I am a beginner interested in card magic.
Is it good to start with Paul Harris' "The art of astonishment"?

Thanks

Hi there priyanshu,

no it is not good to start with The art of astonishment, but great to continue with ( when you are advanced ).

I've been reading Banacheck's book about mentalism
and of course I've been recommended Corinda's 13 steps.
Any other suggestions around mentalism for a newbie?

Caz- I would suggest TA Waters Mind, Myth, and Magick. Great stuff, lots of different material.

I would not recommend one, but three that belong to a series. Tarbell course in magic volume four, five and six. Here one can find plenty of mentalism effects.

Great suggestions, everyone!

I would re-submit Mark Wilson's complete course in magic; was my first book (got a hardcover copy) & I wore it out.

I echo Wilson and Hay's books, and see finally in page 14 of the thread mention of "Magic, The Complete Course" by Joshua Jay. Great book, and it comes with a DVD! What is special about this book is it updates magic to the 21st century. He goes into detail about psychology such as what he calls "direction" instead of misdirection, and explains that top hats and sponge balls were cool when they were in fashion, but Magic should be updated to be more relevant today. Most of the tricks can be done with everyday objects. This is a beginners book that teaches professional quality technique and effects.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one obsessed with expanding my magic library. Tarbell, Mark Wilson, modern coin magic, card college. All fantastic places to start in fact I'd have a hard time deciding what to grab if the house was burning down!

It would be interesting to tally up the cost of our libraries. Things like the Card College series are not cheap. Then again, let's not, I can't have my wife find out that she could have gone on a two week cruise

Every now and then you can pick up used copies of great books for really cheap on amazon used. Just an example I got 13 steps a few months ago for less than shipping cost me ($3.95) not that's its an expensive book but still 75%n off is great. So check there if your cash strapped like me.

I may have mentioned this one before, but it won't hurt to do so again. Magic Digest by George Anderson is a great book if you can find a copy. Unfortunately, it is out of print and has been for many years.

Not sure if John Scarne's book on card tricks has been mentioned but it was a great first book for me.
It's in paperback

For mentalism - Corinda and Annemann are great books and easily available. I have found it is difficult to get a hold of T.A Water's at the moment.

I would also highly recommend anything from Richard Osterlind - 'Easy to master mental miracles' DVDS.

Hope this is helpful.

For card magic - I started out with The Royal Road.

I've seen posts about the Seven Basic Secrets of Illusion Design by Duzer in other forums, but it merits posting here, as well. The Duzer book is a great touchstone for thinking about the workings of illusions. It does not contain plans, per se, but page for page is full of amazingly useful concepts. I'm a novice but it has been a wonderful source book the last few months.

What about You Tube Video's, which ones would you recommend?

None. Almost every YT teacher is an amateur. Some of them aren't even good enough at the tricks to be performing them, let alone teaching sleight of hand. Many marketed effects are also revealed on YouTube. This is bad. You don't want to support those that reveal effects that aren't there own. Books will teach you sleight of hand, misdirection, and patter. They'll make you a magician. YouTube will teach you to poorly perform a few card tricks. It'll make you a mere trickster who presents puzzles.

-Ty

Generally, for beginners, I'd make several recommendations:
1. Go with qualified works (rather than some YouTuber). The best and most experienced magicians in the world seem to stand by the classics. They're time-tested and proven.
2. Master self-working material first. It's classic divide-and-conquer: develop performance capability and confidence (with an audience), then develop the ability to execute sleights in the presence of an audience.
3. Work through each source completely and in order before moving to a next source.
4. Learn from books before videos. It's been my experience that books develop focus, discipline, and creativity. Books force readers to understand and adapt content rather than emulate instructors.
5. Work with an experienced coach. There's nothing like interactive learning.
6. Persist through challenges.

For a classic introduction to card magic (books):
- The Royal Road to Card Magic (Hugard and Braue)
- Encyclopedia of Card Tricks (Hugard)
- Scarne on Card Tricks (Scarne)
- Close-Up Card Magic (Lorayne)
- Our Magic (Maskelyne and Devant)

For a more modern introduction to card magic:
- Card College, Vols. 1-5 (Giobbi) [Book]
- Card College, Light, Lighter, and Lighest (Giobbi) [Book]
- Card College, Vols. 1 and 2 (Giobbi) [DVD]
- The Royal Road to Card Magic (Wilson) [DVD]
- The Five Points of Magic (Tamariz) [Book]

Andrew

Oh, incase once hasn't tried, check out (in the United States) half price books.. I notice the quantity has been dwindling lately, but I've collect over 50 different books..
cheers,
don

Mark Wilson - complete course in magic
Joshua jay - complete course in magic
Jean hugard - royal road to card magic

Just got my copy of The Royal Road To Card Magic and let me tell you its GREAT!!!!! Can't say enuf I'm back into magic at 40 and learning what in the book is like finding a treasure chest. If you want to lean to be a great card Magician get the book.