Alright. I've had enough of n00bs coming here and getting mad at some of the more expirenced magicians for telling them that books are much better then DVD's. (BTW, this applys it ID's as well.) This essay is on why books are better, how books are better, the pros and cons, and the best books for beginners.

Books are much better then DVD's. Period. Ask any magician who does magic for a living and they will say 99% of the time that they have learned more from books then they have from DVD's. Of course there are some things, like XCM that you can't learn out of books, but thats a different subject. Back on track, books have more bang for your buck. A DVD generally contains 10-15 effects for around $30. A book of the same price would give you much more. Card college volume 1 is $30. You will learn so much more from that book then you can from 5 DVD's.

First of all watching a DVD, you have to have the remote in one hand, and the (cards, coin, silk, rope, exc.) in the other because you have to watch the explination over and over again. With a book, all you have to do if flip a page. The authors of the books that i will list later are all very sucessful magicians who are excellent authors and explain with words what most magicians can't explain with a video. Reading is much easier then having to watch some guy try to do a trick slowly, and explain whats going on.

The pros of books:
More bang for your buck
Easier to learn from
Cheaper
You have 2 free hands while learing a sleight
You can take it anywhere
The good authors are better then the best "visual teachers"

The cons of books:
When i think of one, i'll post it here

Now, the best books for beginners. I will start with people who are just getting started in magic and want to know what to start with. I would suggest Tarbell Course in Magic. It is a set of 8 books and covers everything from the history of magic to cards, coins, ropes, cups and balls, silks, sponge balls, everything. If you can't afford those, or your not sure if magic is right for you yet, get Mark Wilsons Complete Course in Magic. Its basically the beginner sleights of each gerne of magic. If you've decided what you like best is cards, i reccomend picking up Card College by Roberto Giobbi. It is by far the forefront of card magic and will take your magic to the next level. If you like coin magic, J.B. Bobos Modern Coin Magic is the way to go. It is known as the bible of coin magic, and should be in every magicians bookshelf wether you like coin magic or not... Some other good books would be The Royal Road to Card Magic, just about anything by Gazzo is good to learn crowd control skills and busking magic, also a personal favorite of mine is Terry LaGeroulds PasteBoard Presentations II.

If anybody wants to add anything to this, feel free.
Magically yours,

Marc Dolan

Here is another essay.
http://www.penguinmagic.com/discuss/vie ... 53&start=0
Also, I just want to say two cons of books: (Though they are not that terrible) 1. You can not read without a light. & 2. You can't really visualize the trick the exact same way as the teacher, but is always good to use your imagination and find out how to make your own patter. That is it! Those are about the ONLY cons! Dvd's: (Sorry, don't have time right now, maybe tomorrow ) Books are better. Though there are still some great Dvds such as by Gregory Wilson and Richard Kaufman and (from what I've heard about his RRTCM Dvd) Paul Wilson (I suppose). (any more you would want to list would be fine, can't think of many more at the time being) With a DVD, you have to constantly go back and fro thru every single section when trying to figure out where you are, very frustrating.
But remember this: The War of the Worlds book was absloutly boring! Yet the movie was so fantastic.
So, if you are considering about buying a DVD, try to buy a book first, then consider buying the DVD. Remember: You can never learn too much! Everything else I would say Sunny has already listed above. Buy a book you n00bs!
Just another useless thought,
Kudda.

and if anyone cares.. here is an essay i wrote a little while ago on another forum (hope this is okay)

http://www.tntmagic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=996

FINALLY! PENGUIN HAS SEEN THE LIGHT, AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL!

There's just so much books have to offer, over some "cool id trix," and some DVD that will take you "beginner to pro".

The biggest cons with DVD's, ID's, and individual effects are, that if you see a demo video, you will most likely copy the person's patter, which will most likely not fit you or your performance style. You have to think outside the box! Add humor, a storyline, a plot, not "Ok, whoever you are, I need you to pick a card. Got it? Ok, now, this is going to be fair. Was that fair? You know what, to make it even more fair, we'll blah... blah... blah...".

Get your own performing style people! There are too many people today who aren't in magic for what it is, but for self gratification, not all the things that make magic an actual artform, and not something sold in a box in the games section of Toy's "R" Us. There's also so many people doing "street magic," and wearing black clothes, with black nail polish, and they have supernatural powers! Ooooh, creeeppppyyyy!

People, take Sunny's advice, and don't only take the adice you want to take! If you're shooting for an ID, check Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic out from your local library, or, better yet, get it from Barnes N Noble. Get this, J.B. Bobo's Modern Corn Magic, and you'll have a good foundation of cards, coins, stage, and parlor magic! Better yet, after this, pick up Card College Vol. 1! After this set, you'll have such a strong foundation of card magic, you could table hop and make a living from just card magic.

I agree that books are better. Its also more helpful that buying 1 trick for $50 that does one effect.

Here's a bunch of authors you missed on the first post (I'm a book junkie, so bear with me)

John Bannon, AKA God. (EVERYTHING HE TOUCHES IS GOLD!)
David Acer
Juan Tamariz
Paul Harris
Simon Aronson
Bill Malone (supposedly has a book coming out this year, I hope its true!)
Richard kaufman
Jay sankey (Sankey pankey is one of the best books I own)
Jon rauchembauer (Sankey unleashed, and the hierophant)
Aaron fisher (Made me learn the half pass properly)

And I can't think of anymore off the top of my head.

Sometimes just reading a book to see the thoguht behind the effects (like in the pape engine) is worth the book price.

very good essay Sunny, i agree with you. Very good

While I agree with you, on some level, it looks like you've only evaluated the pros of books versus the cons of DVDs. A little biased, are we? The problem is, you've come to the table with an agenda. You're not evaluating books versus DVDs. You're only writing this essay to justify your own views. Naturally, you would have many biases which would be based on pure speculation. I still like books though. Don't get me wrong.

Ahh, yes. But those books are not for beginners. Thats what my essay was about. I was thinking about including more advanced books, but most people that are at that level, already know about them. So i left the hard books off.

Also, the best book for a n00b, which should also be on every magician's bookshelf: Secrets Of Alkazar

I would recommend this above the Complete Course if the person isn't sure if they want to get into magic.

I didn't post the pros or cons of DVD's. Just books. The con list would of been way too long.

books are better, you learn more from them. DVD's are good to because it is visual. but i cost so mutch just for one trick. for example a dvd i $100 for one trick. it a good trick, but if they would have mad it in to a book it wouls have been a lot cheaper.

I agree with you on some points but I can't picture me learning magic just from books. I think books and Dvd's both have their advantages. But I do agree that books are very important, much more material, much cheaper, and some of the best magic are in books.

Some of my favorite books are

Art of Astonishment 1-3 (Paul Harris)
Sankey Pankey (Jay Sankey
After Craft (J.K. Hartman)
Trickery Treats (J.K. Hartman)
Mnemonica (Juan Tamariz)
Pasteboard Presentations II (Terry LaGorould)
7 deceptions (Luke Jermay)
A-ha (David Harkey and Eric Anderson)
Mad Mojo (Andrew Mayne)

That's just a few that love, there are so many

But like I said before, DVD's are equally important to me. I think that Books and DVD's should be used to compliment each other.

i completely agree with this. BTW another con for books is when you are in the middle of something and you have to flip the page it gets very annoying.

But still i prefer learning from dvd's because i find them more entertaining, but i know i won't learn as much from them. So my resources are 50% books and 50% dvds/vhs.

ben winter

i disagree i think dvds are better
im dislexic and i would rather watch a trick than read it
and to get a real good book cost a lot more than to get a real good dvd