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I have seen Mr Malone do this trick on a video and it confirms what I have always said about videos. You might see the bad habits and think they are a good thing.

I do not approve of the flourishes he uses. It is very bad psychology. It tends to give away the fact that the false shuffles and cuts are just that. False.

The trick inherently brees suspicion among laymen that the cards are stacked. The false shuffles are supposed to allay that suspicion but will nevertheless be regarded with some scrutiny anyway. The flourishes make this scrutiny worse.

There is no sense drawing suspicion to a move when there is no necessity to do so. Flourishes can be an asset if used intelligently. This is an example of when they are not.

I completely agree that with too many flourishes the trick does start to look suspicious - but it also very entertaining!! If it used as an opener then everyone will guess what is happening but if it was performed immediately after another card trick with a switch then it could be impressive.
I personally don't use flourishes with this as I am not great at them and want people to follow the story more than the cards. My usual reaction is - 'do you make up the story depending on what you turn over??' Which of course I just smile at!!!

It is indeed entertaining and is as old as the hills. I believe I have seen a version of it in Scarne's Magic Tricks. I am merely saying that the flourishes should be eliminated during the sequence. You can still do flourishes somewhere else in your performance but this trick is not the place.

I think the best way to do it is to get the spectator to shuffle the deck and then switch it somehow. Then do the trick with the occasional false shuffle but not to overdo it.

the more I look at the posts, the more I think I have seen it performed without knowing the name of it......it is simply a story told through the cards combined with "shuffling & fourishes" to make it all look good right?