Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic

Mark Wilson is a famous and highly respected magician who has many decades of experience, and he wrote a classic book that will introduce beginners to the basics of all areas of illusions. He covers a little bit of everything (cards, coins, ropes, mentalism, close-up, stage, silks, water, vanishing, sleights etc. etc.), and provides simple illustrations and even patter. He occasionally has diagrams from the perspective of the artist and the audience, to help keep things clear. Even experienced illusionists will find new tricks here, or tricks that they can expand on or interpret in their own way. If you learn both the simple and advanced tricks, you can definitely put on an impressive show for people of all ages and backgrounds.

While this is an excellent introduction, it isn't perfect. Although the book is generally easy to understand, some explanations and illustrations are unclear and occasionally confusing. My one wish is that it had more illustrations.

I do not recommend this to kids or young teens who have no prior knowledge of illusions, unless they are good readers who can interpret written instructions well. Why? Although it is simply written, it is not simplistic. No matter what, some tricks are complicated to explain no matter how brief and basic you keep the explanation.

This book has lots more positives to it than negatives, and way more reasons to love it than hate it. It should be used by every serious illusionist.

I have bought and read several good books on Magic with my previous recommendation being The magic book: The complete beginner's guide to anytime, anywhere, sleight-of-hand magic. Then I decided to take a class with Mark Wilson himself at The Magic Castle and while there I thought "what the heck, I'll get one of these books". I am so glad I decided to.

Mark and his wife have expertly illustrated the effects, and explain everything in numerical steps so that you can understand each aspect of the trick in question. The tricks emphasize fundamental slights, concepts and "moves" that are referenced back to and additionally explained. The book not only teaches silly "easy" tricks, it also goes into illusions, cards, coins, ropes, etc, although the focus is certainly on cards, with tricks I have seen professional magicians use time and time again on stage.

I have spent quite a bit of money at multiple magic store locations and honestly? I wish I had just started right here.

I, myself as well as other Magicians who first took an interest in Magic were quick to purchase this book because it really is a tremendous beginner guide to Magic, and all in one book. The fact that it touches on almost every genre of Magic had really opened me up to other whole, different versions of Magic I never knew of when I was 10 or so, when I first wanted to practice and perform magic. To this day I still have this sitting with the rest of my Magic books and I still love flipping through the pages and picking an effect, performing said effect and then start to dissect the effect and see if there could be any other, new improvements I can add to create my own unique version of the effect. Whenever someone comes up to me after a performances (usually parents) and ask me what their child should buy to get into Magic, and since this was the first I bought, I always suggest they purchase a copy of Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic.

So if anyone reading these reviews who happens to be a beginner in Magic, I highly suggest picking up this book because it truly is a wonderful learning guide to get you started on your way to becoming a Magician/Sleight of Hand artist, enjoy!

I purchased this book about a year ago (different cover photo from that illustrated at the moment) and within a few hours I was able to do some card tricks that impressed my wife and kids. In a book this size you are going to find everything from some self-working tricks and kid oriented tricks to very convincing sleight of hand with coins and cards. There is even a section on more elaborate magic with big props and disappearing people.

My mother-in-law, who grew up in NY City in the depresssion and saw a lot of people hoodwinked on the street w/ shell and card games, was not convinced that what I was doing was impressive. But when I asked her to explain how the tricks worked she could not. A true test I say!

This is a great book for any child just starting out to an adult who has always wanted to learn a few card and coin tricks. In my opinion this is a better introduction to magic than any of those box sets that are so ubiquitous in the toy stores. Some final thoughts, be sure to practice because as soon as folks know you are learning magic from a book they will dismiss your "magic" as simple tricks and look *very* closely at your moves adding additional pressure. And make sure you have a good excuse for not giving away the secrets... everyone wants to know how it was done!

This book is GREAT for beginner magicians. It explains everything crystal clear, and gives great pictures to help you learn. This book makes it extremely easy to learn magic, that even a kid could do it. This book is overflowing with magic from the first to the last page. He starts you on basic self-working card tricks, then you start learning some card tricks that require sleight of hand. What is really great about the magic tricks in this book is that they are easy to master. It does not take very long at all to have them mermorized and be able to perform them. He also teaches you various methods of forcing cards. After that, he explains some different and gimmiked cards and what kind of tricks you can do with them. Then comes one of my absolute favorite part in the book. This is also the hardest part in the book, and it is flourishes. He goes from the one handed cut to the one hand fan to springing the cars, and finally ends at throwing a card. The other half of the book is dedicated and filled with coin, rope, silk and hankerchief, impromptu, mental, and billard ball magic. He also goes over some magic tricks which he defines as "betchas". Furthermore, at the end of the book there are some miscellaneous magic tricks. All these sections and tricks are explained just as beautifully as the card tricks. This is an AMAZIng book, and if you are a beginner and just starting magic THIS IS THE BOOK TO GET!!!

if a beginning magician asked me to recommend only one book this would be it. I have been studying and performing magic since I was 8 years old. I am now 54. I still perform many of the routines I learned in this book... ropes, coins, stage, close-up, what ever your preference you will find an audience tested gem in this book.

I have owned this masterpiece for (classified) years. I have performed many of the illusions on stage for Naval personal and their families. I would grant the slight of hand is not the quality of Jean Huggard, but nobody is!!! This is a wonderful starting magic book; but isn't that what is says it is???

In recent months, I've gained a greater appreciation for the art of magic performance. Consider how a good magic effect is like a good punchline. The humor of many jokes is in the surprise of a defeated verbal expectation. Similarly, many good magic tricks delight the viewer with a defeated visual expectation. In my recent readings on magic, there is one introductory volume that stands out as an excellent general introduction to magic with cards, coins, balls, and everyday objects: Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. I hope that others might find a similar delight dabbling in the art of magic performance through this very accessible introduction.

This book is huge. No basic magic trick is missed. The text is easy to understand and the illustrations are great. I also enjoyed the added little tips on presentation that hightens the tricks, adding comedy and entertainment. This is definately a must-have for all beginning magicians. At this price, this book is a great value, even for those of us just wanting a few little tricks to amaze our friends. I bought this book for a ten-year-old. He is just a little young to be able to idependantly use the entire book. However, I believe that within a few years, he will need no assistance at all reading and interpreting the book. There are so many tricks described in the book that I think he will be using it for a long time to come.

Although this was written for a young audience, this is a great book and an excellent resource for anyone. Mark Wilson makes magic fun to learn and perform. Yes, the book does offer some tricks that may be found on the backs of cereal boxes, but his cups and balls, Sympathetic Coins, Multiplying Billiard Balls and much more are classic effects that are carefully taught and very entertaining. Mr. Wilson simplifies some of the moves, but to a lay audience, the effects are still amazing. This book should be in every young magician's bookshelf.

This brilliant book is very dense, but it also contains so much information about magic tricks. You don't need any specialized props for most of the tricks. Maybe a deck of cards or a rope. Those kind of things. Some of the tricks require a lot of practice, other much less so. But don't be fooled, this is a serious book. You should also be aware that the font size is pretty small. Bad but you do get more content from your buck.

This reviewer doesn't know much about magic tricks. He just bought the book out of curiosity and is starting to learn some tricks just for fun.

This magic book runs the gamut from beginners tricks to tricks many professionals use. I've been performing as a part-time professional magician myself for several years now, and I still found things in this book I hadn't seen before or new twists on things I was familiar with.

The biggest drawback to this is the sheer volume of information it contains. If I'd come across this book when I was first getting into magic, I would've been absolutely overwhelmed. It's still a lot to digest now. But if you read through it and pick and choose tricks here and there that fit your style and personality, you'll find it very useful. It's like a cafeteria -- go down the line, picking out the things you want and skipping the things you don't, then go back to your table and chew on them and enjoy them.

You'll find this book on MANY magicians bookshelves. It's been on mine for a while and I constantly look back in it. Things like sponge balls, coins, cards, mental magic and even stage illusions are covered in great detail. There is a obvious reason this book has stood a test of time. And that's the only complaint that I seem to have with the book. I wish there was a more updated version but everything is still solid if you can get past some of the cheese. If you don't want to spend time updating you are better off with something like "How to Do Street Magic" or "Inside Magic" DVD's by Brad Christian. They are great for visual learners.

Overall you'll find this book on my shelf and many other magicians who have been around the game for a while.

This book truly is phenomonal. It has every type of magic you can think of, coin, cards, stage, mentalism, self working, impromptu, gimmicked. It even goes as far as to give you tricks for things like jumbo cards and sponge balls.

Not only this but at the beginning of every chapter Mark Wilson reminds you of what magic is all about, he writes two or three paragraphs about the specific type of magic and how wonderful it can be. Mark also has a biography and an essay on magic at the beginning which is fantastic, and after years I still find myself going back and reading it just for a reminder of what got me into magic originally.

All of the descriptions to the tricks are well written, have accompanying pictures for EVERY move. He even gives secondary ways to do several of the moves and has an Notes and Reminds section after the tricks putting in personal notes about specific parts of the trick. Its obvious how much effort and work went into this book. In closing, this is a book that every magician new or old should have in his shelf, right next to Bobo's Modern Coin Magic, and Royal Road to Card Magic.

This book is simply outstanding. From presentation to explanations, it is endlessly entertaining and instructional. Not unlike the title, much like taking a one-on-one course with an experienced magician.To learn new tricks, or simply analyze some of the classics...this is THE book.

Every magician needs to have this book, even if you are a seasoned pro or a smart-ass street magician. I know that books are boring, but there are a lot of interesting concepts and techniques in the book that could spark a magician's creative sensibility. Mark Wilson just sent a signed copy to our SAM Chapter President. Classy.

As a professional full time magician with hundreds of books, magazines and notes on magic, this one of the three books I would recommend to anyone starting out in magic. This books is perfect for all ages and is an amazing value. From close up to stage to major illusions, this book has it all.

This is an excellent book for all interested in the "Art of Illusion". It may be a little difficult for children under the age of 8. Good reading skills are a must but the text and drawings make it as easy as it can be.

The tricks in the book are very well explained and illustrated, making learning a breeze. After a couple of hours of reading and practicing, I was able to amaze my daughter and my wife. I had never done magic before in my life, but this book made it a breeze. Highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn a few tricks, or to become an amateur magician.

If someone wanted to learn magic and was forced to choose only one book then the best choice they could make would be to beg for, borrow, or steal Mark Wilson's Book! I recommend buying it. -Diamond Jim Tyler

This book is wonderful for anyone wanting to learn magic tricks. This book explains how each trick will appear to the audience and then gives very detailed instructions with drawings showing each step. I used the information in the book to teach rope tricks to a bunch of third grade cubscouts. The parents were so impressed with the tricks that they wanted to learn them too.

For the amatuer magician, this is the book to buy. It shows the simple and basic principles of the many top tricks of the classic performer. However, if you are looking for a book that shows advanced sleight of hand and modern tricks, this book isn't the best. Although it does show some pretty good stage illusions etc, it still isn't as good of a book as most magicians say.

Sorry to spoil the illusion that may be propagating due to the comments before, but this book really is not good. To be honest, most of the tricks are blatently obvious, or are more arts and crafts that magic. Pass on this book. It will teach you some necessary slights (glid, false shuffle, and several coin vanishes) but the material covered is so elementary that many websites can supply better information for free. I'd suggest that instead of purchasing this book, the reader spends his or her money on a more specific, more realistic, and better magic book.

if a beginning magician asked me to recommend only one book this would be it. I have been studying and performing magic since I was 8 years old. I am now 54. I still perform many of the routines I learned in this book... ropes, coins, stage, close-up, what ever your preference you will find an audience tested gem in this book.