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DT5780 New user 8 Posts |
Which one did you prefer and why?
Did you use just the book? Or just the video? Or both the book and the video? |
gaddy Inner circle Agent of Chaos 3526 Posts |
Card college, 100%.
Royal Road is a classic of the field, but it's dated, and it shows... There is no comparison in the level of clarity and (IMO) quality of the text and the illustration between card college and Royal road. OTOH Royal Road has been around for so long that you can find great copies of it at used bookstores for a couple of dollars. Whereas Card College is still relatively new and still fairly exclusive to magic dealers and you will pay a premium for it. If money is a consideration, Royal Road is perfectly serviceable. I'm more of a book person myself, but there's no denying the power of a good video as a teaching tool.
*due to the editorial policies here, words on this site attributed to me cannot necessarily be held to be my own.*
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Topper2 Regular user 126 Posts |
I always found Royal Road rather disappointing as a source of sleights as there is so much missing from it that really should have been there. If it is card technique, at an inexpensive price, you're after (as opposed to tricks) then I consider Anthony Norman's 'Basic Card Technique' a better source. Just look at the contents and you'll see what I mean:-
https://magicref.net/magicbooks/booksjr/......ique.htm It also dates from the 1940s, so it isn't new, but if you combine it with 'Counts, Cuts and Subtleties' by Jerry Mentzer, which covers more recent material, you'll have a sound grounding at a reasonable price. Obviously Card College has a lot more material in it, but so it should as it is in five volumes and will set your bank balance back a bit. I'd say go for card college when you've read some of the other books and are quite sure you want to go further with cards. A compromise might be to buy vols one and two of card college (which cover the basics) to start with and then consider the other vols later if you feel you need them. There's absolutely no point in trying to learn every sleight under the Sun when you may never need to use them. Of course Card College itself is not complete, it isn't intended to be an encyclopaedia, Roberto Giobbi himself admits that he knows dozens and dozens of ways to control a card, or force a card etc etc, but he can only include a small sample of available methods in Card College or else it would be absurdly large in size. |
mlippo Inner circle Trieste (Italy) 1227 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 27, 2021, DT5780 wrote: Get only the first two volumes of Card College and study them carefully, before delving into something else. But once you've absorbed CC 1&2 you will be able to do a good amount of tricks and routines that don't require too advanced sleights. This means you can then start buying books by John Bannon, or the Semi-Automatic series by Steve Beam, Harry Lorayne's books, Colombini and Nick Trost ones and be able to choose the best tricks and routines for you. Then, of course, you should buy Card College 3 and go on ... Mark |
gaddy Inner circle Agent of Chaos 3526 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 28, 2021, Topper2 wrote: This is a book that I somehow acquired at some point in the past, but never really took any interest in. Perhaps I should give it a closer look!
*due to the editorial policies here, words on this site attributed to me cannot necessarily be held to be my own.*
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copperct New user Cincinnati, Ohio 93 Posts |
I personally have worked through both and agree with other opinions that Card College is a better overall way to learn many movements that will be immediately applicable. That being said, I started with RRTCM because I wanted to be able to learn a few tricks and the basic principles of card magic before investing tons of money into it. I think I bought the book and a pack of cards for less than $10 on Amazon and within a month or two felt comfortable using some of the more basic sleights and shuffling handlings.
I now own the full card college series, Royal Road to Card Magic and find that I will most often reference Card College due to the very clear description and illustrations. |
taranwandering New user 9 Posts |
I can't speak as an expert, but I'll speak as someone who only recently started learning and purchased both Card College and Royal Road: I prefer Card College. Royal Road's descriptions feel too short for me to really understand fully. I even struggle at times with figuring out the moves in Card College, but its details for how to handle sleights feels much more developed-- at least to me.
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TeddyBoy Special user New York, NY 595 Posts |
I would vote for Card College volumes 1 and 2, and the DVDs that also encompass the material in those volumes. However, the Royal Road DVDs (R. Paul Wilson) are pretty good also and help add a little life to the book. I still think the Royal Road book is useful, not to mention inexpensive.
So many sleights...so little time.
"Slow...deliberate...natural." Bill Tarr Cheers, Teddy |
EndersGame Inner circle Reviewer EndersGame 2196 Posts |
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On Mar 1, 2021, gaddy wrote: I heartily agree with this advice. Card College is more modern and up-to-date. The older books do have some obsolete methods that have been superseded. I've been working through Vol 1 & 2, and going over them multiple times, and it is fantastic. They are the two you should start with, and cover all the fundamentals. I also find it very helpful to watch the Giobbi's companion video course along with reading the book. They're available from his website here: Card College 1 & 2: Personal Instruction (for more info, see this review). You can download Lesson 1 for free. |
SoloDoubleAct New user North Carolina 83 Posts |
Card College is the gold standard but I won't lie, I found RRTCM much easier to approach when I was completely new. Card College is daunting, it is collegiate. RRTCM is prep-school. It is also a lot cheaper.
So, in short, I recommend getting RRTCM to brand new, never touched a deck, "magicians". And if they react well, and don't bounce out of it, then advocate getting Card College 1 for sure. The teaching is clearer in CC and the sleights are much improved. But, another big boon to RRTCM is that it focuses on BEING a magician and the importance of scripts, stagecraft, trick design with an angle on newcomers while, as said, CC is collegiate. You probably already took some "classes" before cracking CC open. That's my take! Both are amazing! |
EndersGame Inner circle Reviewer EndersGame 2196 Posts |
That's one reason I recommend using the Card College 1 & 2 video along with the book.
It makes it so much more approachable. |
SoloDoubleAct New user North Carolina 83 Posts |
Wow, that is honestly, once again, the gold standard to learn card magic imo. Great suggestion! So you are 100% right, EndersGame; but I still contest that buying Card College & the instructional videos is for people serious about being serious practitioners while for a fresh novice interested in card magic RRTCM is only 10 bucks in paperback. I'd still say go for RRTCM and if you like it and find overhand shuffles and the glide revelatory, then pick up CC and the tapes.
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Aintnothingbutachickenwing New user Dublin Ireland 20 Posts |
Card college all day every day, I love royal road but CC is just easier to read imo
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balbec New user few 62 Posts |
Not the same level. Despite the name, CC is not really for beginners. So RR first, and only then, CC.
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Ado Inner circle New York City 1033 Posts |
I'd say go with Card College. It's modern, well taught, and offering pretty much only good advice. But, as the name implies, it's not "card magic for unmotivated beginners". It's for the serious ("college") student. There's also the "light" series, and if you're an I.B.M. member, some of it is accessible to you for free on http://www.magician.org
Maybe Royal Road was a good option at some point, but now that CC is out, there's no real reason to choose to learn from it instead. Move on, and get the good stuff: Card College volumes 1-3. P! |
Merodach New user North Carolina 95 Posts |
This is such as loaded question but here's my answer: Both. There's definitely some overlap, but each author has a different take and different tips for the methods and techniques. Card college can sometimes be seen as being "thrown into the deep end", but it's well worth it. As Ado mentioned it is for the motivated individual. I would go with RR then CC. I don't have any expreince with the videos, but I anytime you can see difficult slights preformed well in real time, its a bit help.
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Brookie2644 New user 53 Posts |
Then Royal Road video series taught by R. Paul Wilson is excellent!
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 28, 2021, Topper2 wrote: You can get it here: https://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S4837 Doug |
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