Newbie to magic - struggling with the injog shuffle!

[Askan]

I’m also a newbie trying to learn the injog overhand shuffle. I am learning from Card College. I can do it slowly if I injog 3-5 cards, but I find it really hard to run single cards. Any advice on that? Where on the card do you put your thumb?

 

[Ignotus]

Make sure the fist injog is contacting the pinky

no offence...but why are you using your pinky at all for "contact" ?
for outjog, I kinda get it, but personally I think using the third finger is better as the pinky is used for cover...not saying you are wrong

for injogs you want to use the Base of your thumb to create a break

 

[Ignotus]

I’m also a newbie trying to learn the injog overhand shuffle. I am learning from Card College. I can do it slowly if I injog 3-5 cards, but I find it really hard to run single cards. Any advice on that? Where on the card do you put your thumb?

slightly behind the middle of the card

 

[ChrisJGJ]

no offence...but why are you using your pinky at all for "contact" ?
for outjog, I kinda get it, but personally I think using the third finger is better as the pinky is used for cover...not saying you are wrong

for injogs you want to use the Base of your thumb to create a break

 

[Ignotus]

yes, it is a very nice picture....you do realise there are better methods....that picture doesn`t show "the perfect way"...nor am I saying my way is perfect...I am just saying there are better ways...and one of them is the way I am trying to explain it...is better both for noobs AND advanced

 

[ChrisJGJ]

yes, it is a very nice picture....you do realise there are better methods....that picture doesn`t show "the perfect way"...nor am I saying my way is perfect...I am just saying there are better ways...and one of them is the way I am trying to explain it...is better both for noobs AND advanced

Perhaps, but this is the way all beginner books teach the overhand shuffle. He is learning from a book, which I highly encourage all beginner cardicians to do. I believe it is unwise to teach him short cuts or better methods before establishing the fundamentals that are tried and true.

I'm a fan of a quote from Mark Twain, "Get your facts first, then distort them at your leisure." Doesn't fit exactly, but I think he should learn it the proper way, then adjust according to his needs.

Something I've been thinking about recently is that magicians try too hard to find methods that are "better" or more invisible than some easier and more common methods. This is fine I think, but what this does to newer magicians is divert them away from what is more important than just sleights. I'm talking about audience management.

An example is pushing a card off to get a break vs the pinky count. The pinky count is obviously far superior, but learning it before the basics actually cripples you as a performer. If you have to push a card off to get a break, that means you have to distract the audience with your other hand in order to do the move. This is an important element in magic that newer magicians should be learning about, but are sort of skipping by learning a more advance/invisible sleight. This whole thing is some what unrelated, but I wanted to express how important I think it is to learn the fundamentals correctly and in its entirety before moving on to more difficult sleights/moves/routines.

 

[Ignotus]

hm, since he posted on a Magic forum, I assumed he actually meant a false shuffle (which is the whole "why use pinky" thing)...I now understand I was mistaken and he is asking how to do a overhand.

so Disregard my explanations.

Something I've been thinking about recently is that magicians try too hard to find methods that are "better" or more invisible than some easier and more common methods. This is fine I think, but what this does to newer magicians is divert them away from what is more important than just sleights. I'm talking about audience management.

this is a VERY VERY good point

 

[Askan]

slightly behind the middle of the card

Thank you! Works better.

 

[SleightlyFalse]

Akhil Raj, Deadly Apples, Maaz Hasan, ChrisJGJ - Thank you all for your input!

I've come to the realisation that I simply need to slow it down a little and properly analyse my movements and grasp the fundamentals properly so that I am consistent with them.

I'm also the sort of person that wants to learn things quicker than I currently am and need to remember that some things will simply just take me a little longer to learn/grasp and that it's simply just practise haha!

Cheers,

Josh