best Books List

By Request

I was gonna pen a top 10 book list. Alas, I don't think that's possible.
I simply love magic books way too much.
I could come close, but instead, I'm just gonna list what I think are books the aspiring magi simply must read:

First and foremost,

The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley (Two Volumes by Stephen Minch)
These are not the best beginner books... but they are my favorite magic books ever penned.
I think Elmsley's "Automatic producer" is an amazing system for producing competant magic performance and the tricks within these two volumes stand the test of time (yes, mostly cards, but LOTS of other great stuff as welll... his T&R newspaper is just waiting to make someone a reputation)

----------------------------------------------------------------
I guess before progressing... I should list a few good beginner's books
This is pretty easy for me. I have a top 5 list that any/all magic enthusiasts should own.
They're cheap and good. Chock full of enough info to build an entire career.
Here ya go:

Bill Tarr's Series: Now You See It (1 & 2) and 101 Classic Easy Magic Tricks
The Now you see it books focus on Sleight of Hand Technique and the Easy Magic book describe some of the classic stage / prop effects. All of these books are wonderfully illustrated and they're all available at a reasonable price.

Mark Wilson's Course in Magic. An Incredible Encyclopedia of EVERYTHING.
Simply Amazing how much info Wilson Fit into this volume.

The Magic Book by Harry Lorayne (this one is a little harder to find these days)
This is the book that changed the game for me. A good tome with a wide variety of close-up and parlor magic

The Tarbell Course.
You want it all? Here it is.

Honorable Mention: Joshua Jay's Beginner book. He gives away ALOT of killer stuff and the tipped in DVD allows the beginner to see the magic performed. This book is almost too good to be on Barnes & Nobles Shelves
---------------------------------------------------------

Ok, onto the meat

I'm a sucker for a zine compliation.
I think some of the best stuff to see print has been in the various 'Zines' that aspiring publishers have released.
Howard Lyon's & the IBIDEM top that list... following that, in no particular order:
Epilogue (Fulves) Apocalypse (Lorayne) Hierophant (Racherbaumer) Almanac (Kaufman) Trapdoor (Beam)

Moving onto more serious books....
The Books of Wonder (Minch) are invaluable sources of inspiration and guidance.
The magic within is challenging to perform to Tommy Wonder's level of perfection, but the interwoven essays provide the guidance you'll need to get there.

Carneycopia (Carney/Minch) is another hand's down must have
The opening chapeter on 'how, when, why magic can be art' is worth reading & re-reading
And the magic within is top notch grade A wonderworks material

Cellini's The Royal Touch is what a magic book should look like
It's a work of art designed by a master for the student. Read this book and become a better magician.

Paul Cummins FASDIU 'notes' Volume #1 & #2 contain some of the most practical card magic to ever see print. There's also a handful of coin items that might strike your fancy. Get your card tricks here!

The Art of Astonishment Series is Paul Harris' compilation of his best stuff.
It's a gold mine of magic. Some of the best stuff to EVER see print is in this 3 volume set.
Get it.

Card College (5 volumes... and then some)
Wanna learn cards? Just get this. Thank me Later.

Coins? Expert Coin Magic by Roth and "CoinMagic"  (both penned by Kaufman)

God, there's so much more... The Dingle Book, The Jennings Stuff, Cervon (and on and on and on)

I've gone way past a top ten list and could easily list another 10...
(in fact, a 10-20 list is a more interesting challenge... some stuff off the beaten path)
maybe I'll do that tommorow ...
For now, it's a busy day and I've got things to get done.
surely you do to? If not, get one of the above books and get started on it!

Be a Better Busker

In my spare time, I work busking / street performing on the cobblestones of the French Quarter. It's a great way to both make money and practice/rehearse.

This 'part time job' started many moons ago, when Tom Frank introduced me to this wonderful art form. It was at the Taste of Cincinnati back in 1988... I made more $ in one day, then I did in an entire week (working as a movie projectionist at the time.) I never went back to work after that day. I spent a month living, learning (and maybe just a tad bit of partying) with Tom and then headed off to Chicago. The summer I spent there was the stuff dreams are made of (good friends, good times, good money & good magic.) I then traveled to NOLA for the winter and have been here ever since.

If you're interested in learning more about Busking / Street Magic (the REAL street magic) there's some great resources to jump start your career (in fact, these days there's TONS of info on the subject... I'll try & stay concise.)

1st and  foremost, I'd recommend Jimmy Talksalot's "To Lure With Spectacle" this is a wonderful / concise tome that will give you all the basic info you need before attacking the streets. http://leapinglizardsmagic.com/lure_with_spectacle.htm

Jimmy also has a wonderful blog that contains much of the above info... and more:
http://jimmytalksalot.blogspot.com/

Watch Talksalot "Lure With Spectacle"

Cellini's "The Royal Touch" is an amazing book that contains a great selection of  strong street magic and info on how to apply that magic to the streets. It's a beautiful book. One of my 'top 10' and considering the # of magic books I have / read... that's strong.

The Art of Street Performing. Back in early 2000, while running my Big Easy Magic Shop (RIP) I answered a phone call from a guy named Ted. He was interested in coming to town & documenting Cellini's work. Cellini was hesitant to do the project, but after a bit of thought (mainly on how he could/would help others) he decided to do it. It's no surprise that within a couple years of producing these videos, Kozmo became a top-tier busker... I've no doubt, this info can do the same for you. Kozmo's busking DVD's are great. Strong info from strong performers that will have you making big bux before you know it.  KozmoMagic has produced several DVD's on the art of Street Magic. His Cellini series is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Once you get the basics down, you can wade into the deep end with Eric Evans & his 'Street Magic & the Art of War' ... this book is like art... it will make you think. http://www.secretartofmagic.com/secret2.htm

There are some great forums on the internet that will make you a better performer.

Danny Hustle's 'Buskers Cafe' is a wonderful spot full of top notch guys with great advice.
http://buskerscafe.com/forums/

The Sidewalk Performers Forums are very active and full of info to keep your hats overflowing
http://sidewalkperformers.freeforums.org/portal.php

The 'Sidewalk Shuffle' section on the magic cafe is worth a browse now and again...
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewforum.php?forum=6&39486
the powers that be saw fit to ban me from that site... an act I still thank them for to this day ( with all the other great busking related forums... I'm not sure why guys still post there but they do, & that info is worth reading... so do it.)

Last, but certainly not least...  http://www.performers.net/  . This site (which has been online & active since 1997) has TONS of info on ALL aspects of street performing. Bookmark it. Visit & Revisit this wonderful resource.

You can also learn alot by researching youtube (but you probably knew that ;)
I'll humbly suggest ya take a peek @  some videos of NOLA busker magi on my YouTube channel
www.youtube.com/connjure

There's SO much more I could write about (and so much I've glossed over &/or omitted from this list.) I'm sure I'll be returning to this subject soon enough... stay tuned & in the interim; FAT HATS!