Books are the only way to pass on secrets. They are barely used.

One of the best kept secrets (besides the secret to a happy marriage, which is still a secret), is the value of the Bob Longe card trick books. You get to learn many basic (i.e. useful, but not too difficult) sleights, taught in a very straightforward, succinct manner. You will be given several methods to 1) control cards, 2) perform false shuffles, 3) do DLs, and do 4) forces. GIANT BOOK OF CARD TRICKS contains the best tricks from all his books, and pretty much covers all the sleights from those books.

Longe's books are/were marketed to the general public, but IMHO the material is almost too good for that. Many may write these off as books for kids who might happen upon them at the bookstore -- but believe you me -- they're not just for kids. In fact, I believe most of the material might be too difficult for anyone below teenage level.

Also, there is a large range of tricks from many big names in card magic -- both past and present. Longe does a decent job of crediting, but he occasionally misses one here and there.

For less than the price of one of the "big name" books, you can get just about all of the Longe books. If you know someone who wants to get into great card magic, including some sleights, the aforementioned GIANT BOOK OF CARD TRICKS is super-budget-friendly, even though it is out-of-print.

My 2 cents: for me, books change, but videos don't. That may sound weird, but stick with me here. I will typically only watch a magic video once (with rare exceptions, like lectures), because I watch and learn the method and that's it logged in the memory bank for future reference. I don't really need to watch it again because my memory of it is usually sufficient reference, and when I do watch it, it's just like refreshing the clarity of the memory, my experience doesn't change very much.

But when I revisit books they seem to change every time I come back to them. Not because anything has actually changed on the page, but I've changed, the mind that's reading the words has changed, the way I read the words has changed, the way I imagined the effect has changed, what I'm looking for has changed. I may initially read an effect, but think it seems weak and just pass it on by; 3 years later when I'm making a routine it's suddenly become the hidden golden nugget I've been searching for all along to strengthen a different effect. Or an experience the writer discusses may not feel applicable until I've lived it, then I come back to later and it's like an epiphany to me. That's what I've noticed with books vs videos, books seem to change as I change, videos largely stay the same.

I can't explain why I don't get this feeling from videos, but it makes magic books special for me. It could just be that I have a better memory for videos than the written word. My past teachers may agree. Entirely possible.

There is a saying that applies to most fields and areas of knowledge, that "you don't really know or understand something until you can teach it to others."

Videos are great, but in a sense are a passive way of learning - you just watch and consume the information.

With a book it requires the reader to understand and visualize and process the information more and through this extra effort there is often greater understanding.

It's really no different than great literature and film versions. As good as movies may be, they will never fully supplant books where the reader's imagination is limitless.

I think in a perfect world, the magic videos would be accompanied by a book explaining everything. Or vice-versa, depending on how you look at it. Joshua Jay's COMPLETE COURSE is a great example. It comes with a DVD that shows most, but not all, of the effects being performed, and with an explanation.

For moves and sleights, videos are priceless, since you can see what they are supposed to look like. But books, if written properly, will explain all the fine details. Some videos do as well, but not all.

Bottom line -- if done really well, either a book or a video can stand by itself.

An interesting quote from ROYAL ROAD TO CARD MAGIC, Chapter IX, p.116 (The Overhand Shuffle, II)

"We have found that most beginners cannot learn this sleight from a printed explanation, whereas an ocular demonstration enables them to do it in a few minutes."

In education and learning theory in general there have classically been 4 types of learners: (1) visual (2) auditory, (3) reading and writing and (4)kinesthetic. Different types of material can lend itself to different approaches even for the same learner. For example, mathematics might be an area where reading/writing helped more because of the more esoteric constructs yet a learner might still be better listening to an instructor or viewing a graph. And sometimes different approaches for the same subject matter help "cement the learning."

Even in magic - learning a self-working card trick might be easier by reading but learning a complex sleight might be benefit from multiple types of learning. Videos and lectures are a more "passive" type of learning from a "sage on the stage" rather than reading which requires the reader to synthesize the written word.

For those who enjoy books, videos will never have the same charm. The same is true for kindles/e-readers - nice if you travel a lot but book lovers would always prefer a "hard copy".

I prefer video for most sleights, while books for everything else.

Maybe not the best analogy: Try learning to hit a baseball from reading a book vs. a having a coach during batting practice. Closer analogy: watch a video of a person's mechanics when hitting.

A video, though, can't give you feedback. Sometimes, I find myself wanting to ask a question about a sleight when watching a video. The best videos give you all the nuances. Many do not. Books usually do give you all the nuances, especially well-written ones.

But books can be confusing, in some cases. Top of the deck vs bottom (surpisingly, some authors, especially in older books, are not clear); which is your second finger -- index or middle? Reminds me of an old HONEYMOONERS episode sometimes:

Ralph: "Turn it towards the wall".
Norton: "There are 4 walls!"


As I mentioned earlier, to me, a book with a companion video is best. A video for "self-workers" is usually a waste of time and money. Same as a video where you already know the sleights, but the trick is new.

Like most things in life, there is a trade-off.

Walter, I totally agree and your baseball analogy is a good one. While I'm not a golfer, I would use driving a golf ball as an analogy for learning a complex skill. There's a lot to be gained by working with a skilled mentor/coach and studying videos of great golfers. However reading will also supplement these approaches by giving a richer and fuller understanding of the mechanical and physical aspects.

Finally this points up the importance of repetitive practice and muscle memory - whether one listens to a coach, watches videos or reads tons of golf books they still must go to the driving range and practice, practice, practice.

I also like your Honeymooners example - it shows the challenges in writing a really good magic instruction book pointing out a variation on an old saw "it'd be easy to write a book, but hard to write a good one."

In another thread I recently pointed out problems with the instructions in a Frank Garcia book. For the set-up, he mixes up the top and bottom of the deck.

The top of the deck should be the top face-down card, but if the deck is face-up, is the top of the deck the first face-up card? In any case, it can't hurt to be clear, especially since the bottom of the deck contains cards that are face-up -- or are they considered face-down when the deck is held face-up? See the confusion?

Even though it is a relatively light on sleights, not seeing what is supposed to happen made it hard to figure out exactly what was wrong with the setup. Plus, he used very weird language instead of simply saying: "Riffle up the side of the deck with your thumb." Anyway, I found a tutorial for that very trick on youtube that explained the setup and a few other things more clearly.

I wonder if the original routine that Garcia "borrowed" from had the same confusing instructions.

If a video has something that I want to use in the future, what do I do? I write in down.

Walter - I agree. Poor writing or worse, poor editing can almost render a book useless.

Hence the line"it'd be easy to write a book, but hard to write a good one."

I've heard that George Schindler was the ghost-writer for Garcia.
And of course none of the tricks were actually Garcia's.

I find it more accessible, in most cases, to learn an effect from a book rather than a video. I can zip around the page quicker than going back and forth through a video. Also, video is horrible for learning certain things, like memorized deck work, or things that require a detailed still picture. It's better to have a chart or clear illustration to make details easy to grasp.

As for e-books, I find they have most of the advantages of paper books. I just wish that I could page through them as easily as a paper book. The software needs to be better in many cases.

I think it's also easier to take and make notes when reading a book versus watching a video. With the video you have to stop/start/replay and it's back and forth. With a book it almost enhances the reading.

I agree w/ your points about e-readers - I like them for travel to avoid bringing lots of physical books (which I usually do anyhow) but I find it a pain to move back and forth amongst subjects/pages w/ an e-reader.

Yes, my books are filled with pencilled-in notes all over the place.

For videos, I find it easier on a laptop rather than DVD player and TV.

It really depends on what skill level you're at. If you need to learn the sleights, video is great. If not, then video is a waste of time and money. For the person selling the magic, I imagine less time is spent making a video than writing a book. I have no idea what the total cost of production is comparatively -- meaning the cost to have a supply of books ready to sell vs. video (in which a download has to be less costly than a physical DVD/Bluray.)

But, a picture is worth 1,000 words, so what's a video worth?