My views on the Cardistry/Flourishing scene

May 23, 2008
11
0
England
Below is a short essay I compiled on my thoughts and views of the cardistry/flourishing scene. As it is a large area to cover in one essay I will represent my thoughts/findings in readable instalments, beginning with "one".

Topics covered

Beginners
TheCuso.info
The Evolution of Cardistry/Flourishing


In the beginning....


I find that when you are embarking on some new discovery e.g. flourishing you will require a lot of sound guidence and advice.
There is really no beginner's forums, a place for all beginners to share and help each other progress to a reasonable standard in flourishing. Not a forum full of free tutorials, but a safe haven are those not ready to join a cardistry forum. Also where advice is free and given with a smile.

I found when I was a beginner there was three main stock replies I got given, one was extreme beginners, the trilogy and the system, after that ensued a debate about which was hardest and more ideal for beginners. The first major pitfall of this I see is that when beginning a new hobby or whatever you might be doing/choosing flourishing for, you don’t want to be 80 - 120 dollars/40 - 60 pounds on something that you might not enjoy or pursue. Also the Trilogy and Extreme Beginners styles are very different, I might have a different perception of what looks visually pleasing or visually off putting.


"And finally what do you think of TheCuso.info?"

"Umm....Err....Welllll....."

I believe the Cuso blog is not helping the cardistry/flourishing scene at all. Because.....

1. I think the Cuso set up the blog in the hope of promoting himself and getting his name known and heard in and around forums and video sharing networks. It is also in a way self advertising and promoting his name. Which I fundamentally think won’t help the flourishing scene at all.

2. Its just really a place to post videos of other people flourishing. I can’t remember when the Cuso actually posted a proper post....

3. Save the clip shift movement.....
A complete waste of time, really quite immature. Nuff said...


Natural selection


Don’t worry this has nothing to do with biology, though a GCSE and a couple of A levels will help you in understanding this much easier. Anyway. Basically we must keep inventing and progressing forward, I do believe there will be a time in the flourishing history that we will come to a stand still, were all the moves in essence of been explored to there full potential. Keep it fresh, keep it clean and most of all original....


Discuss
 
Oct 6, 2007
612
0
Very interesting essay- a good read.

I woulnd't say i'm a 'fanboy' of theCuso, heck, I'm not even a flourisher.

But I do know that it's a small tight-knit community there, and people in it will visit theCuso daily, just like they would theory11- except all they look at is video.

About your 'natural selection' of flourishing, I'm sure, like magic it will continue to grow. There will always be new things, especially in flourishing, where there are unlimited little routines you could do.

It's much easier to create new floursihes than tricks.
 
Jan 21, 2008
75
0
Vero Beach FL
With tricks you can always make somthing diffrent in a way that you will come up with something new. But as of flourishes it might be easy to make them but sooner or later it will be harder to make them original because alot of the ideas will have been taken.
 
..same same

With tricks you can always make somthing diffrent in a way that you will come up with something new. But as of flourishes it might be easy to make them but sooner or later it will be harder to make them original because alot of the ideas will have been taken.


I agree with you and I think that flourishing as an art form won´t survive for so long.. There are very few styles that can be distinguished from each other and to an untrained eye (audience) everything looks the same. I don´t do flourishing but I figure it would be fun to see things like improvised flourishing, battles between flourishers and so on... I think that that´s the way cardistry should be performed.

Also there should be concepts and challenges in flourishing like there are in extreme sports, like chaining the flourishes...
 
May 31, 2008
5
0
I agree with you and I think that flourishing as an art form won´t survive for so long.. There are very few styles that can be distinguished from each other and to an untrained eye (audience) everything looks the same. I don´t do flourishing but I figure it would be fun to see things like improvised flourishing, battles between flourishers and so on... I think that that´s the way cardistry should be performed.

Also there should be concepts and challenges in flourishing like there are in extreme sports, like chaining the flourishes...

I disagree, there are plenty of styles available and everyones styles is different to each person. It is easier to create material for flourishing than it is for magic. For example creating new concepts would be easier for flourishing than for magic eg new sleights etc. Also it is how the individual routines a flourish that makes it impressive

"Also there should be concepts and challenges in flourishing like there are in extreme sports, like chaining the flourishes..." Well maybe you've been under a rock lately but plenty of people chain flourishes together.

Flourishes definitely adds eye candy to you magic. But is also fun to do. If you don't flourish Senchi then you don't fully understand this matter.
 
Oct 12, 2007
27
0
i would like to see more on this subject..because so far..there isn't much.
i am always down for a lengthy conversation on subjects like this, but reading from the "essay'....it didn't really seem like you had much to say upon the subject at all.
 
May 7, 2008
87
0
After following TheCuso for a couple of months now, TheCuso's blog is nothing more than a list of entries that elevates tutorial videos found on Decknique and advertising for eBay auctions.

Folks interested in cardistry would be much better served by going straight to Decknique rather than getting a filtered view of it by TheCuso.
 
missunderstood

I disagree, there are plenty of styles available and everyones styles is different to each person. It is easier to create material for flourishing than it is for magic. For example creating new concepts would be easier for flourishing than for magic eg new sleights etc. Also it is how the individual routines a flourish that makes it impressive

"Also there should be concepts and challenges in flourishing like there are in extreme sports, like chaining the flourishes..." Well maybe you've been under a rock lately but plenty of people chain flourishes together.

Flourishes definitely adds eye candy to you magic. But is also fun to do. If you don't flourish Senchi then you don't fully understand this matter.

I did not mean to talk badly about flourishing? And yes I am layman to flourishing:) My opinions come strictly from what I have seen on the internet published by "flourishers". And to me as a spectator it all looks the same. People perfoming spinning cuts to infinity...

I just meant that it would be fun to see competative flourishing with certain objectives :) I think that flourishing is cool and I can understand the fun factor you guys get out of it. The future of the art is what I was wondering about:)
 
May 23, 2008
11
0
England
Thanks for all your thoughtd and views. This was only a short essay due to the fact that it was written in my lunch break on an iphone. With regards to Vincents comments, I was only representing a small snippet, not to short and not to boring to sit through and read, some people can over do their essays and end up turning it into a short novel.

And if you read the intro, you all will know that there will be "two" and hopefully "three", this was just some quick thoughts and just to test the waters to see if you guys wanted to expand on this topic further.

The next "essay" will cover more in depth problems and surply you with a couple of solutions.


Interesting that nobody has commented on the beginners section.
 
Sep 1, 2007
1,005
3
I think the cuso's blog is okay, it sometimes has exclusive vids not on other websites, so that's why I check it out.

the only thing I don't like is that you can post on it without logging in, which always goes to the least common denominator meaning people hiding behind fake names and saying "YOU F$#@#$ piece of s#$@#$ etc etc" but other than that its a good blog.
 
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Sep 3, 2007
2,562
0
Europe
I felt it was a little short to be considered an essay, but I still enjoyed reading it. About TheCuso- if you made a blog/website... wouldn't you make it to promote yourself and get your name out there? You can't blame him for that... it's what I would do. He has succeeded in that, and you can't be mad about it.

Something tells me you're jealous of the "popularity" he has within the magic community...

And no, his Blog isn't really that contributive, but it's still fun to read/watch.
 
I did not mean to talk badly about flourishing? And yes I am layman to flourishing:) My opinions come strictly from what I have seen on the internet published by "flourishers". And to me as a spectator it all looks the same. People perfoming spinning cuts to infinity...

I just meant that it would be fun to see competative flourishing with certain objectives :) I think that flourishing is cool and I can understand the fun factor you guys get out of it. The future of the art is what I was wondering about:)

There already are competative battle systems around. Superhandz and The 3C have them.
 
I agree with you and I think that flourishing as an art form won´t survive for so long.. There are very few styles that can be distinguished from each other and to an untrained eye (audience) everything looks the same. I don´t do flourishing but I figure it would be fun to see things like improvised flourishing, battles between flourishers and so on... I think that that´s the way cardistry should be performed.

Also there should be concepts and challenges in flourishing like there are in extreme sports, like chaining the flourishes...
You do know flourishes have been around more than just 2004.
 
Nice....Essay? It's a bit short. xD

Anyways, about point three, even though most of you think different about Brian Tutor, he does make a point in his recent DVD.

He said, "No matter how much you create, you can't scratch the possibilities on the kind of things you can create" which I believe is true. Sure, we will eventually hit a standpoint, but amount of things we can do to manipulate cards is infinite, whether it would be magic or flourish. The Standpoint will eventually die.

Look at it this way, in magic, there are ten (or seven?) different types of magic, also known as the theories of magic. Transposition, Production, Restoration, etc. Each effect can be categorized in these theories, But each of them do the exact same thing. For example, Dan and Dave's Queens and the famous vanishing woman routine both require vanishing, then reproduction. Yet every effect is different in terms of style, and is creative. Another great example are colour changes. Each one of them do the exact same thing, yet the amount of ways to do it are countless.

It's just a matter of how creatively different each thing can accomplish.
 
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Dec 30, 2007
150
0
Is it just me, or did that not make any sense at all? :confused:

Brian isn't exactly a raconteur. Well, actually, he might be slightly retarded judging from Showoff 3. I think what he means is that there are infinite possibilities for the types of flourishes you can create.
 
A narrow minded community is only as narrow minded as the members. It's like a religious cult people let it get to them that this stuff is impossible but only to a "few" select individuals and fail to get there themselves because lazy/religious/elitism/starstruck stops them. We're all human beings here.

Beginners are always mislead, your determination will lead you to where you need to be eventually. That's how it is in every hobby/art. For a beginner, there's a decision that needs to be made. Are you performing for the people? or performing for yourself? Some people only like the material they think is "visually appealing" yet there's tons of material laymen will always love yet overlooked because, "it isn't my cup of tea". Performing for self-satisfaction is kind of waste with this sort of thing but it's the way of the hobbyist. Potential lies in actual public performance, but that's only going to be limited by the performers ability, not the artform.
 
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