Where do you learn tricks from? How long do you practice daily? Maybe you know some web pages with nice tricks? I'll be glad if you answer.

The best resource for learning tricks, without a doubt, would be books. There are so many magic books out there that this is the obvious place to start, and in reality, all you will ever need to have a very long productive career or hobby in magic. Books like Apocalypse, Art of Astonishment, and many others, are great resources for great tricks.

Practicing daily is up to you, however much time you want to devote to the art. How serious you are about it, what level of proficiency you want to reach. I try to practice for a few hours a day at least. But this is really a completely individual question.

As far as finding tricks, discussions of what tricks are good, and how to present tricks best, this is one of the best websites you could ever come across. In general though, I don't think learning tricks from web sites with collections of tricks is the way to go. Most of them that I've seen are not really worthwhile. Nothing compared to a good book anyway.

Hope this helps.

And then there is the camp that would argue that videos, without a doubt, are the best place for a beginner to learn tricks. Look for Michael Ammar's Easy to Master series.

I personally don't have any dedicated practice time each day but probably still but in 3-4 hours daily with a deck or coins.

I do agree with Jason that there is very little worthwhile just floating around on the net.

I have small problem with books. There are, in Poland, only a few magic books. I probably won't buy books from e-shops in USA. Maybe you've heard about some magic ebooks?

I you can get hold of "The Magic Book" by Harry Lorayne, that would be a good place to start.

Your local library will probably have some good tricks too...it's a good place to start looking at some of the basics. Once you have looked through a couple though, you will want to buy a couple of decent books for resources

I would in no way settle for eBooks. Granted, I'm not all that familiar with life in Poland, but if you can access eBooks, then I see no reason why you could not actually buy normal books from online magic dealers. Every magic book I've bought so far in my ever-growing collection was from an online magic dealer. And DVDs work the same as well, all can be obtained from an online magic dealer. You certainly have access to these on the internet, since you have access to eBooks. Shipping may take a little longer than for some of us, but you'll get it and this is really the best way to go. Order some of the books you see mentioned on this board (i.e. Card College, Royal Road to Card Magic, etc.) and have them shipped to you. There is no better way to study magic than from those who came before you. And unfortunately there is only a limited selection of eBooks available.

If however, you insist on only learning from eBooks, then check out http://www.lybrary.com for the biggest list of magic related eBooks I know of. Really though, the only real way to truly learn this art is from some of the classics you see mentioned, and for that I'm afraid you're going to have to pay a couple extra dollars to have the books shipped to you. If this is an art you really want to pursue, why limit yourself?

Hope this helps.

Thanks. I found eBooks on allMagicReader. But they are in palmtop versions. How can I read them on my PC?

I mainly learn from books. They are great source for tons of information, though they may not be as entertaining as the videos. Learning from books enables you to refer to the particular information at once.
But for the beginner, it is better to combine books and videos for learning. Videos provide you the important information on timing and showmanship (if the performer is good). Also, it is easier to learn from the videos. Most importantly, videos are more interesting than the books. I love watching videos, but I would rather buy books for the same price because of the information. Moreover, some videos give you poor information if you don't know how to choose. Even though some of the 'best' performers give you bad videos. So choose carefully and decide what to buy.
Also, learn from yourself. The most crucial part of magic is to create and think. Most of the time I learn from myself when I pick up something. The more you create, the more inspiration you get.

Alex

You need to download and install the Microsoft e-book reader software. It's free.

Try http://www.lybrary.com they have some of the old classics as well as some more recent books available on DVD format for a price.

Jim Molinari

Hi Kuba_PL,

the eBooks on allMagicReader are also available for Windows. Just look again, they come as zip.-files. There should also be a link to the free Microsoft Reader Software.

You have to pay for e-books. If they were free I'd say use them, but for a couple extra bucks the books are a huge investment. However, some out of print rare books are probably easier to obtain via ebook format.

I have recently looked into e-books also, they are rather cheap and it seems much easier to find the classics, although I can't seem to find any e versions of Card College other than the one volume on lybrary.com, anyone know where I can find the entire series for a nice price. I'm on a rather tight budget.

Hi!
I am going to buy 3 books: "Expert Card Technique" , "Modern Coin magic" and "Practical mental effect".

Are these books suitable for a beginner like me? Should I buy a real book or E-books?
It's hard to make a decision since I am totally new at magic.
Hope you guys can help me.

Shannon,
Those three books, in hard copy, should make for a good start.

I'm a fan of "real" books, so I'm a bit biased and would almost always go with them over e-books, tapes, or DVDs (but that's just me, maybe).

However, I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Learned Pig web site, where a "ton" of classic books are available online and for free.

A password is required to get in and Marco (who runs the site) is on tour a lot so it may take a little time to actually get into the site; but it's well worth it.

For tricks, theory, and general all-round solid discussion, you might want to check out the e-zine Visions (www.online-visions.com); it, too, is free.

Thanks Peter!
I just check out the http://www.online-visions.com. It's a great and very informative site with it's articles and reviews.
And The learned pig web site is great. I am going to apply for the membership.

I am a beginner too and feel a combination of video and books would be good. Videos really help in visualising the trick.

Hi clui,
You are right as we can learn quicker and easier from video. However, books contain a lot of information on magic and remain necessary.

Now with DVD and books, It makes things easier.

If you're new to magic I feel you should practice at least 2 hours a day when possible.

I know some of us hard nosed people will practice 5 to 6 hours a night.

Devin