Sorry guys. But my head are just full off questions every now and then. Sorry if my questions have been discussed and answered before somewhere in the forums. But I've done abit of reading up around the forums and found little or no clues to my questions.

So anyway, here goes.

1) I've seen many rather cool magic effects around the forums and in youtube. And quite a number of them are marketed. Edge, sinful etc. just to name a couple. But these are like one-off effects. Some maybe coming with instructions on how to do the variations and different routines. But i was wondering if getting something more practical, like a dvd teaching sleights would be better for a beginner?

2) Other than royal road to card magic, which to my understanding comes highly recommended (and along with it, is its hefty price tag), what other DVDs are recommended for the beginner to learn sleights for a strong foundation. DVDs preferred, not really into books, because i'm not really a book guy and i don't think pictures are very effective in explaining things, right?

3) I find the effects of Greg Rostami really cool. Like Stuck and Cosmos. Anyone who the DVDs mentioned care to give a review?

Thanks in advance.

What sleights are you talking about? Cards, coins etc?

Hi there. Yeah, i forgot to state that i prefer mainly cards sleights. :)

Try Encyclopedia Of Card Daryl . This series may be more expensive than Royal Road to Card Magic.

Wow~! That looks like really good stuff. Does it just teach purely the techniques, or do they also include routines to apply the techniques?

Just get micheal ammar series 1 to 9 . Then You will be ready to perform.

Harry Loryane's Best Collection and Aldo Colombini's Impromptu Magic dvds comes to my mind.

A borrowed deck is all you need to perform the effects from these dvds. Besides tricks, there are a LOAD of sleights you can learn from the Loryane's set. Nothing kuncklebusting sleights but at least they are the essientials one you will always be using. Nothing too difficult either.

Thank you, teamimpossible and bigbadwolf for the replies.

I'll check those out.

Hey I know some of you might spit at my recommendations, but it's personal preference k...

1. Born to Perform Card Magic- Penguin
2. ETM Card Magic (ammar) requires you to know some sleights beforehand I think.

Eh... I don't read books so...

Well.. In my opinion the DVD's from Michael Ammar are really good. I feel that the tricks in those DVD's would last you a lifetime. I'm also a really big fan of Ellusionist's videos like The Ninja, Street Package, The Ambitious and Crash Course 1. I have been doing card magic for almost 2 decades and am very experienced and I have found there are the so called modern classics that really pack a punch..and as long as you are at it I would have to say that the trick that really knocks the socks of most people here is the Invisible Deck.

Wa this guy's skin very think leh. Any other subtle way of saying it?

For newbies, check out my article "On Magic" at the SMC Website.

Uncle Bob

Whoa... this thread became stagnant for a rather long time... then all at once, on mayday, three new posts propped out... haha...

solomon - yeah. Got my invisible deck about 6 weeks ago. Its a rather cool effect. The mechanism of the deck is really well thought out. The person who invented the invisible deck must really have been a genius.

socgen - LOL... :lol:

Bob Chua - Thanks for pointing out uncle bob~! I've just finished reading the article and i must say its rather thought provoking. It has brought new insights to me as a newbie magician. Although dressing smartly is open to personal intepretion. Nevertheless, its still a very good read.

I guess that's what separates the professional from the rest huh? wink wink..Nope..I don't think I'm thick skinned. People who boast usually really don't have what they boast about but in this case I'm not boasting so I'm not thick skinned..ok la ok la..a little bit of a showoff la..Happy? But seriously, I really think you should spend more time on your magic instead of lurking around magic forums like this to post comments like this (hiding behind a computer screen to say such things at that). It is utterly disappointing for me to genuinely want to help people who are new into magic and seeing rebuke comments like this. That's the difference from the locals to the ang moh magicians i guess.

Red Deck,

It is always good to dress smartly when you are performing to strangers and also as a respect to the host.

David Copperfield can dress anyway he likes because he is David.
Try performing in a formal event as a magician yourself wearing a T, Jean & Slipper. I will leave this to your imagination.

Of course, you need not be properly attired when you are performing to your friends or relatives.

So it depends on the place and audience you are supposed to entertain.

Uncle Bob

What makes you so sure that I'm not spending more time on my magic after spending so much money on you?

Then don't help. Nobody is asking for your help. BTW, do we have to pay you $25 for the "help"? Why become so helpful after you left your previous job. Why can't you be helpful then? Why do you charge $50 for some effects? What happened to the balance of the usual $25? Only you will know.