Beginner and new member here :)

[Keroka0]

Hello iam Beginner my name is Abdalrahman my nickname is Keroka

iam from Egypt i just start learning card tricks and i love it so much i tried some and i do 3 tricks for now but other tricks i cann't do it cuz of my deck i use normal cheap deck which only costs 3 EGP = 0.5 Dollars xD

i was looking for guide about what deck should i start with ? someone told me to start with Bicycle Guardians (idk why guardians)

and if someone can lead to somewhere i can buy this (This : Cards you will tell me to use as beginner ) from because i cann't find it in egypt or it cost alot like 30~35 Dollars and that's much i think

also i would like some free e-books or videos for easy tricks to start with it or even some moves i should learn to do tricks more good


Sorry for my bad English

[kdklown]

While I cannot speak intelligently about what cards are readily available to you in that part of the world, I can tell you this...  You should be able to find Bicycle Riderbacks or Bee playing cards somewhere over there.  They are of good quality and go to decks for magicians.  Almost anything you find made by the United States Playing Card Company will be serviceable for magic.  If this manufacturer is too hard to come by then you will just have to keep buying locally sourced product until you stumble upon something quality. 

As for the free magic stuff...  Youtube is your friend!  There are tons of folks who post tutorials to basic sleights and tricks.  If you're just starting out check out MisMag822.  He has tons of tutorials for card tricks and basic sleights.  Use this as a jumping off point and he will lead you to plenty of other youtubers who provide quality instruction.  Be advised, once you get into higher level stuff you will have to pay for it.  But those videos alone should get you started. 

As far as basic starter moves I would go to the internet and search the following to start with...

Double lift
False cuts
False shuffles
Spring
Fans
Color changes
Passes
I'm sure someone can add some more but that's most of what I started with.

Hope this helps.
Good luck.

[Keroka0]

i would like to as what's deff between the bicycle playing cards and local cards like what i got now i found that it dosen't spring well and not that easy to use but idk if it's me or the cards ?

[kdklown]

The process of making the cards is what sets them apart, USPC being the widely regarded benchmark.  Ok, Im going to give you a homework assignment now.  Read the link below.  There is a ton of information in there and it should answer a lot of your basic questions.  Also use the search function to answer anything you can't find on there.  If you can't find your answers by all means come back and ask them.  Happy researching!

http://aethercards.com/discourse/playing-card-plethora/playing-cards-fact-or-fiction-myths-debunked-here/?all

[Nurul]

Hello iam Beginner my name is Abdalrahman my nickname is Keroka

iam from Egypt i just start learning card tricks and i love it so much i tried some and i do 3 tricks for now but other tricks i cann't do it cuz of my deck i use normal cheap deck which only costs 3 EGP = 0.5 Dollars xD

i was looking for guide about what deck should i start with ? someone told me to start with Bicycle Guardians (idk why guardians)

and if someone can lead to somewhere i can buy this (This : Cards you will tell me to use as beginner ) from because i cann't find it in egypt or it cost alot like 30~35 Dollars and that's much i think

also i would like some free e-books or videos for easy tricks to start with it or even some moves i should learn to do tricks more good


Sorry for my bad English

Hi abdalrahman (or salaamz). YouTube is probably the best place to learn basic magic. Mismag822 gives some pretty good tutorials for beginners as does andyfieldmagic. You can also try asad from 52 kardz. Checking these out will lead you to other tutorials. My advice would be to practice one move and move on to the next rather than practice 10 in one go. Any help you need or advice, feel free I drop me a PM.

There's also Don who performs magic at a children's hospital in NY. I'm sure he'd be happy to lend some advice as well

Happy hunting

[Don Boyer]

You asked about the difference between Bicycle cards and what's available locally.  The United States Playing Card Company (USPC) has been making cards for over 125 years now - longer if you count the origin time of some of their subsidiary companies.  They've got it down pretty well after all this time.

As far as decks to begin with - especially on a budget...

If you can find them, you might find that Streamlines or Aladdins, also made by USPC, are less expensive than Bicycles.  If you do find Streamlines, make certain they're either made in Spain or the US - the Chinese-made decks are terrible.

If finding USPC decks is prohibitively expensive, there's a few European brands that should suffice.  Primary among them would be Fournier (a USPC subsidiary in Spain), Piatnik (I think they're Swiss) and Offason (Sweden).

There's a few simple magician's decks that you should look into finding.  A Svengali deck allows you to easily force a specific card on a person and even make the entire deck appear to have changed to that card.  A stripper deck, sometimes called a Wizard deck, allows you to perform feats of card manipulation that would normally require a great deal of skill, and it's easy for a beginner to use.  An invisible deck is arguably one of the best tricks in all of card magic - you'd have to see it to believe it.  Lastly, a marked deck can be useful for mind reading and other related tricks.  If you want to save a few dollars, you can get a Gambler's deck - it's a combined stripper/marked deck, and also uses a special stack order to perform some incredible feats, so it's like three magic decks in one.

There are books and videos that can help you learn how to use all of these decks.  Try to avoid using the simplest, obvious tricks - like holding up someone's card facing them and telling them what the card is - because people know magic decks exist and you'll be giving away the secret if you do them.  It's best to do tricks that don't reveal the way they're performed.

These magic retail websites not only sell custom decks and ship internationally, but they also provide some simple magic tricks for free in addition to the ones that they sell.

Ellusionist - http://www.ellusionist.com
Dan and Dave Buck, identical twins, magicians and card flourishers - http://www.dananddave.com
Theory11 - http://www.theory11.com

A few other magic shops that make/sell custom decks (or just sell custom decks they create) would be:
The Blue Crown - http://www.thebluecrown.com
The House of Playing Cards (owned by the Blue Crown) - http://www.houseofplayingcards.com
David Blaine, magician - http://www.davidblaine.com

Of course, you could also drop into this forum and ask around... 

Welcome on board, Abdalrahman - a salaam alaikum.

[Keroka0]

You asked about the difference between Bicycle cards and what's available locally.  The United States Playing Card Company (USPC) has been making cards for over 125 years now - longer if you count the origin time of some of their subsidiary companies.  They've got it down pretty well after all this time.

As far as decks to begin with - especially on a budget...

If you can find them, you might find that Streamlines or Aladdins, also made by USPC, are less expensive than Bicycles.  If you do find Streamlines, make certain they're either made in Spain or the US - the Chinese-made decks are terrible.

If finding USPC decks is prohibitively expensive, there's a few European brands that should suffice.  Primary among them would be Fournier (a USPC subsidiary in Spain), Piatnik (I think they're Swiss) and Offason (Sweden).

There's a few simple magician's decks that you should look into finding.  A Svengali deck allows you to easily force a specific card on a person and even make the entire deck appear to have changed to that card.  A stripper deck, sometimes called a Wizard deck, allows you to perform feats of card manipulation that would normally require a great deal of skill, and it's easy for a beginner to use.  An invisible deck is arguably one of the best tricks in all of card magic - you'd have to see it to believe it.  Lastly, a marked deck can be useful for mind reading and other related tricks.  If you want to save a few dollars, you can get a Gambler's deck - it's a combined stripper/marked deck, and also uses a special stack order to perform some incredible feats, so it's like three magic decks in one.

There are books and videos that can help you learn how to use all of these decks.  Try to avoid using the simplest, obvious tricks - like holding up someone's card facing them and telling them what the card is - because people know magic decks exist and you'll be giving away the secret if you do them.  It's best to do tricks that don't reveal the way they're performed.

These magic retail websites not only sell custom decks and ship internationally, but they also provide some simple magic tricks for free in addition to the ones that they sell.

Ellusionist - http://www.ellusionist.com
Dan and Dave Buck, identical twins, magicians and card flourishers - http://www.dananddave.com
Theory11 - http://www.theory11.com

A few other magic shops that make/sell custom decks (or just sell custom decks they create) would be:
The Blue Crown - http://www.thebluecrown.com
The House of Playing Cards (owned by the Blue Crown) - http://www.houseofplayingcards.com
David Blaine, magician - http://www.davidblaine.com

Of course, you could also drop into this forum and ask around... 

Welcome on board, Abdalrahman - a salaam alaikum.

thanks for advices and information

i got a question i found someone selling bicycle playing cards finally here in Egypt and it's kinda cheap and i need to ask if i can start with Guardians deck ? idk anything about it but i found that it looks good from back and it dosen't cost much so is it good for me ? or should i begin with standard bicycle playing cards ?

[Don Boyer]

i got a question i found someone selling bicycle playing cards finally here in Egypt and it's kinda cheap and i need to ask if i can start with Guardians deck ? idk anything about it but i found that it looks good from back and it dosen't cost much so is it good for me ? or should i begin with standard bicycle playing cards ?

There's no reason why you couldn't.  The Bicycle Guardians deck comes in three versions.  The first version has an image of the card on the back, an older Theory11 logo on the bottom and a lightly-glossy box.  The second version is the same except for a matte finish to the box.  The second version is still on sale at Theory11 and comes with a double-backer - a card with the back design on both sides, useful for performing certain magic tricks.

The third version was the first licensing deal that Theory11 hammered out with USPC - they allowed USPC to make a version of their Guardians design for sale and distribution under the USPC brand name.  The box has "Playing Cards" in both English and French on the front, and on the back is a picture of the card back at an angle with some advertising text.  Instead of a double-backer card, this version comes with a card that teaches a simple magic trick.

Bicycle Guardians are made in pretty much the same manner as any other basic Bicycle deck, using the same stock and finish.  As an added bonus, all versions of the deck have two identical jokers (useful for certain tricks) and a hidden one-way design on the card back.  A one-way design can be used to identify a card in the deck - if you have all the cards facing one way and turn your spectator's selected card around when placing it back in the deck so it's in the opposite orientation, you'd be able to spot the card in a fan or spread fairly quickly.  You can also have all the cards one-way except for, as an example, the Aces, allowing you to quickly spot them at the beginning of a trick.  (Just don't use that kind of deck to play poker!)