Beginner to Magic

[odog2000]

Hey guys!

I am a freshman in high school that has recently picked up magic as a hobby. I have purchased three special decks, the Bicycle Ghost, the Bicycle Black Tiger, and the Tally Ho Viper. Now one of my questions, we know these are not trick decks, do not have special properties that make it easy to do magic, but will the fancy unknown nature of these decks lead people to believe that I am using a stacked/trick deck? If you have a deck you like, please inform me why and what deck. If you think it is best to use a standard deck, please let me know! Any help is appreciated.

Second point. As I am new to magic, I do not have very many trick or flourishes. At this point in time my best trick is a simple trick called the Two Card Monte. As you guys undoubtedly know, this trick is a simple trick with almost no slight of hand. The majority of other tricks I do are tricks that take no skill other than keeping a card on top. I would like tricks slightly more advanced than this and would like advice on this point.

Flourishes. At this point in time I know no flourishes well, I am attempting to learn the worm as a starting point, and am able to do it, but it is not a very impressive flourish. Any ideas on any of these things would be helpful. Also, I am trying to get the regular fan down, but seem to always have a stack of cards at the back or front, why would this be?

Any advice on any of these points would be appreciated greatly,
Owen

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

1) Most people aren't going to assume a gimmicked deck by the looks of it--unless you do something that gives them a reason to believe its gimmicked. I have a bunch of blank decks that I'm working with now (for flourishing) that would immediately draw attention to themselves. But you could use virtually any deck with any certain back to them and no one will (or at least SHOULD) question you. Even look at Daniel Madison's Players deck. Look it up in the Elite section--apparently, there's a way to know what each card is in the deck by looking at the back...somehow, I don't have the deck.
In short, you can use virtually any deck and you'll be fine.

2) I started magic back last July. I don't use a lot of conventional magic (mostly prop-based magic) and have a FEW card tricks. Don't be afraid to learn or try the hard stuff early on. I've been trying to do Mechanics Pass for the last few months now and I'm now starting to work on Raise Rise--neither one are considered easy in any sense. You don't need a lot of card tricks under your belt. But research around and try to see what would resonate with you. Also. It would benefit you to take a drama class or two if you want to pursue magic.

3) it's impressive that your first flourish is an advanced one. Try to get down the Charlier, Revolution, and Scissor cuts too as the dexterity from them will absolutely help in future flourishes. Now while I don't know the fan (I'm working on 'French Manicure' which has a bit of a fan variant), it's all about spreading the cards evenly and the application of pressure. It's a tricky flourish, I think because you're having to find your own 'sweet spot' in order to get it down correctly. Fans take a while to get down. Just keep working on it. Try looking up several tutorials and maybe one of them shows the fan at an angle that might show your problem area

 

[odog2000]

Thank you for your help, knowing the cards by the back? That seems like a lot of memorization! Which is the advanced flourish? It seems all the one I know are relatively simple. I am working on the Charlier and Scissor, but I cant seem to get the scissor to work, it seems my fingers aren't long enough, any tips?

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

Thank you for your help, knowing the cards by the back? That seems like a lot of memorization! Which is the advanced flourish? It seems all the one I know are relatively simple. I am working on the Charlier and Scissor, but I cant seem to get the scissor to work, it seems my fingers aren't long enough, any tips?

Funny that you mention it, I'm just learning how to do a Scissor Cut. I didn't know about it until a couple months ago. I started off doing Charlier and Revolution. If you know how to do 'Werm', you already know an advanced flourish.

'French Manicure' is considered advanced, if that helps in any capacity.

Don't get into the 'big hands/small hands' way of thinking. I have small hands. You only need practice.

As far as the Players deck goes. It seems like it's a completely 'marked deck'. Not a LOT of memorization would be involved (we're not talking about memorizing the order of an entire deck). But more like somebody being able to pick a card, you find the 'mark' and you knowing the card by being able to read the marks. If I wasn't trying to memorize the order of a 52 card deck, if get my hands on one.

 

[Josh Burch]

The Wire has tons of magic that is Free and good for beginners. Check out Michael Obrien's Dice Wave, or Kevin Schaller's Clippy. There are tons of easy free flourishes on the Wire as well.

Check out Royal Road to card magic, you can get it for a few bucks on Amazon. You should also check your local library for anything by Joshua Jay. He always includes a DVD with his books and his books are very easy to follow.

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

I've been scouring the Wire for magic and flourishes for the last several months. I would recommend these if you're looking for a challenge:

Meer
French Manicure
Ace Cut
Mechanics Pass
Gravity Stack
Allign
Acrobatic
Dice Wave

Although not on the Wire, check out Muse Cut and Teachwrap

 

[RealityOne]

Use whatever deck you like. If someone asks about it, just tell them that you liked the way the cards look, so you bought the deck.

Check out Royal Road to card magic, you can get it for a few bucks on Amazon. You should also check your local library for anything by Joshua Jay. He always includes a DVD with his books and his books are very easy to follow.

Also, as a beginner check out Scarne on Card Tricks and Hugard's Encyclopedia of Card Tricks. Scarne's book doesn't require sleight of hand and Encyclopedia of Card Tricks uses around 5 basic sleights at most.

If you have a slightly larger budget check out the first two volumes of Card College by Roberto Giobbi (they were designed to be a set) and the Card College Light series which doesn't require any sleight of hand,

 

[odog2000]

Thank you guys for all your help, another thing, do you know of any slight of hand that I should definitely know to learn more tricks? It seems all the one handed cuts are used a lot, but that isn't really slight of hand. Any tips?

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

I'd go with RealityOne's recommendations.

honestly, I should do the same.

 

[odog2000]

So, how many tricks should I try to have? how long will people's attention hold?

 

[Josh Burch]

So, how many tricks should I try to have? how long will people's attention hold?

I would have maybe 5 tricks. That may bee a lot at first. Get them down till you could do them with your eyes closed, get them down so that it looks as slick as you can. If you know five tricks well then that kicks butt.

As far as sleights, it depends on your preference. Find a trick you like and learn the sleights you need to perform it. You really don't need much more as you start out. Books like Royal Road of Card College will teach you a sleight and then teach a handful of tricks you can do with those sleights.