So I just did this here at work and I realize that there is no one around me for me to share this news.
now it took me forever and this was my millionth try.

Because of this. I ask.

How and why would I ever use this in magic?

LOL. I have no answer to your question but congratulations on the progress new to magic myself I totally relate to the thrill of getting something down great job regardless of whether you'll find faro useful or not (which I'm sure you will)!

Congratulations! Reminds me of the first time I successfully completed more than one pass.
There are bunches of advanced routines out there that you can make use of the faro for.
You can even use them in succession to st**k the deck from new deck order.

Keep up the practice!

Congratulations, and welcome to Club Faro. Your membership card is in the post. We have a secret handshake where we interlace fingers.

Mike Skinner's "Classic Sampler" gives you a great way to use the faro. Believe it or not, if you keep at it, you'll soon be able to do multiple faros casually and quickly, in front of an audience, which is exactly what Skinner did. There's a thread somewhere on the Café on speeding up your faro, which is a great way to cut out unecessary movements and get things smooth. The gist is, cut down on the number of times you need to regrip and square.

Two quick applications: shuffling a deck and then magically "unshuffling" it. Or if demonstrations of skill are more your thing, you can use it to stack and deal a chosen poker hand in a game for two or four players. Both are very strong. It would be good to learn a couple of false shuffles and cuts to throw in, just because the Faro can look a little too neat, if they're really paying attention.

If you start using the Faro a lot, Homer Liwag's Filipino False Faro (FFF) is a really great false version of the shuffle that looks and sounds identical.

Another tip is to use cards that are easy to faro. Bikes are OK, but Bees are great, or if you're into more custom decks, the Theory11 decks tend to faro really well. You can faro anything, but once you've found a brand that faros well, it really reduces the effort and you'll find yourself hitting a perfect interlace every time (or, like, 99 out of 100).

For more Faro stuff, Marlo and Elmsley published a load of material, and there are some gems in there. But for me, the most magical things are the stacking, stacking poker hands and the unshuffling. But here's an example of the sort of thing Elmsley did (presented by the man himself): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su_JO7tRLxo

Good luck!

Congrats! There are a lot of great material out there for Faro.

Thanks everyone. And thanks Charlie D for my next few months of practice and research.

I dig that Elmsley color change routine. It doesn't look forced, just casual.

Congrats. I am working on my faro now and making some slow progress.

I love performing Unshuffled with the faro: http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S10708

This second effect in the video is my main use of the faro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caXegqZW9dg

I recommend mastering Marlo's Aces, for many spectators ask if you have been banned from casinos/if you can cheat at cards. I like to respond to them with this routine

Zack

:bluebikes:

Nobody asked: Was the deck in the same order as before you started?

Thanks, Jim

Yes of course. I've done my share of 8 faros which led to a jumbled deck. but this was the first successful one.. honestly.. the only successful one I've done.

There are some fabulous memdeck tricks! Check out the Tamariz stack in Mnemonica.

Eight faros leading to a jumbled deck?? Make sure you are doing perfect out faros, not in faros.

Zack Johnston

:bluebikes:

Congragulations!

Not able to faro is really hindering my memorized deck work....