The first volume in this landmark course sets the groundwork for the rest of the series, beginning with lessons on the proper ways to hold, deal and shuffle the cards, then progressing through many basic sleights and techniques, including perhaps the most thorough and revealing discussion of the classic force ever offered.
Picking up where Volume 1 left off, Volume 2 teaches such classic and invaluable sleights as the palm, the pass, the glimpse, false counts and much more. Volume 2 concludes with a chapter on psychology, misdirection and presentation that's among the best treatments ever done on these important subjects
Volume 3 contains instruction on such invaluable sleights as the push-off double turnover, one-handed top palm, the Ascanio spread, gambler's cop, the Vernon addition, false displays and riffle shuffles, the convincing control, the Olram subtlety, and much more-including many powerful card tricks and routines.
In volume 4 you will learn such invaluable sleights as the invisible pass, the turnover and spread passes, the Christ twist, second and bottom deals, the Jinx change, the Green angle separation, the cut force, the dribble force, and much more-including many tricks and routines by Mr. Giobbi himself.
Volume 5 diverges from the established Card College formula. Judging that the reader now has more than a sufficient number of tools in his grasp, Mr. Giobbi provides eight chapters filled with tricks and routines that illustrate how various techniques are applied to create world-class card magic. These effects, however, are not mere constructions meant for teaching. Most have been drawn from Roberto Giobbi's professional repertoire-and because of this, even the classics of card magic are given a fresh gleam as Giobbi adds refinements won from years of performing experience.
His choice of material is impeccable, featuring not only original effects and handlings of his own, but tricks and routines by world-masters as well. One finds such gems as Fred Kaps' presentation for The Signed Card in Box, along with Giobbi's cunning treatment of this modern classic, Henry Christ's fabulous Ace routine and a superb handling of a forgotten masterpiece by Charlie Miller. And everything is taught with the clarity and attention to detail for which the Card College series has become known. Open this book and welcome to the party-prepare to graduate!
Along with the classics of card magic, Mr. Giobbi includes original ideas and refinements from his own repertoire, guaranteeing every reader, no matter how experienced, fresh techniques and insights into the performance of professional caliber card magic!
Roberto Giobbi is famed as the author of the supremely excellent Card College series of books, and deservedly so. They are the finest course in card magic extant and simply fabulous. His other contributions to the art are turning out to be equally impressive, Mr. Giobbi has an excellent mind for keeping track of all the great developments in card magic, and elsewhere it seems, and organizing them into a gestalt that is beautiful to behold.
Recently, he has been doing an excellent workshop on the Professor, Dai Vernon, which is a must see, if you have the opportunity, and there are also excellent notes available documenting much of the content he discusses during the workshop. Further, he has been supplementing the Card College series with some video companions to the work which are very well produced and wonderful (hopefully the series will continue!), as well as the Card College Light trilogy that presents self working card effects in the same thorough detail as the sleight of hand books.
Reviews (4)
They are so nicely produced that you want to read them again and again.
While beginners can start with volume 1, once you begin study you will most likely want the remaining volumes and it makes sense to buy the set as they flow so wonderfully together and build upon your foundation as you read and study each book. I would not start with any volume other than volume 1 if you were going to buy these books one at a time however, then you can build from there.
There are effects you can learn right in the first few chapters that are easy to do, and later as you advance, you will learn harder techniques and effects which will require more practice. I also like that each effect is usually given a presentation so you can see how the author approaches patter for the given situation. I still encourage anybody to develop their own patter and presentation however and not just copy what is given.
Much like other famous books before, i.e. Royal Road to Card Magic, the reader is lead chapter by chapter and lesson by lesson from basics like how to hold cards in the hand and the tools needed to study card magic to advanced techniques of the expert level, all the while teaching some really great card effects to illustrate the principles of each lesson. To me this is a modern version of many of the great card magic books of the past all rolled into a wonderful series.
You will also find some chapters on theory, humor, and the principles that make magic work, that when studied will help you not only in card magic but other forms as well and maybe even in your personal or professional life. The last time I looked I think there are around 64 chapters total amongst the 5 books and you will be pleased with the amount of card sleights, moves, and material that is covered in these books. Most could say that this would be all anybody would need for a lifetime of study with the pasteboards.
I feel Roberto Giobbi is extremely analytical in his approach to card magic, but he also treats it with the utmost of respect with a goal of elevating it to a true art. If you want to learn from the start how to do the same you cannot go wrong buying this series of books. Paraphrasing one of the lines of the first book...if you master all that is presented in these volumes you will be that much better than 90% of those that perform magic with cards. Highly recommended!
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