New to Cardistry (sort of), no idea where to go...

[IgnisCyan]

Hey everyone,


I've been practicing cardistry for about solid 6 months or so now, and I have almost nothing to shower for it. I can do basics such as the fan (one handed, carnahan, thumb fan), charlier cut, sybil cut, revolution cut, and the scissor cut.

I don't really want to spend money on DvD's, or 50 dollars on an encyclopedia, I'd much rather learn without having to pay just yet- I bought a flourish from Patrick Varnavas and found it to be way too complex of a place to start out with. Could someone compile a list of things I should learn next to be able to dive into two handed cuts/making my own material? I want to get to the point where I can improvise like great cardists do.

TL;DR: No money to spend, no idea where to go.


I appreciate any feedback, even if it requires you to call me an idiot.

 

[MrMagic14]

I found the flourish above the horizon by franky (Jose) Morales was relatively easy and is only like 99 cents so it's a good place to start

 

[Steerpike]

I don't really want to spend money on DvD's, or 50 dollars on an encyclopedia, I'd much rather learn without having to pay just yet-

Well that's a bit like a one-legged man entering an ass-kicking contest. I recommend most magicians go to the library if they're strapped for cash, but there aren't nearly as many accessible sources on flourishing because it wasn't a separate performance art until relatively recently.

There are some basic flourishes taught in Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic, which you can find at most libraries.

Where do you want to go with this, exactly?

 

[IgnisCyan]

I honestly want this to be a hobby. I do very little magic (almost none at all), I just find cardistry to be a beautiful expression of skill, its something that rewards you for the amount of time you put into it. And, is that really true? Is this an art that requires money to pick up?

 

[Steerpike]

And, is that really true? Is this an art that requires money to pick up?

Most are. Again, this is a very niche form of art and entertainment. The flourishing community doesn't help as it's notoriously insular and political. Decknique imploded a few years back because of that, and for the longest time there was some serious bad blood between Handlordz and anybody who supported Brian Tudor. It's really held everything back.

The positive side is that you can actually learn a lot from relatively modest investments. Paying 55 bucks for the Encyclopedia of Playing Card Flourishes might seem steep, but there's a crapload of material in there that will last you for years. Similarly, paying a hundred bucks for all three of Jeff McBride's Art of Card Manipulation DVDs might be a little intimidating, but the material on it is all stuff that Jeff still uses in his live shows. I'm just going to come right out and say that most of the stuff on the Wire that's priced really cheaply... you get what you pay for.

 

[IgnisCyan]

I guess I'll start saving up some money then. But can anyone point me where I should go to achieve what I want? Encyclopedia? Or what?

 

[TeeDee]

I honestly want this to be a hobby. I do very little magic (almost none at all), I just find cardistry to be a beautiful expression of skill, its something that rewards you for the amount of time you put into it. And, is that really true? Is this an art that requires money to pick up?

If you're happy with it just being a hobby, you can find a lot of pretty decent tutorials free on YouTube or Kardistry.com. You'll find that some prerequisites are assumed in many tutorials (such as a working knowledge of Dan and Dave's material or some of the one-handed cuts from Jerry's Encyclopedia) but you'll find plenty to work on even without those resources.

 

[S.G]

I guess I'll start saving up some money then. But can anyone point me where I should go to achieve what I want? Encyclopedia? Or what?

Along with what TeeDee said, you could also check out some of Chris Hestnes' stuff or even Andrei's Genesis II. However, on that note, if you told us whether you liked XCM style fans/triangles/shapes or two-handed cuts more (such as Dan and Dave's stuff, Tobias Levin, etc.) then it could be easier for us to give you suggestions.

 

[Edwinv]

spock is a very good flourish for "beginner" cardists. it looks pretty sick and is very easy to learn

 

[Kristos]

Honestly I love the genesis series so far that I bought from here. The first part was $30, and while it covers those tricks you already know, it has plenty more. I've been replaying just the first half hour of tricks over and over since I bought it a month ago to get the basics down, and it's a 4 hour video, so I can see it lasting me a long time.

 

[Nchinn2446]

I found the flourish above the horizon by franky (Jose) Morales was relatively easy and is only like 99 cents so it's a good place to start

where did u find this flourish