Great Magic Books For Beginners & Pros!

Hi there this is Tyler again! My Blog is just getting started so the articles are not at there best so i thought while you wait i would give you a list of books that are great to read!

First i give your four books that are great for Beginners
(Remember buy only one of these books at a time learn the tricks you like, master them and then consider another book.)

The Practical Encyclopedia of Magic by, Nicholas Einhorn
5 out of 5

This Book is the first book i ever got about magic and it is still one of my favorites. It touches on ever type of magic and gives over 1000 color photos to teach you over 120 tricks. It teaches its tricks from easier to progressively harder so it actually improves your skills as you go through. This is one of those books that you can open to any page and you will be at something great. If your a beginner i can not recommend this enough and if your a Professional you already know that a beginner book is sometimes the best book when it comes to finding great effects to preform(Woo hoo Patter& misdirection!).

Magical Illusion Conjuring Tricks Amazing Puzzles & Stunts by, Nicholas Einhorn
3 out of 5

This book was written by the same author of The Practical Encyclopedia of Magic but this book did not hit on the magic as much. It was definitely entertaining have great "tricks" and i stress tricks because they are mostly pranks or puzzles. There are a few gems in this book as there are in most magic books but just not enough. Many of effects require a lot of set up and props that you have to make. So i took off one point for not enough effects and i took off another for set up and props giving us a grand total of 3 out of 5. For beginners I would say that the hobbyist magician would definitely enjoy this but if your working towards having a job in magic this book is not a must. Professionals might want to pick this up though because even though the effects themselves are not that good the ideas can be applied to other things to make your creative juices start flowing.

Magic For Dummies by David Pogue
5 out of 5

Don't be thrown by the title this book is great! This book is actually a universal book meaning that both Professional and Beginner alike can get the same amount of benefits from this book. It has sections for most types of magic and over 90 effects that are easy to preform complete with Photos, Patter and Presentation tips for every effects! This book gets it references from many Professional Magicians so you know these tricks will be worth your time. This is a book that is a must have for both Beginner and Professional alike.

Complete Course in Magic by, Mark Wilson
4 out of 5

Now hold! before you get angry that i gave this 4 out of 5 let me explain myself! This is a GREAT! and i mean GREAT book. It has hundreds of the professional and effective effects that touch on every type of magic. Now the only reason i marked this down was for the beginner its a little much, many of the effects are for the professional not as much the beginner. It contains effects with coin shells and double back cards things that many beginner don't even know what they are let alone how to use them. I would call this book the "bridge" between beginner magic and professional magic. If your a beginner i would say wait and buy this book when you feel that you have learned every thing you can from books like the ones above and mastered many of the effects in them. If your a Professional pick this book up it has great effects that I guarantee you will use.

Now for the Professional Section. First i must state what i mean by professional because technically i am using the word incorrectly. Professional technically means you do magic as your only source of income. What i mean by professional is some one who is proficient in magic enough that you can use it as a source of income like birthday parties, church shows or even stage shows.Now that we have that out of the way lets begin with the reviews.

Modern Coin Magic by J.B. Bobo
4 out of 5
This book is so good for the professional close up magician because for about $10.00 you get 236 coin effects and 116 coin sleights. Many of the effects and sleights are very difficult but you will find quite a few that you can use right away.This book is a little dated so the language used is sometimes difficult to understand as is the pictures as well, but were magicians we love a good challenge right? It takes coin magic to a new level before reading this book i would never have dreamed you could write an entire chapter on coin magic FOR STAGE MAGIC! That right there should give you an idea on how many creative things there are in this book. This book is definitely your best "Bang for your Buck" book i have seen in a while.

13 steps to Mentalism By, Tony Corinda
5 out of 5

This book is sometimes called the bible of mentalism and for good reason. It is all you need to make people think you a true mind reader. I truly believe that you could by this book and not need another mentalism book and still be a professional mentalist. It has hundreds of the tricks of the trade every thing from book test to cold readings. The language is again a bit dated and it is almost all text with very few pictures to teach you. This book is hard to find but any good magic store should have it and you can find it online i got mine for $25.00 so its but it has about as many effects and sleights as bobo I gave it a 5 out of 5 because it is one of the few books you can buy on mentalism with everything you will need.

Practical Mental Magic by, Theodore Annemann
3 out of 5

This Book was supposed to be like the modern day 13 steps but unfortunately they failed to see the 13 steps is timeless! It has a quiet a few tricks that are good but nothing like what you see in the the 13 steps. Ironically most of the "Practical" mental magic effects are not that practical. They are in need of set up and long preparations and are many times hard to pull off in real life.
If your planing of being a mentalist or having a mentalism act i would make sure I read the 13 steps and then pick up this book.

Beyond Secrets by, Jay Sankey
5 out of 5

Legend tells that when an martial artist had finally master his art he was given a scroll that symbolized his success when the martial artist opened he found it was blank which symbolized a new beginning, that now he had reached the peak of what his master could teach him now he must go and create new things and become a better master than his own. That is how i feel about this book it is the blank scroll. I might go as far as to say I have learned more from this book than any other book on magic. It doesn't teach you any a effects so that speaks for itself right there. You can find it at sankey magic . com