talkmagic.co.uk

hey, so for the past year (18 months tops) i've been concentrating on learning card moves and am really pleased with my progress and feel I can now start learning to get the few card tricks I know up to scratch which likewise i am pleased so far with my development.

So whats the problem? I hear you ask, well the problem is.... PALMING, I can't do it for the life of me, no matter how different the method i try. For example I showed my brother a trick (reswindled) and he was blown away, so then i get big headed and try doing cards across.. Not happening, he sees straight away that I'm flashing and tells me (he's my test dummy)

The thing is I have big hands that cover the cards easily enough but my little fingers are pointing away from my other fingers (making a 'V' shape) is this normal or do I just have messed up hands? lol. It's in this gap were the cards flashing.

So I just wondered if anyone has any tips on what I could do differently or if anyone else as the same problem... cheers

I palm cards all the time, despite having gaps in between my fingers that make it quite easy to see me holding something in palm. I think a lot of it is about attitude - if you don't worry about the card in your hand, your audiences won't notice it.

I take it you practise in front of the mirror? Also, have you tried different palms? Tenkai or lateral my suit you better.

thanks for replying I think your right in saying attitude helps, I really need to work on my misdirection and overall patter, just that I'm really lousy at writing my script for a trick as when i start doing it I just don't come across as been myself at all, like I'm forcing the words... am I making sense? So yeah that's one part of my performing I really do need to improve on.

As for other palming methods, I;m comfortable with Tenkai (sp?) and have a little trouble with the lateral now and then but I'll keep practicing and get there eventually.

cheers

or i just look them in eye and ask them something and then just take the card off the top. they shouldnt even be looking at your freaky mutant little finger

Flashing can be very good misdirection for all sorts of sleights. And the act of opening your raincoat gives your hands something natural to do, serving as a good convincer that they are, in fact, empty.

pcwells wrote:Flashing can be very good misdirection for all sorts of sleights. And the act of opening your raincoat gives your hands something natural to do, serving as a good convincer that they are, in fact, empty.

.. and yet good advice!

Your problem isnt going to be holding out the cards. It will be the cop.

If you add misdirection and timing at the moment you steal the cards in the first place, they wont look to see if you have palmed them, and they wont see the cards.

concentrate on that moment .

Then try looking for Paul Daniels doing cards across.

his audience management , and misdirection on this effect is possibly teh best you can get, without using a slim slide.

A further hint - if you use someone's name when addressing them, they almost always look at you. We're programmed to do it. This is excellent misdirection for palming the top card of a deck.

I'm not sure if you are but don't look at your hands. Your specs will look where you look. And keep up the practice. Your goal is to be natural so you don't appear to be doing anything at all. Palm the card on the offbeat, whilst you're talking is good. A question will nearly always make anyone look up. Do it then.
If you're sitting at a table then I'd also suggest lateral palm. Check out Lennart Green to see how good it can look.

pcwells wrote:Flashing can be very good misdirection for all sorts of sleights. And the act of opening your raincoat gives your hands something natural to do, serving as a good convincer that they are, in fact, empty.

I like it.. I like it a lot**

Thanks for the advice everyone, I think part of the problem is that I'm aware at the moment I'm flashing and instead of been confident in the move I get all weary and thus give myself away. Thanks again though, defently some food for thought.


**Said in the tone of loyd in the film Dumb and dumber

I have small hands and it took me quite a while to dare to try palming. The whole point is, as has been made above, that when you palm the spectators eyes should not be on the deck or your hands. Remember, the spectator has no idea what you are doing and probably has no concept of what palming is.

When you have taken the card move the deck away from the palmed crd and all eyes will follow the deck, especially if you move it in a mildly extravagent way. I palm for a card to wallet move in my ACR and people don't even notice my hand go to my pocket because I am waving the deck under their noses telling them something else.

Like so much in magic palming has three key elements to it to make it a succesful move. They are.........

...................................misdirection, misdirection, misdirection!!!

I hated palming and never used it because one I could always see the card. two it looked like I was palming. Three I had no confidence. I got over it and here is how. At first I replaced it with the gamblers cop because it does almost the same thing, (not quite).

The problem was you can't always do that because the card is sometimes the wrong way, or you need the use of the guilty hand. So I went back to try the classic palm. Only this time I was older and smarter and had a liitle more experience. I only palmed the card when didn't have too, (much like practicing a classic force). Second I did it everytime nobody was looking. Much to my suprise I was palming a lot because nobody ever looked. I gained confidence and now it is just second nature and I still like to do it when I don't need too. Sometimes while I'm performing another effect I'll just palm a card for the heck of it.

I still really like the gamblers cop.

I palm an awful lot. More often than not, repeatedly in front of the same spectator(s) and get away with it. As mentioned above it's all about not having a face on you that looks like you've just done something naughty, so I won't go in to any detail about hiding that, you just need to work on the move and the more competent you get the more confident you get the less naughty you look. Easy!

I wanted to try and help you out with the bendy finger issue. I used to suffer with this and you will (hopefully) find that the gap is directly proportional to how curved your fingers are (i.e. the flatter the hand (without dropping the palmed card(s) of course) the smaller that gap between your fingers gets). Another tip, although this may not be to your liking if you struggled with the classic palm, is to learn the one handed top palm. I found that the way the move works in palming the card (I won't describe which bit due to exposure) means the guilty fingers that are splitting and flashing stay together.

Hope this helps.

bmat wrote:Sometimes while I'm performing another effect I'll just palm a card for the heck of it.

Excellent advice - I do this too. It's almost like you are misdirecting yourself as well as the specs! Palm cards when there is no need, no pressure, no attention and then load the card back at the next irrelevant points. This will do wonders for your confidence - and it's fun!

I think it depends on the performer, if you palm the card (Top, Bottom or Side Steal), then you should kind of ignore it and have your hand do something natural. Like pick your nose or whatever suits your fancy.