Howdy. So if any of you do the first part of Paul Harris' Sidewinder, I'd love some help. True, Mr. Harris says that many people skip the first part, but I'd really like to be able to do it.

I'm just having one problem, and maybe someone here has encountered the same thing and managed to work past it.

The first "money shot" requires you to push one card down into the deck while simultaneously pushing another hidden card sideways through the deck. That timing is obviously going to be hard to master and will require much practice, which I'm fine with.

But before I practice the move, I want to make sure I'm doing it RIGHT. Pushing the hidden card sideways through the deck with my pinky has been extremely problematic.

First, when the card comes out the left side of the deck, it's hitting the side of my left hand. I'm pretty sure I can reposition and avoid that, but then when I push the card through it won't go STRAIGHT through -- it goes through at an angle.

So I broke the practice down to just holding the deck and having one card sticking out sideways on the right, and I try and push it through using just my right hand pinky so it comes out on the left side as close to a 90-degree angle as possible, but I've had miserable results so far. I've also tried moving the deck to the right and letting the side of the card jam into my right hand, but the same results -- a bad angle -- happens.

Am I missing an obvious technique, or is it just time to lock myself in a closet until I get it right?

Are you learning from book or video?

I don't push with my pinky. I'll have to go read the book again to see if I'm doing it correctly before helping out.

Learning from the book. Like I said, also trying to use the side of my hand but the results are no better. Is this on one of his videos? May be a better place to leard this particular effect.

I'm curiuos if anyone can help yet. I'm having almost the exact same problem as Filmyak, but I'm not using the pinky for the push on the first phase, I'musing my left ring finger.

In order, my problems are these:

The first set-up is strange. Forme to hold the side-jogged cards nice and squared, I have a death-like grip that is completely unnatural. It just looks too weird for me to have my pinky half way up the side of the deck. Also, to keep the length of those cards even with the top of the deck, I've got to lay my index finger across the top of the deck, so the side-jogged cards don't go everywhere. I've not even begun the trick really, and already my hand looks like I've got a case of gout.

Like Filmyak, whenIpush the cards through, they hit the web of my left hand effectively stopping the process. I've tried to work around it, but I can't seem to find another way to hold the deck in the left in preperation for that without compromising the already unstable gout-like grip that I need to keep the side-jogged cards squared.

Now, the second phaseis cake, I think we can agree on that. But my only problem with the final phase is that I don't like the final production. It looks good in the book,but in reality the perspective of one hand in front of another appears to be too much distance, and the production itself leaves a bit to be desired. I tried using Perfect Card Production for this. It looked better, but didn't reallymake any sense.

So, has anyone maybe been affectedby the same areas of this,and can maybe offer some insight? Also, if anyone has worked out an alternate final reveal, and care to share, please do.

Thanks.

I may not not it word for word but this is how I proform that part if this effect. my left thumb at the top left corner of the deck and the decks left edge flat on my hand and my fight first finger on the front right corner holding presser on on the deck to the bottom left corner of the deck with my left pinky holding the deck to the hand.so with the (card) hanging out of the deck me as push the card in to the deck I use my second and third finger to push with. as my right hand goes to push the card in the deck my right thumb curls around the bottom of the deck for support and my right finger tips curling around the front of the card I am pushing in. and as soon as my right hand has a hold on the deck with the card still maby 3/4 of an inch out the card starts coming through the side.
ya I had problems for a while to
I hope this helps and not just a list of random words for you