'what' he is teaching.

I think his "Nerd Magician" description is unfair and does lead one to think he is condemning practice. He mentions he would take a novice over a "nerd" any day, I can only hope that by studying his course the novice will be equipped with quality presentations that are engaging and fun. I do not like the idea he is presenting that "high impact" card tricks are easy to learn and won't require a significant amount of practice to master. Even the easy to execute effects should be practised so that the presentations appear effortless.

Perhaps with more information an intelligent conversation about his teachings could go on. As I see it we have an incomplete treatise and it would be unfair to judge Mr. David based on what we have.

Yet, I find it difficult to believe that the remainder of this 35 page pamphlet will teach the finer points of anything, seeing as it dedicates 1 page to each effect allowing for hype filler and the huge font.

Again, as a nerd magician, I am of course on the completely wrong track, and need to be de-programmed before I can appreciate the superior teachings of this material.

Michael

Certainly it is difficult to imagine that this would have much relevant information but there is always the possibility that the opposite would be true.

You honestly believe you are a "nerd" magician as he describes? Little social life, few interpersonal skills... etc.? Don't be so hard on yourself and if on the outside chance you are the type of person he describes are you happy with that? Would you change that perception if you could?

I don't know if the ebook even teaches the best 10 tricks ever released, with that mentality, I can't expect much. Nevertheless, 17 bucks for 10 tricks, the 10 need to be something.

At any case, I don't care because the mentality of the writer. Cardmen analyse moves and many of them can be extremely intresting. How many of us practice second deals yet not use them in a magical routine?

Should we practice moves we might not utilize in effects? Of course, but only after we can deliver entertaining card magic, with good sleights and theory. What this guy doing is insulting every card worker that practices, tell me a hard routine where the hard work is "not worth it"? I personally never knew a magician who practices hard stuff, but then work them into a routine that sucks. It maybe average, but he would do that so he can practice them to a live audience, but certainly not bad.

The writing style shows ignorance and completely an unprofessional attitude, and unfortunaly showing that he's not knowledgble at all. David Pogue in his Magic for Dummies book, says that people practice hours and hours to mountain a full deck order,but we don't need to get into such complex stuff as many tricks are easy as well as they are entertaining. What this man saying is just do the easy stuff, no need to practice because the harder stuff are not worth it ( and he makes that clear by this stupid graph ).

You see the level of knowledge and professionalism? I personally lost all the respect I had for Tim.

I guess one could be an excellent magician with a deck of cards without knowing a lot of advanced sleight of hand but that would be no fun for me

A common marketing technique. Dangle something interesting or contravertial in front of your target audience then make them enter their name and email info. This gives you a contact list to whom you can mass email junk mail. Dangers of Internet surfing 101.

Don't fall for it.

Medifro what other material has he released?

Gotta take that 101

@tltq, he released a floating card effect, a coin to sugar packet, a color change, and a trick with a hat and a screw if I'm not mistaken.

I don't any ..

Tim is one of the contributers/teachers at LearnMagicDotCom so go figure!

I got the e-book. He's an idiot. Shall I post a review?

BTW-- Internet 101 says to get a garbage e-mail address from g-mail and then use that to get this stuff. If you only use the g-mail account to get things like this, you can go in once a month, delete everything and not have to worry about sorting through things.

Steven Youell

I for one might like a review...not for a purchasing decision, just from an interested to hear what another worker has to say.
Cheers,
Jay

***LearnMagicDotCom***

EDIT: LearnMagicTricksDotOrg brought to you by that wizard of wizards David Castle.......

“High-Impact Card Tricks” by Tim David

All I can say is “wow”. Seldom have I had the opportunity to see someone do so much damage to card magic in so small a book. The author seems to me to be illiterate, but maybe that’s just me. Here’s some words and quotes from the book—you decide:

As a famous comedian once said: "I never want to be that good..."

Shoot. Here I was wasting my time with Vernon, Marlo, Ortiz, Lorayne, Jennings...

Wow! Where are the double-blind scientifc studies on those? You got any references? Anything? Even an article in "Popular Mechanics"...?

Man! I've been getting ripped off. Most of my books only teach a thousand moves..!

I’m not going to tear apart his essay on what makes him the magical genius and all the other magicians “nerd magicians” because, quite frankly anyone who reads this guy’s essays and doesn’t immediately realize that Tim David was part of the “Special Education” program wouldn’t know the difference between a card trick and an apple anyway. Let’s just look at the tricks which have been “scientifically proven”.

Trick Number 1
“Radar Hands” uses the one ahead principle, offers no presentation and was shown to me by a third grader last year.

Trick Number2
“The Upside-Down Card” uses the principle of a faced deck. This trick and a thousand variants have been published in nearly every book of self-working card tricks in the world. Again, no presentation is offered.

Trick Number 3
“The Number 23” relies on the idea that spectators cannot differentiate between mates like the two of clubs and the two of spades. But don’t worry—the author promises that “Most people have ADD and don’t know how to pay attention and be observant”. Once again, the actual trick and 1000 variants have been published a thousand times elsewhere in books that were written by someone who is literate.

Trick Number 4
“Thought of Card From Pocket” is simply putting a card in your pocket and using the “magician’s force” to get the spectator to “think” of the card.

Trick Number 5
“Card Through Window” teaches you to force (Slip Force and Cross-Cut Force) the duplicate of a card you’ve previously glued to a window. But there’s good news! As the author promises us, “once you learn this trick, you’ll know about a million other tricks too…”, thus insuring that the number of idiots who think forcing a card constitutes a trick will increased exponentially.

Trick Number 6
“Out of This World” teaches the famous Paul Curry classic. This is where I might have learned something new. Did Paul Curry’s effect start out with a seven card setup? I’ve always done it from a shuffled deck, but maybe Curry’s original write up used the setup.
Basic Trick Shuffling—Teaches you how to overhand shuffle a card from the bottom to the top and from the top to the bottom. It also teaches you the slip-shuffle.

Trick Number 7
“Throw Down” is a card revelation in which you drop the deck with the top card (selection) side jogged so it’s the only one that lands face-up. Please don’t make me look this one up. It would take hours to list all the places it’s been published.

Trick Number 8
“Clutch” is the trick that I’ve been shown by more laymen than any other trick. Remember that trick you learned in sixth grade where you ask the spectator to hold the deck in a certain way, slap the card out of their hand and they’re left with the selection in their hand? Yeah—it’s that one.

Trick Number 9
“Card On Ceiling”—I guess I don’t have to describe the effect here, but be warned! The author says that this trick is a bit “heady” and “mentally challenging”, but fortunately he knows “you’re not stupid.”

Trick Number 10
“ImPOCKETble” is a trick in which you discover the identity of two pocketed selections by using a fully stacked deck. (8 Kings Stack). I’m only going to say two things about this. First, it’s the type of trick that would occur to ANYONE who has just learned a stack. Second, I cannot believe it’s not been published elsewhere, but I’m not going to waste my time looking it up.

Final Analysis: Probably the biggest waste of money I’ve seen in magic for a very long time. Even if it were priced at $10, it would still be theft. You can buy Karl Fulves’ “Self-Working Card Tricks” for $6, have 72 Tricks to pick from and it’s written by someone who’s literate.

I do not know who Tim David is, but after seeing how this was advertised and reading it, I’m quite sure he's set some kind of record in lowering the bar for magic publications.

Steven Youell

Did you buy the entire e-book?

Yes, the entire e-book. Read my review above.

Steven Youell

I took the money saved in NOT buying this drivel, added another 50 bucks and bought Marlo's RCT this week instead!
BTW Steve and Dorian, I may be asking for some guidance while studying this treasure trove!

Mick

That HAS to be the funniest thing I've read this week. LOL