Skill Level: Beginner
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Scripting Magic Series
SYNOPSIS: Scripting Magic, Volumes 1 and 2 is Pete McCabe’s two-volume study of one of the most important—and often neglected—parts of performance: what a magician says, why they say it, and how those words shape the audience’s experience of the magic. Rather than treating scripting as simply memorizing patter, McCabe examines how language can clarify an effect,…
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Scarne’s Magic Tricks
SYNOPSIS: Scarne’s Magic Tricks is John Scarne’s large collection of 201 practical magic tricks designed to be performed without advanced sleight of hand or expensive professional equipment. The routines use familiar, easily obtained objects and are intended for informal gatherings, close-up performance, parlor shows, and occasional platform or stage presentation. Scarne streamlined many traditional methods so that beginners…
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Now you see it, Now you Don’t!
SYNOPSIS: Now You See It, Now You Don’t!: Lessons in Sleight of Hand is Bill Tarr’s heavily illustrated introduction to practical manipulation and close-up magic. Using more than 1,500 step-by-step drawings by Barry Ross, the book teaches the hand positions, grips, transfers, vanishes, productions, flourishes, and switches needed to perform classic sleight-of-hand effects with ordinary or…
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Mark Wilson’s complete Course in Magic
SYNOPSIS: Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic is a broad, illustrated introduction to the major branches of practical magic. Organized as a progressive course, it teaches fundamental techniques before applying them to a large collection of routines with cards, coins, money, ropes, silks, billiard balls, sponge balls, cups and balls, everyday objects, mental effects, and larger…
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How to Develop a super-power memory
SYNOPSIS: How to Develop a Super-Power Memory by Harry Lorayne is a classic guide to memory training that teaches practical techniques for remembering names, faces, numbers, speeches, appointments, lists, and other everyday information. Using Lorayne’s association and visualization methods, the book demonstrates how anyone can dramatically improve their memory through practice. Although not a magic book,…
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Greater Magic Library
SYNOPSIS: The Greater Magic Library is one of the most comprehensive and influential works ever published on the art of conjuring. Based on John Northern Hilliard’s original manuscript and completed after his death by Jean Hugard and Carl Waring Jones, the work compiles the knowledge of many of the greatest magicians of the early twentieth century…
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close-up card magic
SYNOPSIS: Harry Lorayne’s Close-Up Card Magic is considered one of the foundational texts of modern card magic. First published in 1962, it teaches a carefully curated collection of practical, audience-tested routines that emphasize strong effects, natural handling, and commercial performance. Lorayne’s conversational teaching style makes even advanced sleights approachable while stressing timing, presentation, and the importance of…
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Card College Series
SYNOPSIS: Card College by Roberto Giobbi is a five-volume course widely regarded as the definitive modern textbook on card magic. Beginning with the fundamentals and progressing through advanced sleight-of-hand, the series combines detailed instruction with theory, psychology, practice techniques, and complete routines. Rather than simply teaching moves, Giobbi explains how to construct deceptive, entertaining performances, making…
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400 Tricks you can do
SYNOPSIS: Here are over 400 tricks with dice, coins, matches, cards and cigarettes revealed by world-famous magician, Thurston the Great. Each startling trick is simply explained and will baffle and delight your friends. Originally printed in the 1920s under the titles “200 Tricks You Can Do” and “200 More Tricks You Can Do,” these volumes…
