About the hands...you may need them big for such as secretly palming the card in your hand...unless you have just the right angle that they still cant see..so with small hands...I recommend learning the best angles..like looking in the mirror and seeing if anything is noticable..or just get a smaller deck if possible..
I have the same problem too

I really recommend for you to get a book for your b'day it will keep you busy for a long time you can get the Mark Wilson course to magic the big one no the pocket version both are great though

I would recommend getting the Michael Ammar Easy to Master Card Miracles video series. Then you won't need to carry so many trick decks. The Royal Road to Card Magic is also an excellent choice.

Magic and Showmanship, A Handbook for Conjurers by Henning Nelms is a MUST.

Welcome to the art of Magic..

My first book was given to me some 20 yrs ago... Mark Wilsons " Complete Course in Magic", This one Book started me in the right direction, as I still, to this day refer back to it. Good Luck !

bb

Ditto hear Blake....Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic was my first book as well...still have it...and still use it...some 20+ years later.....

Having sold magic for some time, although I second the idea of books, and generally try to steer folks to the Wilson course, I have to defend "instant" magic.

I don't necessarily think there is something wrong with using a largely gimmicked item. If one is facing a daunting task in terms of learning a new field, like magic, it's nice to be able to do something without being caught instantly. I myself bought a Hopping Half when I started out, in order to perform a sleight-free jawdropper so that the audience would stop burning my hands.

I especially like the Stripper deck, as (and I point this out when I sell them to beginners) the deck has a built-in control. It is not a trick, but a method, and if one practices, one can then substitute a sleight-of-hand control and still use all the plots and effects that one learned with the Stripper.

Some folks may object to the use of training wheels, but if they give an initial confidence that encourages one to ride further and farther, without fear of initial failure, I'm all for them.

Just to be fair, I also support those who decide to totally abandon any gimmicks whatsoever, and refuse to work any item (like a nest of boxes or a ball dropper or even a tip) that uses a device. Go to it, however you feel most comfortable!

B-Nelley

May I recommend you go to this link to another thread on here. This should answer all your questions:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......41&2

Magically

Aus

Howdy:

Your questions and concerns are classic and well worth looking at. I think I can help put your mind at rest about your hands. Over the 20 period that I ran and taught in magic schools I worked with something over 2500 students. I worked with hundreds in the 10-16 year old range and in almost NO case was hand size ever a problem. I have very small hands for a guy that's 6'1" and I use Poker size cards with no problem.
Start with Bridge size cards and you should be fine, but stress yourself a bit with a poker size deck. You may find that your hands are bigger than you think, etc. If it really seems a problem contact me and you can send an outline of your hands and I can make recommendations, etc.

Books: The Mark Wilson Course in Magic is back out and it's really a terrific buy in an all around text to start with. Cards: The Card College books by Giobbi are without peer. Royal Road to Card Magic IS still a great buy though. Best,

Brad Burt

Although being a beginner myself, I'd like to add the Karl Fulves "Self-working" magic series. Requires no sleights or easy ones and is done mostly without gimmicks. Some tricks are very good and you will touch many magic categories (cards, ropes, silks, rubber bands, etc). And the beauty of it is that these books are cheap too!

Hope this helps.

Richard

Good eve B-Nelley,

I think the suggestions here are great and I will emphasize the use of books before bought tricks and the Karl Fulves Self-working series, Wilson's Course of Magic and the little Cyclopedia of Magic, Hugard's Encyclopedia of Card Tricks, Bob Longe's World's Best Coin Tricks and Card Tricks (My first two books) and this may sound silly, but get a magic kit. A cheap one, an expensive one, whatever. Get it and rip it apart, do everything in it once for yourself. You'd be amazed at what ideas can come from a set like that, even if you're in your teens, 20's 30's and so on.

I will agree with what others have said and say that Now You See It, Now You Don't is probably one of the best picks for a beginner. It introduces you to many areas of sleight of hand and teaches you the basics. Actually, it happens to be the book I started with.

I'd also like to add that during my time in magic I've seen that the issue with hand size is more of a perceived problem than an actual one. I have small hands myself, but I haven't yet run across anything I couldn't do because of my hand size (though things sometimes take a little longer). Just keep at it.

:goodluck:


Emily B.

Even if your hands our tiny you should still be able to learn most of the sleights with a normal poker deck, but I agree with what many others have said, try a bridge size deck.

Is there a difference in content as far as the Wilson's course pocket version is concerned? I have ordered Wilson's complete magic course at my local magic shop and they got the pocket version. Is it missing some content in comparison to the hardcover version? The owner assured me it was the exact same content only cheaper, but I've heard differently...

Richard

Welcome to magic!! As has already been mentioned but my first book was also "Mark Wilson's course in Magic". It's a great place to start, and also "Magic for Dummies'.Both offer a lot of great stuff for anyone starting out in magic. Good luck and have fun!!