New to Card Magic?

Many people would like to perform strong Card Magic, but just don’t know where to start. Here are a few of our recommendations to get you started if you are new to card magic.

(You may also want to consult our Card Magic Accessories page, but they are really designed with the more experienced performer in mind.)

The Royal Road to Card Magic The Royal Road is the absolute classic beginners book on card magic. £9.99 (It has now been released in DVD form with R Paul Wilson) Or if you can’t wait, you can download it for $7.95.
Self Working Card Tricks by Karl Fulves - Book I’ve mentioned this on the book page too, but if you are looking for some good tricks that are easy to do, Karl Fulves’ book is a great starting place. I still regularly perform two of the effects from here with a bit of dressing… A great place to start and only £6.99
Card College - Volumes 1 - 5 (Hardcover Book) If you have a little more money to spend, Roberto Giobbi’s Card College Series are a modern classic. They are much better illustrated than the Royal Road and very clearly explained, and contain a good number of tricks with each technique that you learn. Why not buy a volume and save up for the next one while you are mastering the content! (They rock in at £29.99 a volume, there are five volumes).
Born To Perform by Oz Pearlman - DVD If you prefer to learn by watching a DVD, Born to Perform is an excellent introduction to card magic. A good number of basic sleights are taught, and several top quality effects which will amaze your audience whilst being relatively straightforward to perform. Highly recommended for the newcomer to magic £24.50
Bicycle Playing Cards Poker (Blue) Obviously you’ll need some cards, and we recommend Bicycle Cards since they handle so well. They come in all different shapes and sizes – have a look here for more cards for magic.
Svengali Deck Bicycle (Blue) - Trick If you’re looking for a gimmicked pack of cards to do some of the work for you, the
Svengali deck is cleverly prepared to enable a whole range of different effects (you can also get this book – 101 Tricks with a Svengali Deck – for extra ideas). It is easy to use, so ideal for the beginner, but like all magic you’ll have to work at the presentation. £6.50
Magic and Showmanship: A Handbook for Conjurers If you are serious about performing magic, then a book like this one is essential. It is another old ‘classic’ but will teach you valuable lessons about how to go about presenting magic – that is where the real magic is. £9.99