I hope that this does not sound incredibly ignorant. With Cards, Coins, Balls (anything, but especially cards), I have spent a great deal of time "learning" and practicing sleights for the sole, initial purpose of learning the sleight- some that I might never, or at least have yet to, use. Is it more wise, and efficient, to learn and perfect sleights in the context of learning a effect or routine that I would present to an audience?

Knowledge is power. Some sleights you may never use, but understanding what is at your disposal will help you select the best possible sleight for a particular routine. Gathering and understanding how to use your tools is important, but you will come to a point where you will decide to narrow your search, and prioritize what you spend your time on. This however does not mean that you can't occupy your leisure time having fun.

If all you know about a sleight is the sleight, itself, without any context, you really don't know the sleight. You must know how to get into the sleight and how to get out of it. For example, if you can do 120 classic passes per minute, but you don't know how to get into the pass, then all you have is a very efficient manually operated air-moving device.

If you have a goal for a sleight and a purpose for it, then you are more likely to actually learn it well. For example, when I asked Roger Klause to teach me the DPS, the first thing he asked me was what I wanted it for. When I told him my idea, he said, "That's valid." Then he said, "If you are asking how to do the DPS, then you must have tried to learn it from Erdnase. Show me what you have learned so far."

I did. Then he explained what I was doing incorrectly and corrected it for me. After I had gone through it slowly, he said, "I want you to perform it for me next year and I don't want to see anything. Do you understand?" I definitely did.

So I worked with it. I learned some new contexts for it. And I put it into my act as the basis for my card on forehead routine.

Bear in mind that when you are learning certain sleights, the hand positions that are shown in the drawings in the old books may not be the best hand positions for you. That is, a drawing may show both hands parallel to the floor. It may be better to tilt your hands so they are at a 30 degree angle to the floor, instead.

Roger Klause's theory of "half-moves" is also very useful when learning new sleights.

Here's one thread that may help:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=37

This might help:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=37

as well as this:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=37

Thanks, Bill. I like that post about learning from a book. I had thought of photocopying effects, simply for the ability to take it with me without destroying the book. As I see from your post, it is much more valuable.