Hi guys,

I want to have 8 signed cards controlled to the top. One by one, I could use a variety of methods such as the Hindu control or overhand shuffle control. But it's takes forever and it does start to look suspicious by the third card.
I could try a push though control and cut to the top with all 8 cards at once, but I've never had a good success rate with that and I still think it looks fishy when I see it done.

Can anyone recommend other techniques of controlling 8 cards and / or any DVDs that feature a routine using 8 signed cards being lost in the pack and revealed?

Steve

I would go with culling the cards to the bottom, and then with and overhand shuffle you can reverse the order so that they are on top. Or you can cull them and then form a break on top of them by injogging the bottom card of the deck. Then just double undercut them to the top.

Hi,

I guess TPC (Tamariz Perpendicular Control) can be used for that with great results. You can control one by one, four and then four, or the eight cards at once, (it may be a bit hard doing the 8 cards the same time, but I think with some practice you can do it flawlessly, but I never tried).

I don't remember, though, where you can find that technique. I think it is in one of his books called Sonata. There is a good chance you can find that in English.

Or you can also use hindu shuffle to control all 8 cards at once. But I don't know the name of that technique. But it was one of the first controls of the 4 aces I learned, so I guess it's a very basic one.

Good Luck on that!

Bill Malone offered not only the best solution to this problem but also the best ending for a multiple selection routine.

For the first part, where the cards are selected, he simply tosses the deck on the table and has everyone reach in and take one out. It's fast and casual. Then he takes the selections back and shuffles them up, adds some more cards and shuffles them up, and finally jams those cards in various places throughout the talon, followed by more shuffling. However, even before the cards are inserted throughout the deck, the selections are on top and in order. It's a brilliant concept, very fooling, and the entire process is over in about a minute.

On the Loose.

Standing or with a table?

8 People select cards.
8 People sign selections.
All cards are put in different places in the deck.
The audience SEES all 8 cards pushed into different places in the deck.
One overhand shuffle.
All 8 cards are now on top, IN THE ORDER THEY WERE SELECTED!

Table, Standing Up, Surrounded, etc.

If that works for you, PM me and you can see a video of me doing it.
And it's not very hard to do at all.

SEY

Any particular reason why it must be 8 cards, why they must be signed, and why they must go to the top? If you're willing to compromise on some of these points you can probably get a better-suited control.

Look into The Cardini Multiple Shift.

The control of the cards is the least of your worries. Your problem is simple: there's going to be too much dead time. How are you going to have eight cards selected, removed from the deck, signed (are you planning on having eight pens?), and returned to the deck without having your audience completely lose interest in your show? I'm quite serious.

It's actually not that big a deal, if you manage it correctly. If you're busking, dragging out proceedings like that can even be used to your advantage. You just need to stock up on lines and make sure that the payoff was worth the wait.

The godfathers aqueeze palm control...
and with THE FAN ADD ON
NO SHUFLING OR CUTTING THE CARDS

I am not quite sure whether sign factor is important or not in this multi-selection revelation performance.

If I want to impress sign factor, I will use less cards, such as 3 selections. If I want to impress multi-selection factor, I will use many selections such as 6 to 10 without having cards signed.

Hideo Kato

Having cards signed offers challenges, but one aspect of multiple selection routines that can get troublesome is when you reveal a card for a person, and they've forgotten which one theirs was, or they deliberately or unintentionally say they took a different card (such as the nine of hearts when they really took the nine of diamonds). The longer the trick, the more events there are, the more potential there is to have cards forgotten. What's more, if you perform the trick for an international audience or kids it can get difficult for them to say their card, even if they know it.

If they've signed the card, then once the revelations start happening, you don't have to worry about that sort of thing interrupting the build.

There are some other advantages as well, but mostly they aid the magician.

There is a control for a multiple selection routine which I think is Aldo Colombinis which uses a biddle grip in its method and is very deceptive, easy to do and quick. It looks like a selection is replaced a few cards shuffled on top then the next selection replaced a few more shuffled on top etc. The only issue may be that at the end all the cards are in order as replaced but at the bottom of the deck. Should be easy enough to then transfer/cut back to the top.
REgards....................

If you use such Biddle type handling, you can control 8 selections to top without any cut or pass.

Steal and side jog the first selection and steal other selections below it after taking 6 or 7 cards each time. You will have a few cards in right hand when you receive 8th selection above side jog card. Take those cards and place remaining cards on top. The job is done.

I would use Hindu Shffle because Hindu shuffle is more natural for Japanese audience than Biddle type taking.

Hideo Kato

Welllll...

I avoid having the cards signed up front because it does take a lot of time. Having eight or more selections up front takes long enough even without signatures, and the best idea here is to streamline all that to the fullest extent possible, which is one reason I like Malone's approach so much.

As for verification during the revelations, it actually turns out that it's not as important as we might think to verify every single revelation is the right card. If you're barreling along, finding one card after another, and a spectator suddenly can't remember hers, it's okay to simply reveal it and say, "Well, it was the Two of Hearts," and just keep moving. If a spectator makes a mistake or outright lies and names the wrong suit or the wrong card, it's usually okay to reveal it, say, "No, it was the Six of Diamonds, but thanks anyway," and keep moving. Your utter confidence will carry this through because every revelation will support every other. It's different than doing a trick where the outcome is riding on just one card. There, if you're truly wrong, it's a huge problem. Here, though, if you get six right in a row and someone tries to foil you and you simply say, "No, it actually was...," people tend to instantly know you're not jacking around and that you actually do know. Having cards signed doesn't seem to me to offer any more support in this matter and probably doesn't offer enough reward for the payment up front.

If an errant spectator does challenge you even after you've revealed the card and moved on, finish the trick, take your applause, and then return to him, saying something like, "Let's make sure I can do this." Then you do the strongest pick-a-card trick you have in your repertoire.

The important thing about a multiple selection routine is to establish a rhythm early, even while the selections are being made, and then in the course of the revelations, amplify and accelerate that rhythm until the crescendo. Anything that seems to present a problem during the revelations cannot be allowed to interrupt that rhythm but instead must be incorporated into that rhythm. You can address things later, if you need to, but usually, you don't.

You have been given lots of great suggestions, and mine may certainly not be as good or clever, but this is how I would do it:

You could do this - Get cards face up, Place them in 8 different parts of the pack, face up in the face up deck.
Do Ed Marlo's Simple Multiple Shift. (Not sure of the exact naming [sorry!], but it is the one using the Hindu Shuffle movement).
Fin.

Kyle

Controlling 8 cards to the top using the hop as acontrol
http://youtu.be/z_2jKbyAXi4

Shin Lim's Multiple card control from control freak download. He teaches it as a top control but I prefer to use it as a bottom control. you can do 4 and 4, all 8 at once, or any combination in between

Opine,

I'll forego a rebuttal, as I've already spoken more about this than I'm comfortable with.