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Zee Regular user Leonia, NJ 196 Posts |
Hi, this is Zee. Haven't been to this place for a long time.
I have started updating my blog again and I thought it would be fun to share it here. I will leave a link to my blog here but will also include a post regarding card magic too. Hope you find it interesting https://www.zeejyan.com/blog --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am almost always able to tell when someone is holding a break. You know why? I bet you low-key know but cannot explain the “why” behind this phenomena. I didn’t know until a few month ago too, so don’t worry lol You see, when most people are not holding a break, they tend to be more playful with the deck: they don’t even seem to aware that they have the deck in their hand. They let the deck loose, dribble/riffle, pick it up with another hand and toss it back to dealers grip, etc. They tend to mindlessly play with it. However, when they have their pinky stuck in the deck, they start to become aware of the deck. Therefore, the whole dynamic of movements changes and get restricted. Some people are more obvious than others that I don’t even look at their hand to know that they are holding a break tbh Symptoms of Pinky Break are 1) the arm sudden has noticeably less movement if not completely frozen 2) significant decrease in frequency of dribbling/riffling if not completely gone 3) rarely use the other hand to pick the deck up if not never 4) treats the deck like a daughter a.k.a princess Symptom 1 through 3 is pretty self-explanatory, so let me just elaborate on symptom 4 of infamous Pinky Break. Sooooooooo when certain people have their fingers stuck in their decks, they gain 100% control of the deck since they don’t want to flash or lose the break. They tend to never toss it around or not even letting the deck go loose for a second. They always have that full-blown dealers grip on the deck until it is time to let the break move on to accomplish bigger things. The point is…… Acting like you are not holding a break when you are holding a break by studying the way you move when you are not holding a break might help you with the flow of the performance and make your sleights more invisible. I mean, I believe even untrained eyes can spot the change of movements caused by holding a break. |
jim ferguson Veteran user Ayrshire, Scotland 386 Posts |
You shouldn't be constantly riffling, dribbling and tossing the deck from hand to hand during a trick in the first place.
Jim |
ThomasJ Special user Chicago 999 Posts |
Any opportunity to table the deck or avoid playing with it should be exploited. A step or jog works great in these instances. A short card is a magician's best friend, too.
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Samuel Catoe Inner circle South Carolina 1268 Posts |
When I was attempting to learn coin magic, one of the phrases I often came across was "Hold your empty hand the same way as when you are holding out a coin. That way when you're holding out a coin, it will look the like it's supposed to look." I would think this excellent advice for any sleight of hand applications, not just coins. Hold your hands natural, natural in this case being when you are doing your work as opposed to it being empty.
Remember the words of Han Solo, "Keep your distance though Chewie, but don't LOOK like you're trying to keep your distance. I don't know, fly casual."
Author of Illusions of Influence, a treatise on Equivoque.
PM me for details and availability. |
Zee Regular user Leonia, NJ 196 Posts |
Quote:
On Oct 16, 2017, jim ferguson wrote: Hi, Jim. Based on your comment, I assume you are at least 40 or 50 years old, and you have learned a lot and took advice from other older generations or even older generations of magicians. I am not saying it is bad or anything. I have found most older generation of magicians tend of have more one dimensional way of approaching magic. Which means they are unable to see from other angles. For example, they tend to set one rule and that rule applies to everything without even considering another side of the opinion, style, character, etc. Again, nothing wrong with that. Maybe a little. I have never mentioned riffling the deck btw lol Anyways, everything we do all depends on what kind of performers we are and what kind of effects we do. Sometimes, you can casually dribble once or twice at most during an effect to show the freeness of the deck if your character allows you to. When performing certain effects, like a card to an impossible location, it doesn't really matter if you appear to be doing sleights since magic is not happening within the deck but somewhere else which makes sleight irrelevant. It will only appear as a "showmanship". When I say tossing the deck, I mean lightly toss it into left hand after squaring up the deck. I see people tend to hold onto the deck extremely cautiously when adjusting the deck when they have a break and it is quite noticeable. However, I feel like you are missing the point. The whole point of the post is not to say dribbling and tossing are good but that we should be freer and not thinking too much about the break when holding a deck. We tend to build up tension around the deck because we are trying not to lose the break. And this tension can be spotted from miles away and we should try to avoid that. |
Zee Regular user Leonia, NJ 196 Posts |
Quote:
On Oct 16, 2017, ThomasJ wrote: Hey, Thomas. Some great tips over there However, it, too, depends on what kind effects/routines we are doing and what kind of style and taste/habits we have in magic personally. Context comes into play too. For example, if I want to do some kind of sleight after holding a break for a period of time, then putting the deck down and picking it up again doesn't make much sense(it may work if the context allows us tho). Maybe I can ask my participant to insert the selection back into the deck then I put the deck on the table and start to do table work from there. But if I want to do that, why don't I just spread the deck on the table and start from there at the beginning. If that is the case, then holding a break is not the best option since there are better ways to mark the spot. Therefore, it is off the topic of my post since I am discussing how to act not suspicious while holding a break. I mentioned styles and taste/habit earlier because I tend to do more stand up work and do cardistry on my free time and I like to keep my deck exactly 52 cards, so I am not a huge fan of having a short card in my deck. I can have an extra card, like a joker, as a short card in my deck but that would make my deck 53 cards and I feel uncomfortable knowing that there are 53 cards in my deck. If I make one of 52 cards a short card, then it always messes me up when I do cardistry for fun in my own time. A short card would be a great addition for those who use their decks only for magic performance purposes though. There are some powerful effects that use short cards. ' |
Zee Regular user Leonia, NJ 196 Posts |
Quote:
On Oct 16, 2017, Samuel Catoe wrote: Great quote, man! Love it hahahaa |
Maxyedid Special user Panama 843 Posts |
How about "don't use finger breaks"
Finger breaks suck Layman see them and know about them
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jim ferguson Veteran user Ayrshire, Scotland 386 Posts |
Quote:
On Oct 16, 2017, Zee wrote: In your first post in this thread you wrote, and I quote "they let the deck loose, dribble/RIFFLE, pick it up with another hand and toss it back to dealers grip etc" So yes, you did mention riffling. I am of the opinion of "each to their own" when it comes to performing magic. It is up to the individual how they want their magic to look, and each person has every right to perform however they see fit. It is my opinion however, that "generally toying with the deck" (as you put it) during a performance by way of unnecessary riffling, dribbling and "tossing" the deck from hand to hand, is a distracting habit which should be avoided. Your example which I quoted, in the context of a card to impossible location effect doesn't make sense. Up until the revelation of the card in the impossible location (box, pocket etc) it is assumed the card is still in the deck. So any fiddling will indeed arouse suspicion. Even after the revelation, it will simply be assumed that your constant fiddling was something to do with how you got the card out of the deck. And yes, your assumption is correct, I'm 41 next month. Jim |
fonda57 Inner circle chicago 3078 Posts |
When I hold a break I don't hold it long enough that it matters.
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Rupert Pupkin Inner circle 1452 Posts |
Quote:
On Oct 16, 2017, ThomasJ wrote: Yes, yes, and YES. |
vernonscigar New user 21 Posts |
Earl has some nice work on flexing and riffle a deck 'outside of conscious thought' to hide breaks on his Fake Ace Cutting DVD. Hansford also discusses micro-breaks in his lecture notes.
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ThomasJ Special user Chicago 999 Posts |
Zee,
There is a cardistry section on the Café that might relate more to your comments. Cardistry and magic are completely different. I am, however, interested to hear more about how older generation magicians have a one dimensional approach to magic. Your responses thus far make me think you're the one who has a one dimensional approach to magic. You'd be wise to read more of the old generation's works before becoming a writer on the subject. In reference to your comment about me being "off topic" - a jog or step can be applied to a deck in your hands, not solely a tabled deck. The point is exactly as Jim said - there's no reason to play with the deck when you're doing magic. T.J. |
Bill Hallahan Inner circle New Hampshire 3222 Posts |
Zee wrote:
Quote:
I have found most older generation of magicians tend of have more one dimensional way of approaching magic. Which means they are unable to see from other angles. For example, they tend to set one rule and that rule applies to everything without even considering another side of the opinion, style, character, etc. Again, nothing wrong with that. Maybe a little. Unnecessary movement almost always takes away from producing the feeling of magic in your audience. The magician wants the audience to think they did nothing to make the magical effect happen. Movement is seen as "something." To the extent possible, all movement should be removed from most tricks. Of course, there are probably exceptions, but these would be unusual situations. When I see great young magicians, such as Shim Lim, it's obvious that they've all learned this. I have seen a great magician fiddle with the deck, and then later produce magic, but he did not do these two things at the same time. Troy Hooser came up with a (the first?) variation of the Sybil cut. I saw him perform at a lecture years ago. He does this cut in a non-magical context. When he does magic later, there are no extraneous movements.
Humans make life so interesting. Do you know that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to create boredom. Quite astonishing.
- The character of ‘Death’ in the movie "Hogswatch" |
Ado Inner circle New York City 1033 Posts |
Another problem is that some people think they'll lose their break unless they insert at least two knuckles in the gap and squeeze the top of the deck with their thumb as much as possible.
P! |
SleightlyChris Veteran user Lancashire, England 360 Posts |
I agree with Jim and fonda in this one. I think the conversation of one directional mind should be saved for another thread.
On topic, fonda is correct in that you shouldn't be holding the break longer than you should or need to. Also, if the audience is burning you anyway, maybe take a look at your presentation. Thirdly, pinky breaks shouldn't include your entire pinky, just the flesh. If by then you're still worried about the break being seen, I think it was the one old timer ( ) that mentioned something about another old timer pulling the cards below the break downward so there isn't any notice from straight on. Chris |
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