talkmagic.co.uk

So at the weekend I spend around 8 hours practicing the Faro. All my previous attempts were unsuccessful but this time it suddenly clicked. I don't know if this is going to be of any use to others but worth a post anyway just in case.

I found there were three key components to getting a consistent Faro.

1) The first is getting the cards buffered up correctly and level along both ends of each half. Even if they are slightly off then they won't weave evenly - at least in my limited experience.

2) Get the thumbs roughly around the middle along each of the edges. I tried with thumbs in different places but was far more successful with them around the middle so that the cards were kept fairly tight together.

3) Use very little pressure when pushing the cards together. This was probably my eureka moment and what made it all come together. I'd previously pushed so hard with my index finger against the back of the cards as they met that I had to apply a lot of pressure between the cards and they just jammed up. You really don't need to press them together much at all.

Next thing to learn: the table Faro. Is this insanely difficult or not as tough as it appears?

I did not find the tabled faro very difficult. Mine looks similiar to David Ben's I did find it was much like a regular faro in that I worked at it for some time and then one day it just 'clicked'. To be fair I don't get the table faro right every single time but that is because I never really have a need to use it. It just looked real classy when I was watching David Ben and to be honest I'm not sure he uses a perfect faro either. It was just the closest I could find that looked that nice. Hope that made sense.

For any gamblers out there (or rather magicians interested in gambling routines), David Williamson uses a perfect Faro Shuffle as part of his Aunt Mary's Terrible Secret routine. It's a nice little routine, and can be done without the Faro if required (Dave explains this in the book).

Aunt Mary's Terrible Secret is a very good (and funny) routine. The main problem with it is that the routine uses a dollar bill for every card in the pack which makes using uk currency a very expensive prospect.
I have tried the routine using slips of paper with IOU £5 written on it but I found it had less impact and came across as slightly amatuerish.

I honestly can't remember ever practicing the faro shuffle.

I cant really remember ever practicing anything - Im not saying it came naturally - I just mean I cant remember it.

The scary thing is, I cant really remember anything before my 11th birthday... weird

Interesting, but isn't the pefect Faro just a substitute for the (much more difficult) perfect riffle shuffle?

Come to think of it, who on TM can do a perfect riffle shuffle? I can't. I went through a phase of riffle shuffling pretty much constantly, trying to perfect it.
I worked on the assumption that a perfect riffle was simply an extension of a normal riffle so I figured that just by doing it over and over again my riffle shuffle would slowly get closer and closer to being perfect.

After about six months I gave up.

Is there a different technique one must use to turn a competent riffle into a perfect one? And can you do it 'in the hands'?

Ok that's enough questions.

I can do it - just very very slowly...

I'm not sure but I believe the Faro shuffle is called the faro because of the card game popular in the 18th century.

The difference I believe in the two shuffles is the way you hold and control the deck in the faro the 'perfect' weave is much easier. I don't believe the intent of the riffle shuffle is to perfectly weave the cards, (if it happens, great) where the intent of the faro is to weave the cards perfectly.

Marvo Marky wrote:Interesting, but isn't the pefect Faro just a substitute for the (much more difficult) perfect riffle shuffle?

Come to think of it, who on TM can do a perfect riffle shuffle? I can't. I went through a phase of riffle shuffling pretty much constantly, trying to perfect it.
I worked on the assumption that a perfect riffle was simply an extension of a normal riffle so I figured that just by doing it over and over again my riffle shuffle would slowly get closer and closer to being perfect.

After about six months I gave up.

Is there a different technique one must use to turn a competent riffle into a perfect one? And can you do it 'in the hands'?

Ok that's enough questions.

The technique would need to be different. No matter how much you practice doing a standard riffle you are never going to get the drop of the cards perfectly synchronised. Here's a youtube video of someone doing a table Faro. It appears there is a registration process performed between the two halves of the deck as they are bent upwards and the cards allowed to fall in the correct requence themselves. Take a look at the video anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbmkdD1rwGM

The Perfect Faro (in or out) is a great sleight...one that you can great card tricks with. Most of my books/dvd's have tricks utilising the Faro Shuffle; tricks I do professionally/commercially.

Paul Gordon

See:

Marlo Faro Notes
Marlo Faro Shuffle
Alex Emsley's Books
Murray Bonfeld Faro Concepts
Second 16th Card Books (Gordon/Craven)
Brent Morris on The Faro

Java wrote: It appears there is a registration process performed between the two halves of the deck as they are bent upwards and the cards allowed to fall in the correct requence themselves

Oh I see that! you're quite right.

At the very start the top edges are done Faro style but then it's more of a riffle from then onwards.
Almost like a disguised riffle, a bit like the one taught in ECT.

I'll have a go at that, thanks Java.

dunno why, but i've always wanted to be able to do a perfect riffle shuffle - i was watch sal piacente today do it so nonchalantly...i've tried for ages, years actually...just cant do it...

i can do a one handed octopus cut, but i can't do the one handed riffle cut either...

after nearly 9 years or something, i've only just trained myself to top palm, not cos i need to, just out of frustration and wanting to...i side steal normally...

abraxus wrote:dunno why, but i've always wanted to be able to do a perfect riffle shuffle - i was watch sal piacente today do it so nonchalantly...i've tried for ages, years actually...just cant do it...

It was the Sal routine with the card estimation and perfect bridge hand finale that gave me the motivation to learn the Faro. It's a great effect. With just the Faro and a bit of simple top stock control you can blow people away and have them believing you are a master card cheat. Starting with a totally new desk also adds to the cleanness of the routine. It's worth buying the DVDs for that one effect.

It really isn't that difficult to learn the Faro if you spend a bit of time trying different amounts of pressure and see what works best for you. I found that my handing is virtually identical to Sal's. If you have the DVD then pause at a closeup point and try to copy his finger positioning. Buffering the cards up to make them even is very important (don't worry if it takes you a while to do it in practice as it soon comes almost automatic - but no point even trying to wave the cards unless they are even) and when pushing them together apply very little pressure. The cards should hardly bend at all. The index finger is really just there to bring the top cards together at the same point and not to bend them (although there will be a very slight bend).

It really isn't that difficult to learn the Faro

Spend an hour or so getting the hang of it and then practise regularly and its simple.

I admit that I am now obsessed with the faro shuffle. I can weave them-- no problem but to weave them perfectly, one for one. No, I can't. I get close but then I find a two, one ruining the perfection. I'm reading Ed Marlo's wonderful instructions. I just hope that one day, just once I could do a perfect faro because even being slightly off is enough to ruin the trick. And if it's perfect, then you can keep shuffling until you come right back to the same order.