Card Freaks

Michael Kras · Card Freaks

Do you have any odd mannerisms when using a deck of cards for magoc or flourishing?

I personally am very protective of my cards... I wash my hands thoroughly before handling any deck, and always keep my decks in card guards. I carry them in my pocket, and if it is raining while I walk home from school, I rotate the deck accoringly so the card guard totally protects it.

BrianMillerMagic

I can't use a deck that is concave downward. It absolutely has to be concave upward, due to the fact that I dribble the cards constantly rather than spring them (like most card guys I know).

Michael Kras

Wow, I didn't think anybody had a weirder card habit than mine.

Liam

wow, that is pretty weird, both of you.
When ever i sit down at a table and have a pack of cards in my hand, i through them foward, trying to make them spread nicely accross the table

teddy

The only thing I can think of is that I tend to swing cut randomly, even when I'm not doing a trick.

BrianMillerMagic

Michael Kras

I tend to sit around and do Charliers on the bus ride home from school without fully noticing... until I see the people staring.

Oh, I also hate it when people touch my cards... Even my magic buddy Reuben, I won't let him handle my cards unless his hands are clean and free of sweat.

If any of my cards touch a dirty surface I spend minutes rubbing each of them on my clothes to clean them off.

teddy

Liam

i also often do a dl, then put the top card in the middle, then a DL, then thetop card in the middle
again, and again, and again

BrianMillerMagic

Now that I think of it (and sitting here with a deck of cards in my hands aimlessly), I tend to go through phases of ambitious card.

Ethan the Emazing

lol, I constantly do cuts. Any kind of cuts. At a recent convention, I had people mentioning that to me all the time.

Reuben The Great

Here are mine:

Brian , I agree with you 100%, NO CONCAVE DOWNWARDS. Dribbles are impossible, I might as well just toss the deck over my shoulder and say good riddance (or bend them back, thats what all the weird people do). Again, I go through ambitious card phases. Also, decks of cards without jokers-- CANT HAVE EM.

I do charliers constantly, shapeshifters and double lifts. Weird.

And the last thing.

I do a Charlier, split the deck in half, put one half in my right hand and both halves into repsective pockets. I then do a double charlier and some weird 'in my pants' flourish. No dirty minds *cough Brian*, buts its true. Then I take them both out and fire the right packet onto the left.

Honestly, its true.

Michael Kras

I can vouch for that Smile

.

I also cannot use a deck without the Jokers... it feels so much smaller in my hands (STOP THINKING THAT) and just not right.

Liam

haha mike, i love how you can take a completly normal sentance and give me bad thoughts.
but i know what you mean, sometimes someone will hand me a deck to show them a trick, and i'll hand it back "you only have 49 cards, i cant"
they'll count to see if i'm right. I can get it about 80% of the time, and when i do its a magic trick all in itself.
when i fail its just taken as a joke.
but i do shapeshifter and the ego change constantly, and now i'm really good at both of them.

BrianMillerMagic

You guys are too much Laughing

Liam

not too much, just more than normal Razz

Ben Train

Can I have permission to blow some minds? Can I?

Here's the 411- the moves you do constantly are the ones you probably do TOO OFTEN in performance, and you need to strive to eliminate those.

For instance, after you have a card selected and are having it signed do you sit there and dribble/cut? Do you control the card to the top with a bunch of fancy cuts, then CONTINUE to cut, or dribble?

All of these can distract from the magic, draw the eyes towards the deck (While you're doing a move- this is bad) and can have a NEGATIVE effect on your performance. Even constant doubling- you MAY be overusing it. Add up all the doubles you do in your entire set (like 5 in AC for instance...)- if you are doing MORE doubles then half the number of routines you do, you're overusing it.

So, analyze what your doing. Fix it. Get better.

ben

Reuben The Great

Thank you for the interesting advice Ben, I can see dribbling the cards too much or using one control too much can distract from the overall magic. Thanks for the tips, I'm surely going to use them Razz

Ben Train

I'm glad to hear it bud.

Excessive card handling, in close-up, is the equivalent to pacing or swaying on stage- it looks awkward and shows you're nervous.

There is a correct way to handle the situation- but I'm not going to share that here. If I see any of you again, or meet you for the first time, we can chat all about it.

Ben

BrianMillerMagic

The way I remedied that a while back is partly an idea that Garrett Thomas gave me in regards to a different prop - but it works equally well for cards: whenever I'm not actually showing anything with the deck, I simply put it down on the table. It keeps me from doing anything excessive with the deck, and it gives the impression of "hands-off" and examinability at the same time.

Cymru1991

I will always play absent mindedly with my deck whenever i can (I'm doing it now). false cuts, dribbles, shuffles, false shuffles, swing cuts, swivel cuts, springing, pressure fans, one hand fans, you name it, I'll do it. Then I almost always go into an ace location, then twist them then cut them back in and control them- all for fun! Very Happy

Michael Kras

That's what he said.

Michael Kras

Another one... I can never bring myself to remove the Jokers permanently from a deck of cards... I'm so used to the added thickness of two cards somehow.

I've also been collecting decks. I now own about 25 decks and about 15 different brands. I've got:

Nine Decks of Red, Purple, and Brown Wynns

Four Decks of Tallys (One Blue Fan Back, and three Circle Backs of Red, Blue, and Black)

Two Decks of Steamboats (one Red, one Blue)

One deck of Aladdins in Blue

Three Decks of Jerry's Nuggets (Two Red, One Blue)

One Deck of Red Bikes (Weird eh?)

One Deck of Yellow Dr. Leons

One Deck of Red Arrcos

One Deck of Split Spade Lions

The Smoke and Mirrors Set (one of each)

One deck of Bicycle-Faded Edition

Michael Kras

Reuben The Great

Mike, that's what you WANT to do, but not always what happens.

Michael Kras

It can be a compulsive habit, definitely, but I've been working on it and in live performance I NEVER fiddle... with you, sure, since it is after all very informal.