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hey there! now ive started practising my card skills daily there are a few routines ive set my sights on and at the moment im AMBITIOUS to develop my own AMBITIOUS card routine (did you see what I did there!!!). Anyhow ive got all my card moving skills down but my dl is tragic as cards start slipping and Its hard to repair my finale when the chosen card has already flown from the pack into the spectators face! any tips?

Perhaps you are thinking/worrying about it too much !

My DL is not the best. By clever use of timing and misdirection I make sure they are all looking somewere else anyway. When no one is looking, you can execute the most blatant of moves.
Practice your audience management and your presentation skills rather than the manipulation skills.
Manipulations skills come with confidence in front of an audience rather than pure skill in front of a mirror.

When practicing, are you are looking at your hands to see how well you are doing ?
Practice looking at the (imaginary) audience instead. In performance, if you look at your hands, so will they.

Hello Bob,

I think this is one of those slights where you really have to find which is best for you.
I have several ways of doing this, & felt it was an important enough a slight to learn to do it well.

One of the best tips I was given was.
Imagine how you would present a single card, then try to get your DL the same.

The get ready for a DL can be just as important as the DL itself.
My advice would be to practice a pinky count. This is something which takes time, but IMHO
it makes the move more or less instantaneous, & removes the need for any fumbling around.
I can now count 3 cards without the need for any get ready.
How I then present the card depends on what I want to do with the card next.

My advice would be.
Learn to pinky count, not easy, but well worth the effort.

CArl...

Just as an after thought.
You might want to look at how Gary Jones does his DL.
I watched him do this on his iCandy dvd.
He doesn't go into any detail, but he kinda holds the card at each corner.
I've been doing this for a while now, & the cards just seem to stick together like glue, &
don't separate. I like it.

Discombobulator wrote:Perhaps you are thinking/worrying about it too much !

My DL is not the best. By clever use of timing and misdirection I make sure they are all looking somewere else anyway. When no one is looking, you can execute the most blatant of moves.

When practicing, are you are looking at your hands to see how well you are doing ?
Practice looking at the (imaginary) audience instead.

i use a camera rather than watch myself and do it in the dark when possible!!!

CArlight1958 wrote:Hello Bob,

I think this is one of those slights where you really have to find which is best for you.
I have several ways of doing this, & felt it was an important enough a slight to learn to do it well.

One of the best tips I was given was.
Imagine how you would present a single card, then try to get your DL the same.

The get ready for a DL can be just as important as the DL itself.
My advice would be to practice a pinky count. This is something which takes time, but IMHO
it makes the move more or less instantaneous, & removes the need for any fumbling around.
I can now count 3 cards without the need for any get ready.
How I then present the card depends on what I want to do with the card next.

My advice would be.
Learn to pinky count, not easy, but well worth the effort.

CArl...

Just as an after thought.
You might want to look at how Gary Jones does his DL.
I watched him do this on his iCandy dvd.
He doesn't go into any detail, but he kinda holds the card at each corner.
I've been doing this for a while now, & the cards just seem to stick together like glue, &
don't separate. I like it.

cheers ill check that out

Royal Road to card magic says you should prepare for it first rather than trying it in just one move

For me, the easiest way that I've found was to first do a thumb count and then hold a break. With the break held, you're pretty much set to make the DL anytime that you want. Talk to the spec, look them in the eyes when getting ready and you've got just about all the misdirction that you need.

when im holding my pinkie break and i try to push off the cards with my thumb mess happens and the cards seperate too easily and are for this reason liable to fall from the pack. no matter what I do it seems to be more like a spread than anything else.

Best place I could recommend you stard, aside from Ryal Road/Card College, is this DVD - ftopic6756.php;" target="_blank as far as I've found, it's pretty much the definitive take on the subject.

cheers rob i've checked that out nd it looks like the kinda thing im after so ive gone and ordered it! cant wait till I get my DL flawless cause when I do the possabilities are endless.

magicbob123 wrote:cant wait till I get my DL flawless cause when I do the possabilities are endless.

Ah....another one well and truly bitten by the bug!

Welcome to a wonderful new world, Bob

Rob wrote:Ah....another one well and truly bitten by the bug!

Clearly I'm not the only one looking at some of the ambitious card routines on youtube! Some of the ones I've seen surpass the likes of David Blanes by a longshot.

One more question, is it worth looking at card tables and the likes or am I as well off putting a sheet over a normal table or some other make do method?

My only advice on this - start with no special surface at all....and then practice on every type of surface you'll commonly find

thanks for the advice I'll do that!

Here is the thing, aside from the pass. The DL is arguably the most difficult move in card magic. Want proof? Go look at youtube video's. Most DL are done horribly. When watching another magician perform I find myself cringing when an attempt is made.

Two issues come to light. Many find all these odd ways of turning over a double that seem to make it easier, yet when they are turning over a single card they just turn it over, no fuss no muss, then the DL is attempted and the tension in the arms and shoulders stick out like a sore thumb, the card is often swiveled with the corner pivoted around the base of the thumb. That doesn't scream something is fishy at all, (sarcasm) The key is to turn over a single, double, triple etc the same way you would turn over a single. Ideally just turn over a single card, now find a method to turn over the double that looks exactly the same. Also if you don't feel you have to prove when you are turning over a single card, then why do you feel you have to prove you are turning over a single, when actually using a DL? Get rid of the guilt. It is one card, get that in your head and keep it there.

In my case, I hold the deck in the left hand dealer grip. Using the left thumb I push over the top card my right fingers grasp the leading edge and flip the card over onto its back so it so it is resting face up on the face down deck. Using the very basic DL I do the exact same thing for the DL.

What it takes it practice. I believe most magicians think (and they are right) that this is a basic move in magic. Where they are wrong is that they think that because it is basic it is therefore easy. Try it out a few times, deem it as 'passable' and go out and use it. Even though it looks like garbage.

Here is what I don't understand. The same magician will learn the pass and practice it for months and months but will be afraid to use it because it doesn't look right to them, same with a classic force. Yet when it comes to the DL it is perfectly fine to go out and perform it when it isn't ready yet. Go figure.