So I've been doing magic tricks for a while now, but have never seriously worked on learning new, more advanced tricks until now. The best tricks I do are probably the "4 card monte" trick that David Blaine does and the rubber band trick where you pull the one rubber band through the other. As you can see, I'm not too keen on the technical names of these tricks, but I'm sure they are known by you guys.

In the process of playing around with magic, I developed my own shuffling techniques and I just wanted to share them with you guys, although they might already be known.

Ok so, the purpose of these tricks is to manipulate a card around the deck when it looks like you are shuffling:

#1. (really, really simple)
the card you are manipulating begins on top
you do a bridge shuffle, making sure that it stays on top by releasing the half of the deck with it on top last
(you can keep a card on the bottom by releasing that half first)

#2.
the card you are manipulating begins on top
you do a slide shuffle (where the cards slide over top of each other, usually held in left hand and grab deck with right hand)
slide the first card off with your left thumb and stack the other cards on top of it, so it is now on the bottom
(if you turn the deck over, you can repeat this move, bringing the bottom card back to the top)

#3.
the card you are manipulating begins on the bottom
do a slide shuffle by holding onto the top and bottom card, using the top card to hide the bottom card, thus keeping the bottom card on the bottom of the deck

#4.
the card you are manipulating begins on the bottom
stack all the cards on top of each other, keeping the bottom card in your hands until the very end
slide it off last, by itself, to the top of the deck

a combination of these shuffles will make it look like you are performing a random shuffle, but you have complete control of the card the entire time

I hope these make sense to you, if not I can try to include a small video if someone requests it

and once again, Hello!

This is such a great post for a new guy Or ANYONE really,

Magicians really helping magicians with original ideas etc...

Good job.

I am sure you will get a lot more feedback from cardworkers, I don't do them much if at all.

Eitherway hope to see you around and welcome.

Just keep it up , you are heading in the really correct road.

ps.The effects you are reffering to I think is the "2 card monte" and the rubberbands have ALOT of variations and names.(I am sure tho it is Crazy man's handcuffs).

Wellllll...

Congrats on choosing a good route- Card magic.

Nice to see someone who seems so energetic about card work and shaping their ideas. Well the two card monte effect you're referring to- is a good start. If it's the one I'm thinking of- it uses a DL to accomplish. Works great- lots of possibilities. The second is indeed a rubber band routine. You only seem to know a portion of it though. Crazy Man's Handcuffs. Might I suggest you get a pamphlet entitled: "Slydini Rubber Band Magic." It's a great little packet with a good explanation of the routine, and just rubber band magic in general.

Now... your card controls. You were correct in saying that, "they might already be known." They are. Not just known as shuffles, but the term is: controls. Or at least that's it's classification in my opinion. Shuffles imply that your mixing the cards. Your controlling a card in this case- meaning you know where it is the entire time you're 'shuffling.'

Essentially the move you are doing that you call a, 'slide shuffle' is really just a 'card peel.' Or you might be able to call it, "running cards." Some of the others on here might even consider it, 'Slip cutting' however that's commonly used when forcing that known card. All your doing here is controlling; which could then lead to forcing. Ahh well I got myself confused. I need to go look this up. I'm getting peeling and running cards mixed up possibly.

Your ideas are good- at least you're thinking. Might I suggest you purchase Card College; all five volumes and work through each one. This is a great set of books- written by a great guy, Roberto Giobbi. Very easy to follow and I use these all the time when just needing some new material.

Keep up the good work. Keep in touch, and I hope this helped some.

Best regards,
Matt Tomasko

Wow...great,

I'm glad everyone seems so inviting here

indeed, as you have pointed out, my interest does lean more towards controlling a single card in a normal deck of cards

I also happen to know tricks with rubber bands and coins, but cards are my favorite. The 2 card monte trick with the DL is what I get the best reaction from, and I've worked hard on the performance to try to perfect it.

Is there a free section of these forums that shows tricks? What about a website? So far, I have noticed that you have to pay for the secrets to most tricks, which caught me by suprise, though I understand the business aspect of it. So besides Card College, what other DVDs or books would you suggest? I am interested in tricks that do not require props and can be done with another person's deck of cards.

Golfer23,
Wecome to the Café.
There are several threads here that talk about "impromptu" card effects.
That is a wonderful area of study and there are many books and videos that can help you along.
Also, when you have been here a while, you will be able to go into the secret sessions area where you can get new ideas and share your own.
Again, welcome.
Glad you are here.
Peace,
Parson

Welcome Golfer23! While it might seem unnecessary to learn the names or origins of some of the tricks and techniques (you only need to learn how to do them, don't you?), doing so helps you to be able to communicate your ideas and exchange ideas with other magicians.

There are plenty of cheap sources for very useful magic literature. Perusing some of the "sticky" threads at the top of this forum will help. For cards, I particularly recommend "The Royal Road to Card Magic" by Hugard & Braue, which you should be able to obtain very cheaply.

Another great source for a wide variety of types of magic is "Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic", which is available in many bookstores, or can often be obtained used.

Hope this helps.

There are tons of good card magic books.
Mark Wilson's is great because it teaches a variety of things but you can look at Expert at the card table, Expert Card technique, Royal road etc etc. If you are really into cards and you get really good then get Bruce McBride's DVDs on card manipulation. Ortiz is also excellent. You can also look at Sal Piacente.
If you think you are in love with cards now wait until you learn more.
Welcome

Just buy card college series, they're very good! you won't regret it!

I think you meant Jeff McBride... His videos are great, but it's geared more towards stage manipulation than close-up (although there are a number of cool color changes and flourishes that can be used for close-up).