What is your preferred method of learning? Books or DVDS?And if so what do you think are the pros and cons of each?

Books for the insight, for allowing your imagination to work and for minimising the 'clone' effect.
(Well shot) DVDs for the exact mechanics of a move, for the continuous motion and the body movement etc.
Hope that makes sense.

1. Live Lectures in person
2. Penguin Live Lectures
3. World's Greatest Magic collections on certain effects (c2w etc)
4. DVD's by a single performer showing a multitude of effects (for example the L&L videos on Bill Malone.)
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999999. Books.

I need to see it visually. I need to be awed. I presumably do not have the imagination to be awed through written text (the bible did nothing for me:))!

I too like live lectures. The Williamson penguin lecture was the most entertaining thing I have perhaps ever seen. I do like books for learning tricks since you get more bang for your buck. When you see someone performing you learn other things.

PS. I don't think that being awed by the bible has nothing to do with how much you can be awed through text. I read all types of books and a good story is awesome. Bible does nothing to me, not even if read as a purely fictitious story.

I totally agree. It was just a bad joke on my part. I seldom read books and I am not proud of it.

PS: The Williamson lecture was fantastic. I was so fortunate to see it live here in Norway a couple of months ago. Superb!

I really enjoy going to lectures and hanging out with friends who perform as well. I learn a lot this way but I don't think we see enough good live close-up magic as a full set. We see a lot of "clips." One trick, one there and so on. When you sit down and watch a close-up show it's totally different and I love it.

Some of the Penguin Live Lectures do this and the ones that do make it into my favorite list.

Other than that, I like videos from L&L which again show the full set and it's enjoyable to watch. Bill Malone and Doc Eason DVDs are like this and seriously awesome.

My question is why limit yourself when it comes to learning a trick? What do you gain by picking one over the other? Not much.

I don't think one way is better than the other, but I prefer books. I like using my imagination. You can get more involved in a book and, to me, it's more fun.

In the beginning, I liked DVDs because I needed to see the effect and the sleights involved. Now that I'm well versed, I prefer learning from books much more. Of course, some effects are much better explained through DVD and instant download.

I think it depends a lot on the author/creator. The Books of Wonder are sooooooo much better than the Visions of Wonder DVDs, even though those DVDs are wonderful. On the other hand, I think it's better to watch some of Allan Ackerman's DVDs first, and read Las Vegas Kardma second. And then there are people like Jean-Pierre Vallarino, who have not written books, but whose video performances teach nuances that I've never seen published anywhere else.

What I do, personally, when deciding what to purchase next, is that I find reviews by professional performers, and I buy things that working pros found useful, regardless of whether they were popular with the general public when they first came out. Whether it's a book or DVD doesn't matter to me, one way or the other.

1. Lectures w/ Q & A sessions - for insight
2. DVDs - for observing the mechanics of the moves
3. Books - for depth of material

The advantage of books over DVD's is that, with DVD's you attempt to do the trick/sleight/ as you see the instructor do, without thinking that the person teaching's physical makeup might be quite different than yours. By reading carefully from a book, you are more likely to adapt the trick/sleight to your own physical makeup. Watching someone else do a pass is one thing, but reading carefully how to do a pass and then trying to figure it out yourself in front of the mirror is more likely to give you a handling that is better suited to you, personally.

That said, DVD's can be great to give you a sense of how the sleight should look. But you need to be careful that you are not also absorbing someone else's presentation, rather than developing your own. My library has shelves of books, but only a small section of DVD's, mostly from masters like Vernon and Marlo.

1. Live lectures because you can easily ask questions.
2. Books as they always spend more time on one subject than DVDs.
3. DVDs. They don't teach tricks as well as the above, but they certainly help if you need to see what a move is supposed to look like.
4. YouTube Videos, had to include on here, as they jump started my interest in magic.