theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

Is this a good excuse for NOT palming?

I typically don't use palms that often. I usually use them (randomly) when I control a card to the top and I want to have a spectator shuffle the deck. I either do that or a gamblers cop.

When you do something like that the audiences attention is away from you and on themselves while they shuffle.

I agree with Chris, that there are plenty of other things to perfect and worry about besides palming.
 
Design

First of all ts not an excuse

Your should focus more on the "Design" of your magic and of course play with different palming methods. (You should get Paper Engine if you want to learn more about tension,focus and design in card magic) and of course the key is misdirection and not feeling "guilty" because you have a card in your palm .
i use different kinds of palms everyday ,favorite being the gamnler's cop

since some people have criticized me before for giving advise by quoting a section of Paper Engine ,in the past, i will just say that you NEED to buy it to learn that kind of information. It is a really phenomenal book


George
 
Eggnof said:
Daniel Madison is famous for using the gamblers cop, in which a good portion of the card is actually exposed. Using the right angles and misdirection, it actually goes by completely unnoticed. I recommend getting Dangerous: Mystique if you want some good tips on an alternative palm that doesn't require big hands.
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I use the Gambler's Cop every day. It is far more natural looking and requires less thinking than a palm. You just have to be worried about people from the side. From the front, no matter the size of your hands, it is invisible. If you can swap a palm for the cop, you have got it made. Learn it. d+M's Dangerous DVDs as was said by Eggnof.
 
I've got the exact same problem. I agree that you should use the gambler's cop a lot, but also remember that palming is like the pass. It goes well with a shot of misdirection. Don't give up.
 
In all honesty I have hands that are better and have less "windows" but it doesn't matter that much in my opinion. I rarely perform a palm with my hand in a perfectly tight position with all windows closed...it doesn't look natural. I rather use misdirection (or just don't call attention to the hand) and leave my windows actually sleightly (he he) open. Even if people catch a quick glance at the hand they will probably see it isn't in that awkward of a position and just look away. They most likely won't spend the time inspecting the hand looking through the windows trying to find a card.

But if your hands are perfectly closed in a rather awkward position they will be looking for it. Experiment with palming using the advice I suggested on friends, family, or fellow magicians (people who you might be okay with catching the secret). If you have more questions on how to do it, please be sure to ask! Best of luck!
 
Eat more, and work out some and that should fill in those creases. I could barely palm at all but I started working out a bit and my fingers got bigger and its cake with my right hand now but my left hand has a broken finger and when I try to palm it feels like a needle in my finger.
 
I only palm a card when it's absolutely necessary.

If you're not good at palming you should check out Joel Paschall's one on one about the fan control. It's great.
 
Haven't you ever heard Brad Christian before?

Their was once a guy, whose hands were so small you could see the card sticking half way out, but his misdirection was so good no one ever noticed. So no, the size of your hand or the way your fingers are does not matter much in palming. It is all about misdirection.

If you don't pay attention to yourself palming, your audience won't.

Also, if you are not very well informed about misdirection and how to control an audience, I suggest picking up a book on it. Now... if you do not have the money to purchase a book, or do not want to take the time to learn, I suggest learning Tenkai Palming. I Tenkai all the time. Everyday in a routine you will usually see a tenkai palm here or their. I use it far more than regular palm. The only times I really use regular palm is when I am performing Kaos by Daniel Garcia and card to pocket.
 
cm763 said:
In order to close up your windows, you may want to try using elastics to hold your fingers together. Over time, your muscles would eventually get used to being where the elastics force them to be (right beside your other fingers), and voila! No more windows!
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I've also heard about this elastics-thing, but I think it is kinda unecessary. I had a couple of windows, but as I practised, my hand adapted and the windows closed.

So: If you practise palming, windows will close.
 
jay sankey is an excellent example

Jay sankey is an incredible example. His hands are tiny, definately smaller than yours. Yet he pulls it off brilliantly in many effects. Certain effects are absolutely brilliant, which utilize palming, I would never pass them up.

I'd look into the one handed top palm. The beauty of the one handed top palm is that you have your other hand to completely misdirect the spectator. Its so deceptive, you can literally show both hands empty calling attention to it, table the deck and then have the card in palm. Specs don't know you're going to palm off a card. With well timed misdirection and a well structured routine I think you could pull it off.

Out of curiosity, during the actual action of palming off the card, are windows supposed to show? For me I have windows during the action of popping the card of the deck if you scrutinize my hand. Is this fine?
 
fkace63 said:
Jay sankey is an incredible example. His hands are tiny, definately smaller than yours. Yet he pulls it off brilliantly in many effects. Certain effects are absolutely brilliant, which utilize palming, I would never pass them up.

I'd look into the one handed top palm. The beauty of the one handed top palm is that you have your other hand to completely misdirect the spectator. Its so deceptive, you can literally show both hands empty calling attention to it, table the deck and then have the card in palm. Specs don't know you're going to palm off a card. With well timed misdirection and a well structured routine I think you could pull it off.

Out of curiosity, during the actual action of palming off the card, are windows supposed to show? For me I have windows during the action of popping the card of the deck if you scrutinize my hand. Is this fine?
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If you can do it without windows in your hand, all the better. But you could also use misdirection as well.
If some person is burning your hands, you could say "Honey, my eyes are up here." although this might not work depending on your personality. Just a thought.
 
Misdirection and presentation play a big part in it. However, for a more fool proof palm I often use The Gamblers Cop. No one ever sees it, with misdirection, and the card sticks out of your hand the whole time. It is taught on The Dangerous Tricks DVD.
 
That's not a good excuse. As Wayne Houchin said once," You don't need large hands to do sleight of hand...Don't make excuses for failure." He also states that one of the best card manipulators in the world, Renee Lavon, only has ONE hand. He says it's more of a dexterity thing, which is very true. My hands are extremely small and look like yours in the pictures, but I freak people out every day just by doing a card to pocket in my Ambitious Card Routine. Just practice misdirection and you can really do what ever you want with your small hands. I hope this helped!

Conceive the Inconceivable

Sked95
 
i forgot to mention

theres a palm called the distant misdirectional palm. Jay sankey teaches it in his "extremely ambitious video". Obviously I wouldn't purchase the video exclusively for the palm, but its a very clever almost foolproof way to palm a card and is an excellent ego booster. You could obviously do a card to pocket or card case, etc..
 
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