While there are many courses and tutorials online, learning from a book is still one of the best ways to greatly improve your skills. Below I have selected top Card Magic books.
- The Royal Road to Card Magic (1999)
- Expert Card Technique: Close-Up Table Magic (1974)
- Self-Working Card Tricks (Dover Magic Books) (1976)
- Joshua Jay’s Amazing Book of Cards: Tricks, Shuffles, Stunts & Hustles Plus Bets You Can’t Lose (2010)
- 101 Clever Card Tricks (2016)
- The Expert at the Card Table: The Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation (Dover Magic Books) (1995)
- Modern Coin Magic: 116 Coin Sleights and 236 Coin Tricks (1982)
- Easy-to-Do Card Tricks for Children (Become a Magician) (1989)
- The Expert at the Card Table (2014)
- Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic (2003)
The Royal Road to Card Magic (1999)
Would you like to confound your friends, amaze your acquaintances, amuse and dazzle crowds at parties and gatherings? Mastering a few card tricks will allow you to do all that and more. With the help of this book, anyone can develop a versatile repertoire of first-rate card tricks. In fact, mastery of just the first chapter will enable you to perform a half-dozen astounding and entertaining sleights of hand.
Expert Card Technique: Close-Up Table Magic (1974)
Scores of methods — previously known only to card experts — include passes, palming, false shuffles, false cuts, changes, crimps, jogs, reverses, rear palms and more. Altogether, 341 sleights and tricks. 318 illustrations show exact position of fingers and hands. .
Self-Working Card Tricks (Dover Magic Books) (1976)
What is a self-working card trick? A trick that does not depend upon legerdemain or special abilities on the part of the magician, but a trick that works automatically because of the mathematics inherent in the card deck itself.
Joshua Jay’s Amazing Book of Cards: Tricks, Shuffles, Stunts & Hustles Plus Bets You Can’t Lose (2010)
Finally, here’s how to do all those showy tricks and flourishes that card players are dying to know: how to send a deck cascading from one hand to the other. How to snap open two flawless fans. How to cut a deck with one hand. Choose four aces seemingly at random. Flick a card accurately across the room.The clearest, easiest-to-follow book of step-by-step directions, The Amazing Book of Cards will show anyone how to do 52 amazing things with a deck of cards.
101 Clever Card Tricks (2016)
This simple step-by-step guide makes magic easy no matter what your age. Use ‘Brain power’ tricks that use mathematics and exercise your memory skills to perform mind-reading stunts. Inventive tricks using mobile phones will delight more experienced magicians looking for something new.
The Expert at the Card Table: The Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation (Dover Magic Books) (1995)
“The Expert at the Card Table is the most famous, the most carefully studied book ever published on the art of manipulating cards at gaming tables.” —from the Foreword by Martin Gardner.For almost a century, this book has been considered indispensable to attaining the highest level of card mastery. In it, S. W.
Modern Coin Magic: 116 Coin Sleights and 236 Coin Tricks (1982)
When party guests request a few tricks, be prepared. Ask for a coin, and perform some of the tricks in this book. Because you will not have been aided by special stage apparatus, the results will be all the more astonishing. As tricks with coins are so readily improvised, they are among the most impressive forms of legerdemain.This book is the most complete treatise ever written on sleight-of-hand coin conjuring.
Easy-to-Do Card Tricks for Children (Become a Magician) (1989)
Children love card tricks, and with this book by an expert in magic and card conjuring, youngsters will be able to master a host of tricks especially designed for them.Tricks are arranged in order of difficulty, with the simplest at the beginning of the book.
The Expert at the Card Table (2014)
First published in 1902 by the mysterious S. W. Erdnase, The Expert at the Card Table is the acknowledged “bible” of card manipulation. Offering instruction in card cheating, sleight of hand and magic tricks, this masterpiece has never been out of print. This new edition from Charles & Wonder restores Erdnase’s classic text to its original condition, reversing decades of modification that have gradually effaced the author’s writing.
Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic (2003)
From one of the world’s premier practitioners of classic magic, with years of experience instructing younger readers in the magical arts, comes this new revision of his complete guide to learning and performing fantastic feats of prestidigitation. Acclaimed by the Los Angeles Times as “the text that young magicians swear by,” it’s full of step-by-step instructions.
Best Card Magic Books Worth Your Attention
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some card magic books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
A History of Cigarette and Trade Cards: The Magic Inside the Packet
Author(s): John Broom
ID: 2388798, Publisher: Pen & Sword, Year: 30 Aug 2018, Size: 38 Mb, Format: epub
5-Minute Morning Magic: Daily Self-Talk for Creating the Life of Your Dreams
Author(s): Maryse Cardin
ID: 3579895, Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, Year: 2022, Size: 1 Mb, Format: epub
Do Magic Things with Cards: Foundation Knowledge of Magic for Beginners
Author(s): Steadham Amber
ID: 3186285, Publisher: , Year: 2021, Size: 5 Mb, Format: epub
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are absolutely record-breakers according to The New York Times, others are written by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.