A Guide For The Biginner And The Expert
Giobbi, Roberto: The Art of Switching Decks
©2013, Hermetic Press, Inc.
Hardbound, 163 pages
ISBN 978-0-945296-77-5
The strongest card tricks most often depend on a stack or special deck. Unfortunately, if you start with a gaffed deck, as soon as you have accomplished the impossible feat, its very strength causes audiences to say, “Let me see those cards!“ With a deck switch, they can, because you just switched the gaffed deck for a normal one, which they can even take home! A deck switch can also allow you to start with an ordinary deck, convince everyone it's you and not the cards causing the magic—then you switch in your gaffed or stacked deck and unleash a stunning effect. Deck switches can create extraordinary, incomprehensible effects—as long as the switch isn't detected or suspected.
And there lies the challenge. Everyone knows about switching decks. We've all heard that card cheats do it, and magicians. In reality, though, very few magicians switch decks, because it is commonly perceived as too difficult to get away with. And since everyone knows about switching decks, even a suspicion that a deck switch might have occurred can completely undermine a performance. Therefore, if you use any deck switch, it must be not only imperceptible, but also unimaginable.
Roberto Giobbi teaches you precisely how to do this—standing, seated, with and without a jacket—using shrewd psychology, not knuckle-busting sleights or special gimmicks or apparatus. The only things required to do these professional switches are decks of cards and your pockets. Giobbi teaches dozens of methods for imperceptibly switching decks, along with the psychological principles behind them; principles that allow the reader to apply and modify deck switching techniques to suit any circumstance.
And along the way, Giobbi explains some very strong card magic.
As is expected from Roberto Giobbi, the techniques and tricks in this book are not pipe dreams. They come from his professional repertoire, sharpened by hundreds of performances and explained with all the detail only a world-class teacher can bring to a subject.
There is no other book devoted to this important topic—and it holds information that will be of tremendous value to beginning and advanced card magicians alike. The Art of Switching Decks is an in-depth study teaching over 30 deck switches and a few remarkable tricks—163 pages in hardcover.
ALSO INCLUDED
a DVD offering an eighty-five-minute show and lecture by
Roberto Giobbi,
showing exactly how various deck switches are achieved
in a live performance.
| Owner | Bryan-Keith Taylor |
|---|---|
| Location | Magic Library (Home) |
| Index | 4503 |
| Added Date | Jul 01, 2017 03:06:54 |
| Modified Date | Apr 06, 2026 14:22:21 |
| Book Condition | Mint |
|---|
Roberto Giobbi
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roberto Giobbi (born May 1, 1959 in Basel) is a professional magician from Switzerland, noted for his many contributions in teaching card magic, such as his five-volume Card College series.
Life and work
After studying literature and linguistics at the University of Basel, Roberto Giobbi first worked as an interpreter and translator, with a fluency in German, English, Italian, French and Spanish. After his success as Vice World Champion in Card Magic at Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques (FISM) in 1988, he turned professional as a magician. He has since been working as an author and lecturer, and has developed an international reputation as a teacher.
Giobbi has written 18 books, and his works have appeared in eight languages. His best-selling five-volume Card College series is considered to be a standard modern textbook for card magic, and is the most widely translated series of books in the history of magic.[1] He has also published articles and essays about magic in more than 50 magazines in Europe and overseas, including essays and columns for 14 consecutive years in Genii magazine. Since 2015, he has been one of the contributors for the Magic Circle of Austria's magazine Aladin.[2]
Giobbi has been a guest of many TV and radio shows, including appearances in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the USA, Japan and South America. He gives educational lectures in all five languages that he speaks. Since 1980, Giobbi has been a member of the Escuela Magica de Madrid, an exclusive magic think tank that has only 40 members worldwide.
In recognition of his skill at sleight of hand card magic, Giobbi has won several international awards in magic, notably Vice World Champion in Card Magic at FISM in 1988 and 1991. He was awarded the first-ever Grand Prix from the Swiss Magic Convention, in 1990, as the winner of all categories. In 2012, the Academy of Magical Arts awarded him their "Literary & Media Fellowship."
He lives and works as a freelance magician, seminar leader and specialist writer in Muttenz, Switzerland. He also gives interdisciplinary talks and workshops for industry managers on creativity, communication, and presentation, and is sought out by professional magicians worldwide for his expertise and lectures.
Giobbi is married and has two children.
Notable awards
1987 Writer of the Year of the Magischer Zirkel von Deutschland
1988 Runner-up in the category of Card Magic at FISM (The Hague)
1990 Grand Prix at the Swiss Championships of Magic
1991 Runner-up in the category of Card Magic at FISM (Lausanne)
2011 Literary & Media Fellowship from Academy of Magical Arts
2014 John Nevil Maskelyne Award for Literature from the Magic Circle of London
2015 FISM Lifetime Achievement Award “Theory & Philosophy”
Notable books
Card College, Vol. 1 (1995)
Card College, Vol. 2 (1996)
Card College, Vol. 3 (1998)
Card College, Vol. 4 (2000)
Card College, Vol. 5 (2003)
Card College Light (2006)
Card College Lighter (2008)
Card College Lightest (2010)
Secret Agenda (2010)
Confidences (2013)
The Art of Switching Decks (2013)
Standup Card Magic (2015)
Sharing Secrets (2021)
Film
In 2004, part of Giobbi's life was captured by Swiss TV in a 50-minute documentary entitled "Il giardino dei giochi segreti."[3]
References
Citations
"Robert Giobbi biography". robertogiobbi.com. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
Magischer Ring Austria (19 December 2014). "Authors at Aladin 2015 - Roberto Giobbi". www.aladin.blog. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
"Il giardino dei giochi segreti" youtube.com
Sources
"Roberto Giobbi Profile" at the 2018 European Close-Up Magic Symposium, Milano, Italy (Guest of Honour).
Roberto Giobbi cover and feature in Genii, November 2009 (Vol. 72, No. 11)
"On the Making of Card College 1 to 5" by Roberto Giobbi in Genii, December 2008 (Vol. 71, No. 12), page 16.
"Portray Roberto Giobbi" in Magie (Magischer Zirkel v. Deutschland), August–September 1987 (Vol. 67, No 8/9), page 244
Complete bibliography of published works by Roberto Giobbi
External links
Roberto Giobbi website
Roberto Giobbi biography
Indexed list of Roberto Giobbi works at The Conjuring Archive
Roberto Giobbi books at Lybrary.com
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