MOAR MUDKIPZ

Okay, I kid you. More musings, more like.

I was just thinking about my recently taken up hobby: card manipulation. How long has it been... Hm, let's give it a bit of history.

In the past, hah, I really got impressed when my cousin did a simple riffle shuffle. Granted, it's simple, but the way he did it was really stylish. That set me thinking: "What if I could do that, and more?"... And, yeah, I learnt the riffle shuffle very quickly.

Next up was the Charlier Cut.

I didn't learn it from videos though. I learnt it from online text that tried to explain it as best as text could. "Place your index, middle and ring finger along the long side of the deck..." I spent 2 weeks learning that, mostly because I was trying to figure out what the hell the text was trying to say. I hadn't seen a Charlier Cut in action, but there were pictures of it in progress, so I could guess. That's one small step for card manipulation, and a massive step for ME. Yeah!

And what comes after...? Ah yes, the infamous One-Handed Shuffle. Yes, that was the third piece of manipulation that I learnt. I was seriously impressed that a person could shuffle a deck of cards neatly and in a most flashy manner, in the amount of time it takes for an average person to down a glass of water. Here's what it looks like:
It's VERY easy to screw up, but admittedly I can do it better than him :) I know I'm a braggart.

What comes next is just mish-mash mumbo jumbo that really takes more knack than actual dexterity to master. Things like the flipback, which brings the deck from your palm instantly to the back of your hand, etc. You're good, it doesn't fall. AND yeah, fanning a deck of cards. I'm fairly proud of that. Most of the times I can get a pretty good fan, UNLESS you hand me one of those nasty plastic decks, or a really manky paper deck. Not even the pro's can handle it :/ let a lone a weakling like me.

The previous were basics. The following are now really more of modern card manipulation. Extreme card manipulation standard. Things like the Sybil, the Madonna, the Mary Jane.. In fact, most of these come from the Dan and Dave Buck twins. I've mastered those already, though lack of practice slows me down. I'm focusing on other cuts at the moment.

A list of a few famous card manipulators, and my thoughts on them:
De'vo: very high standards, but he overdoes it with the "cultish" style

Jerry Cestkowski: bah, this guy is fantastic at flourishes. All the classic ones, that is. He's most famous for his perfect fans.

Jeff McBride: An all-rounded entertainer who combines magic, flourishing, dance and miming into a beautiful performance. Even though he's not fantastically outstanding at magic or flourishing, he is one of those at the top of his field, and his unique performances are what help him.

Dan and Dave Buck: Which one's Dan? And which one's Dave? I don't know, and I don't care. For some reason both of them are equally as good in card manipulation, and when I say good, I mean they are the very very best. David Blaine, amongst other famous magicians like Dai Vernon, all gave them praise. They have style. A lot of it. And it's not forced, like De'vo's.

True, cannot teach style. Must be born this way. - Suyuan

Bahahaha, what a way to end.

On further thought, my progress has been... bloody fast to say the least. I actually started learning things like the Sybil in February. Its been almost half a year, and now I guess I do have something to show for it. Not much in terms of magic; I've no showmanship skill at all. But as for flourishing I probably can do a few things. Given that I almost never let go of a deck of cards when I'm at home, and that I casually practice every single thing as I go through the day, I can rack up to 4 hours worth of practice time daily.

Why did I go off on this tangent? I was really reminded of the whole thing by Huimin, who kindly tagged me recently :) And now you're probably going to go like, "wah, I inspired a wall of text!".

Yes, well, you catalysed the reaction. I don't know how come you're so sure I can impress, but I only can thank you for your confidence. :)