beginner cardistry

[homeyg10]

hey guys im pretty new to cardistry so i was wondering where to go and what to learn i can already do the spring and just spin a card on the deck soo i cant do much but anyways thanks for the help

[Joker and the Thief]

Hey man! Firstly welcome to the Discourse.

Now lets get down to business.

To start off you should learn the very basics. You can get some basic information and free video tutorials from Dan and Dave. http://www.dananddave.com/learn/media/ The Cardistry tutorials should be on the second page.

Once you master those, you should work on slighlty more advanced flourishes from either YouTube or Andrei Jihk's Genesis Volume 1 and 2. Then go on to more advanced flourishes from Solo, PaperCuts, the Trilogy and the System.

It is important that you define your own style and create your own flourishes but that will come in time. Also, you will need inspiration when practicing, learning and creating floursihes so watching videos from Dan and Dave Buck, Michael James, Andrei Jihk, Tobias Levin, Oliver Sogard, Chris Hestnes, Allan Hagen and Jordan Lapping can help. The list of Cardists goes on and on.

Cards are an integral part of our craft so you need to find cards that will suit your style and your taste when it comes to handling. Handling tends to be more important than aesthetics when it comes to Flourishing. You will notice that you will develop a taste for certain cards through handling various decks. Now I will suggest a few different decks; Monarchs, Tally-Ho, Aladdin, Smoke and Mirrors, Magic Con 2012 and Red Bee Stingers are all excellent cards. Our reviews can give you a good idea on what cards are good for Flourishing.

Remember, you should be practicing at least 4-8 hours a day and it does take a very long time to get good. Oh and get used to picking up cards, because you'll be doing that A LOT.

So, take care and keep shuffling. Don't give up and practice hard!

Cheers!

[MrMollusk]

Awesome! Cardistry is a really awesome hobby/profession/activity!
As Joker and the Thief said, you'll want to get tons of practice in. Even when you're just watching tv, you can be doing a few cuts. Get at least 2 decks of cards: one slick deck (Air cushion finish, cambric finish, etc.) and one that clumps. (Fournier is my favorite). You can practice fans and spreads with the deck that has a good finish, and practice packet flourishes with the one that clumps.

Now as for beginning cardistry, Dan and Dave's academy is a fantastic place to start. I'd also recommend learning a few basic flourishes too. Namely, the Werm, the thumb fan, The 5 faces of Sybil, the Charlier cut, the 190 Helix cut, and the Pirouette. All of these have numerous free tutorials on Youtube. The preferred POV may differ from person to person, so I'll lave you to find the one you like best.

As for beginner learning material, you might want to get a few things to guide you through instruction. I'd start with getting a pocket edition of Erdnase's "Expert at the card table". It's a fantastic resource, and great for an introduction into the world of card sleights. (The reading is a bit advanced, though, so it might not be for everyone.) You really don't need any more than that as a beginner. But as you start to get better and better, I'd recommend "The Trilogy" by Dan and Dave.

As for "training" I suggest getting a stress ball. You don't need a fancy hand exerciser, IMO. Just alternating the fingers squeezing the ball can build some pretty good endurance. As for anything else, practice, practice, practice! You'll start to get good even if you don't know it.

[Don Boyer]

As for "training" I suggest getting a stress ball. You don't need a fancy hand exerciser, IMO. Just alternating the fingers squeezing the ball can build some pretty good endurance. As for anything else, practice, practice, practice! You'll start to get good even if you don't know it.

Practicing a martial art that employs grappling and sword work is an excellent finger exercise, among other things... 

[Edward]

To, Joker and the Thief, mrMollusk, Don,  You guy's hit this on the nose, If I am out of place let me know,,  I am new also ( Cardistry )  Inspiration , where to seek the way,, Who, to watch,, etc. etc.  If I may I would like to add one more person to watch,, ( Daniel Madison ),,,


EDIT: Also, Cardistry is exactly like playing the Guitar, You have a starting scale that needs to be learned, Say,  Sybil,, A new muscle groupe that want's excitement,, well,,, move up to more harder steps,, slow,,, slow,, then,,, Make sure you have a clean floor !!!  because,, OOPS!!!  Not again !!!

[Don Boyer]

Also, Cardistry is exactly like playing the Guitar, You have a starting scale that needs to be learned, Say,  Sybil,, A new muscle groupe that want's excitement,, well,,, move up to more harder steps,, slow,,, slow,, then,,, Make sure you have a clean floor !!!  because,, OOPS!!!  Not again !!!

Ed, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but please don't double-post.

One thing I didn't see mentioned (or just might have missed) are the Xtreme Beginners Vol. 1 & 2 from De'vo.  I hear they're pretty good as well.

[Arjun]

Also, Cardistry is exactly like playing the Guitar, You have a starting scale that needs to be learned, Say,  Sybil,, A new muscle groupe that want's excitement,, well,,, move up to more harder steps,, slow,,, slow,, then,,, Make sure you have a clean floor !!!  because,, OOPS!!!  Not again !!!

Ed, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but please don't double-post.

One thing I didn't see mentioned (or just might have missed) are the Xtreme Beginners Vol. 1 & 2 from De'vo.  I hear they're pretty good as well.

Guys the XB set is pretty good fr beginnerz too. XB one has an awesome 1 hour fanning session that is totally worth the entire price of the DVD

They go into every thing in great detail even how to open a deck :O . So if you are an absolute beginner get that

Thanks ,
Arjun

[sr15]

here's where I started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T9yeV9oT2o

I'd recommend this for a few reasons. First, it's an awesome tutorial. Asad has some of the best free tutorials on youtube imo, so you should also check out some of his tutorials on fans, charlier and revolution cuts for starters. Second, the Sybil cut is one of the "building blocks" for some of the more advanced flourishes you'll see, from guys like D&D and Daniel Madison for example. Another "building block" cut that is used quite a bit is the Tornado flourish, so look for a tutorial on that as well (I forgot where I learned it, but it was on youtube).

From there, you should look into some DVDs like Genesis and Papercuts. Those contain quite a few fairly easy flourishes to learn and are good for beginners. Dan and Dave's Trilogy disc 2 and Daniel Madison's Dangerous disc 2 have some slightly more difficult flourishes to learn, although there are also some fairly easy ones on there as well, so you could look into those too. See if you can find videos of the flourishes on youtube or some reviews of them, but I can tell you that they're all quality DVDs.

Some DVDs to avoid would be D&D's System and Michael James' Solo. System has quality flourishes, but the teaching is really poor and outdated so a beginner would probably have a hard time learning them. You can find free tutorials for the Werm on youtube, which is a pretty easy cut from The System. Solo has excellent cuts, production, and good teaching, but the cuts on there would be very very difficult for a beginner to learn. Definitely something to look into once you've been practicing for a few months, though.

[Edward]

I have a small trick I use, I break the deck into four packets, Tape the packets seperately,  This way I don't pick up scattered cards all over the floor just a packet at a time,, This is good for basic sybil and such,

[sr15]

I have a small trick I use, I break the deck into four packets, Tape the packets seperately,  This way I don't pick up scattered cards all over the floor just a packet at a time,, This is good for basic sybil and such,

that's good for getting the movements down first, but you definitely want to practice with a normal deck because you need to learn how to keep the packets stable while moving them around. I would recommend that trick for beginners just learning moves like sybil though

[homeyg10]

Thanks for the tips guys but I was wondering how to keep the packets squared because like when I do the kalushes cut the middle packet bevels a little but...any recommendations on how to fix it ?

EDIT: Like I am able to keep hold of it it just looks bad

[S.C.]

Like I am able to keep hold of it it just looks bad

One thing that you have to remember is that most of the cuts are dependent on pressure. applying the right amount of pressure at the right time will determine how the packets look. i.e. for kalushes cut maintaining a certain amount of pressure between the third finger of your right hand and thumb (for right hander's) when you begin to rotate the packet will keep the packet together, as well as putting pressure on the first finger of the left hand (holding the deck in dealers grip) as the middle packet is rotated around it and back down underneath. I wish i can give you more but if you play with the cut enough and modify how much pressure you put on the packet you will see what I'm talking about. Sometimes a light touch isn't the best way to go with cardistry. The way I typically learn cuts is to break them down into phases, since were on the topic of kalushes cut I'll explain based on that. phase one get comfortable with the cards in Z grip, phase two is as mentioned above learn what pressure works to keep the packet together during the rotation and phase three is the replacement. If you learn to look at each phase and master them independently then when you put them together it's a lot easier, also, watch carefully to all finger placement during the tutorial because for the guys that are good, there fingers automatically move in positions to make the cut easier, sometimes its almost second nature to the person teaching the cut that they may not realize how important something as simple as the fourth finger supporting the third finger during a cut is, so, it goes unexplained when it may actually be the key to making a cut possible. So try to imitate their hand movements at first to understand why their fingers do the things they do when they do them. Good luck and have some fun!

[homeyg10]

Thanks but also when I complete tr cut the middle packet is also like angles. Out to the left and pushed up a bit

EDIT: Like i can't keep the top packet aligned with the middle packet even when I clip them

[Don Boyer]

Thanks for the tips guys but I was wondering how to keep the packets squared because like when I do the kalushes cut the middle packet bevels a little but...any recommendations on how to fix it ?

Like I am able to keep hold of it it just looks bad

Thanks but also when I complete tr cut the middle packet is also like angles. Out to the left and pushed up a bit

Like i can't keep the top packet aligned with the middle packet even when I clip them

Hey, HomeyG - we love when beginners come seeking advice, but when you've just posted minutes ago and no one else has posted since, please edit and add to your posts instead of double-posting.

[homeyg10]

Ya sorry bout that i will add them next time

[Justin O.]

Hey guys wanted to add that http://52kards.com/learn/ has all of Asad's videos to my knowledge.
It's really nicely broken down into skill level as well as the type of card manipulation you're looking to learn, and is a wonderful place to start for anyone getting into card manipulation.

[HandSkillz]

Hey guys wanted to add that http://52kards.com/learn/ has all of Asad's videos to my knowledge.
It's really nicely broken down into skill level as well as the type of card manipulation you're looking to learn, and is a wonderful place to start for anyone getting into card manipulation.

This is where I've polished up some of my flourishing, excellent suggestion.

[MagikFingerz]

[Don Boyer]

Oh, let them have their fun.  I welcome revivals of old topics, as long as there's something relevant to add. 

[MagikFingerz]

Oh, let them have their fun.  I welcome revivals of old topics, as long as there's something relevant to add. 

Well, I DID resist posting a much meaner picture 

[Don Boyer]

Oh, let them have their fun.  I welcome revivals of old topics, as long as there's something relevant to add. 

Well, I DID resist posting a much meaner picture 

Glad to see you showed restraint.  Now let's stay on topic, please, if you don't mind.