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I don't really know if this is against the rules, but seeing as its not an actualy trick, I was wondering if people could teach me how to fan cards between my hands and in one hands, and also how to spread cards on a table. I've tried many different 'homemade' ways, but none of them seem to work. This is my plea to you Don't let me down!

Well, this honestly shows that you are not very much into magic. This is probably one of the first things you will learn, if you buy a card magic book, like card college, or another one. So, I don't see any reason to go in details here. Having said that, it's rather easy to do what you are asking. get a book, and learn the hard way

I hardly think you can judge how 'into' magic a person is by how well they can handle cards. Its completely unfair to say that I'm not very much into magic, because I know that I am. I just have difficulty handling cards. So thanks for the advice you gave, and in the future, please don't criticise my involvement in magic based on my ability.

rcarlsen - tone it down a bit mate, anticamper's a new member, and probably newbie to magic - he's only just joined, and probably doesn't know where to start, other than experimenting himself. If you're going to tell him to learn from a book, then at least tell him which books to learn from!

Anyway, if it's so easy, why not help him out a little?

anticamper - I learnt the flourishes from a book called 'The Royal Road to Card Magic' written by Hugard and Braue. I know some members on the forum will agree with me on this book, and others will tell you about the DVD 'Born to Perform' by Oz Pearlman. I think you should have a good read of the reviews for these (you'll have to do a search using the button at the top of the page) and maybe give them a try.

Also, feel free to pm me.

Hope that's helpful, mate.

I was wondering if people could teach me how to fan cards between my hands and in one hands, and also how to spread cards on a table.

These moves are more difficult than they look. You have to practice them before they actually look nice. By "practice" I mean something like 10-20 minutes a day for several weeks.

You should also get some book or DVD on the subject - there have been some recommendations in this forum already. Actually, books are cheaper but they won't tell you how a specific move looks. They also may not tell you how to turn a collection of moves into a routine that impresses an audience. That's the advantage of DVDs - of good DVDs, of course ...

Judging from your signature line I guess that you already have the book from Bill Tarr? It does contain detailed descriptions of spreads and fans and it should be enough to get you started.

Just start with a new deck and use a surface with a good "grip". A magician's close-up mat is optimal, but a wooly tablecloth is fine as well. I found the bed to be a good place to practice springing the cards, BTW

Besides, knowing card work is by no means mandatory if you want to call yourself a "magician". There are famous people who never touch cards, although most people do know at least one basic routine. Just a thought: A single coin vanish and production move is much more versatile and can be done totally "impromptu" as opposed to card routines. Add these moves to your daily practice schedule (should only take 5-10 minutes extra) and you may find it a very good and gratifying investment.

Hi

I'm very new to magic too. Been learning from the Royal Road to Card Magic which is a brilliant place to start!

I found and still find fanning and spreading quite difficult. However practice is the key word. After a month of fanning as much as I could during the day I'm starting to improve. My first fans were more like cuts creating three packs of cards but now I'm getting real fans after only a month. The more work I put into it the more the fans take shape and are getting to be more proffesional showing the indexes of each card (although this still needs a lot of work!!)

Something that has helped me is to video tape my practice time. If you can do this even just once a week and then watch it back the following week you'll be surprised how much you improve after a week of practicing.

Stick with it and you'll soon get better

Kippy

First thing first - make sure you're using GOOD quality cards (Bicycle, Tally-Ho, Bee etc).
Cheap cards won't fan or spread properly.

I'm not a cardie but can handle a deck. I've consulted with RRTCM and have watched DVD's and whilst I have no problems doing one handed thumb fans etc, I still can't get the consistency when doing a full deck fan. It's not as easy for some as you may think!

I know the principle - it's putting it into practice and god have I practiced this. I therefore suggest that we give the guy a break on this one!