Other than a lot of practice, do any ladies have any hints for working with cards given that our hands are a bit smaller?

Thanks

Bridge Size Cards are slightly smaller than poker size. so those might help
Ashley

Not so many card sleights depends on size of your hands.
And, there are many good card tricks which can be performed without using sleights.

Most of magicians think Pass, Palm, Side Steal, etc are foundmental sleights, but I don't consider them as foundmental. I play Ukulele. There are tremoro, ten-finger strum, etc, which are very difficult techniques. But we can play wonderful music without them.

If you can deal cards, spread cards, you can produce nice magic.

Hideo Kato

Ilusionista,

How small are your hands. From the base of my palm to the tip of my middle finger, mine is 6.5" and across my palm it's 3". I use regular poker sized cards. What is it you're trying to do?

Suzanne

Excellent advice, Hideo Kato!
I know a lot of male magicians who have hands the size of ours. Asian magicians in particular! This does not stop them from doing amazing card magic.

My mentor, Lamont Ream also has small hands but can absolutely blow you away with his card tricks. Part of the "trick" is to practice and practice until the cards become a "part of the hand".

I learned to palm a coin by carrying a palmed coin everywhere I went. Sometimes I would drop it, sometimes I would forget it was there. My hand learned to keep it in place and look natural. You can do the same thing with cards. Try walking around with a card palmed. Spend time working with cards. Use a bridge-sized deck and in time cards will become second nature to you.

I don't know if you are new to magic or not, but you might consider buying the following books:
"The Expert at the Card Table: The Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation" by S.W. Erdinase
"Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic" by Mark Wilson
"Strong Magic" by Darwin Ortiz
"Expert Card Technique: Close-Up Table Magic" by Jean Hugard
"Royal Road to Card Magic" by Jean Hugard

Enjoy!
Autumn

I find this topic interesting. Through genetics I have been given small hands too. I had problems learning some slieghts using poker cards. Eventually with enough practice though I was able to do basics like back-palming.

I still am unable to do any one-handed cuts. Been trying for over 10 years now! Of course this is not my focus in magic (card work) so I haven't given it the effort it deserves.

I asked a question in the card forum to find out which book card workers would choose if they could only pick one.

Check out this link to see what the card workers say: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......;forum=2
Autumn

From the base of my palm to the top of my middle finger, well, it's 5.5, almost 6 inches, across, it's 3. I can do ok with cards, however, p**ming it is quite difficult, so are some color changes. Plus, my ring finger is bent in a uhm.. weird way, and it's quite deifficult to use the pinky as well. I was trained using the regular sized bikes, and well, I guess I just got used to it. There are some cards here in the phils (Winner club cards) sold for less than a USD, it's texure is okay, and it's thinner and shorter than the average bike. I found it comfortable too, but, since bikes are the standard here, I should abide by the norms. Anyway.. practice, I guess, would condition your small hands. Best thing you could do is take care of them and avoid cracking your joints. Avoid ironing, or too much card-practice, then instantly washing it off. It may be shaky and sweaty. .Anyway.. just take care of your hands. Hands, when you reach the age of 18, don't get bigger anymore.

Cyssa

Growth actually continues from age 18 - 21, and the average age for end of growth is dependant upon sex and several hereditary factors. This is, though, only with regard to skeletal maturity. Additional growth may be realized with regard to weight gain (or loss).

Back to the topic... hand size (in my opinion, and from what I've both experienced and witnessed) has little to do with manipulation ability.

Well, for women, it's 18. Males could grow all they want til 21. Well, it has nothing to do with manipulation ability, but for beginners' capability, it plays a big deal. Of course, we all have a starting point. I know of a great magician who's hands are almost as small as mine, yet could manage to palm, or pitch almost everything. However, if a beginner is the one in dilemma, then it'd be hard to 'adjust'. largish/ regular cards + kiddy hands would be a hassle at first. But within months of practice, it's no biggie.

Cyssa