Customer Reviews

Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been studying sleight-of-hand magic and other departments of the art for thirty-five years. Additionally, in my own professional life, I have written 25 textbooks in another field. --With these credentials, I simply must step forward to praise Mark Wilson's "Complete Course in Magic," for the masterful instruction and the highest quality presentation.

First of all, this book is a coffee-table book-size, produced with quality binding, excellent paper selection, and the most captivatingly perfect photographic cover treatment possible! This all promises quality content; this inspires pride in possessing such a weighty and elegant work.

I can say, unequivocally, that this book is easy-to-understand, eminently practical, and immediately enjoyable; the learning factor --even for someone quite skilled-- is off the charts! Drawings everywhere! Little tips of patter and misdirection accompany all the sleights, and even self-working tricks are turned into miracles.

I have never, in all my reading over almost half-a century, encountered a more beautiful presentation, a more lucid instruction in magic. **If just one of these tricks ("presentations," really) enters your life, your personality, and, in turn, delights the people around you, the cost of this book will be rewarded many, many times over.

This is no kiddy's Course in magic, although youngsters with intelligence may begin a lifetime of delight through these pages. This is a careful, complete presentation of magic principles and nifty presentations that EVERY magician must have in his/her library.

This is my first magic book and it is fantastic. I've seen my share of amateur and professional magic tricks. This book covers the gamut. In one hour, I found and learned three tricks that I've never seen before. I performed them for co-workers the same day and astonished them.

I've since found a good handful of tricks that are original (to me), don't require great slight-of-hand skills and don't cost money (for props). Now I perform them for friends and strangers and, viola, my circle of friends is growing! Do a few easy-to-learn magic tricks really make one more interesting? I guess so.

And there's the easiest little "Jumping Rubber Band" trick that if you show a child, then teach him how to do it (sorry, I broke the first rule of magic), you'll put a big smile on his face and he'll excitedly run off to show everyone his magic.

The tricks in the book are very well explained and illustrated, making learning a breeze. After a couple of hours of reading and practicing, I was able to amaze my daughter and my wife. I had never done magic before in my life, but this book made it a breeze. Highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn a few tricks, or to become an amateur magician.

My mom gave me this book about 10 years ago, when I was 13. I has taught me soooo much and gave me all the basics that I needed to get underway with later, more advanced stuff. It teaches, for example, the basic (and thus, of course, limited) versions of such sleights as the French Drop and the Double-Lift. At that point I could already do tricks that fooled a lot of people, although not many of the real kickers. There are some very good tricks in it, of course, such as his "Sandwiched Aces" which, even today, I use in my repertoire. This is a springboard from which you can (and should) go to the PhD stuff, such as Paul Harris, Harry Lorraine, Ed Marlo, Gary Ouellet. This course is, therefore, a highly-recommended introduction to close-up magic.

You can't beat the value of this one. 300 tricks CLEARLY explained so that you can begin doing them in front of your friends and family in just a few hours (well, at least some of the tricks). I remember Wilson from TV. He was a great performer, a family man, a lover of magic. This is the best bang for your buck!

I am a street magican at the Georgia Ren Fair and 85% of the tricks I use on the street come from this book. I got this book back when I was about 11 years old and have found it invaulable!

Whenever parents or kids ask me how I learned what I know, I tell them to get a copy of this book!

There have been a number of magic courses available in the past, such as Hugard and Tarbell, but a modern-day magic enthusiast often gets lost in the archaic references to waistcoasts and opera hats. In the 70's Mark Wilson created a masterful course in magic for the contemporary conjuror. Most importantly, each of the effects is "idiot proofed" by extensive instructions and superb drawings. When I was in the magic business, I personally sold hundreds of these book, giving it my highest recommendation. For the price, you can't do better for someone looking to learn the art and craft of magic. Countless individuals owe their interest to Mark Wilson, myself included. A tremendous value; a milestone work.

This book is GREAT for beginner magicians. It explains everything crystal clear, and gives great pictures to help you learn. This book makes it extremely easy to learn magic, that even a kid could do it. This book is overflowing with magic from the first to the last page. He starts you on basic self-working card tricks, then you start learning some card tricks that require sleight of hand. What is really great about the magic tricks in this book is that they are easy to master. It does not take very long at all to have them mermorized and be able to perform them. He also teaches you various methods of forcing cards. After that, he explains some different and gimmiked cards and what kind of tricks you can do with them. Then comes one of my absolute favorite part in the book. This is also the hardest part in the book, and it is flourishes. He goes from the one handed cut to the one hand fan to springing the cars, and finally ends at throwing a card. The other half of the book is dedicated and filled with coin, rope, silk and hankerchief, impromptu, mental, and billard ball magic. He also goes over some magic tricks which he defines as "betchas". Furthermore, at the end of the book there are some miscellaneous magic tricks. All these sections and tricks are explained just as beautifully as the card tricks. This is an AMAZIng book, and if you are a beginner and just starting magic THIS IS THE BOOK TO GET!!!

A friend of mine who skills are in the advanced range recommended this book. The tricks in this book are explained very clearly. It is a simply wonderful book and spells out a wide range of tricks ranging from card magic (my favorite) to impromptu magic, rope magic, coin magic, cups & balls, billiard ball magic, mental magic, stage magic. A very comprehensive book that contains tons of illustrations. An excellent buy for the amateur magician. I have baffled friends, co-workers, and family with the magic tricks I have learned from this book.

I purchased this book about a year ago (different cover photo from that illustrated at the moment) and within a few hours I was able to do some card tricks that impressed my wife and kids. In a book this size you are going to find everything from some self-working tricks and kid oriented tricks to very convincing sleight of hand with coins and cards. There is even a section on more elaborate magic with big props and disappearing people.

My mother-in-law, who grew up in NY City in the depresssion and saw a lot of people hoodwinked on the street w/ shell and card games, was not convinced that what I was doing was impressive. But when I asked her to explain how the tricks worked she could not. A true test I say!

This is a great book for any child just starting out to an adult who has always wanted to learn a few card and coin tricks. In my opinion this is a better introduction to magic than any of those box sets that are so ubiquitous in the toy stores. Some final thoughts, be sure to practice because as soon as folks know you are learning magic from a book they will dismiss your "magic" as simple tricks and look *very* closely at your moves adding additional pressure. And make sure you have a good excuse for not giving away the secrets... everyone wants to know how it was done!