As a (very) new magician I have to admit that I am not familiar with the names of any magicians beyond the "popular" ones. I have heard of people like James Randi, Banachek and Penn and Teller through my skeptical work and would recognize names like Chris Angel, David Copperfield and David Blane due to their popularity; but have almost no exposure to the land of the magical beyond that.

One of the first things I noticed when I joined the forum (besides how incredible the forums are) was the many people lauding the merits of Harry Lorayne! I have to admit I had never heard of Harry Lorayne. This may say more about my isolation from society than anything else, but it still struck me as interesting.

So, I must ask. Is Harry Lorayne as incredible as is being said here? Once I finish working through "The Royal Road to Card Magic" I will want to invest in other books, but when I see a collection of books where each individual book has a $90+ price tag I cringe a little bit. As a new guy to magic, that seems like a lot of money! From what I have seen, he is a nice (and helpful) guy. I am just doing some research and figured you guys could help! Is it a worthwhile investment?

~Ben

P.S. Being completely new can be frustrating sometimes, thank you guys for being so helpful!

Harry Lorayne has got to be one of the all time greats in magic. the praise he gets is well deserved. you cant go wrong with anything he's created. since you mentioned royal road, I have to think you like card magic. Harry Lorayne has created some very beautiful card effects (although I still haven't got the ultra move down yet)

Best card guy ever, and an amazing hero. Mr. Lorayne deserves every last bit of praise and more.

His book Close Up Card Magic has the material necessarry to take you around the globe and be very well fed using nothing more than a deck of cards.

Harry, if you are reading this, thanks so much for all you have done.

D

This was a refreshing post to see. I'm glad that there are people still out getting into the classics before the drop bunches of cash on a new trick or book.

He's great!

He's so influential not so much because he's a great performer (though he is), but because he's such a great teacher of magic. He's generous and genuine as he's published his own and other peoples' (Best of Friends series) material. Check out his DVD series for a good dose of his style.

Can't say enough great things about Harry Lorayne. The all time greatest in my opinion. Besides having incredible skills with cards, he also has amazing talent with coins and rubberbands as well. He really does know how to entertain. don't forget about his memory work...the best BAR NONE. He's not only made a huge impact on me with magic, but also with improving my memory beyond belief.

Check out his products here: http://harryloraynemagic.com/

I agree with everything everyone has written about Mr Lorayne!

IF you don't want to go the DVD route (which is a shame in this case as his perfoming personality is very dynamic) then THE books to get are Classic Collection Vols 1 and 2. Buy them direct from the man himself!

So far, I have positive feedback at 100%. That's always a good sign. I may end up buying one of his smaller works in the future before making the larger leap and getting everything

~Ben

Good form! One of the problems with skepticism is that it rapidly turns into cynicism, and then one can't believe there is anything as good as - in this case - Harry Lorayne's work.

If anything, Harry's work is BETTER than described. And if you REALLY want to mystify people, pick up one of his works on the human memory. You'll be able to do stuff which really does look like magic (and which served to make Harry a TV star).

*jeep!
-Grandpa Chet

I figured all of the Harry Lorayne fans would enjoy this. Here is an interview that fantasma magic had with the man himself. 30 minutes worth!

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDneFqXH89c&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C44eejm4VtY&feature=related
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDDUlGZ-DW4&feature=related

Learned my first card sleights from Harry eons ago. He is a top notch teacher and magician. A very nice guy, and if you ever get a chance to attend one of his lectures, don't miss it. His books and videos are the best.

Harry Lorayne's writing steered me to the best of effects and his way of writing made it so easy to learn.

Harry is a member of the forum, and pops in from time to time. You can purchase directly from Harry and, if you ask, he will likely agree to autograph your purchase.

Although I would never discourage getting any of his books, I found his DVD's to have an astounding amount of really great material on them. I mean a lot. Worth every penny.

Jim

Harry is the person that got me excited about card magic. His energy is contagious, and his methods are ingenious.

Keith, I am so happy that someone on the Caffeine knows how to spell and properly use the word "ingenious" instead of misusing the word "genius" or - worse - misusing the word "genius" AND misspelling it as "genious" --- I'm all beside myself with happiness. Thank you!

*jeep!
--Grandpa

Ingenious and generous! Decades of experience and expertise.