Greetings,

My name is Patrick. I am 36 with a beautiful wife, 3 wonderful children and 1 more on the way, and it is my greatest desire to one day be counted among the magical novices.

I have loved magic but watching and performing for as long as I can remember, but it was just a couple of years ago that I started to learn more than a simple card trick or two. Though cards are still my number one passion in magic, and I have yet to do anything with a non-standard deck.

I am currently working my way down the Royal Road and taking myself to Card College.

I however often find myself discouraged and set aside the cards for a period of time. So I am joining up to both be encouraged (directly and through reading what is being said to others) and encouraging.

Here is hoping for a magical time.

Patrick

Welcome Echvinya,

When you learned your first Card Trick you became a Novice Magician. So...Goal Achieved!

While focus is your friend as a newby, having a couple of different Magical projects (like ropes and cards) that involve different aspects of Magic can be helpful.
You get a break from one or the other project and they also inform each other and make connections in what seem very different projects.

Best of Fun Echvinya. Keep a journal or video of your progress. It can be very encouraging.

-Mary Mowder

Hello, Patrick!
What Mary said.

And for what it's worth - although I'm quite sure you're far better with a deck than I, as I'm just coming back to it after many, many years - I certainly understand discouragement. However, I would say that in supporting a family, with a wife, '3 kids and one on the way', how you find any time to practice AT ALL is quite a magical feat all in itself!

In my early days, The Royal Road and Expert Card Technique were 'it' - as good as it gets. Today, as I sit here with the 5-volume set of Card College slowly working my way through Vol. 1, I find much is new to me, and many things fairly the same. I'm even a bit astonished that some of it is coming back to me rather quickly after all these years. "Oh, I remember that!"

It's just endless practice. Over, and over, and over. If you can somehow find the time to set a half-hour or hour aside, and sit down with a deck, that's the ticket! How you'd do that while raising a family, I don't know! Early on, I wouldn't even perform anything that wasn't absolutely flawless and seamless. Watching myself in the mirrors, and practice, practice, practice - UNTIL it was flawless. Otherwise, I just didn't feel right about showing anything to anyone.

Best wishes with that! If it's something you really want, you'll get there! Hang tough!

H.

Welcome to the Café!

Never get too discouraged...sometimes when I get down I realize it is just because I feel I haven't mastered anything well enough to satisfy myself! That will be normal...always try to surprise yourself, and remember that Dai Vernon wasn't billed in a day!

A while ago I broke my hand and fingers, and for a few years couldn't hold the deck properly. I then simply gave up. I started fiddling with the cards again this year, and have found I can do things again...so never get too discouraged. If you ever need a nudge, let me know and I will nag you.

Ya know, a Magic Wife may not be such a bad idea.

Every two weeks I have to give a status report on what I've done the past two weeks, and what I'm going to be working on the next two weeks.

@MudMedic, expect a PM from me in two weeks.


Dave

Boomer,

Your wording made it seem you were equating a Magic Wife with a nag.

-Mary Mowder

I was.

nag (verb): annoy with continuous urging


Definitely something that I could use to get me to quit browsing these forums and pick up some cards/coins/rubber bands/safety pins.


Dave