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[shcribb]

Howdy forums Samsquatch here, let me tell you the situation I'm in.
I've been performing magic off and on for about 2 years now and one aspect has plagued me performances. ****ty showmanship. I was just racing through effects going through a list of moves almost, not only that I was learning as many tricks as I can and performing them without practice.

So this time around I want to change that. I want to study magic, not just go through the motions. My plan is to learn some self-working card tricks at the beginning (I'm thinking Karl Fulves' books) And spend sometime really perfecting my showmanship and build up some confidence, all the while going through royal road and practicing that stuff and slowly incorporating it into my routines

My question to you all is. Which self-working card effects and the best? Which ones are you performing? What are the best resources for self-working tricks?

Thanks, Samsquatch.

 

[Bending the Real]

I am in almost the same boat as you. I got into magic a few years back, and life just got in the way, school, work, etc. I just recently got back into magic, and I'm trying to take it a lot more seriously, and dedicate more focus, and practice to the art. I am currently reading the Royal Road, and am on roughly chapter 5 of the book. If you are looking for great self-working tricks, I recommend David Stone's "Tool". I was lucky enough to have pre-ordered, and all I can say is this uses the most ingenious, easy to use gimmicks I have ever seen!

It is however sold out for the next 6 weeks until they get more in, according to penguin's site. In the mean time, the Royal Road provides one self working card trick at the end of each chapter, and chapter 4, "The Glide" has 2 great tricks that are very impressive. Also, search theory11 for some card trick downloads based on skill level. Just look for ones with green for difficulty, and those you can usually pick up in about half an hours worth of practice. Good luck

 

[JNGmagic]

con cam coincidencia by paul wilson is a great trick, it's pretty much self working ) gets amazing reactions

 

[praetoritevong]

Try the Card College Light series (Light, Lighter, Lightest) - same author as the regular CC series, but only featuring self-working effects.

 

[davec737]

An Incomprehensible Divination from Royal Road (chapter 10) and also Lennart Green's Rain Man from his Green Lite dvd.
Both get great reactions, mainly because you hardly touch the cards and the spectator has a series of genuinely free choices / actions so the outcome seems absolutely impossible.