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Details

Self-Working Close-Up Card Magic

Fulves, Karl

Dover

(Based on 1 review)
Easy-to-master crowd-pleasing tricks, require a deck of cards and offer beginners experience in handling an audience. Instructions.

Reviews

Stuart Philip

Official Reviewer

Aug 16, 2023

Overview

Self-working Close Up Card Magic is a $6.95 paperback book filled with 56 tricks. For the price, it is a no brainer, but you may have to page through the 120 pages to find something that you will use AND will stick with you.

Karl Fulves has many books out there and this is not his best, but again, it is worth the purchase in a heartbeat.

These are not pro level tricks, they are for novice and beginners that are exploring their love of magic.

Effect

This compilation of tricks has many tricks that I would not use because they don't fit with my personality or they just don't interest me because I don't like the set-up or the story line. The tricks range from 4 ace productions, stories with cards, gambling tricks and rising card tricks. Some of the tricks require a gimmick to be made and most of those were not for me.

Method

The method for the 50 some-odd tricks differ from trick to trick. The common thread is that these are fairly easy tricks to perform to your spectators. Many of the tricks may seem amateurish and not for working pros.

Product Quality

The book is well made, inexpensive and has nice and instructive hand drawn graphics to show how the cards are held in certain circumstances.

Ad Copy Integrity

The ad copy, below, is accurate.

56 Foolproof Tricks

"Close-up card magic is performed right under the noses of the spectators. It has an immediacy that cannot be duplicated by platform magic. Seasoned professionals agree there is no better way to learn how to handle an audience than when they are inches away." -Karl Fulves

Karl Fulves is one of the most popular and respected magic authorities writing today. In Self-Working Close-Up Card Magic he shows beginners how to perform 56 tried-and true, crowd-pleasing tricks for the kind of small, close-up audiences that gather at parties and family get-togethers. The tricks are simple to master. The performer needs only a deck of cards and a few everyday objects like a coin or a rubber band. The kind of close-up performing these tricks require offers beginners the best possible way to learn how to engage and handle an audience.

Among the tricks are "openers" which quickly get an audience's attention and set the stage for the rest of the act; memory tricks that make it appear the performer has an uncanny ability to memorize cards; gambling tricks that seem to give the performer an expert ability to control the cards in games of chance; and "gimmicked" cards that create eye-popping visual magic. Simple step-by-step instructions, accompanied by clear, carefully drawn illustrations, make these applause-winning tricks absolutely foolproof, requiring no long practice of dexterity to perform.

Pages 128 - Softbound, Illustrated
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