Small hands card tricks...

Oct 23, 2016
38
13
Singapore
Hi everyone, my name is Jun and I'm Asian. So I recently picked up magic because I like learning new things and I'm always amazed how people could do so much with just a deck of cards, so card tricks have always been my all time favourite because you can perform them anywhere. So I have small hands (hah, laugh it off!). There are certain card tricks which I am unable to do very well due to hand size, like the standard colour change.

I'd like some recommendations from you guys what kind of card tricks is recommended for people with smaller hands or palm, and also any advice for a budding magician?

Thanks in advance!
 
I recommend using self-working card tricks to start with. Typically, hand size doesn't matter when doing sleight of hand for card tricks but it does mean that you will have to work harder at it than people with larger hands. You should still be able to pull of the same feats but it will be more difficult for you. Don't give up and best of luck!
 
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Sep 26, 2015
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Hand Size does not drastically affect the way you perform a sleight during card tricks. You may have to adapt a sleight to your hands. From my experience growing up, hand size never affected me. However, palming is a little more difficult with smaller hands, but you could try the gambler's cop instead of the classic palming technique. If you are still learning how to palm cards the classic way, you could try bridge sized cards. Just keep practicing and try different techniques and figure out what works best for you.
 
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Oct 23, 2016
38
13
Singapore
Thank you so much, it's very encouraging to know!

Also, I've just bought some Cardistry 101 by Andrei and a couple of tricks (Triumph and Snap Change) from Chris and Michael. I'm practicing it in front of the mirror just to get the hand of things.

What kind of other tricks would you recommend I start out with for Cardistry? I'm still having problems doing Riffle Shuffle, not sure if it is my thumb not working properly or my hand posture is wrong...they just shuffle "in a clump".
 
I'm still a newbie but I can definitely say that the one big thing that helped is stretching my fingers individually. Take a deck of cards and place them between each of your fingers. First individually, then moving to more than one deck at once.
 

CWhite

Elite Member
Jul 22, 2016
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962
I too/to have small hands. One of the best teachers I've seen is Jay Sankey. He has small pudgy hands lol. As does Joe Monti.
Watch some of their lectures/DVD's.
 
@ChristopherT
I'm pretty sure Mr. Hwang wasn't looking for a "nut up or shut up" response. Small hands are a legitimate issue that he clearly wants to work through. Otherwise, he would not be asking for help. So, let's show him a little support and encouragement while he overcomes his personal barrier with some helpful information.
 
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Oct 20, 2016
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Oklahoma
I've been doing card tricks for almost a year now and do not claim to be anywhere near an expert, but I'll throw my two cents in and hopefully it will help.
My hands are not really small, but they're small enough to be an annoyance. For instance when I first tried to learn how to palm cards, the card would stick out of the left side of my left hand. Gambler's cop is a great alternative but I found a video on youtube somewhere talking about holding it with the pad of your pinky and the fleshy part of your thumb (I think it was Chris Ramsay?) after playing around with this for a bit I found a nice little pocket that the card fits into. Never had a problem since.
I do have to put in some extra work and figure out ways around some of the more difficult moves that are more difficult with small hands but you can definitely do it! Keep working!
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
@ChristopherT
I'm pretty sure Mr. Hwang wasn't looking for a "nut up or shut up" response. Small hands are a legitimate issue that he clearly wants to work through. Otherwise, he would not be asking for help. So, let's show him a little support and encouragement while he overcomes his personal barrier with some helpful information.

Christopher's answer was the most helpful in the entire thread relating to card magic and to life. My favorite quote in life is from Richard Bach's book Illusions:

"Argue your limitations and sure enough, they are yours."​
 
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Oct 23, 2016
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Singapore
Thanks for the video, it's encouraging to know.

Meanwhile, I'll work on trying to overcome certain angling problems as suggested by Jake and Zack. Also trying to stretch the fingers with the exercises recommended by Frankie and learn some self-working card tricks by Tyler. I'd think these would help a lot.
 
Mar 2, 2016
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Thanks for the video, it's encouraging to know.

Meanwhile, I'll work on trying to overcome certain angling problems as suggested by Jake and Zack. Also trying to stretch the fingers with the exercises recommended by Frankie and learn some self-working card tricks by Tyler. I'd think these would help a lot.

The last DVD in Dan and Dave's trilogy has some pretty good finger excersises.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
@ChristopherT
I'm pretty sure Mr. Hwang wasn't looking for a "nut up or shut up" response. Small hands are a legitimate issue that he clearly wants to work through. Otherwise, he would not be asking for help. So, let's show him a little support and encouragement while he overcomes his personal barrier with some helpful information.

Magic is a tough craft, which I believe only truly exists in live performance. That means there will be times when you bomb and the only thing that will keep you going is your own drive to keep creating.

Even when you have a supportive community, friends and family who encourage you - You are the one that is responsible for learning your craft. You are the one that has to practice and rehearse and hone your skills and your performances. No one else can do this for you.

As soon as someone starts saying, "My hands are too small for this" or "I can't do a trick that isn't bullet proof" they start to restrict themselves. They start to limit what they can do, which means they will not achieve what they could have before hand.

You can look at my response as mean - or motivational. Mahdi Gilbert is an inspiration to me. I have small hands too, but I specialized in cards for over two years and I learned how to use the moves, and I stretched and strengthened my hands. It took time, it took practice, and it took literal blood and sweat. When I learned how to do the one-handed shuffle, I rubbed the side of my finger raw practicing. Same thing with the one-handed Erdnase Shift. I don't even use those in performance.

So the most helpful answer to the original question is, as you delicately put it, "nut up or shut up". Practice. Practice more. Practice until you get it right. Then practice until you can't get it wrong. Then practice until you don't even notice you're doing it.
 
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