# Is there a "Bible" for stage magic/illusions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850 "2013-11-26T18:48:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/1 "2013-11-26T18:48:27Z")
And if so, what would it be? I’m looking for probably something older, something that most practicing magicians (specifically of the sleight of hand/illusions/misdirection school) would at least recognize, and if possible, one that most of them would approve of. I know nothing about stage magic and magicians, so I’m totally at a loss here. Ideas? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/2 "2013-11-26T19:42:18Z")
Can’t speak for anyone else, but I like the Tarbell Course in Magic. > **[Tarbell Course in Magic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarbell_Course)** > > The Tarbell Course in Magic is a notable encyclopedia of magic amongst professional and amateur magicians. It has eight volumes; the first five were part of the original home-study correspondence course compiled in 1928 by Harlan Tarbell, the remaining three volumes being added on later.\[citation needed\] > This magic volume series was originally designed as a correspondence course for budding magicians. Once they were collected and bound, the series has become an unparalleled reference standard fo... ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/3 "2013-11-26T19:50:20Z")
Another good source is the [Rupert Howard Magic Course.](http://www.lybrary.com/rupert-howard-magic-course-p-66817.html?osCsid=4aadf1a928a30e913eb692c15d5ccfd0) ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/4 "2013-11-26T20:19:08Z")
_Magic and Showmanship: A Handbook for Conjurers_, by Henning Nelms. > **[Magic and Showmanship: A Handbook for Conjurers (Dover …](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1118870.Magic_and_Showmanship)** > > Like theatrical presentations, conjuring is an art of i… ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/5 "2013-11-26T20:28:30Z")
Very cool thread. I’ll be looking at those. ---
**Author:** ![KermitTheFrig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/47e85d/32.png) [@KermitTheFrig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KermitTheFrig)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/6 "2013-11-26T20:53:02Z")
Tarbell is still referred to by magicians every day. That set of books is the magic bible. A newer, less complete but very fine reference book is _Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic_ from 1988. Much older are _Modern Magic_, _More Magic_ and _Later Magic_ by Professor Hoffman from the last quarter of the 19th Century. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/7 "2013-11-26T21:24:11Z")
There’s Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic, which is very good for slight of had tricks. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/8 "2013-11-26T22:58:00Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > There’s Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic, which is very good for slight of had tricks. Let me guess, the “e” and the “n” are in your coat pocket? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/9 "2013-11-27T00:10:59Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Let me guess, the “e” and the “n” are in your coat pocket? 🙂 Nope…what’s this??..they’re behind your ear. mmm ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/10 "2013-11-27T01:10:04Z")
I am not quite sure I know what you mean by a bible in this context, but [_Modern Magic_ by Professor Hoffmann](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Magic) might come close in that, in its day, it was considered very important. These days I think there are too many books on magic for any one to stand out all that much, although even when I was a kid people used to say the one you really had to read and master for _card_ magic was [_The Royal Road to Card Magic_ by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Road-Card-Magic/dp/0572029187) (I tried, but it was too tough for me). Prof Hoffmann is more about stage illusions, though. I never had his _Modern Magic_, but I still have a copy of his _Magical Titbits_, which gives a detailed account of the very famous (in its day) “A Devil of a Hat”, in which the German magician Hartz would begin with an empty top hat and practically bare stage (there were a couple of simple tables to put stuff on, I think) and by the end had absolutely filled the stage with all sorts of stuff pulled out of the hat. Nearly all the stuff was really special made fakes, such as what appeared to be several bottles of wine, but were really (IIRC) metal “shells” painted to look like wine bottles, that could be stacked one within the other. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bible-for-stage-magic-illusions/674850/11 "2013-11-30T14:58:13Z")
Thank you all - I need a single volume rather than a set, and I was looking for something that would be older, so I think that the Hoffman is going to be my winner. Thanks again for all the suggestions!