Customer Reviews

The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Card & Magic Tricks

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I am an amateur magicican and I must say this book is lousy at best. This is definately a book that you should judge by its title. (it is actually quite small barely fitting in your hand). As the latter suggests, it is quite difficult to hold on to this book since its really so small in size. As far as the contents, the book does not contain any useful slights. In addition, the tricks are not explained in a whole lot of detail and the pictures don't help at all either. I did learn some tricks which were quite good, but it took considerable time to learn based on the nature of the book. Do yourself a favor and buy Mark Wilson's Complete course in magic.

I think this book is the best! It has everything including slight-of-hand maneuvers and a great deal of card tricks! I would recomened getting this book. Even after four and a half years of being a magician, this book was still useful. GET THIS BOOK

This book is an excellent guide to those who wish to put on magic shows or just make friends ask you, "how the heck did you do that". While some of the props you have to make yourself, most of these tricks can be done with everyday objects. It also allows you to add your own creativity to the tricks. A great book!

This book is great for those wanting to learn easy to moderately difficult card and magic tricks.

This is by far one of the most comprehensive books on magic I have seen. I have been a magician for nearly ten years now, and I still find use for this versatile manual of magic. It has everything from card and rope magic, to amazing parlour tricks!!! If you are beginning in magic or are just looking for a new resource for your repetior, you will find what you need to spice up your act in this book. I love the book and would recommend to anybody!

This is a review of The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Card & Magic Tricks (1996) by The Diagram Group.

I have a pet peeve. I don't like to see the word "Encyclopedia" in the title of a conventional reference work. For example, I would expect an encyclopedia of magic to be a comprehensive tome containing articles arranged in alphabetical order on the whole panorama of magic as a performing art. This book does not live up to such an expectation.

"The Little Giant Book of Card & Magic Tricks" -- now there's a title that fits this document. "Book," not "Encyclopedia," more appropriately describes the composition of the volume. "Little" describes the palm-size dimensions of the book, 5.4 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches. "Giant" describes the aggregate mass of the book, 512 pages of solidly packed content. "Card ... Tricks" describes the contents of part one of two, consisting of 83 card tricks. "Magic Tricks" describes the contents of part two of two, consisting of 66 magic tricks.

Pet peeves aside, there is much to like in this Little Giant book on conjuring. There is something for everyone in this book because effects are graded from simple tricks, to moderately easy tricks, to tricks requiring skill and practice.

Are you a beginning magician? You can start immediately to entertain your family and friends with Balloon Crazy, Chinese Robbery, Do As I Do, Handkerchief Cleaver, It Was a Knot but Now It's Not, Pen Through Handkerchief, and Traveling Coin.

Are you a mid-level conjuror? Here are some tricks that will stretch your skills and make you the life of the party: Blow That Knot Away, Book Test, Clock Trick, Coin in the Bun, Cut and Restored Rope, Dream Come True, Impossible Release, Indestructible Balloon, Long-Distance Trick, Newspaper Prediction, Svengali Deck, Torn and Restored Newspaper, and Vanishing Knots.

Are you a skilled performer looking for additions to your repertory? Here are some tricks for your consideration: Abracadabra, Card Through the Table, Cups and Balls (with a surprise finish), Double Prediction, Inner Tube, Ropes Change Length, Silver and Copper, Tipping the Balance, Two out of 52, and Upside-down Mystery.

My Favorite Chapter: I especially liked Chapter 3, "Tricks Using Arranged Stacks of Cards." The card tricks in this chapter are based on the Si Stebbins System. (Si Stebbins was a vaudeville performer who kept his "stacked deck" a secret for forty years.) Here are three of the startling effects. (1) While the performer riffles through the pack, the spectator is invited to say "stop" at any time. The performer hands the larger pile created by the break-point to the spectator. Within seconds, without counting, the performer tells the spectator how many cards are in each pile -- confirmed by counting. (2) A spectator extracts a small bundle of cards from the middle of the pack, keeps the top card, and distributes the remaining cards to other onlookers. The performer proceeds to identify the first spectator's card, then identifies all the cards held by the other spectators. (3) The performer cuts the deck, then deals four poker hands face down. When the cards are turned over, all hands show a straight flush. The first hand is a five-high hearts flush. The second hand is an eight-high clubs flush, beating the first hand. The third hand is a jack-high diamonds flush, beating the first two hands. The last hand, the performer's, is a royal flush (ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of spades), beating all the others!