talkmagic.co.uk

i am having a prob palming cards.

im a VERY skinny kid, so my fingers when i put them flat and strate, have holes where u can see im palming the card.

what should i do?

If it's really that thin, try to find another way to accomplish what you have to do? It's not very often you need to palm a card. Infact, I never do it myself...

Get some Casino Cards, ya know, those cards that are extra skinny. Then squeeze them from the sides to center intead of top to bottom.

Blade Master wrote:Get some Casino Cards, ya know, those cards that are extra skinny. Then squeeze them from the sides to center intead of top to bottom.

How does that help?

flyingkidjoe, what are you trying to accomplish?

Kid,

You do not have to palm a card to be an accomplished performer. I was nearly 10yrs before I decided to start palming, go for basic sleights first.

hey cmon guys...that really isnt the answer to anything...he wants some tips to acheiving a palm whereby he can do something once the card is palmed...instead of telling him to go learn other sleights just because we didnt learn it for 10 years still doesnt solve his problems...

now flyingkid....

i have the same problem but not becuase of the skinniness...my fingers bend towards each other so theres a gap between them even if i squeeze my fingers shut which causes a large problem as you either see white or red...so instead of palming i would suggest learning the tenkai hold...now all i do is tenkai a card instead of palming to a location....granted it might be akward in situations but for the most part it should work...

one thing you could try is hold the card in the palm position but dont keep your hand still so specs wont be aware of the card.... also use a blue backed deck, its harder to spot

Blue deck is harder to spot?! I'd always heard and thought that red was harder to spot if you're palming as it's much closer to your skin tone. Your hands aren't remotely blue, so a blue deck will stand out more from them. According to Jeff McBride, therefore, a blue deck is good for general manipulations but a red one is better for palming as it doesn't show so much when you don't want it to .

Kati

I have a similar problem with gaps between my fingers, though they aren't very large. After careful thought and playing with lots of different moves I cam across a very inovative solution to the problem; just pretend you don't have the gaps and perform normally!

Think TT, no-one knows it is there so they won't be looking for it. Unless you have particularly large gaps there really shouldn't be any cause to worry since I doubt you will be waving the hand palming the card up and down in front of your spec, it is most likely that the hand will be mostly hanging by your side, moving somewhere for a load or resting naturally on a table top so it really shouldn't be too hard to direct your audiences attention elswhere.

Any slight gaps between the fingers should not really cause a problem. All you need to do is tilt the hand slightly so the spectators are not looking directly at the back of the hand (and the gaps) but have more of a side view.
The fingers should cover the gaps and the card will not be seen.

You could also try a different palm - for example, Tenkai is probably the easiest to do technically (though angles are hard) and is very convincing.

Kati

the only thing with tenkai is that your hand is either directly in the spectators face at eye level...which doesnt do much good at misdirection or its down by your side with the back of your hand facing the spectators...still that being said it looks a bit odd as your thumb is missing....

another problem you'll run into is if you hold the card in tenkai palm its rather akward to place your hand into your pocket without the card flashing...

i have a problem with gaps, although, no one has ever noticed. red is the first and most obvious colour to the eyes, so blue backed would be better

Side view or different, gambler's cop isnt too bad when you are standing. Good luck

I agree with the posts saying not to worry.

I thought I had a problem with small hands for a number moves, the glide particularly. But people don't notice things they don't know are there.

The example of the TT is the clincher. How do they not notice it??

If you keep your hand casual and move the card on as soon as possible you will get away with it.

You could try smaller cards of course but if you need a gimmicked deck they only seem to come in the one standard casino size

I have to say that the most sensible comment so far has come from Kat... (don't mind me calling you Kat do you mate?)

Get hold of some Bee decks. They have no white edge border on the rear, and if you keep your hands moving, the design blends with the hand nicely.

Bear in mind, also, that there are other ways to palm a card than simply letting it lay against your palm. For instance, one of my favourite card palm is a lateral palm—ideal if you're seated with the audience to your front.

The lateral palm is angle specific in that it has only about a 180° hidden area, but it's great if you aren't comfortable with classic palm, because lateral palm is not dependent on covering the entire surface of the card with flesh.

As with many sleights, it's all about misdirection. Cover a small action (such as the palm) with a larger action (such as turning your head 360° like an owl and making a noise like a donkey with a firework up its bum!).
Your main goal when palming a card is to KNOW it's purpose, i.e. are you stealing the card to place back on the deck at a later stage... or are you palming it to your pocket... or holding it for a while?

Whatever the case, practice the COVER, not the palm. One of the easiest misdirections is achieved when standing, and that is, to palm the card from the deck and immediately let the palming hand drop to your side in a 'rested' position.

Divert attention to the OTHER hand by gesturing forward both with the deck and your eyes. As soon as you have diverted attention, you are free to ditch the card in a pocket, under a beermat etc.

Body gestures, eye gestures and making eye contact are all ways of misdirecting from the palm, so it is THIS that you should be practising—NOT palming the card.