Magic Tricks

Expert Card Technique by Hugard and Braue is often thought of as the follow up to The Royal Road to Card Magic (RRTCM) however I believe it was actually published several years before. This misnomer is likely because Expert Card Technique (ECT) is more advanced material than RRTCM, while RRTCM is the beginner to intermediate card skills.

Expert Card Technique is a treasure trove of card material. If you are a cardician stranded on a desert island, this might be the book to bring. The book starts with Secret Lifts; providing more detail on the DL than most other texts. The second chapter is false deals, seconds, bottom deals and even the almost mythical middle deal that Dai Vernon spend years searching for.

The third chapter covers the side slip and it's various forms. Chapter four explores the pass including my favorite, the turnover pass. Then comes chapters on palming, false shuffles, false cuts, changes, crimps, peeps, more on the glimpse, and the jog. And that's only through chapter 12!

If you haven't figured out yet, this book touches almost every advanced area of card magic. Finally, you get to the trick section! You'll even learn the Mercury card fold. Believe it or not, there is even 12 self-working card tricks. My favorite tricks so far are the Vernon Psychological Force and the visual change of the Rub-a-dub-dub trick.

Last but not least, there are amazing essays in Part 6 on misdirection and presentation that are worth the price of the book alone.