theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

Card controls

C

Carson098

Jul 28, 2013
13
0
You can do so many things with card controls. I want to know what type of card controls you know (as in can do effectively) and which ones are practical for performance. I know you can do a pass or a double undercut but there are sooo many more, I want your opinion on effective ones.
 
I tend to use the Spread Pass, Bluff Pass, single card shift -as taught by Jason England here on T11- I sometimes use the Kalush's cut as a control -it can be found on D&D website.
 
I use a side steal for a single card, a herman pass variation that looks really natural, or a multi card shift that I came up with that works for both bottom and top controls. Some times I use another thing that is like a side steal but with a competely different grip. It looks really nice even when they are burning the deck.
 
If you can motivate turning over the deck, there are many beautiful palm control variants out there. Other than that my favorite thing is an injog followed by a later shuffle.
 
The most effective controls are the ones you can do naturally. This will be different for everyone.

I am liking DM's Squeeze Shift for the invisibility and speed of it. I also like Allan Rorrison's PPP. I rarely use a genuine pass of any sort, I'm much more likely to either use a side steal of some variation or to simply put the card where I want it while lying and saying I'm not.
 
I feel quite comfortable doing Ricky Smith's Cherry Control, Charlie Miller's Cascade Control - they suit my flourishy style. But when I'm trying to do something more simple and natural I usually go for an in-jog followed by palming.
 
Besides shuffling and cutting, I primarily use Charlie Millers Cascade Control and a full-palm sidesteal.

And when I want to get really freaky I whip out a drop pass.
 
Hey There,

I'd like to keep it simple. I use under misdirection a simple classic pass so no one suspects anything. I also like to use the Miller's Cascade Control.
 
I use a Roadrunner Cull whenever I have the luxury to spread the deck, because I can literally control as much of the deck in any place with it. I use Cardini Change to keep a card on the bottom, and a side steal to control the card...wherever
 
Just remember your spectator doesn't care how you control the card. We get into the whirlpool of thinking like magicians and we believe we need multiple controls lest the spectator catch on, but I find in practice that is unnecessary because spectators don't watch the cards like magicians. They barely watch at all. They don't care. In our desire to fool each other we complicate our methods too much.

I use a classic pass literally every time I need a single selected card on top and I have never, ever been caught. Not even by the most persistent heckler. In my opinion that is the best method because of its simplicity and rapidity.

But then again you could yank the damn card out of the deck and throw it on top with enough misdirection.
 
If I want to control the card, 90 percent of the time I will Diagonal Palm Shift it out while the spectator shuffles using an injogging technique of Doc Docherty, and replace afterward. It's probably the most effective way to control I know of. If I want to control the card to the top with minimal effort in the eyes of the spectator, I will usually perform a Deliberate Side Steal (Marlo/with finesse by Cummings), followed by Michael Feldman's Riffle Shuffle Action palm and then hand the deck out for mixing.

I guess it just depends on the situation. But I like controls that don't look like anything is happening at all. For instance, the Svengali control is NOT a good example of this. The double undercut is another incredible example of "how not to lose a card". At least, I'm a bit of a move snob. So take that with a grain of salt.
 
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