I’ve recently gotten more serious about magic so I bought a couple books on card tricks(rather than just watching tutorials online) and I have a question about The Royal Road to Card Magic. In the first chapter, it describes some shuffles but I’m confused about the “retaining the top and bottom cards in position” and “top card to next to bottom and back to the top” because they sound like the same shuffle.
Overhand Shuffle Controls: RRTCM
- Thread starter Klipto
- Start date
So to answer your question, they are the same shuffle.
The difference being in one your intent is to retain both and the other is simply to hide the top card. By this item being separated I think the authors intent was to show you not just a false shuffle as the previous instruction clearly portrays but instead a way of showing both the top and bottom of the deck, shuffling again, and meanwhile you’ve controlled the card directly to the top!
Some may not have found that clear without it being written as so.
Also, to be clear, no injog is required here.
The difference being in one your intent is to retain both and the other is simply to hide the top card. By this item being separated I think the authors intent was to show you not just a false shuffle as the previous instruction clearly portrays but instead a way of showing both the top and bottom of the deck, shuffling again, and meanwhile you’ve controlled the card directly to the top!
Some may not have found that clear without it being written as so.
Also, to be clear, no injog is required here.
I’m also curious about the difference- so with the retaining of both cards, both shuffles are intended to be done rapidly, to look like everything is shuffled- but the top and bottom card end in the same spot, but with the other, a pause is used to show that the selected card is not on the top or bottom before completing the shuffle to return the cards. Is this accurate?
Effectively, yes. It can be used to show thew card couldn't have been controlled as it isn't on the top or bottom.
I present this nonchalantly however so as not to come across as hiding something that already gives that notion.
This can and has been very effective against other magicians who aren't familiar with overhand shuffling which for the most part nowadays is all of them.
B.