Expert Card Technique: Close-Up Table Magic

An invaluable resource that I would not wish to be without and which I often refer to. The book is a classic of its kind and written by two famous and renowned magicians of their day.

I just started out with a dabble with cardistry and some tricks... This book requires work and will not be looked at, other than at a glance - for now. Basically, the moves i'm currently practicing- scissor cut, double lift etc etc I am better served by watching a youtube tutorials. This book has 318 illustrations but spread over 400 pages that is not overly helpful - the book reads stodgy other than one step at time - which it should for one step at a time is the way we learn. For that reason this book, for where i'm at is a 3/5 Still this an acknowledged classic and I do belive that is true!! Not all the best tricks etc are on YT and viva to this!!! To a person who has at least mastered the basics this will be a goldmine. For those folks this must be a 5/5 I know this an odd review, for it's really a none review - Everything in this area comes down to practice, lot's of practice. So if your a dabbler - book not essential imo. If you've got the time and patience, you get the picture ... Thank you.

Okay guys, this is THE next step after the royal road to card magic. Please remember though that ECT was written BEFORE RR. The royal road was written because it was felt that ECD was too complex for the beginner. That said, it is still hard. The reader should read through the book with caution and with good time. It is also important to remember that this book is from the 1940s and some of the ideas are outdated. Unlike the RR, this is not so much a book written in logical order. For example, the book has 17 different methods to palm a card which no one would realistically learn. People will palm cards using one method normally and then use those which pleased them from the book but certainly not 17 different methods. Presentation is so much more important than skill and this book risks transforming the heavy reader into a card nerd more focused on the mechanics than presentation skills. To cut to the chase, read through all of the sleights, find which method for each sleigh works for you and LEARN and Practice it. Do not try to learn and perfect everything, it just won't happen. The tricks in the book are great as is the adivce on presentation

This book is filled with useful knowledge and techniques, giving you a history behind the sleights it's showing you as well as demonstrating the technicalities behind each move. NOTE: It's quite heavy going and in depth - this isn't the type of book you can digest in one sitting, it's very intensive and requires full attention. The way I'm working through it is reading and perfecting one section then moving onto the next when I feel comfortable enough to perform the previous move with ease, however this is really good material just to pick up, select a page you've worked on before and have a refresher at any time. I'm only about a quarter of the way through but I'm really looking forward to persevering. The book itself is a good size and will fit in most bags, not too heavy to carry around.

I am a huge fan of card magic and gambling techniques and have been studying and practicing daily for the past year. I started with the Royal Road to card magic and then onto Daryl's encyclopedia of card sleights. At the very end of the Royal road to card magic dvd Paul Wilson recommends various books to continue learning the art. Expert Card Technique is one of them so I thought I would purchase it and am very happy I did. Numerous ways of performing various sleights are in this book it is full of information and diagrams to help. A great book at a great price.

A relatively advanced look at card moves, which assumes the reader has a good knowledge of basic sleights and handling. This assumption will sink the book for folks who feel that knowing sleights is the same as understanding sleights. It is prose heavy, and may take several reads of each technique to figure out what exactly is being said, but it is well written, so understanding comes sooner rather than later. If your copies of Royal Road and Erdnase are missing in action, but so well known you're not worried, if your nearest and dearest now *never* ask to see 'a trick', if you've taken to carrying cards with you literally anywhere you travel; then this book is very much for you.

The books good but the cover was pretty badly damaged how they thought it was ok to pack that off to me at full price I don't know. So to recap good book, maybe try and find a different seller.

For any up & coming card mechanics, witches & magicians, this book is the dogs bollocks & is needed in your library.. Contains useful knowledge, manoeuvres & a few tricks.. This book helped me understand a few bits that I wasn’t quite getting with certain manoeuvres.. Fair enough maybe it’s a lil outdated, but the level of detail explained is the key factor.

Excelente libro manual para amantes de la cartomancia clásica , muy técnico y detallado, debe tenerse un nivel de lectura en inglés medio-alto.

This came on the 3rd day of a 5 day estimate, thanks for that! I have read about reading this book, as a tome of everything needed for learning card technique. I have flipped through the pages in the last hour or so and it does not disappoint! It is written concisely, however I do think it would be a better companion for someone who already has a basic understanding of the things written in this book to help hone these sleights even further.

This book is a must have for any serious card magician starting out. That said, this book is valuable to any level magician, as it is loaded with many slights and forces and tips used in many card tricks today. The easy-to-follow instructions coupled with the drawings help in learning these trade secrets. I have this book and several others and find I come back to this book from time to time. Buy the book, it's worth the money

This book is great in every way, I recommend it to anyone who wants to get into either card magic or sleight of hand. Somewhat beginner friendly though I began with the Royal Road before ordering this one