Card Handling

[Amo]

Hello.
So I'm coming up on a year in magic, I've learnt a few tricks and performed them when at parties, but there's one thing that I feel is either letting me down or making my performances look a bit messy. My card handling.
I seem to grip the cards so hard that they end up looking messy and pleasing to the eye and my sleight don't seem to flow. I can get away with this stuff at a party when there's low lighting and loud music, but sooner or later the audience will see something. How do I train my self out of these bad habits and get into a more soft touch?

Also, How can i keep my cards feeling nice a smooth and comfortable to work with? I wash my hands all the time while practising, I've even tried putting them in a fridge ( don't really know if it helped or not ). Will they just stay in better condition after my handling has got smoother and softer or am I missing something out? I'm currently using a temporary card clip thing, some clamps, but plan on getting a porper card clip soon.

So in a nutshell, How can I improve my card handling and make my cards feel nicer for longer?
Thanks in advance, Adam.

 

[Joey144]

[...]make my cards feel nicer for longer?

Switch decks during practice. Use one deck for 2-3 days and then but it away and use another one for 2-3 days. Then pick up the first deck again and so on. You can keep three or four decks on rotation if it doesn't work with two for you.
A positive side effect of this is that you get used to handling decks in various conditions (worn out to brand new) which will help you on your overall card handling.

How can I improve my card handling

Practice. Sorry that I can't give you a better answer but it's really the only thing I can say to you. You say that you're into card magic for one year now. That isn't really a long time. Don't rush it. Make sure you don't develope any bad habbits and keep practicing. Smoothness comes with time.

Joey

 

[Amo]

Yeah, I knew that answer of practice was coming. I know that's for the smoothness of a trick or routine, but are there any tips for general handling or is it yet again, more practice? Thanks for fast fast reply

 

[Joey144]

I can only speak for myself but it helped me a lot to carefully observe other card handlers. For me it was mostly Steve Forte (I'm more into gambling moves than "real" card magic). I watched the GPS tapes over and over, trying to figure out why the moves look so good in Steve's hands.
Maybe this works for you aswell. Pick your favourite card handler/magician and look out for video clips of him and just study how they handle the cards.
Now this won't instantly make you better at handling cards but it won't hurt either. You won't come around practicing a lot.

Joey

 

[Amo]

Thanks a lot Joey, this does help.

 

[FormlessMars22]

What I gather is that you're still new to magic and your handling will definitely improve with time along with your confidence and comfort which, in my opinion, is the two important factors in looking like a star performer, you must be confident and feel comfortable in front of any audience.

At this point in time focus on your showmanship and just give some attention to your handling but don't over stress yourself about it because it will improve in time. You've got more than enough time to focus on those aspects so relax about it. Hope I've helped!

 

[Amo]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[AnthonyL]

pretty much what has already been said, just play around with cards a lot. if you do it without thinking to much you should relax a fair bit.

As for the cards, i just use a deck until it's too rough and i'll pack it up and work with a new deck. Then just rinse and repeat

 

[Amo]

Thanks for the advice Anthony.