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Is ring manipulation hard or does it just need pratice? I play the piano so will that help me with the moves? Also any dvds you'd suggest for starting me off?

What kind of "rings" are you talking finger rings, classic linking rings, the Ninja rings, etc.....

Finger rings. I was just looking at De'Ring, but I don't know if I should get it.

De'Ring need looads of practise. Apparently playing the piano can help (nimble fingers, coordination etc) but you will still ned to put in months and months of practise.

Ring manipulation, like most other forms, runs the gamut from difficult to easy, depending on the effect in question and the moves you happen to be working on. Rings are wonderful, because you can borrow them and do magic.

My 2 cents would be to take a more gradual approach, and not throw the baby out with the bath water. Start with something that is not too far over the horizon, and build from there. As you learn simpler things, that knowledge, both mental and physical, will help you in your future endeavors.

Best to you-

Steve

I play the piano so will that help me with the moves?

I think that any skill requiring dextrous digits is a great boon to the magician. I'm pretty new to the game but recently I've been putting time into learning card manipulation/flourishing to improve my overall deck handling (and add spice to my future performances). It has come pretty easy to me and I'm certain this is to do with my skills as a scratch DJ (lots of intricate cross fader manipulation - think percussion instrument), I've even found that the flourishing, conversely - has helped my ability on the decks (not that I use them much these days).

This DVD got a good review and looks like a great place to start for ring magic.

As for manipulation, the only experience I have is learning to roll my ring across the tips of my fingers, a la The Prestige.

...innuendo bingo...

Go ahead and get De'Ring, it's the best resource for pure ring manipulation there is at the moment. The De'Ring move itself is pretty easy to pick up and he goes into lots of detail on variations and some handy other sleights, apart from that there's the Gryphon Roll (the move that Zack mentioned above) which is comparable to a coin roll in terms of difficulty, that is to say you should comfortably nail it in a couple of weeks if you practice in front of the telly, etc.

The other move on there which is on the trailer is the Insanity Ladder (damn E marketing and their stupid names) which looks stunning but is about the hardest thing I've ever learned. It's taken probably six months but now I have it down nice and smooth, still not super quick though.

Don't let that put you off, it's not like you're in a hurry is it? Get practicing and eventually you'll get to where you wanna be. Otherwise I recommend Garrett Thomas's Ring Thing as an excellent dvd for ring magic in general.

actually, De'vo named the insanity ladder himself

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll be putting De'Ring on my christmas list.

Well then Beard, he is a knob. I'd call it the Rolly Finger Thing, not so snappy but at least you could say it with a straight face and without fear of ridicule.

Just as bit of trivia, Did Devo also name the Griffon Roll?

nope - the roll was mastered by an underground artist known as "The Gryphon"

well...that's what he said anyways :/

Definitely takes a lot of practice, but then so does everything else that we do here. Piano will help. Personally, I'm a huge nerd who loves gaming and it's helped me with ring and coin stuff (I always wanted to learn the Piano). I imagine the piano will help you, but it'll still be hard work.