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

Average time before you use a sleight

Caladan21ph

Caladan21ph

Feb 18, 2010
37
0
Hi! How much time does it usually take to have a newly learned sleight be performable to lay audiences? to magicians? This is assuming that I practice 2-3 hours a day, and have cards with me the whole day and manage to squeeze small amounts of practice in between..thanks!
 
It really depends on how difficult the sleight is.

Whether it's a variation on a double lift or a move like raise rise or the clipshift.

Practice practice practice. Especially in front of a mirror. and when it looks like it should in front of a mirror, find somebody who you can trust and who can critique you and ask them how it looks. Try it in a performance on them first.

If it's just a new variation on a double lift, it shouldn't take you too long for it to be 'performable' maybe that two or three hours you practice.

But as for a move like the clipshift, I didn't incorporate it into performance until two or three months of practice.

Hope this helps,

ZG
 
Hmmm.. how about this sleights I'm learning?

Chad Nelson Spread pass
Svengali control
top palm from RRTCM

Thanks!

I'm watching some youtube videos and I'm thinking how long it will take for my moves to look good.
 
Learning time decreases with experience. It took me only a day or two to learn Chad nelson's spread pass, while the first spread pass I learned took much much longer. Again my top palm is still not up to "burnable "standards unless there is heavy misdirection so I still practice. The Svengali control took me a week to get it smooth and up to speed. This is because I have experience with similar controls. In the end experience really helps cut down learning time.

Note: There are exceptions aka the clipshift, it's a different move compared to anything I had learned before and took me a long time to get down.
 
Average time implies an average learning curve for everything you're learning. That is not the case. As zeanator3581 said, it depends on the difficulty of the sleight. It also depends on how you learn. It also depends on how much you know that is similar. If it's a difficult move, that you have nothing to compare to, and you have trouble learning that particular movement, it might take years.

I don't think there's an average time. I also don't think we can tell you how long it'll take to learn those moves. I will say this though: Continue learning them until they're as good as they'll get before performing them for lay audiences. Well, you'll continue learning them forever as long as you keep using them, but make sure you can do them very well (watch yourself in a mirror, and get some videos of it, and ask another magician friend) before you use it in performance.
 
Caladan21ph said:
Hi! How much time does it usually take to have a newly learned sleight be performable to lay audiences?
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It's already been said, different sleights will take different amounts of time and each person will take more or less time depending on skill and what other sleights they've learned. When you feel comfortable with a sleight and can do it flawlessly then try it out.



to magicians?
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Wouldn't know, I don't perform for magicians.
 
I practice 3 hours a day just on certain slights. DO NOT PRACTICE IN FRONT OF A MIRROR. Then you will have to rely on your reflection and watching yourself you need to be able to do it without looking at what you are doing that is how a slight should be performed. Good luck.
 
MalibuARMY said:
I practice 3 hours a day just on certain slights. DO NOT PRACTICE IN FRONT OF A MIRROR. Then you will have to rely on your reflection and watching yourself you need to be able to do it without looking at what you are doing that is how a slight should be performed. Good luck.
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A mirror is a good thing, though yes you shouldn't rely entirely on them. I've found that practicing without a mirror does a lot to make sure I'm not overly focusing on my hands, but you do occasionally need that other perspective. You simply can't see from that angle if you're not looking into a mirror, or using a camera.

There have been plenty of times where I thought I had an angle perfectly only to find out (when I did in a mirror or on camera) that I was totally wrong. The opposite has happened a lot as well, where I thought I was way off and I actually had it right.
 
ChristopherT said:
A mirror is a good thing, though yes you shouldn't rely entirely on them. I've found that practicing without a mirror does a lot to make sure I'm not overly focusing on my hands, but you do occasionally need that other perspective. You simply can't see from that angle if you're not looking into a mirror, or using a camera.

There have been plenty of times where I thought I had an angle perfectly only to find out (when I did in a mirror or on camera) that I was totally wrong. The opposite has happened a lot as well, where I thought I was way off and I actually had it right.
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I practice for a few days in the mirror, to see where I flash and how. Once I think I've sorted all the problems, I either stand up and practice in front of a wall, or I go to my best friend to test it out (We both got started in magic together, and have pretty much covered each other from the start).
 
saborfang17 said:
I practice for a few days in the mirror, to see where I flash and how. Once I think I've sorted all the problems, I either stand up and practice in front of a wall, or I go to my best friend to test it out (We both got started in magic together, and have pretty much covered each other from the start).
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Exactly that is what people should do! And yes mirrors help but i must say that dont rely on them never! Due to the fact that you are not necesarly going to stand up straight while you perform well its impossible! As for the "time" well pretty much it is said, have confidence with your magic and things will come out great! and yes practice practice practice and when you get tired practice some more hehe! :) hope this helps!
 
Thanks for the replies! I'm in the palming part of the royal road to card magic, and I'm learning a few other sleights. I feel like I got the svengali control down but I don't know if my nerves will get to me when I use it. Regarding palming, generally does this also take years to master like the pass? because if it does, I can't get to RRTCM double lift part yet anytime soon since I'm not skipping chapters.
 
I practice my tricks and sleights and flourishes 5 hours a day,Then if I have time , I usually go out and perform or jam.If it's a school day , I just practice my sleights while in the bus.It takes about 3 months for my sleights to be truly deceptive.
 
While mirrors can and do help out, consider a video camera or a few video cameras.
I have setup at LEAST 2 video cameras when I am practicing my performances. I try to set them up as if they were the eyes of a spectator. So I tripod them up and angle them down towards my performance area. Then, when I am rehearsing, I look up at the cameras as I would a real person. I talk to the cameras as I would a real person. When looking in a mirror, you aren't able to actually practice as you would be really performing. Sure you can use a mirror to check out the angles, and if you are flashing or not, but I wouldn't use a mirror to rehearse a routine or anything like that...

Mike
 
The real answer to me is that you can never really "perfect" a move, there are small nuances that you will leave out.... you can start to use a move when you can do it perfectly without thinking about it. But thats just me.
 
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