The Tarbell Course

[Butter-fly]

The Tarbell Course in Magic is the cornerstone of every magician's library. End of review.


No, seriously, the advice I give to beginners in magic is to get the Mark Wilson course first, and if they want more after mastering the effects in that course, to make the Tarbell course their second purchase.

Why the Tarbell course? Why not just get some good DVDs on magic? Well, DVDs are a fine, but expensive, way to learn magic. One volume of Tarbell costs about as much as a single DVD. However, each volume of the Tarbell course teaches about 200 effects as compared to, say, fewer than 10 on the typical DVD.

Many beginners in magic complain that magic is a very expensive hobby, and indeed it can be. But magic can be a very inexpensive hobby too. In fact, one could become good enough to be a professional magician while paying very little money on magic. It all depends on how you go about it. If you buy most of your magic from the magic shop, you can end up spending a small fortune on magic. If you learn all of your magic from books, you can spend very little.

If you're very budget minded, the Tarbell course is your best investment. There is so much information contained in this course, that it could literally keep you busy for years. If you learned just a small fraction of all the effects in the course, you would be better, more well rounded, more versatile and more knowledgeable than 90 percent of all amateur magicians, and a fair number of professionals.

How is the course structured? Every volume is divided into chapters, like any normal book. The first volume contains more basic magic as well as an introduction to essential card sleights and other information essential to a good foundation in magic. Most of the volumes in the Tarbell course contain effects that you will not find anywhere else. This is not a rehash of standard beginner's magic. Needless to say, the Tarbell course, being comprised of eight volumes, contains vastly more material than the single volume Mark Wilson course, good as that is. Each volume of the Tarbell course contains over 400 pages!



Although not every move is illustrated, as in the Mark Wilson course, it's hard to fault the Tarbell course for ease of learning. Harlan Tarbell was a professional artist as well as a magician and writer, and the result is a profusely illustrated course of instruction. Tarbell also wrote with remarkable clarity, on a par, in fact, with Harry Lorayne (who wrote volume 7). I cannot think of a single place in the Tarbell course where I could not understand what was written, something I certainly cannot say about every magic book.

No matter what major branch of magic you are interested in, you will find it in the Tarbell course. Are you interested in card magic? Nearly every volume has at least a couple of chapters on card magic, each of which contains ten or twenty effects. If you like mental magic, nearly every volume has a chapter of mental effects. The course covers rabbit and dove magic, silk and handkerchief magic, fundamental and advanced card sleights, coin effects, conjuring with currency, intimate magic, novelty magic, and escape magic. Many volumes even have a chapter on stage illusions.



The index in Volume 7 is one of the most valuable features of the course. Are you interested in book tests? The course contains seven different versions. Perhaps you want to learn how to use your bill tube. The course will help you with that. Want to learn a good business card effect? You'll find four of them in the index. The index is helpful in finding connections between your effects and in routining. For example, if you want to transition from doing watch effects to those with flowers, you can find an effect that uses both items to help you create a smooth flowing routine. I once used the course to find a good hat production, one that fit in perfectly with my act.

As to the quality of the effects in the Tarbell course, the story is told of the magician who went to the local magic meeting and blew his fellow magicians away. They couldn't believe it when he told them the effects he performed were found in a set of books they all had in their libraries--the Tarbell course. The course counts as some of its contributors Ted Annemann, Cardini, Dunninger, Houdini, Harry Lorayne and Dai Vernon, to name just a few.

Is the Tarbell course lacking in some areas? Yes. You'll not find coverage of the topit in the Tarbell course, nor very many effects with gimmicked coins. Although a knowledgeable magician would know how to adapt the presentation of many of the effects to kids, there are none in the Tarbell course that are specifically geared to children. There is not a lot of coverage of dove handling, and nothing on bizarre magick. For any of these branches of magic, you should rely on a book or video of specialized instruction. But the principles learned in the Tarbell course could certainly be applied to any of these areas.

The bottom line? I have never heard of anyone who considered himself a magician who was sorry he bought the Tarbell course. I would never part with it, and I doubt that you will either.



Volume 1 • 19 Lessons • 410 Pages • 918 Illustrations
1. History of Magic
2. Magic as a Science
3. Sleight of Hand with Coins
4. Coin Tricks
5. More Coin Tricks
6. The Thumb Tip
7. Impromptu Tricks
8. Ball Tricks
9. Mathematical Mysteries
10. Effective Card Mysteries
11. Impromptu Card Mysteries
12. Mental Card Mysteries
13. Card Sleights
14- Novel Card Mysteries
15. Restoring Torn Papers
16. Rope & Tape Principle
17. Handkerchief Tricks
18. Knotty Silks
19. Eggs and Silks

Volume 2 • 14 Lessons • 410 Pages • 1087 Illustrations
20. How to Please Your Audience
21. Magic with Wands
22. Double Paper Mysteries — many
deceptive effects
23. Magic with Coins
24. Cigarette Magic, with lighted and unlighted cigarettes
25. Sleight of Hand with Cards back palm.
seconds, etc.
26- Selected Card Mysteries
27. Rising Cards (17 methods)
28. Egg Magic - Tarbell's Egg Bag -Unbreakable Egg. etc.
23. Billiard Ball Manipulation
30. Handkerchief Magic, De Luxe
31. Rope Magic -- new, clever
32. Ghostlite' Mysteries
33. Illusions * low cost effects

Volume 3 • 12 Lessons • 418 Pages • 1116 Illustrations
34. Routining a Magic Show
35. How to Make People Laugh
36. Intimate Magic
37. Conjuring with Currency
38. Modern Coin Effects
39. Fundamental Card Sleights
40. Card Mysteries
41. Card Stabbing
42. Novelty Handkerchief Magic
43 Color Changing Silks
44. Rabbit and Dove Magic
45. Illusions

Volume 413 Lessons • 418 Pages * 1140 Illustrations
46. Novelty Magic, wide variety
47. Thimble Magic — complete act
48. Swallowing Needles & Blades
49. Unique Card Magic
50. Novelty Rising Cards
51. Card Transition Tricks
52. Mental & Psychic Mysteries
53. The Thumb Tie — 10 Methods
54. Chinese Linking Rings
55. Magic With Ribbon
56. Silken Trickery. De Luxe
57. Slate Tricks, new & novel Methods with
1 & 2 slates, etc.
58. Illusions — Fu Manchus

Volume 5 • 13 Lessons • 418 Pages • 1152 Illustrations
59. Unique Magic
60. More Unique Mysteries
61. Four-Ace Effects -
62 Modern Mental Mysteries
63. Hat and Coat Productions
64. Oriental Magic
65 Original Oriental Secrets
66. Tarbell Hindu Rope Mysteries
67. Modern Rope Magic
68. Magic of the Bambergs
69. Magic with Bowls and Liquids
70. Illusions
71. Publicity and Promotion

Volume 6 • 10 Lessons • 410 Pages • 1200 Illustrations
72. Novel Ball Magic
73. Unique Card Effects
74. Novelty Magic
75. Rope Magic
76. Mindreading Mysteries
77. X-Ray Eyes and Blindfold Effects
78. Silk and Rope Penetrations
79. Escapes and Substitutions
80. Spirit Ties and Vest Turning
81. Modern Stage Magic
82. Stage Productions
83. Magic as Theatre

Volume 7 • 8 Lessons • 490 Pages • 600 Illustrations
84. More Mental Magic
85. Card Magic
86. Rope Magic
87. Novelty Magic
88. Money Magic
89. Silk Magic
90. Illusions You Can Make
91. Late Arrivals
Includes the complete CROSS INDEX
of the first Seven Volumes of the Course.

[zwong]

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