A Little Help with the Double Charlier

[aprentice]

Hey Guys,

I recently started to get an interest in flourishing and so started mucking around with any old cards laying around the home. I just today got my bicycles in the post from theory11.com (thanks guys!) and have found them bigger in size! These bad boys don't fit in my hand like the other ones.

I have started trying to attempt to Charlier (I know beginners stuff) and found I can do the single OK but my thumb doesn't seem long enough to hold onto the pack to try and do the double. Any tips, hints, helps that people could through my way would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Sk8r_St3v3]

First off you must have been using bridge sized cards before. All Bikes that T11 sell are Poker sized which is the standard used usually in magic.

Not to ridicule you, but there isnt really a single charlier or double charlier cut. A standard charlier cut is the two packet split and the bottom packet pulled up and over the top one. A triple charlier cut is the same thing but you slide of half of the top packet and move it beneath the bottom one with your ring and middle fingers, and then execute a standard charlier to finish it off.

I found i had the same problem when i started too, especially with things like the triple charlier and scissor cuts. The simpel solution is just to keep practicing! The more you practice the more you will stretch the muscles in you hands and you will gradually be able to stretch your fingers further.

Unless you already i have, i would get the normal charlier down until you have it really smooth and quite fast, then with the triple just do it real slow at first until you can stretch your fingers properly and gradually speed up.

The best tip for a triple, and normal charlier, is to use your pinky to support the cards, trust me if you keep it extended the whole time it will make a whole lot of difference.

Hope that helps.

 

[TheatreHead]

seconded everything said previously.

your thumb doesn't need to have contact with the top packet.

 

[Mr.T]

just hold the cards like in charlier but at the tips of your fingers... then let the first packet fall but so that it lands far way from your thumb...then push it carefully up ( like in a charlier) but be sure the bottom side of the packet don't move and saty far away from thumb... then u should be able to hold the packet with your thumb

good luck

 

[aprentice]

Thanks heaps guys! My above post obvious makes me look very fresh and a noob! LOL. Will try the suggestions made, and hopefully with a bit of time will see some improvement.

How much time so I expect it to take, I expect everyone is different but approximatly how long did it take you (if you can remember back to when you were a noob)?

 

[aprentice]

Also is it better to work on both left + right hands equally or focus on my "stronger" hand?

 

[Sk8r_St3v3]

Ive only been doing flourishing for a month and i have learnt quite a lot.

I have found that training the basic cuts in both hands helps you when you come across more complicated flourishes, and also improves your fluidity in general.

The charlier was literally the first cut i learnt, followed by Sybil. So therefore my standard charlier is pretty good. Once i learnt how to do a triple charlier, i practiced it for about 3 hours over the day and eventually picked it up enough i could it with relative speed and without dropping the cards.

If you stick at it you can easily have it down in a day, but make sure you don't just practice for the sake of it, if you struggle on a certain stage, or need to improve the fluidity of one stage more than another, then take this into account. This way you constantly look at different ways of adapting cuts and flourishes to suit you and it helps you progress much quicker.