talkmagic.co.uk

What kind of shuffles is Ricky using here? They don't look like Zarrow as he squares the cards up. They could be a bunch of Faros but how does he manage to cut in exactly the right place each time? Totally amazed by this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWvRorX0KhQ

He does many many types of false shuffles and cuts in this video. I believe he did a few Zarrow shuffles in the end. It is possible that he was doing table Faros in the beginning, but it does seem uber fast! But I think the deck he was using was Steamboats (correct me if I'm wrong) and Steamboats I heard have a very thin stock which probably allows him to easily do table Faros.

I'm not entirely sure about this. Sorry

Well if they are Faros then not only is he weaving the cards together very fast but he's also dead cutting to exactly half the deck really quickly.

Java wrote:Well if they are Faros then not only is he weaving the cards together very fast but he's also dead cutting to exactly half the deck really quickly.

You are talking about Ricky Jay, not sure why you are suprised.

I think he's using Bee's. At that resolution, Steamboats and Bees are hard to call.

All we need to know here is that he's using some very neat handlings.

I love seeing YouPube comments on how things were done... let's not turn TM the same way!

Needless to say, I would imagine all of this was pretty much genuine.

bmat wrote:You are talking about Ricky Jay, not sure why you are suprised.

Pretty much sums it up for me.

seige wrote:I love seeing YouPube comments on how things were done... let's not turn TM the same way!

Needless to say, I would imagine all of this was pretty much genuine.

It's all (absolutely) genuine (refer to bmat's comment above).

Whilst I'm not trying to be a YouPube armchair magician, Mr. Jay employed several techniques in his shuffling. The fact that he's using Bees helps to hide specific things, but based solely on the fact that it is Ricky Jay, he could do this with any deck that he laid his hands on.

Java, are you familiar with Ricky Jay? Do you know his history? He could easily be compared with Kapsparov (the chess grand master). See, if you study chess, you can be a good player. But, if it doesn't come naturally, all the study in the world won't get you up to Kapsparov's level. Ricky Jay is the Kapsparov of cards.

If you want to know just how important a figure Ricky Jay is in the magic industry, then simply go to e-bay and see what his book, "Cards As Weapons" sells for.

Many years back, Mr. Jay got sick and tired of the pure thievery that goes on in the magic industry, so he quit being "a nice guy" when it comes to the magic industry. Unfortunately, things haven't changed since then and the magic industry is still composed of many, many thieves. Too bad, because if Ricky's point would have been heeded, we may just have him back in the fold to help us along (a talented man, that Mr. Jay, what a waste that we've lost him to help guide us along).

Such is life, I guess. But, this is one of my main issues when trying to explain to guys that if you pick something up off of YouPube and want to use it, then PAY THE SUNNABICH WHO INVENTED IT RATHER THAN RIPPING IT OFF.

Unfortunately, the attitude in this industry is:

"Well, since I figured it out, I'm allowed to do it."

It is that attitude that lost us Ricky Jay.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now.

Mike.

For those in the UK, Ricky Jay was on TV recently in a repeat of one the old Simon Drake Shows. Ricky demonstrated second dealing, bottom dealing and middle dealing. I recorded it and even at half speed I still couldn't see the difference between those deals and the genuine ones - utter and total talent.

bmat wrote:

Java wrote:Well if they are Faros then not only is he weaving the cards together very fast but he's also dead cutting to exactly half the deck really quickly.

You are talking about Ricky Jay, not sure why you are suprised.

I totally agree. It was great to watch, and I love his performance. And, MIke, thanks for the bit of history and the reminder of ethical magic.

I think the very first one may have been a hunter shuffle.

Looking at the Ace of Spades, it doesn't seem to be Bees so I assumed it was Steamboats.

I have no idea what false shuffles he did in the beginning. I just know it's amazing!

An amazing performance!! As for the youtube comments, I think one person on the site summed it up when he said "well said, now lets enjoy the trick shall we?". In other words, forget about the argument and appreciate some brilliant handling. I just can't keep away from this thread and video when I come on to TM, as it is SO good.

STEVEBO
SAY:

"the deck he was using was Steamboats (correct me if I'm wrong) "

You are wrong, he is not using steamboats deck

reda

Michael Jay wrote:Java, are you familiar with Ricky Jay?

Yes, I've watched him with admiration for many years - since the original screening of The Secret Cabaret.

Murphy wrote:I think the very first one may have been a hunter shuffle.

To me it looks as though the last ones were hunter shuffles. The first ones look very different.

How many Faros does it take to get the deck back in original order?

Eight out faros returns the deck order back to the beginning - exactly how you started.

Mike.

Java wrote:What kind of shuffles is Ricky using here? They don't look like Zarrow as he squares the cards up. They could be a bunch of Faros but how does he manage to cut in exactly the right place each time? Totally amazed by this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWvRorX0KhQ

All the shuffling in close up at the top of the video until the camera cut to wide view is legitimate. The deck is being fairly shuffled. They are not faros, not even close, nor any other type of false shuffle. Rather than arguing if it is possible to faro this quickly and casually, one need only look somewhat closely to see cards landing in pairs and larger bunches, especially on top of the shuffle. Sorry, you've all been taken in. He's just shuffling the cards -- and not that it matters, but it doesn't look 5 cards short either, though the Ace to 5 of Spaces are picked up after the cut. No argument that Ricky is highly skilled -- he cannot simply riffle shuffle at will at leave the deck in order. AND IF HE COULD, it would LOOK it. AND IF HE COULD -- he would not resort to the relatively clumsy zarrow-ish shuffles at the end not to mention the simple false overhands in the middle. Most importantly -- he wouldn't allow a cut in the film! Instead he would have the camera slowly back out to highlight this amazing feat. The fact that there is a cut negates EVERYTHING before and is equivalent to dropping the deck below the table. I believe the technical word is "duh". From the point were the trick actually starts -- placing the five cards on the spread -- objectively, this is NOT an advanced routine, though subjectively it is a really good one. Ricky has great technical skills -- but this routine simply does not illustrate that fact. Stack the deck, various blind cuts and productions and a couple of blind shuffles. Why is everyone drooling? This routine is watching Greg Louganis do a perfect swan dive. No matter how good it is, no matter that you or I couldn't do a swan dive as well, no matter that he can do triple twisting triple back, it's just swan dive done very well.