talkmagic.co.uk

by **Lenoir** » Aug 27th, '12, 18:39

I've been doing card work for years. I love it.

But like so many, the Faros, shifts, steals and palms all seem learnable...

...but a truly natural DL has always evaded me. Getting the break with the thumb always seemed
horribly unnatural, a double push off always seemed only 80% accurate, a pinky count always looked awkward
and the snap double thing, well...the less said about the better.

So I was reading The Cardician by Marlo this morning and came across an extremely brief description of a DL
that struck a chord with me.

No breaks, no pushing off and with very little practice a high success rate.

So I put in an hour of practice and this is what it looks like so far:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V8OUsaKckc&feature=plcp

So my questions are as follows:
1.) Does anybody know the name of this particular lift?
2.) If anybody does it, any tips?
3.) A random comments are welcome.

L

by **Aza** » Aug 27th, '12, 18:47

My reply is as follows:

1) Not a clue, I'm not as learned as most here on the various names of lifts/cuts/shuffles etc.
2) I do mine a similar way but from the other corner, closest to the thumb....it works for me and looks quite natural
3) I think it is more than convincing!!

I honestly think we as magicians get too worried about what looks natural, but if we behave naturally and don't say "here i will show you the top card" (look how clever i am, i lifted two up) and just do the DL as if it is the top card, the spec generally will have suspension of belief and all that malarky and generally 99% of people i have performed to want to see a magic trick.

There is the small 1% who want to be Billy Big B***ocks and view it like a puzzle, but who cares?! shrug them off and worry about the 99% who enjoy what you're doing.

Back to the video at hand, i think it looks absolutely wonderful after an hours practice and if it works for you....use it!

Much love

Aza

by **Aza** » Aug 27th, '12, 18:50

P.S i like that shirt..where did you get it?!

back on topic....Is the Cardician worth a read?

Much love

Aza

by **Lee Smith** » Aug 27th, '12, 18:55

The strike double.

Looks perfect.

by **Relish** » Aug 27th, '12, 19:07

I'd have to agree that it looks really good

by **Lenoir** » Aug 27th, '12, 20:31

Thank you Lee, Relish and Aaron.

The Strike Double it is. Lovely.

And Aaron, the shirt is from River Island...about 3 years ago!

by **The4thCircle** » Aug 27th, '12, 22:20

I've been trying to perfect a strike double from a similarly brief description (which I forget the source of) but it seems fairly random whether I get 1, 2 or 3 cards when I do it.

I guess the description was too brief or I read it wrong and now I can't find it again to re-read it. Ah well.

-Stacy

by **Alfred Borden** » Aug 27th, '12, 22:47

Very nicely done Sir

by **Mr_Grue** » Oct 3rd, '12, 07:48

This, or something near as damnit, is taught in Ian Kendall's Basic Training. It's the sample chapter, too, so you can download it for free from his website.

http://virtualmagicshow.com/btblog/

(I know Lenoir already knows about this, but thought others on this thread might find it interesting).

by **Stephen Ward** » Oct 3rd, '12, 09:30

That's the one i nearly always use

by **CArlight1958** » Nov 6th, '12, 17:43

Looks really neat Lenoir :wink:

John Gustaferro uses the same method. I have been learning many of his routines over the last couple of years.

Recently I bought "Red Mirror by Helder Guimaraes"
He uses the Stuart Gordon DL.
This IMO is one of the best DL around.

You probably already have, but if you haven't, check it out.
It works especially well when doing an Escanio.
The remaining double left in the right hand can easily be flipped over back on top of the pack, &
everything looks so natural.

Helder does go into some detail on this slight, it does take quite a bit of practice, but it's well worth the effort.

CArl...

by **DJBenz** » Nov 7th, '12, 11:30

One tip Jay Sankey gives in Extremely Ambitious is to wedge the deck slightly towards the digit that's doing the lift. Makes it easier to catch/feel the required cards.

by **Lance** » Dec 22nd, '12, 15:06

The strike double looks fairly good (probably about as good as a strike double can). The tip of beveling the deck was offered by Marlo in various descriptions of the move, and it helps procure the desired number of cards. One can strike and turnover two, three, or four cards with just a little practice.

Vernon, however, used to decry the strike double, preferring instead to use push-offs or simulated push-offs (as in the Vernon DL). He used to ask, "What's with all the picky picky stuff?" referring to the lifting of the cards at the back corner.

The technique that Aza describes is Leipzig's double turnover.

Roger Klause offered "The Soft Double," which is not that hard to do and has a nice fluid look to it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjaIxg6-YFU

by **Alec Burns** » Dec 22nd, '12, 18:52

Lance,

That soft double looks absolutely brilliant. After a few turns I thought you were then going to demonstrate how it looks using 2 cards.

Fantastic DL and I will have to take a closer look at that myself. Do you ever use a different DL or is this the one you always use?

Alec

by **IanKendall** » Dec 22nd, '12, 21:01

Since I was mentioned, I'll chime in...

The DL in Basic Training is a strike, but I offer a fairly easy learning path to it. It's been my staple method for a lot of years. Roger's Soft Double is lovely, and now Clause in Concert is available as an affordable ebook from L&L it might be worth looking up.

I _much_ prefer this style of double over the twirly-whirly variations, none of which looks like turning over a single card. On that point, I'll stress that you should aim to handle doubles and singles in the same way - it's pointless to push off a single card, and then twirl off a double...