I have 40 dollars to spend on a new coin magic DVD or book. I'm currently split between "In the Beginning There Were Coins" by Jay Noblezada or Bobo's Modern Coin Magic book. Any suggestions as to which I should buy?

Bobos book is great i don't know about noblezada i was kind of looking into "In the beginning there were coins" myself

Well... let me put it this way:

Asking "Bobo or Noblezada?" is like asking "Beethoven or Chikezie"?

Definitely Bobo.
I almost bought Jay's DVD but then I got Bobo's and now I feel no need to buy Jay's DVD.

If you're gonna buy a coin DVD, I would suggest David Stone's DVDs

i had bobo's book, but didn't get a lot out of it. then i got itbtwc and that helped me get down the essentials, and now i have learned a lot from bobo's, so i would say start with jays.

This is my experience also. I bought Bobo's book, and sometimes it can be hard to understand exactly what is being described in print without seeing it. Then I bought Noblezada's DVD, and after I learned the slieghts from the video, when I went back to the book, it was a lot easier for me to grasp what was being described.

Bobo. I truly think that Bobo is the best choice, because ITBTWC is a DVD. The wealth of material in the book beats the DVD in so many ways.

Yes, but what about visual aid ?

I'd go with both.

Only the lazy and unmotivated need visual aids.....

couldn't disagree more. there are many different learning styles, i happen to to be a visual learner, as i am sure that many people here are. if you learn better from a dvd, then by all means get a dvd, and no you are no lazy

I wonder what dvd Houdini learned all his effects from, or even Blackstone.

i am not saying it is necessary. but whose to say he didn't learn in person from someone, like a dvd only ten times better

"Visual learner" is the ADHD of the new century. In other words, it's the lazy man's diagnosis. The only people who truly cannot learn from books are those who can't read. Seems like kids here use the phrase "visual learner" as if it is some sort of terminal disease they can never be cured of, when the reality is that, more often than not, the "visual learner" designation is a choice, not a condition. Kids just don't read enough books these days. Period.

There is simply no reason, for example, that anyone capable of reading and understanding modern English cannot learn from Bobo's book. My God... it was written in 1952! And updated in 1964! That isn't all that long ago, people. English hasn't changed so drasrically in teh last sixty years as to render books written before 2000 unfathomable. Modern Coin Magic is a remarkably clearly written book far superior in scope, clarity, and overall quality to any DVD covering the same subject matter. And for the "visual learners," there are even pictures.

I used to worry that too much of the "professional" knowledge in magic was being made available to teens and pre-teens who were either incapable or unwilling to appreciate and respect it. While I still believe this to be true, I take comfort in the fact that the majority of the truly significant knowledge and wisdom crucial to becoming a magician resides in books -- somewhat old books, at that. What this means is that all of that information will thankfully remain out of the hands of those who don't deserve to know it, since "visual learners" will never dare go near it.

i can and have learned much from books, i have many and refer to them them often.
as for the visual learner, there have been many studies done to prove that there are indeed different types of learning.
http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/ts/styleres.html
http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-test.html
http://www.washington.edu/doit/TeamN/types.html
take your pick. if reading books works best for you, more power to ya, but this isn't the case for everyone. since i am dyslexic, it is easier for me to learn from dvds
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING LAZY[/url]

I'm not saying that there aren't different ways of learning. I've taken enough cognitive psych courses to know that, not to mention the fact that I taught for twelve years and am married to a clinical psychologist. But one of the things that all of that knowledge and experience has shown me is that there is a huge difference between being chronically incapable of learning from books and simply preferring to watch videos. So, yeah, in many of the "documentated cases" here on the Penguin forums, it's pretty much about laziness.

In your case, however, you are not a "visual learner." You are a "dyslexic," which has resulted in you having to take that into account in your learning. Are you a mild dyslexic or do you proofread a lot? I ask this because your dyslexia doesn't seem to come through in your writing. Note, too, that being dyslexic doesn't mean that you will be a good "visual learner," since the symptoms of dyslexia can include visual memory deficiency, poor visual discrimination skills, and other visual processing difficulties.

Anyway... I still stand by my original point that Bobo's book is superior to Noblezada's DVD in every way.