Reviews of products by Fred Braue
The Royal Road to Card Magic
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by John Montes
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 07 August, 2025)
This was one of the books that added jet fuel to my progression from complete beginner to competent amateur and helped set the foundation for a lifetime of learning and study of the craft. Just because the book was first written in 1948 doesn't mean it's obsolete. Sure, some of the patter in a few places here and there can be modified to taste, but the concepts, techniques, and fundamentals are timeless.
Expert Card Technique
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Gregg Webb (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 18 May, 2025)
Truly one of the great books on cards. It has stood the test of time and there have been so many other texts published in the meantime while this one is still selling. The price for it as an eBook is amazing, and within the budget of students everywhere. I am a professional and a hobbyist at the same time, lucky for me. It is about half a century since I read it the first time, and many years since I read it the last time. We get caught up with keeping up with what's new, and yet now that I'm re-reading it again, it seems new again and I'm re-learning things I forgot I knew.
Expert Card Technique
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Matthew Shannon (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 04 August, 2024)
The PDF file arrived within about 10 minutes! Very satisfied vs twice the price on Amazon. Thank you for the solid service.
The Royal Road to Card Magic
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Alexander Shulyatsky (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 30 January, 2024)
It's brilliant! The highest recommendation!
Show Stoppers with Cards
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Christopher Reynolds (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 30 September, 2022)
Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue are two legendary card trick writers; Individually, both are excellent. But when these two talents collaborate the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
Published in 1940, their first literary team-up, Expert Card Technique, was an influential manual on sophisticated state-of-the-art card magic. To keep the book's final draft a manageable length, Hugard and Braue edited out a lot of quality material, including lost chapters contributed by Dai Vernon and Dr. Daley.
Show Stoppers With Cards isn't just another collection of card tricks. In putting together this 33-page pamphlet, the pair sifted through piles of unedited manuscript pages from Expert Card Technique, compiling these eleven effects.
The small size of this booklet makes the material's quality and scope impressive. It's aimed toward intermediate to advanced magicians, but the necessary sleights are real-world and practical enough for hobbyists like me to add new effects to their repertoire.
The first few pages discuss the Braue Double lift. The moves are natural, and anyone with card handling experience can learn them in a short time.
Along with several Braue routines, the booklet features contributions from some of his magic community peers. It's a virtual who's-who of 1940s-era magicians like Bert Allerton, Stewart James, Bert Fenn, Neal Elias, and Bob Madison.
This collection has two stand-out tricks: The first is Bert Allerton's Amazing Aces*, which piles one surprise on top of the last, building up to a chorus of laughter at the twist ending.
The second exceptional effect in the book is Fred Braue's The Homing Cards. This card trick has an exciting history behind it.
It was one of the signature effects of award-winning Dutch magician Fred Kaps. In the fall of 1964, he performed it live on the Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television variety program.
According to magician Mike Caveney in the book MAGIC:1400s-1950s, magicians were getting less air time on television in the 1960s as rock n roll took front and center:
"The symbolic passing of the baton from variety acts to rock n roll occurred February 9, 1964, when 73 million viewers tuned into the Ed Sullivan Show to see the Beatles. Minutes before he welcomed the fab four to America, Sullivan introduced what many experts considered to be the greatest all-around magician of his generation: Fred Kaps. This brilliant Dutchman's routine and the last remnants of vaudeville were buried under the tidal wave of screams and applause that greeted the Beatles onstage."
Show Stoppers With Cards is a must-have for any Hugard & Braue fans. I recommend it. $4.00 is a low price for quality card tricks of such historical value.
*Burt Allerton was a former oil executive turned close-up magician. He performed in some of the finest hotels on the east and west coast.
The Royal Road to Card Magic
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Bill Halmi (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 08 August, 2022)
A classic for a reason. Full of all of the moves a magician would want in their repertoire. Great addition to any magic library.
The Royal Road to Card Magic
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Robin Z
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 20 January, 2008)
A classic in magic!
I can't accurately express how important this book is for a card magician. This book will teach all of the basic techniques for cards. This includes False Shuffles, Double Lifts, Hindu Shuffles, The Pass and many more. Along with the techniques you will find tricks that use the handling you have just learned.
If you really take the time to learn all of the techniques, as well as some of the tricks you will be better than most amateur card magicians.
The Invisible Pass
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Feras A. Alkharboush (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 15 February, 2007)
This is pure gem. This booklet is quite known to the knowledgable magicians ( Richard Kaufman mentions it in his DVD, "On The Pass" ). I'm a fan of Braue and Hugard books ( Expert Card technique, Royal Road and Miracle methods ), so I had to get this. As always, Braue and Hugard maintain the high quality work in their material.
This Pass is a variation on the Herrmann Pass, although what’s different is the unique mechanics of the move. Users of the standard Turn-over pass ( the first pass taught in Expert Card Technique ) know that there is a flash, which can be observed to the close observer. This one IS Invisible, the cover is perfect. It can be done almost surrounded ( although from the left and the back angles, "something" WILL be noticed, its like the standard turn-over pass ). It is invisible as long its below eyes' level ( somewhat like the standard turn-over ).
The mechanism is new, and it will awhile to make it smooth. I'm writing this review after about 4 months of buying the ebook, and now I can do it quite well.
If you are a serious card handler, you want to learn this pass. The teaching is EXCELLENT ( the whole booklet is only for one move .. ). There are photographs ( not illustrations ) in EVERY page, along with the description. Then, Hugard goes into some notes regarding the pass, then you see some illustrations ( for those who love them more than photographs! ).
This baby is a joy to perform. Five Stars, fully deserved.
4 bucks? Maaaan ..
Show Stoppers with Cards
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Feras A. Alkharboush (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 01 December, 2006)
This is one hidden gem. I just cant recommend this one enough. For 1.5$? C'mon!
Here are some of the effects/sleights you will learn:
1- Braue Double Lift: A super clean Double/Triple lift with NO get ready. Its the FIRST time I see this double .. its not even in Greg Wilson's DVD Double Take .. !
2- Homing Card: A group of cards are fanned, a card is discared, the cards are fanned again .. and the card is still there !! This is done couple of times!
3- A card is selected and shuffled in the deck. The performer shows and deals 3 cards .. and the selected card is one of them! He still doesnt know the selected card though .. he deals a forth card .. and its the selected card! Spectators rush to the 3 cards dealt before, and of course, the selected card is not anyone of them.
4- a Fan false count. You can count seven or ten cards as five .. or any number less than it ( depends on the stack ).
5- 4 cards are selected and shuffled in the deck. The performer cuts the deck 4 times, finding each card and deals it. After discovering all the four cards and dealing them .. spectator discovers that the 4 cards are all Aces!
These are my fav.s .. there are some tricks in the book. For 1.5$? Why not getting it?!