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Ender's Review: Magic With Cards-113 Easy-to-Perform Miracles (Garcia/Schindler)

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EndersGame

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Magic With Cards: 113 Easy-to-Perform Miracles (Frank Garcia & George Schindler)

Perfect first book for card trick beginners

My experience

When I first developed an interest in magic many years ago, I stumbled across Garcia and Schindler's "Magic With Cards" at a public library, and later I bought my own copy. In hindsight, I would say that it was this book that single-handedly propelled me to the next level of magic. It helped me progress from the dry tricks that everybody knows (like the 21 Card Trick) to performing some real miracles. Although it essentially contains all self-working tricks, there are some real gems in here, and many of the impromptu tricks I still do today are ones that I first learned in this book.



Contents

The book is arranged into sections that include the following: The Key Card, Spelling Tricks, Aces, Poker Tricks, The Force, Reds and Blacks, Mentalism, The Pre-Arranged Deck, One-Way Cards, Mathematical & Self-Working Card Tricks, Gags Bets & Stunts, Card Miracles, and Card Handling.

Some well-known favorites are included, like "Wanna Bet?" (the common sucker trick using the key-card principle), "The Piano Trick", and "Do As I Do". But Magic With Cards also features stunning and classic self-workers like the "Lazy Man's Card Trick" (under the name "Too Tired") and an impromptu version of Paul Curry's "Out of This World" (under the name "Intuition").

When I learned Paul Harris' popular "Overkill" years later I noticed that I already knew the basic mechanics and concept from Garcia's "Astounding Prediction." Even to this day one of my favorite impromptu card tricks is "Aces Follow Aces" (essentially the same as Charlie Nagle's "Traveling Aces" in Scarne on Card Tricks, which just adds a magician's choice at the end).

See a complete list of the contents here.

Recommendation

Much of the material in "Magic With Cards" can be found in other sources, so it's not a "must have" by any means if you already have a decent library, or are already at an intermediate level. But for a novice looking to take the next step, it's the perfect resource, and is even more suitable than commonly recommended titles like "Scarne on Card Tricks" or the books in Karl Fulves' Self-Working Card Tricks series. The advantage of Garcia and Schindler's book is that it is a very solid and well-rounded collection, and it gives some good suggestions for patter as well.

There's also a section on some basic card handling techniques, including some shuffles and elementary card control. But the tricks themselves don't require sleight of hand, which means that beginners can focus on performance.

I'm glad that this 1975 title was reprinted in 1993 to make it more widely available, and it's one the first titles I'd suggest for someone looking for good material to start out with in card magic.  It's also a bargain - via Amazon you can buy used paperback copies for around a dollar, or a brand new hard copy for under $5.



Want to learn more?  Get it on Amazon here.
« Last Edit: May 25, 2021, 12:11:08 AM by EndersGame »
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