talkmagic.co.uk

Sorry to resuscitate this thread, but should this shuffle work with old cards as well as new ones? With a new deck the cards seem to interweave quite easily without any conscious focus on pressure or the angle of the packets. With the old deck, though, I still can't seem to do it very well. Does this mean that I'm doing it wrong (i.e my technique isn't right), or should I just be using a new deck to do it? The reason I was using an old deck is because I didn't want to destroy the edges of the cards on a new deck, in case anyone was wondering.

I'd say it's not impossible with an older more used deck, but definatly easier with a new as the edges are a lot cleaner and crisp. Older cards the edges are a little bit banged up and dirty from sweat. You might also have the case with older cards where they will start to peal if you try to force a faro too much.

i bought a pack of Red Bike specials on saturday and i think they are Ellusionist. About the worst deck i ever used for a Faro and so now back to normal bikes .

I heard that the new Mandolin by Murphys with the new back are better..but im not 100% sure. Also R Turner has a new deck which is supposed to be for Faro buffs.. he is the USPCC main advisor and kicked up a big fuss about this over the years as he will tell you that the cards were cut wrong for years
and he rants on about this on his DVD

I do a lot of Poker Deals and so its important that i get two faros for my effect.. i need 13 cards out of 26 and then 4 out of 26 the second time ( or 26 weaved and 8 weaved the sedond time around)

I learnt it from card college which is an excellent description.
But the description in Marlos Revolutionary Card Technique is the best i have ever read, it truly improved my technique. More than that, it seemed so easy that i decided to try and teach my girlfriend how to faro, it took her 3 attempts until she did a perfect faro. I then taught a friend who can't even riffle shuffle... and he was faroing perfectly within 2 attempts.
Previously I had been unsuccessful teaching card magicians how to faro... using this method they pick it up really easily.
My advice is to check out this book!

How many times can you Faro a deck of bikes before a perfect cannot be achieved. 25, 50 more...
Or are there experts who can faro a beaten up deck ad infinitum

Im assuming that you are doing no other tricks with the deck but just faro work. perhaps its a question that has no easy answer. Its that i find just as you bed the new deck in its tougher to get a faro

Just wondering

Antera: I find the opposite... the more i use it the easier it faros, i cannot faro a brand new deck at all, unless they are traditionally cut (like Richard turners designs and the mandolin decks)
Also you should be able to faro the deck countless times, i think it depends on how you care for your deck (so what condition it is in), and also on how you faro - if you use a more forceful approach it can damage the cards.

I bought a Chinese Design Bicycle Deck called " ZODIAC Deck" and they are brilliant. As well as having a Chinese slant to the design which suits some effects i do they Faro straight out the box perfect. They dont feel like ordinary bikes and i can actually almost see all 52 cards side on which help a lot

highly recommend these although maybe i got lucky with the cutting machine . If you do any mystical work then these are for you as the ACE designs really shout out " Orient"

has anyone here used Turners new deck for Faro work. Ill order a few packs anyway and report back. Alos Turners DVD for International Magic is brill..2 DVDs and see the Faro master at work. ( Table Faro anyway)

Yes i've used Turners, and they are very good for faroing although they are traditionally cut, meaning they faro best from the bottom up (instead of top down)
Marlo's method that i mentioned is a bottom up faro. Every other description i have read is top down. Which way do you faro?

26 cards in each hand gently let them drop after letting the gap get bigger and it will work, helps with new deck of cards (i use bicycles)!

What does bottom up mean..or top down ??

Im behind the curve here obviously

I just split the pack in two and faro it after butting together. usually i put the bottom half left corner in and weave away. Is that what ones means by bottom up. Difficult to explain i suppose but i know to Faro, take my word for it

I initially thought I'd never be able to do it, but now I find it so easy with a new deck (I'm not so good with an old deck), I find it hard to imagine not being able to do it.

Probably like most people, I just played with it until it just started to feel right.

Certainly don't press too hard. And maybe one deck at an angle SLIGHTLY, so they're NOT meeting directly head on.

(I'm now trying to learn the muscle pass, and am still at that awful stage of thinking maybe I'll never get anywhere with it. Is the muscle pass considerably harder than the faro? It feels like it. But maybe, one day, I'll be watching telly, and suddenly...)

Bottom up means that the weave starts at the bottom of the deck and then moves upwards to the top.

If you're not aiming for a perfect faro there's an easy way to do a faro with any deck, regardless of age; make like you're going to do a waterfall but grip the top and bottom (long edges) of the cards and release with other hand, see that?

re read: did that make any sense to anyone? I know what I mean, i'll try and write it up properly with pictures if anyone cares

Piccies would be good please.

Will try and get something next evening I have free.
Which this week I think is Saturday!