talkmagic.co.uk

Hi,

Would anyone be willing to give me a list of amateur flourishes for me to learn? As of now I know:
-Spread and Turnover
-One handed/Two handed Fan
-Charlier Cut
-Riffle and Waterfall
-Flourish Count

I have medium sized hands (if that helps)...

Thank you,

Adam

It doesn't matter what sized hands you have. Just practice them and you will get them

Start with the thumb fan. A good way to get a card selected. Basis of all good flourishes.

Move on to a charlier cut, perfect this is you wish to go on to be a cut kid and learn the really fancy cuts.

I suppose after you have learnt these, a spring is okay to learn if you have the time. It'll take a couple of months to perfect. But give it a go after a couple of other flourishes.

A neat two handed riffle shuffle then a bridge collapse is nice.

Yup - a spring is good.

Swing Cut is pretty basic ... but you can do a few to run them together.
Pivot Cut (as above).
Z Cuts... etc...

Around the World - where the top card revolves around the deck.

There are sites and forums that do just flourishes and 'cardistry' - i kinda like to learn a few moves - but it's just a fun pass the time when I'm on a train sort of thing - like my magic more.
Ed.

I do the odd bit of flashy handling, particularly with younger specs, but generally avoid too many flourishes as there is a risk that they can both distract and detract from the magic. On one level they know it's sleight of hand, but don't keep reminding them of it.

If, however, you really want to learn some flourishes, there's a ton of stuff on Dan & Dave's Trilogy.

The one handed riffle shuffle is a very nice flourish. As a subtle sign of "don't mess with me" skill, the one handed shuffle is pretty much everything you can want.

sleightlycrazy wrote:The one handed riffle shuffle is a very nice flourish. As a subtle sign of "don't mess with me" skill, the one handed shuffle is pretty much everything you can want.

Or

The one handed riffle shuffle is a nice flourish. As a subtle sign of "look how clever I am with my hands" it pretty much takes away any possible thought that what you are about to do is magic, because you have just shown them how clever you are with your hands. At the conclusion of your effect they think "well, I dunno how he did it, but if he can do a one handed riffle shuffle, I guess he's just clever with his hands.

Yeah thats an old debate isnt it. Do you show skill and dexterity with cards or will that take the ' magic ' away from your performance?

Me? I just need to get out more. Hence my skill and dexterity with cards.

Grimshaw wrote:Yeah thats an old debate isnt it. Do you show skill and dexterity with cards or will that take the ' magic ' away from your performance?

Me? I just need to get out more. Hence my skill and dexterity with cards.

I get out plenty, and also have skill and dexterity with cards. I just hide that from my audiences.

I hide my skill and dexterity from myself... very successfully....

I think you need to learn three nice cuts, a two handed riffle shuffle a thumb fan, maybe a spring and a card spin.

Then if you do want to go further, read Expert at the Card Table by Erdnase.

damianjennings wrote:The one handed riffle shuffle is a nice flourish. As a subtle sign of "look how clever I am with my hands" it pretty much takes away any possible thought that what you are about to do is magic, because you have just shown them how clever you are with your hands. At the conclusion of your effect they think "well, I dunno how he did it, but if he can do a one handed riffle shuffle, I guess he's just clever with his hands.

Argue with Derren Brown and Darwin Ortiz then; both successfully use the one handed shuffle in certain routines. Brown even did it before a mentalism routine.

Notice I said that the flourish can be used to emphasize one's skill.

Also, the choice to flourish or not depends on how you want to be viewed. Personally, I wouldn't use the one handed shuffle right before doing OOTW, but if I wanted to do a demo of card control or an effect that's skill oriented, I see no problem with the OHS. Besides, few people don't think card magic is just clever sleight of hand...[/i]

sleightlycrazy wrote:

damianjennings wrote:The one handed riffle shuffle is a nice flourish. As a subtle sign of "look how clever I am with my hands" it pretty much takes away any possible thought that what you are about to do is magic, because you have just shown them how clever you are with your hands. At the conclusion of your effect they think "well, I dunno how he did it, but if he can do a one handed riffle shuffle, I guess he's just clever with his hands.

Argue with Derren Brown and Darwin Ortiz then; both successfully use the one handed shuffle in certain routines. Brown even did it before a mentalism routine.

They aren't here to argue with.

Have you seen Ortiz perform? Appalling, boring, and rubbish.

sleightlycrazy wrote:Notice I said that the flourish can be used to emphasize one's skill.

Notice how I said that a flourish is used to telegraph one's skill.

sleightlycrazy wrote:Also, the choice to flourish or not depends on how you want to be viewed.

Absolutely, 100% right. I want to be viewed as a magician. You appear at least, to want to be viewed as a juggler. That is totally fine and I would defend to the DEATH your wish to show how clever you are with your hands by doing one handed riffle shuffles or whatever else.

sleightlycrazy wrote: Besides, few people don't think card magic is just clever sleight of hand...[/i]

Depends how you do it.

I imagine Tommy Wonder's audience thought they just saw magic.

If you can already spread and turnover, try taking a card from the end of the spread and use its long edge to move the peak of the turnover left and right. You can also do it with two cards, moving them in opposite directions and across one another for a nice 'twin peaks' effect... if that makes sense. I always think it looks nice, and it's simple too (it must be if I can do it, I handle my cards like a drunk with a bag of chips).

Have you seen Ortiz perform? Appalling, boring, and rubbish.

Im sorry to jump in, but you are very wrong there. Appauling at what may I ask?

Boring, im not going to argue with you, because he isn't the most entertaining magician I have ever come across, but rubbish?

Darwin Ortiz is one of the most technically aware, skilled and talented card handlers there are to date. He is certainly not rubbish.

On the subject of the onehanded riffleshuffle, learn it, you wont use it, infact, you will probably forget about it as you progress. Learn it though.

SeanTobin wrote:<snip>

On the subject of the onehanded riffleshuffle, learn it, you wont use it, infact, you will probably forget about it as you progress. Learn it though.

Any advice on a book or video that contains this flourish... I have tried it many times just by watching magicians do it but I somehow keep doing it wrong. Really would love some superpractice.

Thanks in advance, you can now continue your debate.