talkmagic.co.uk

TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb wrote:I'm a firm believer that if your cards need fanning powder then what you really need is new cards.

An interesting point, though I believe unless your cards are in REALLY bad shape, you should be able to get a decent thumb fan. If you are just learning a thumb fan, then a new deck is helpful. The decks I use to learn new cuts and flourishes eventually end up with permanent breaks and crimped cards but are still fannable.

Kolisar wrote:An interesting point, though I believe unless your cards are in REALLY bad shape, you should be able to get a decent thumb fan. If you are just learning a thumb fan, then a new deck is helpful. The decks I use to learn new cuts and flourishes eventually end up with permanent breaks and crimped cards but are still fannable.

Totally agree. But if you feel your cards are that bad that they need treating, treat yourself to a new pack instead. I prefer a worn in deck over a brand spanking new one anyway, much less likely to slip! But when they get sticky I don't think it's worth trying to resurrect them!

TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb wrote:I'm a firm believer that if your cards need fanning powder then what you really need is new cards.

IMO, that's just not true. Fanning powder is usually used in the beginning of the life of the deck. If it's up to the point where you need new cards, fanning powder does nothing but clump your cards together.

Anyways, I'm gonna try to stop using fanning powder now just because I'm learning the second deal.

My decks last absolutely ages and they still fan fine! They can actually stay up to 2-3 months. Just make sure you wash your hands before using them. Make sure you break into the deck properly with a few springs and pressure fans. If you can't do those, riffle shuffles should do fine. They really help make the deck easier to handle and perform sleights.

Steve

Practice every day until you get it, me fans sucked before, now they are pretty damn perfect. took me a long long time-....

The newer the deck the easier it is. I have a deck of Bikes which I have practised with every day for 2 months and it's nigh on impossible to make a decent fan with these, but my new decks, it's no problem.
It certainly takes practice and sometimes I produce a really neat looking fan, other times not so nice!
The Expanding & Diminishing Cards effect in RRTCM is a nice little aside once you can nail down fanning.

New decks certainly help and of course practice is the key. A point to remember about flourishes is that although they are elegant and impressive they can often detract from your magic as when a spectator sees a card miracle then they feel that they can simply dismiss by saying 'well it's just because he's good with his hands' which of course is true but if you want them to see your tricks to be as magical as possible, don't go overboard on fancy cuts and spreads etc.

Either way you are best to use fanning powder to keep cards gliding across each other but practice is always going to help no matter how new the deck is.