Beginner's Card Fan

[Beukeboom]

My apologies up front if this is the incorrect forum for this. I am a newbie when it comes to card manipulation. When I was in my teens through my thirties when I enjoyed just performing card and coin tricks just for the heck of it I pretty much was straight-forward with it. No flourishes. Mainly because I had no tutors, books on the topic available to me basically sucked, and there were no videos I knew of. So I didn't bother. Somewhere in my thirties I pretty much stopped with the cards and coins. Don't really know why. However I'm just beginning to get my feet wet again in regards to card tricks.

With that being said, the first flourish I'm trying to learn is a basic card fan. I figured I would use Youtube for tutorials and found quite quickly that there are dozens of differing techniques. I've tried several and some work better than others for me.

However I am having a minor issue...whereas the experienced card handler seems to be able to spread all 52 into the fan, I cannot duplicate it. At best I get all of the first three suits but only a card or two of the fourth. No matter how much I practice it just doesn't get any better. I guess any card fan is better than no card fan at all but I'd like to have a clue as to what is preventing me from going the "full monty" [multi-level pun there]. Are my hands too small? Too chubby? Too "meaty"? What?

A couple of quibbles I have with Youtube tutorials on the topic: 1) it seems a lot of the folks making the videos are taking for granted their skills and are projecting that anyone can do the basic moves seemingly forgetting that the newbie like myself lack any basic technique and 2) c'mon people...with video technology it would be a big help for us newbies if slow motion examples are presented...real time action makes it difficult to see the nuances required for a good fan. There's a lot that goes into a smooth fan. I get that. I'd like to see it in real-time and then the same fan in slow motion. Best: real time with two camera angles...one below and one above and then show the same in slow-motion.

More apologies for the lengthy rant.

 

[Maaz Hasan]

If you can hold a deck of cards in mechanics grips, your hands aren't too small/big/whatever.

The harsh truth is that this stuff won't come overnight. It takes a very long time to master a thumb fan. It may look simple, but it really takes a long time to get the right levels of pressure, and timing, and placement. I suggest that you keep practicing. It will take a week or two of casual practice, maybe even more.

The moves themselves aren't the skill. The skill is you perfecting the move.

I'm assuming you're trying to do a thumb fan, right? Don't try jumping into any of the fancy stuff just yet.

That being said, one thing that might be effecting it though is the deck itself. If it is really really worn out, the cards can clump together. So if that is the case, you may want to buy another one (nothing fancy, just a standard Bike/Bee/etc will do).

Good luck! If you need more help let me or anyone else here know.

P.S. On a YouTube video, if you click the settings gear (or the 3 dots on mobile), you can select "Speed) and set it to 0.5 or 0.25, making it slow motion.

 

[Beukeboom]

If you can hold a deck of cards in mechanics grips, your hands aren't too small/big/whatever.

The harsh truth is that this stuff won't come overnight. It takes a very long time to master a thumb fan. It may look simple, but it really takes a long time to get the right levels of pressure, and timing, and placement. I suggest that you keep practicing. It will take a week or two of casual practice, maybe even more.

The moves themselves aren't the skill. The skill is you perfecting the move.

I'm assuming you're trying to do a thumb fan, right? Don't try jumping into any of the fancy stuff just yet.

That being said, one thing that might be effecting it though is the deck itself. If it is really really worn out, the cards can clump together. So if that is the case, you may want to buy another one (nothing fancy, just a standard Bike/Bee/etc will do).

Good luck! If you need more help let me or anyone else here know.

P.S. On a YouTube video, if you click the settings gear (or the 3 dots on mobile), you can select "Speed) and set it to 0.5 or 0.25, making it slow motion.

Thank you for the advice. I do practice it whenever I can. And I wasn't joking to say I've been using theory11 cards. No clumping. I even keep a deck at work on which to practice whenever I need a "mind break".

 

[Maaz Hasan]

Thank you for the advice. I do practice it whenever I can. And I wasn't joking to say I've been using theory11 cards. No clumping. I even keep a deck at work on which to practice whenever I need a "mind break".

That's great

Just try and work on figuring out how much pressure you need to apply with the thumb and fingers holding the deck. It won't always be constant, but that was my biggest problem when I was learning.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

It's a knack. The key to learning it (as with any other skill) is being focused on which parts are not doing what you need them to do, and changing that.

A big part for me was starting with my fingers curled, and extending them as I do the fan with my other hand. This gives more space and evens out the spread as you go. You do have to learn to time the extension of the fingers with the pace of spreading the fan.

Other bits - Make sure your thumb, on the hand holding the cards, is in the right place. I generally put mine between the index pip and the main pips of a "3" spot, for example.

Start with the deck cocked backwards a bit and it will give you a bit more space as well. When I do it, I end up with a sort of wedge of 45 degrees where my thumb is, where there's no cards.

I find it easier to do somewhat quickly, rather than slow. I know this comes down to technique but it does seem to help me.

 

[Beukeboom]

It's a knack. The key to learning it (as with any other skill) is being focused on which parts are not doing what you need them to do, and changing that.

A big part for me was starting with my fingers curled, and extending them as I do the fan with my other hand. This gives more space and evens out the spread as you go. You do have to learn to time the extension of the fingers with the pace of spreading the fan.

Other bits - Make sure your thumb, on the hand holding the cards, is in the right place. I generally put mine between the index pip and the main pips of a "3" spot, for example.

Start with the deck cocked backwards a bit and it will give you a bit more space as well. When I do it, I end up with a sort of wedge of 45 degrees where my thumb is, where there's no cards.

I find it easier to do somewhat quickly, rather than slow. I know this comes down to technique but it does seem to help me.

Definitely plan on trying your suggestions. I did have an "eureka" moment today. I watched a promotional video for a deck of cards and the person demonstrating the cards did a thumb fan which did it in a way that wasn't shown on any of the tutorials. After multiple viewings I tried it the way the demonstrator did it and got pretty close to doing a proper fan. I'm going to continue to work on it and try different things.

 

[bsarlo]

Definitely plan on trying your suggestions. I did have an "eureka" moment today. I watched a promotional video for a deck of cards and the person demonstrating the cards did a thumb fan which did it in a way that wasn't shown on any of the tutorials. After multiple viewings I tried it the way the demonstrator did it and got pretty close to doing a proper fan. I'm going to continue to work on it and try different things.

Could you please share the link to the demo you saw?

 

[Beukeboom]

Could you please share the link to the demo you saw?

I didn't save the URL. Sorry. If I find it I'll post it.