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MOTO42 Loyal user Whitehouse Texas 225 Posts |
I'm interested in sleight of hand, illusion and other uh... magician stuff....
My grasp of the jargon isn't very good yet, but I have the desire to become skilled and knowlegable in this difficult and intriguing hobby. I know that palming is one of the most basic skills of sleight of hand, and am keeping small objects palmed most of the time. (Or trying at least, darn pool-table chalk...) How can I improve my rather slippery grip when palming, or is that only a matter of practice? What other skills should I work on at first? Thank you for your assistance.
"One man's miracle is another man's warm-up"
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Alan Jackson Elite user Cardiff, UK 432 Posts |
I think practice is the answer. The size and condition of your hands shouldn't matter: unfortunately you will think it matters. Persevere and you will definitely master it. Try going about your daily business with a small object palmed (perhaps an hour or so). Incidentally the classic palm (which I guess you are using) is not the easiest sleight to start with, but it is very useful. Good luck.
There are 10 kinds of people: those who understand binary numbers, and those who don't.
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Ari_R New user 72 Posts |
Hi,
I think the best thing to do is practice, but don't just practice in one set time. If you want to build that (strength), I would take a quarter or a half dollar and palm it in the hand. Leave it in the palm! If you need to do something with the hands, try to do it with it in the palm. I say do this for a couple of hours, then go into a different palm. After getting that done, practice a few tricks. Sure enough, after a little while it will be good enough to do a few things that you could not do before. GOOD LUCK ARI |
thanos4182 New user 72 Posts |
If you're interested in sleight of hand, you might also be interested in card manipulation, coin manipulation, etc. A good source of learning would be Jeff McBride's card and coin manipulation videos which you can get from almost any magic web site.
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Timothy Regular user Alabama, USA 174 Posts |
Moto,
I agree with Alan. I cannot stress the "practice makes perfect" mantra. If there is a routine or effect that you absolutely enjoy performing for people, practice it to the point that it becomes natural. I do Crazy Man's Handcuffs for people often. I don't think it's that amazing anymore because I have the mechanics of it down cold. But I have seen myself do it on video tape (a good idea to catch your mistakes), and I look good! The spectator reactions are the payoff. Good luck to you! |
Magicboy41772 Regular user 135 Posts |
I also agree with Alan. Practice all of your sleights and tricks before trying them on a person. I know from experience because a friend of mine that wanted to "show me up" bought an invisible deck and tried it on a person without practicing. So much for that trick because now everybody knows!
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Harry Murphy Inner circle Maryland 5444 Posts |
It is manifestly better to learn a certain skill in the context of a routine or specific trick. To learn to palm for the sake of palming serves you no purpose until you have a trick/effect that requires that you palm.
I think that you will be better served to think about the things you would like to perform and work on the skills necessary to do so. Do not forget that some of the skills you will need to work on when learning to present a trick/effect include good grooming, proper speech and diction, good posture, and so forth. Magic is a performing art. Without performing there is no magic. Welcome to a lifetime addiction!
The artist formally known as Mumblepeas!
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danryb Special user 506 Posts |
I started practicing the classic palm, similar to you, from the very moment I became interested in magic. I would walk around palming anything and from there on went one stage further - something that I could use not only as a practice and a way to keep my fingers supple but also, and at the same time, get people looking, involved and asking questions about how I do it. I'm talking about rolling a small rubber ball around your fingers from one to the next, under and back and forth. Great for the circulation of blood cells in your hands. Try it whilst palming at the same time and eventually try with a dollar coin and so on.
Take into consideration what Harry just said before me - keep those hands clean and fingernails short. Use hand lotion if your hands are dry but not before a show of course. |
Gerald Veteran user Arkansas 325 Posts |
Harry is right. Learn the sleights within the context of the natural flow of the actions and plot of the trick. This will give you purpose and inspire you to perform the sleight skillfully.
In most cases, you will want to direct the spectator's attention (both what he sees and what he thinks) away from the sleight. This is best learned within the context of the trick. You will be able to use this same sleight in other tricks and plan your misdirection based on this experience. Certainly, it is a good idea to learn to keep the hand in a natural position with a palmed object. To learn this, the suggestions above are fine. But it is a good idea to have a purpose, a motivation, an ultimate goal in mind when pursuing “the perfect palm.” Warm regards, Gerald |
alexhui Inner circle Hong Kong 1956 Posts |
I strongly agree with the opinions above. But I would like to add one point.
When you are practcing sleight of hand, don't forget to practice sleight of mind and sleight of mouth. That means, you have to understand the whole effect as a whole and study what makes the effect strong or weak. With this in mind, you can perform a strong effect. Alex
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WilliamWHolcomb Special user Twinsburg, Ohio 533 Posts |
Mr. Murphy has given some great advice. Don't be like me and spend 95% of your time learning sleights but never putting together a solid routine of tricks.
When I do finally get a trick "mastered" (I use that term loosely) from a technical side, I find that I've spent no time thinking about presentation. Recently, a few fellow magi and I decided to present one new trick each time we meet (about once every three weeks) and it seems like it's helping me keep focus on the "big picture" and not just learning sleights or the mechanics of a trick. Hope this helps....
William Holcomb
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