Topping the Deck: The Perfect Move
Topping the Deck: The Perfect Move
A comprehensive exploration of one of the most important and valuable moves in card magic unlike anything the magic community has ever seen.
In 1941, Dai Vernon changed the course of card magic forever with the launch of Select Secrets. While this pamphlet offered 12 different effects and sleights, there was one particular move that magicians would eventually dedicate their entire lives to studying. We are referring to Topping the Deck, and Jamy Ian Swiss is among the lifelong students of this iconic move who not only believe it is the best way to palm a single card from the top of the deck, but also the most perfectly-designed and choreographed move in magic.
Dr. Jacob Daley once famously noted that “every good trick has a discrepancy.” To paraphrase, there is no single core sleight of hand move in card magic—from the classic pass to the side steal or even double lift—that offers the perfect solution to the problem it’s designed to solve. That is, of course, except for Topping the Deck.
As Vernon once succinctly summarized in a letter to Sam Horowitz: “It approaches perfection as nearly as any move I know.”
Topping the Deck: The Perfect Move by Jamy Ian Swiss is a one-of-a-kind book dedicated to exploring Topping the Deck in the comprehensive level of detail it deserves. It features a lifetime’s worth of knowledge that can help magicians of all skill levels.
If you already use Topping the Deck, this book will help you uncover opportunities to improve your technique and make it the most powerful tool in your arsenal. If you’ve never studied the move, or palming in general, there is no better place to start.
Jamy learned from the greatest exponents of Topping the Deck; not only Vernon himself, but from his first line of expert protégés and exemplars of this particular technique, including Howard Schwarzman, Bob White, Harry Riser, and Johnny Thompson. In turn, he has been teaching this technique to private students, amateurs and professionals alike, for more than 35 years.
While Vernon’s original publication of the move was spread across just a few thin paragraphs, The Perfect Move covers every tiny nuance you could ever need. This includes the inspiration and origins of the move, the mechanics, and even finesses from Vernon’s aforementioned students. Jamy also offers a crystal-clear approach to identifying and overcoming common pitfalls. Simply plut, it’s everything you need to perfect The Perfect Move.
Unlike Vernon’s explanation, which had just one scant illustration, there’s also a plethora of photographs accompanying the detailed text. Everything is perfectly laid out across the 60 pages of this gorgeous softcover book.
Topping the Deck is one of the most important and powerful moves a card magican can learn. There’s no better way to master it than with The Perfect Move by Jamy Ian Swiss. This is a must-read for any serious student of card magic.
“In Topping the Deck: The Perfect Move, Jamy reveals his passion for magic and a tremendous respect for the art and its history. Many have tried to explain this iconic move. However, in this unique publication, Jamy provides the perfect explanation for ‘The Perfect Move.’” Asi Wind
Jamy’s Topping The Deck: The Perfect Move is without doubt the single finest resource to understand, learn and refine Vernon’s seminal sleight. The attention to detail offered to the reader will save the beginner countless hours of frustration and offer the seasoned expert new refinements to their existing execution. Beyond even that, Jamy’s insight and guidance will offer the lover of magic a new level of appreciation for the iconic sleight. I suspect that this beautifully produced manuscript also serves a secret agenda! It offers a rock solid argument that the printed word, accompanied by lavish and intelligently curated photography, is still the very best medium for learning and mastering fine sleight of hand techniques. The Perfect Move is a wonderful and important contribution to the community that I believe will become a benchmark in future sleight of hand instruction.” Luke Jermay
“I loved Topping the Deck: The Perfect Move! So well written – this is the Real Work on Dai Vernon’s invaluable and iconic sleight.” Bill Malone
“Topping the Deck is a move that should be learned, and the perfect person to learn it from is Jamy Ian Swiss.” David Regal
"Sure, I had used moves like this before—but always relying on misdirection and polite audiences. But after working with Jamy, I was able to get this move to a place where I knew it was entering the realm of invisibility visually and psychologically. I am nowhere close to the level of Swiss/Carney/Mead/Kopf etc. but I use the move every single time I'm with an audience." David Gerard
“In this beautifully produced manuscript, Jamy leaves practically nothing to the imagination. By that, I mean he has provided all the technique and clues you will need to do this move properly, written in precise, poetic detail. But as Jamy suggests, after the fundamentals are mastered, the rest is up to the student’s imagination. He gently coaches us to continue to explore and discover, to seek out discrepancies and address them; to approach our study of sleight of hand, not just from a mechanic’s view, but from that of an interpretive artist. In this lovely tome, you will learn one of the most useful and impactful moves in magic ... with the help of an excellent teacher.” John Carney
Softcover | 8" x 8"
Customer reviews for Topping the Deck: The Perfect Move
Masterclassmember
I’ve been working on this palm for a while, and this deep dive illustrated approach to learning is adding a lot here.
You can tell that Jamy’s been teaching this for a long time. It’s practical and easier to have a guide that takes you through step by step, and details the thinking, the process and the typical difficulties or mistakes in mastery.
For those who appreciate our history and where important breakthroughs in our thinking comes from, a true spirit of Vernon is present in these pages. This is expounded on not just in learning a most significant sleight, but in pointing out some practical meanings of “naturalness”. The question of “what’s the real thing ?” is so central.
Studying these aspects of this book, it’s easier to see its applications throughout all magic performances.
I also appreciate that Vanishing Inc continues to publish valuable and sometimes different kinds of books. In this case with Jamy’s approach to training and contextual overview of one move, or with John Lovick‘s recent exceptional analysis of a great Penn and Teller piece. I appreciate Josh and Andi making these kinds of studies available to the community.
There’s vibrant thinking and learning other than by video !
As a result of the lesson, I can attest to the knowledge and teaching ability of Mr. Swiss. He spends a little time (couple of pages) speaking of this palm in the Thompson book. But what we have here is an in depth thesis on what has been called “the perfect move.”
As expected, the book is wonderful. The photos are crystal clear and nicely framed. The written description is what we have come to expect from Mr. Swiss: clean, clear, and concise. The book is not as good as a private lesson (of course), but it is very, very close and considerably less expensive. The student who reads this carefully, studies(not the same thing), and practices consistently will find him or herself with a tool that will never be “left in my case” or “I didn’t bring that today.” A tool that will allow you to do miracles with a borrowed deck.
Highly Recommended
Masterclassmember
Masterclassmember
I'd thought before this book that if there is one part of magic that might be best learned on video instead of books it is sleights, because of their fully physical nature. This book has made me completely reconsider that, because the book allows you to sit in a specific moment of instruction for as long or little as you wish without needing to fast forward or rewind. You can study an image, all beautifully and simply composed by the way, and your own hands in a mirror at your own pace. Beyond the sleight itself, the approach taken to teaching the sleight opened up a new way of considering all of the sleights I use in performance. We learn early in magic that the sleight must match the real thing. But often when watching ourselves and others we see that doesn't actually happen. Why is it something so fundamental is so frequently lost on even professional magicians? The careful study of what the real is, as Jamy proposes in the book, is a major key in unlocking consistently top shelf sleight of hand. The author does something I've never seen done before in a magic book before even getting to the sleight itself, that if applied outside Topping the Deck, can elevate your existing sleights and techniques you do and you'll learn in the future.
The book is a pathway to become more excited, more engaged, and therefore have more fun with your magic. Like all of the author's works, Jamy Ian Swiss has a definable voice as a writer. Unlike many writers in the world of magic, who if a reader was presented with a random page and asked to name the author blindly would be left to simply guess as the styles are so interchangeable (or even non-existent), Jamy is immediately recognizable. Often candid, punctuated by moments of gentleness and humor, with a clear and overflowing passion for magic that rubs off on the reader along the way. Feed your passion for magic and sleight of hand through this book .
*There is one footnote in the book that I thought was alone worth the price because it has already entered my working repertoire.
It's not just the content that is class but so if the production of the book, lovely little addition to the library!
Masterclassmember
Community questions about Topping the Deck: The Perfect Move
Have a question about this product? It's possible others do too. Ask here and other Vanishing Inc. Magic customers will be able to respond with assistance! Alternatively, email us and we can help too.
Jason asks: In the trailer it shows Jamy doing what appears to be video instructions. Am I correct in saying that was only for the trailer and all you receive with this order is the book?
- 1. Vanishing Inc. Magic responds:You do not include video instruction. However, you can purchase his Masterclass as a companion to the book.
Sam asks: Wouldn't this be easier to learn from a video rather than a book? A whole book on one technique seems a little excessive and time demanding and frankly harder than watching a video. Either way u all are the best! Magic Doctr
- 1. Vanishing Inc. Magic responds:We believe books are the best way to study moves like this in detail.
Juan asks: Does the book cover any replacements?
- 1. Vanishing Inc. Magic responds:This book doesn’t cover any replacement moves
3 questions
