Advice on books

[SeraphSigma]

Hey guys... Sorry for the trouble but I am going into books now, and I am wondering if I should start if Royal Road to Card Magic or Expert at the Card Table? I'm not sure which I should borrow, considering I am still rather new at magic.

Cheers,

Dennis

 

[TheKingOfCards]

I think forget about the sleights for now, go read Darwin Ortiz's book strong magic. It will help you to solve your problems and will ensure that you are able to answer this question yourself =)

 

[TheKingOfCards]

As for answering your question... in the end you're going to have read both. Start with whichever one you want, or maybe even equivoque yourself

 

[nayost]

i'm a fairly new member in the community. i've read both quite recently. i think the royal road to card magic will be a good start. it's easy to follow, and the moves are very straight forward. continue on to the expert @ the card table after. have fun!

 

[praetoritevong]

Seraph... Firstly, King is right, sooner or later you'll have to read both, but with that said, I think that Royal Road should be the first. It's intended as a beginner book, firstly, and it's intended to give everyone a very solid grounding in magic. Whilst Strong Magic is essential also, you won't make any use of it if you haven't learned the practical aspect of magic either. Expert at the Card Table is the card magician's Bible - it's crucial reading for anyone. However I think it's better suited to people who have been around for a little while and understand what to use and when. There is a lot of brilliant stuff in there but I think you'll appreciate it and learn from it much more after a little while. It's probably worth getting an annotated version of Erdnase, when you finally do, incidentally - Vernon's Revelation is the way to go with that.

 

[TheKingOfCards]

Annotated Erdnase for the win, however, it seems that you should stick with Royal Road and then move on to slightly challenging material. Whatever you do, do not skip through volumes. Stay on track and be patient with yourself. Just go in order, no matter how tempting it may be to not do so.

 

[DoveMagic]

I have to say strong magic is great! Its interesting and very useful, HOWEVER only read it after you have a general knowledge of card tricks or you'll be like WTF Macdonald's aces? Another essential book to have if you don't already have is Mark Wilson's complete course in magic. Even if you only do cards, it is an essential for every magician.

Ben

 

[TeeDee]

In my opinion it's never to early in your magic life to dip your toe into the ocean of Erdnase. Don't expect to understand or appreciate much of it to begin with, but it's something you will keep coming back to over and over again, seeing something new each time. However, Royal Road is required reading, so I would say get both (Erdnase is available as a free download so that doesn't add to your cost), and start studying Royal Road, while also glancing through Erdnase from time to time and familiarising yourself with it.

 

[SeraphSigma]

Ah I see... thanks for all the advice guys =) Time to get one the royal road then >_<