Hi,
I have decided that I want to buy these two series. I'm currently deciding which to buy first and need some assistance. Haha. My friends tell me that learning from DVDs is much more easier than learning from books. I have Born to Perform by Oz Pearlman and also The Royal Road To Card Magic. I definitely feel BTP is easier to understand due to the lack of illustrations in TRRTCM. Is this the same with Card College? Does it have enough material for me to fully understand it? Need some help.

Thanks!

I should say both of this series are very good. But some on the my opinion of learning which is easier i can say it is up to one's preferance. I have both card college and all volumes of easy to master card miricles. Card college have the sufficient illustrations to teach you good stuff. For example it teaches you the correct positions and ways to get proper cover and handling for the Riffle Pass. As for Ammar's stuff, it is also good. His teaching is not bad and some of his tricks are quite visual. His 9 volume can really keep you occupied. If i were you and would like to purchase one of these i would purchase ammar's stuff then go on to card college. =)

Thanks Xtreme. Does Michael Ammar teach the necessary sleights needed in detail?

Ammar teaches more tricks than on sleights. If you are really into sleights go for daryl's stuff. his teaching is good and there are many sleights you can learn from to improvise you routines. ^_^

Ok. Thanks! Btw, is Avanced Card Control Series by Allen Ackerman a better alternative for Card College? If I get it, is getting Card College also, a bad idea? Or vice versa? Or is it good to get both?

I think that Card College goes into details for the sleights it teaches...Finger positions, pressure, hand movements...etc
Ammar does teach the sleights in his ETMCM series, but not as detailed as the Card College series

If you are a beginnner, you should turn to Card college. It is more in depth and has routines and structures of magic. If you are more advance, then go for the Ackerman series, but it doesnt contain routines (if i remembered correctly) but it has very good variation of different sleights in card magic.

The ETMCM's teaching of sleight is pretty fine. It may not be as in depth as some of those Ellusionist videos becos its not a 'sleight only' video. Furthermore, the sleights used in ETMCM is quite basic and straightforward, hence you can always rewind and learn the sleights without much hassle.

Get Card College if you want a more knowledged-based form of learning. The amount of sleights taught there are overwhelming and would make a source for indispensable and seemingly infinite learning material. The level of detail is so in-depth that you'll be surprised how much you've missed on a particular sleight that you have presumably "mastered."

With creativity and what you've learned from Card College, you should be able to come up with your own killer routines.

Patience is required to completely digest the information in Card College. Ultimately, you'll develop your own performance style of a particular sleight because you aren't influenced by a performance example due to the fact that it's a book, not a video.

Ask my younger bro Xtreme... I thought I knew all I needed to know about doing a Riffle Pass from watching the videos I have, but after reading Card College, he could immediately see the improvement.

ETMCM, on the other hand, is like a quick fix. The effects are easy to learn, highly effective and most of them are angle-proof. In fact, I perform lots of effects from ETMCM during my magic routines (usually done in a social bar setting with a table and a close-up mat). ETMCM's materials was good enough to get a bunch of sceptical women sitting at the next table to come over to watch, upon which I had comments like "I'm impressed!"" and "do you do all this to pick up girls?" If you need to perform without finger-breaking sleights and with less anxiety, ETMCM will make you look like a pro...with a lot less effort (I'll stress that you'll want to work on your performance image and presentation. Michael Ammar's Virginia gentleman's style doesn't cut it unless you're about his age). But ultimately, ETMCM does not invoke your inner creativity and you're pretty much stuck with the routines you have in the series (not too bad a thing too, 'cos there are a whole lot of routines to learn in there).

So, grab yourself Card College, learn several neccessary sleights first. When you've done well enough with that, create your own routine. If you're still stuck and can't perform effectively with your new-found skills, get ETMCM to give you some ideas using examples of many fine classics that have stood the test of time.

I haven't got to Ackerman's series yet. Then again, I'm old school and I still haven't absorbed everything from Card College or ETMCM yet. These two contain enough card magic material to keep me entertained for at least a year.