Double Lifting any easy way?

I been trying and trying and trying

if you're having trouble, especially in front of others, exhale, and RELAX your fingers and hands as you do the move.

With the double-lift and many other moves, like the pinkie count, etc., etc., a light touch sometimes is just what is needed.

trust me.

Easy double lift? Yes. Will it look natural? Nope.

The double-lift, while considered by many to be a basic sleight, is one that needs to be performed imperceptibly, for it is the core of most card magic effects. Practice it, treat it with respect, give it the effort it deserves. I suggest looking at Dai Vernon's double-lift and his thoughts on practice and naturalness. They can be found in his excellent book, "The Dai Vernon Book of Magic."
Also, David Regal wrote strongly about his feelings towards the double-lift in his book "Close Up and Personal."

Hope this advice is helpful,

Jeff

Frank hit the nail on the head. Light touch. Also Gregory Wilson's video "Double Take." This video deals with many methods for double lifts.
Bottom line, keep practicing, You will get it

Vinny

Are you trying to get do doubles without any setup? What I've done in the past is get a break as I patter, then just "lift" when I'm ready to turn over. PM me if this isn't clear enough.

Hmm I kind of can understand the easy to do stuff!

But magic simply is not EASY!!! So keep on practicing as we all did!

Greetings form Germany

Stefan

In my opinion a good natural double lift is a real hard to master sleight. At least if we're talking about a DL without a get ready and hitting the double 100% of the time u do one without hesitation in front of spectators. I use double push off since I use push off for singles. After lots of practice it still happens sometimes that I push off three or just one instead of two, I just hate it.
The easiest doubles in my opinion are ofcourse the ones with a getready. If you want a less difficult double lift without a getready have some research at the strike double lift, I find this one easier than all the other DL variants.

hope this helps,

kaaZ

I think just using your thumb at the back (biddle grip) and riffling up to the top two helps. it's a good way to start off. =)

I like the two push off double myself. Anyone have any tips on how the push off can be made to perfectly align? Mines always seems to break and I need to realign them before turning.

The vernon double is a neat one too, but it seems like my fingers are too short to do the push off. (perhaps its my grip)

There are, of course, two issues that can arise in attempting a lift. The first is the need to get a break under the top two cards if you choose to proceed in that way. Here the best method no doubt is Darwin Ortiz's pinky count, but that takes time to master. If your goal is ease, then simply hold the deck from above with forefinger on top and thumb at the rear, lift off a first card and then a second with the thumb, and let them drop on top of your left pinky which has curled around under the pack. There's your break. This is so basic that I do not think I can be accused of tipping anything in describing it. The challenge is in doing this undetected. You rely on simple misdirection. Do it well in advance when they are paying attention to something else.

The other aspect of a double lift is the lift itself. Here I believe the simplest foolproof method that also looks good is Couture's wrist double in Gary Ouellet's book Close Up Illusions. It takes a couple of minutes to learn, but once you know it it's easy to perform and allows you tremendous control over the cards. Alas, it can't be tipped here.

Good luck.

KF

John Sterankos pinkie count you mean

1. The double lift is not easy, *but* it is easy to practice. Just do it over and over again while watching TV...

2. getting a break with the thumb is ugly at least. Learn the pinky count or structure the routine in a manner that allows you to spread the cards (and holding a break) at the right times.

3. for a double without a get-ready the deck should be sligtly beveled to the right.

-Mahlstrom

I learned the double lift in stages. I first learned the very basic move of just holding the two cards in alignment with the middle finger and thumb, of course everyone could tell it was two cards just because the unnnaturalness of it. Then I moved on to a more technically difficult one, and then to another, until now my double lift is very natural and easy for me to perform, and it looks natural. That is just one way to approach it, and I am not saying it is in any way the best. Just mine.

I spent several weeks practicing the Royal Road to Card Magic DL (it's basically what Kermitthefrog detailed above). Then I took a look at Daryl's Encyclopedia of Card Sleights, and he mentions this method just long enough to say 'don't do it this way!'

I'm trying to learn the pinky count, but so far I CAN'T get my finger to do it!!

I don't think we should be trying to 'sell' a single card; if done correctly, it will be assumed to be a single card. All the snapping/handling of a double to prove it's a single can be impressive to magicians who know what it is, but may draw unnecessary attention.

Flipping over two cards as one is not hard. As far as get ready's, the absolute easiest is simply pulling off the top card, getting a pinky break under the next card, replacing the top card. Of course you need a reason to pull of the top card, but in most instances, for example Red Hot Mama or Ambitous card, it will make perfect sense. The next easiest is a thumb count/ pinky get ready.

I wouldn't get hung up on "get ready free" doubles. They're very difficult and to a lay audience no more deceptive. Remember, nobody's looking for a get ready. Just don't flip the double immediately after your get ready. Let the deck breathe.

An extremely underrated method of performing the double lift is to push over the top card, take it in the right hand, gesture with it while forming a break under the top card of the deck with the left hadn (just push it over and pull it back). Put the right hand's card back on the deck and turn over the double.

This DL is not always appropriate, but can be used frequently, fools laypeople, and looks good.

Another easy (much easier than the pinky count) method is to simply push over two cards and pull them back, forming a break under them. It is a very fine method endorsed very recently on this board by no less than Aaron Fisher.

As for "selling" the single card, the biggest thing is to treat it lightly, as you actually would a single card. There's nothing wrong with snapping the card to emphasize it's singularity as long as that's a natural aspect of your card handling. Whenever I want to call attention to a card I'm holding, whether it be a single or a double, I snap the the card off my thumb. Just don't let it become an irritating habit or a distraction for the audience.

Paul

"John Sterankos pinkie count you mean"

Don't you mean JIM Steranko?

I believe this is a double lift strategy of Dai Vernon's. Just wanted to classify it.


Eric

Actually, this was the prefered method of Robert-Houdin, who recommended it way back in 1856...slightly before Vernon's time. I do not know however, if Houdin claimed originality with this method or if he was simply the first to describe it.


Paul

Steve Draun has a wonderful method for a double lift. hold the pack in dealing position ,then bevel the cards .this makes it easer to thumb count two cards from the back of pack. when I say bevel mean from the front of pack .
hope you understand this ...

vinny