A Post-Graduate Degree in Card Handling

Recently while perusing one of the magic forums I came across a rather sad post. In brief the poster mentioned that they didn't understand the huff about Erdnase and why it is such a great book. He then referred to Richard Kaufman and that at one point Mr. Kaufman said similar things in print.

Well, for those who don't appreciate the beauty of Erdnase, I can only assume and hope it is due to a lack of foundation. Magic really is an academic pursuit and we can choose to study so many aspects of it. Majoring in Cards, coins, stage, mentalism, etc. For those of us that don't know much about Social Psychology, the findings might seem trivial and rather impractical or unusable.

I would say Erdnase is the exact same way. To the uneducated it is just another book. Many pages graced with illustrations, and inked with the most succinct descriptions of sleight of hand I have ever come across! Too much emphasis has been put on the historical value of the book and it's revolutionary position played in the writing of magic texts.

Erdnase is an intellectual pursuit. A system or flowchart of logic and technical refinement that require deep analysis, practice, careful consideration, evaluation of context and situation. The little book at a whopping $9.95, contains moves that many consider impossible, outdated, and irrelevant. But, to those scant few who choose to take the book seriously and to heart, they are rewarded many times over. Some techniques seem daunting (I still haven't come to grips with the culling and securing cards section) but one thing remains for sure, those who do take the book seriously are consistently finer card handlers. I have yet to see someone who takes the book seriously, not progress beyond his peers who disregard the book for whatever reason.

So to those that don't have the intellectual vigor to tackle a work like Erdnase, I am deeply sorry. You don't know what you are missing out on and unfortunately nobody else can explain it to you. It is a strictly personal and intimate affair one has with Erdnase that all other magic books are jealous of.

Read the book, love the material and grow with it. If you can't do that, give your copy to someone who can.