So I've heard it a few times, but I'm not sure if I remember correctly:

"For card magic, you can make anything happen if you can do a "force, a double lift, a false shuffle, a ________ (and that's where my mind goes blank)"

What are the pillars of card magic that I must master in order to really put on a great performance on the fly?
Have any of you heard this phrase before?
Do you agree with it?
What do you think are the most important tools in a card magicians toolbox?

If you're just starting out in card magic and you don't already have them, you should purchase the Card College series. It will give you a good foundation.

You need a control. So control card to the top, or bottom or wherever. Dai Vernon's double undercut is a popular one, another is a false shuffle to control a card (as opposed to a full false shuffle) and a false cut.

One you will hear a lot is "the pass". I use it a lot, you will hear about it a lot, but many card magicians who are masters of their craft use it very little so I wouldn't worry about it overmuch just now. I think Harry Lorayne (famous card man) is one who uses it very little, but he is on the café so you could check with him direct if you like

Danny

I must have written/said it thousands of times - you need three things in order to do good/great card magic: a good control (I also consider a force a control), a good double lift/turnover, and a good palm. Way back in one of my early books, when I wrote that, I taught an effect called Strange Voyage to sort-of "prove" that point. HL.

ALWAYS REMEmber…
…no…
NEVER FORget…
…that’s not it…

The number of “pillars” changes from time to time and from person to person. You’ll find your own set of specifications as you grow, but in the meantime…all answers above are good ones.

Taking a slightly different tack, I’ve told folks to look at it from an audience’s perspective. If you can do ONE location/force/control but have fifty ways to reveal that one card, to the audience you know fifty “different” tricks.

Card College, mentioned above, is a good collection. I also recommend “Royal Road to Card Magic”. Don’t have mine next to me, but if I recall correctly there are several shuffle controls in the first couple chapters that will go a long way for a beginner to start making up his own routines.

And he's holding himself back right now but Harry has some of the best material available. For a beginner it may be a little steep, but once you determine that card magic is going to be your "thing", you'll be hard pressed to find better.

Learn how to shuffle a deck of cards 201548 ways. And then one false. By that time, you'll be able to do everything with them.

Thank you all for the insight. I'll start looking for some HL videos, royal road, and card college scores on Ebay.

I would say that there are a half dozen sleights that would enable you to do anything you want! You don't need to learn 20 different passes or 10 ways to DL. Pick a half dozen sleights that you think are essential and work to master them.

Good double lift

Double Lift, Force, Control, False Shuffle

Harry Lorayne.
I have 2 questions. I'm in the middle of practicing the million different versions of the pass. Which I find to be the most exciting and difficult control to master. I have been learning a few different versions and I'm realizing that some work in different situations better than others.. (over the shoulder view, front view, hands to the side of you, colorchanging a card, etc)
-I'm rewatching watching on the pass by richard kaufman daily.
would you say there is a control which is best used for all types of scenarios? this way I can create different routines of my own?

Also.. I recently watched your ambitious card routine on your youtube channel. I didn't count but I can estimate 20 different controls for that routine. you moved fast and kept the spectator on their heels. on the other hand, tommy wonder, has a video of him doing a 6 minute ambitious card routine with only a handful of controls.
which brings me to my other question.. should I know as many controls as possible, and have them like a swiss army knife, in case I'm caught off gaurd? Or should I master the 1 or 2 slights which will work in almost every situation?

I remember in your "The Magic Book" you talked about a young magician saying he knows 1000 tricks, while the older more successful magician says he only knows 10.
but does that proverb ring true for the new style of magic in which the audience is much more educated, skeptical, and observant?

This forum really needs a faq - for some, or most, it's so much easier to write about performing magic than actually performing it.

Frankie: Can't really answer your question because - I don't and never have used a Classic Pass as the basic control of a selected card. You mention all the controls you saw when you watched me do my ACR, but you didn't see one pass, 'cause I don't use passes. There was a follow-the-leader routine I used to do that required the secret passing of three cards of one color from bottom to top of a packet. I used a Classic Pass there - under complete misdirection. And, decades earlier, when I used a Classic Pass for a control or two, it was always the top-card cover pass. There are much better controls - a basic jog overhand shuffle being about the best - at least for me. And in The Magic Book I teach a "pass substitute." Also, I was just repeating that old quote about a "successful" magician knowing only 10 tricks, etc. But the point of that is just that the "importance" isn't how many tricks you know, but how well you do the few you do know. Again, difficult to categorize myself, since I know (or did) probably thousands of tricks. Anyway... Best - Harry L.

Thank you Harry. I appreciate the insight.

Your wish effendi:- http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=41

:)

Harry I am a 59 year old beginner working diligently to learn as many card moves as I can. Where can I find your Strange Voyage. It sounds real interesting, I'd love to try it

Posted: Jan 26, 2014 4:52pm
What is a good ACR for a beginner that can do some basic slights to start with. I really would love to work on one trick. I have been just working over and over on the few moves that I am trying to master, and have yet to really do tricks or routines. I figured a nice not too hard to perform ACR would be a good place to start

TCB: Check out Lorayne's The Magic Book, which has an easy ACR and Strange Voyage, I think.

Thanks Neo, I will check that out

I was never great at palming , and didn't put much practice time into it, until I saw the killer reactions I got with Alex Pandrea's mystery card which uses a couple of basic palms. I think I need a good book or dvd on Palming. I got Richards Kaufmann's "On the Pass" and it helped me immensely with controls. Is there any good teaching on the palm out there?