Card College Vol. 1

By Robert Giobbi

The First of Five volumes of a how to do it course in card magic. Profusely illustrated.

Never before has a course in sleight-of-hand card magic been so thoroughly illustrated for ease of learning.

“The Card College books are the modern cornerstone of all of card magic.” - Gordon Bruce

"If I knew someone just getting into this business, it would be the first set of books that I would I'd recommend." -John Bannon

"If you love card magic, you can't do better. They're just incredible valuable tools. If you're very serious about learning magic, you can't do better than study what Roberto Giobbi has put into these volumes for the serious student." -John Lovick

"They're excellent books. I'd recommend them to ANYBODY, especially those just getting into card magic." -Michael Close

"Card College is the complete course in card magic. I 100% it's going to help you today and every day in your career." -Jeff Prace
 

Recognized around the world as the most remarkable course in sleight-of-hand card magic ever offered, Card College features engaging, detailed writing with many hundreds of clear drawings for gaining mastery over a deck.

Card College teaches up-to-date information and the best methods.

Some of the topics covered in Volume 1 are The Overhand Shuffle, False Cuts, the Riffle Shuffle, Card Controls, Forces, the Glide, the Double Lift, Flourishes, the Top Change and the Spread Cull.

Card College Volume 1 as the first volume in this landmark course sets the groundwork for the rest of the series, beginning with a clear terminology, 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.

Along with the classics of card magic, Roberto 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!

Some of the topics covered in Volume One include:

• The Tools of Card Magic
• Fundamental Techniques
• The Overhand Shuffle
• The Riffle Shuffle
• False Cuts
• Transfer Cuts
• Card Controls
• Card Forces
• The Glide
• The Double Lift
• The Hindu Shuffle
• Flourishes
• The Spread Cull
• The Top Change
• The Key Card
• Auxiliary Sleights

Contents Include:

xi Foreword: by Juan Tamariz, Madrid 1992
xiii Introduction to Volume 1: by Roberto Giobbi, Reinach 1995

The Art of Performing Magic With Cards: a personal note, getting the most from the book

A Brief History of Playing Cards

Instruments and Tools
7 The Hands: hand and skin types, hand care
8 The Playing Cards: card size, the finish, face and back designs, the card case, treating the cards
11 The Close-up Pad: Pad size, material, color

Chapter 1: Fundamental Techniques
15 Dealing Position
17 The End Grip
18 Elevated Dealing Position
19 Squaring the Deck
20 The All-around Square-up
21 Giving the Deck a Complete Cut
21 Spreading the Cards in the Hands
23 Outjogging Cards as They are Spread Between the Hands
24 Dribbling Cards
24 Dealing Cards: introduction
25 Dealing Cards Face Down - The Draw Method
26 Dealing Cards Face Up - The Stud Method
27 The Swing Cut
28 The Break: intro
28 The Little-finger Break
29 Forming a Little-finger Break Under the Top Card - Two-handed Method
30 Forming a Little-finger Break Under the Top Card - One-handed Method
31 Forming a Little-finger Break Under Multiple Cards
32 The Thumb Break
33 The Step
34 The Riffle: a flourish
35 The Ribbon Spread: on the table

Chapter 2: Overhand Shuffle Techniques, Part 1
39 The Overhand Shuffle
42 Running Single Cards
43 Control of the Top and Bottom Cards: using the overhand shuffle
44 Controlling the Top Stock of the Deck - The Injog Shuffle
47 Controlling the Bottom Stock
49 Tricks with the Overhand Shuffle
49 Thought Stealer: Spectator selects on of several cards, the deck is shuffled, then the spectator spells the card while dealing, ending with the selection!
51 The Spectator Cuts the Aces: Spectator cuts the deck into four packets and the top card of each is an Ace

Chapter 3: False Cut Techniques, Part 1
57 An Optical False Cut from the Hand
58 The False Swing Cut
59 A Simple False Cut
60 A Triple False Cut
61 The Slip Cut from Dealing Position
62 Tricks with False Cuts
62 - Hat Trick: Spectator shuffles the deck, magician places three prediction cards face up. Deck is cut three times, to the cards matching the prediction cards in value and color
63 - Court Card Conclave (Nick Trost): Twelve court cards are removed from deck and shown in random order. They are cut into the deck, where they rise to the top in matching pairs

Chapter 4: Card Controls
67 The Overhand Shuffle Control
68 The "Whoops!" Control
69 The Diagonal Insertion
72 The Peek Control
74 The Post-peek Overhand Shuffle Control
75 A Peek Control for Two Cards
76 The Multiple Peek Control
77 The One-card Middle Pass
79 Other Controls: appearing elsewhere in the course but mentioned here for reference
80 Tricks with Card Controls
80 - The Shamus Card: A card chosen by the spectator is found in the deck at a position determined by the Shamus card
81 - The Question Is... (Karrell Fox): the point of a question mark is the spectator's selection

Chapter 5: Force Techniques, Part 1
85 The Crisscross Force
86 The Balducci Force
88 The Goldin Force
90 The Ten-to-Twenty Force
91 A Trick with the Force 
91 - The Lie Detector. Spectator names 8 cards but lies on one (naming his selection). Magician knows which card was lied about and the name of the selection

Chapter 6: Transfer Cuts
95 The Double Cut
97 The Triple Cut from Top to Bottom
98 The Triple Cut from Bottom to Top
99 Tricks with Transfer Cuts
99 - Triple Coincidence (John Scarne): three cards are exchanged from two decks between spectator and magician; the three cards match!
101 - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son: Three spectators each name a number, and magician deals that many cards to the table. A previously chosen card is revealed to be a Seven, and the bottom card of each packet is also a seven

Chapter 7: Riffle Shuffle Techniques
105 The Closed Riffle Shuffle
107 Squaring After the Shuffle
108 The Open Riffle Shuffle
109 Riffle Shuffle Stock Controls: Control of the Top Stock, Control of the Bottom Stock
110 The Waterfall Riffle Shuffle
113 Tricks with Riffle Shuffle Techniques
113 - The Red-Black Location: card is chosen from a fan and placed back in the deck; the card is found in a flash
114 - Royal Flush Finale: a Four Ace to Royal Flush effect

Chapter 8: The Glide
121 The Glide
123 Tricks with The Glide
123 - The Acrobat Family: a version of Marlo's Elevator Cards
125 - The Coué Test: the wrong card is found, but the magician corrects his mistake

Chapter 9: The Double Lift, Part 1
129 A Double Lift
130 A Double Turnover
132 Tricks with a Double Lift
132 - Rise and Swap (Sven Maro): One card travels to the top of the deck, then changes to a card held by the spectator
133 - A Card in Hand (Annemann): a card used to locate a selection turns into the selection

Chapter 10: The Key Card
137 Key-card Placement: The Key Card in a Hand-to-Hand Spread, Key Card in a Ribbon Spread
140 Glimpse and Placement
142 Location, Identification and Control with a Key Card: Control in a Hand-to-Hand Spread, Tabled Ribbon Spread Control
144 Further Thoughts on the Key Card: Shuffling with a Key Card, Letting the Spectator Shuffle with a Key Card
145 Tricks with a Key Card
145 - A Phenomenal Memory (Jimmy Grippo): spectator moves selection from one spot in a fan to another, magician is apparently able to tell which card was moved by memory
147 - Your Number - Your Card (Paul Rosini): magician is able to locate the selection by merely knowing its former position
149 - Thot Echo (Sam Schwartz): magician finds selections made in two separate packets

Chapter 11: Hindu Shuffle Technique
155 The Hindu Shuffle
157 Glimpsing the Bottom Card with a Hindu Shuffle
157 Placing a Key Card with a Hindu Shuffle
158 The Hindu Shuffle Force
160 Hindu Shuffle Card Controls: Controlling a Single Card, Controlling Multiple Cards
162 Tricks with the Hindu Shuffle Technique
162 - The Magus Card: a special Magus card helps the spectator find her selection, then the Magus card matches the selection
164 - The Lucky Card: selection is found with the help of a lucky card

Chapter 12: Flourishes, Part 1
169 Turning Over the Top Card I
170 Turning Over the Top Card II
171 Turning Over the Top Card III
172 The Charlier Cut
173 The Swivel Cut
175 The Boomerang Card
176 The Spring Riffle Shuffle
177 Jack Merlin's Riffle Shuffle
178 The Pop-up Card
179 The Wind-up Gag
179 The Two-handed Fan
181 The Broad One-handed Fan
182 The Reverse One-handed Fan
183 The Ribbon Spread Turnover

Chapter 13: Spread Cull Techniques
187 The Spread Cull
189 The Under-the-spread Force
191 Tricks with the Spread Cull
191 - The Magic Phone Number: Four cards are touched in the deck and turned face up, the cards next to them turn out to be the four Queens
192 - As You Like It: Deck is cut into four packets, with the bottom card of each matching a value selected by the spectator

Chapter 14: Useful Auxiliary Sleights
197 Thumb Counting
201 The Little-finger Count
203 The Secret Addition of Cards
204 The Braue Addition
206 The Tip-over Addition
208 ATFUS: Any Time Face Up Switch
211 The Single, Double and Multiple Push-over
212 Buckling One or More Cards

Chapter 15: Force Techniques, Part 2
217 The Classic Force: Technique, Handling and Structure, The Psychological Management of the Spectators,  The Inner Game of the Performer, How to Practice the Classic Force, Outs (Direct Methods, Indirect Methods, Final Observations)
224 The Riffle Force
227 More Tricks with the Force
227 - The Jumping Pulse: Magician identifies selection by feeling spectator's pulse, then the spectator determines the magician's selection in the same manner!
228 - Headliner!: The chosen page of a newspaper reveals the selection

Chapter 16: The Top Change
233 The Top Change
236 Top Change Covers
238 The Top Change as an Out for the Classic Force
239 Tricks with the Top Change
239 - Metamorphosis: a prediction card matches three other cards after an apparent mismatch
241 - The Lucky Coin: a coin helps locate a selection

 

Details: Card College Vol. 1 - A Complete Course in Sleight of Hand Card Magic

250 pages, hard bound with dust-jacket; Size 7" by 10".