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Free resources from Sleight School

Free Library

Browse complimentary tutorials and resources from Sleight School instructors. Learning magic is about more than tricks. It develops real skills, real confidence, and a lifelong love of a remarkable art form.

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✦ Newest Free Resource
THRU

THRU

Eric Jones

One coin. One saltshaker. One MIRACLE!

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Free Resources

5 items available

CAP

CAP

Eric Jones

A Sharpie or BIC Pen cap inexplicably vanishes and appears on command!

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BeginnerIntermediate
Inversion

Inversion

Eric Jones

A single card magically reverses itself in a deck at your command.

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Beginner
Magic Dave's Amazing Card Tricks

Magic Dave's Amazing Card Tricks

David Williamson

Learn Fun & Easy Card Tricks

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Beginner
Magic Dave's Magic Class

Magic Dave's Magic Class

David Williamson

Learn fun and amazing easy magic tricks.

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Beginner
THRU

THRU

Eric Jones

One coin. One saltshaker. One MIRACLE!

Free
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Beginner

Recommended Reading for Beginners

A starter shelf of books that have helped generations of magicians learn the craft.

Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic book cover

Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic

Mark Wilson

The classic beginner-friendly foundation book, packed with approachable effects, clear photos, and a broad introduction to many branches of magic.

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Magic: The Complete Course book cover

Magic: The Complete Course

Joshua Jay

A modern, visual introduction to magic with clean explanations and strong photography. Especially useful for students who learn best by seeing each step.

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Tarbell Course in Magic book cover

Tarbell Course in Magic

Harlan Tarbell

The encyclopedia of magic. A serious long-term reference for students who want to understand the depth, history, and structure of the art.

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Now You See It, Now You Don't! book cover

Now You See It, Now You Don't!

Bill Tarr

A focused sleight-of-hand guide with patient illustrations. A strong pick for students who want to build real hands-on technique.

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Amateur Magician's Handbook book cover

Amateur Magician's Handbook

Henry Hay

Practical, direct, and performance-minded. This is an older book that still gives beginners a thoughtful path into real-world magic.

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The Magic Book book cover

The Magic Book

Harry Lorayne

A no-shortcuts beginner book from a legendary teacher, with an emphasis on learning usable material and developing genuine skill.

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Digital Classics

A curated shelf of downloadable magic books and historic resources.

Our Magic cover

Our Magic

Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant

Our Magic by Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant is a foundational work on magic theory and practice that analyzes conjuring as an art, science, and craft rather than just a collection of tricks. The first part lays out principles of deception, presentation, and showmanship, while the later sections illustrate these ideas with detailed descriptions of Devant’s own professional routines, making it a key text for understanding how strong magic is constructed and performed.

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Sleight of Hand cover

Sleight of Hand

Edwin Sachs

Sleight of Hand: A Practical Manual of Legerdemain for Amateurs & Others by Edwin Sachs is a comprehensive 19th‑century handbook teaching close‑up and stage magic with cards, coins, balls, handkerchiefs, and apparatus, aimed at both hobbyists and professionals. First published in 1877, it combines detailed explanations of core sleights with full routines and performance advice, and is often regarded as one of the most complete general magic manuals of its era.

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The Modern Conjurer cover

The Modern Conjurer

C. Lang Neil

The Modern Conjurer and Drawing-Room Entertainer by C. Lang Neil is a pioneering early 1900s magic manual that teaches card, coin, ball, handkerchief, and parlour tricks, as well as specialties like plate spinning, chapeaugraphy, shadowgraphy, and paper folding. Famous for its extensive use of over 400–500 instructional photographs of master performers such as Maskelyne, Trewey, Charles Bertram, and T. Nelson Downs, it helped set a new standard for clearly teaching sleights and routines and is still regarded as one of the great classic textbooks of conjuring.

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The Expert at the Card Table cover

The Expert at the Card Table

S. W. Erdnase

The Expert at the Card Table, originally published in 1902 under the pseudonym S. W. Erdnase, is a seminal manual on card sleight‑of‑hand that covers both gambling cheating techniques and sophisticated card magic. Often described as the “bible” of card manipulation, it systematically teaches false shuffles, deals, palms, and intricate routines, and has become one of the most studied and influential books in the history of card conjuring.

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The Art of Magic cover

The Art of Magic

T. Nelson Downs

The Art of Magic by T. Nelson Downs is a classic early 20th‑century treatise on sleight‑of‑hand that focuses heavily on advanced card and coin work, along with balls, eggs, ropes, and other small objects. Co-developed with editor John Northern Hilliard, it compiles Downs’s own methods and innovations alongside selected material from other magicians, including detailed sleights, full routines, and scripted patter, making it a foundational text for intermediate to advanced conjurors interested in both technique and presentation.

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Encyclopedia of Card Tricks cover

Encyclopedia of Card Tricks

Jean Hugard

Encyclopedia of Card Tricks is a classic magic book edited by Jean Hugard that explains more than 600 card tricks ranging from impromptu effects to routines using special decks and simple sleights. First published in the 1930s from material by Glenn G. Gravatt and others, it has become a foundational reference for card magicians because of its breadth, focus on relatively accessible methods, and clear, straightforward teaching style.

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