by Demitri » Oct 20th, '06, 19:32
While I believe retaining the cards in the hands while doing the diminishing sequence is the best route (it's the most natural and requires the least bit of movement and/or fiddling), there is an easy way around it - which you can perform while you hone your sequence in private.
With each turnover, you turn the card face down and then place it on the table. Repeat this - and with the final two cards you would pull the ten of heart completely away from the face down card in your hand. Then, perform your MT (it needs to be a GOOD one in this particular situation - the "in the hands" sequence lets you cover this move quite a bit - with it out in the open, your move needs to be quick and smooth). Place the face down card on top and openly display the ten of hearts (spin it around or whatever you like to finish). Drop the ten face down on top of the packet and pick it back up.
In order to continue, you now need to reverse the cards - so count them back into your other hand, one at a time. It's not nearly as smooth (and breaks up the flow), but it won't detract from the overall strength of the effect.
You can try that out - but I highly recommend sticking with the original handling. There's a reason Darwin Ortiz structured the effect in this way - and I believe it's one of the few effects out there that doesn't need much variation.