Check out Justin Hanes' M.O.S.E.S. (Modified Overhand Shuffle Entire Stock) in his "Mystery Engineering." Easy and in my opinion the most deceptive.

I know I'm very late on this, and I apologize for resurrecting such and old thread, especiallly since the Fauxverhand shuffle was removed from Ellusionist long ago. However, I might have found something relevant regarding crediting/creator/publishing issues.

Some months ago I was at my local magic club discussing false overhand shuffles with other magi. The Fauxverhand shuffle was mentioned and analyzed as one of the boldest approaches. One of the club's most veteran members (Josep Pallejá, who is 80+ years old) saw us and nonchalantily said that he had devised that very same false shuffle many years ago. Fortunately, he had it published in a book about card magic technique, which I ran to check out of curiosity. The book is called "Técnica cartomágica volumen 1", published back in 1977, and the false shuffle is explained in page 65 (technique #50).

I just thought somebody might find this information interesting.

Hi Arthurit,

Yes, I find it interesting. Thank you for the post I released the Fauxverhand shuffle a couple of years ago and it was quickly pointed out by people on the Café that it might be the same as The Mead/Kennedy shuffle published by Michael Close (2006) and Chopper published by Ken Krenzel (1990). Both of these shuffles are probably direct decedents from John Cornelius' Oh Calcutta shuffle which is a false Hindu shuffle. The principle was the same but the deck had essentially been re-orientated to make it look like an overhand false shuffle. The Fauxverhand shuffle was also derived from John Cornelius' but further to the re-orientation of the deck I made it so that no packets were ever pulled from the pack and were instead dropped just like in a real overhand shuffle. This was the difference - it made the shuffle look smooth and not choppy - which is probably how Ken Krenzel named his. This also allowed for overhand shuffle controls to be used in conjunction with the false shuffle which I think could lead to interesting applications. Obviously, the shuffle was pulled from the market for being similar to what had gone before. Unfortunately, although the 'Oh Calcutta' shuffle was referenced amongst others I was not aware of the work already published above and therefore did not seek permission. I have since spoken to Michael Close and apologised for this and there is no ill will between us. I hope that clears up the time line of events and brings clarity on this release and why it was pulled.

I would be interested to know if Josep Pallejá's shuffle used a pulling or dropping action to accomplish the shuffle?

Thank you again for your post.

Kind regards,

James

Hi James,

Thanks for your insights and for clearing up the timeline of events. From what it was shown to me, I would say Pallejá's shuffle is identical to your Fauxverhand. There might be a tiny difference though: Josep uses a pulling action for the first chop and a dropping action for the remaining chops, in order to better resemble a regular overhand shuffle. That’s how it's explained in the book.

I wrote my previous post in order to provide further information on the issue, without any reproaching or accusing mindset whatsoever. I’m fully aware that it's impossible to know and read everything that's published in magic literature. In fact, even though the book "Técnica cartomágica" is (or was) well known nationwide, the most literate cardmen in the magic club were not aware of Josep's false shuffle. It was pure luck that he was nearby when we were discussing Fauxverhand.

Kindest regards,

Arthurit.

Hi Arthurit,

I didn't take your post to be accusatory and I hope that I didn't come across that way - I am genuinely pleased to hear that that the dropping method is out there as I think it is a fantastic way of doing it and I use it all of the time. I sincerely hope that people take the time to check out Josep's version. Thank you again for your post.

Kind regards,

James

I prefer the Dan Fishman False OH Shuffle. If memory serves, it is taught in both Redford's _Square_ and _Applesauce_.

It is also taught on his Ninja Tossed Out Deck DVD and in Temporarily Out Of Order, and a video demonstration can be found when logging in on his password protected site

A video demonstration is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQzR1O6wiBw

This is, I think, the best complete false OH shuffle around. It's far better than any "Oh Calcutta" descendant (such as Mead/Kennedy and variants.). And it beats the OH False shuffle taught by Ortiz in The Annotated Erdnase. The key to making it maximally convincing is to ensure that there's no rhythm to it. You shouldn't, e.g., do it in beats of three.

Personally, I’ve never seen a false overhand shuffle that compares with the Redfish Shuffle (which is Patrick Redford’s slight variation on the Dan Fishman Full Deck Retention False Overhand Shuffle). I can’t imagine a layperson perceiving anything false about it, especially if the performer can do it absentmindedly while conversing with them.

More often than not false shuffles deceptiveness is dependent on the performer's skill rather than the specific technique itself. I've seen some horrendous renditions of what I consider technically deceptive shuffles and exemplary executions of what I consider technically sub-par methods.

A technically superior false shuffle is one which, when performed expertly, can be burnt and still deceive. For example, in expert hands, the Optical Shuffle will deceive you even though you know it's being performed.

The above mentioned shuffle is also taught here: http://patrickredford.com/product/the-false-shuffle-project/

I didn't know Dan Fishman False OH Shuffle until I watched the above video. This looks identical to Pablo Doménech's favourite false overhand shuffle, which he was very fond of. Pablo passed away in 2004 or 2005, so it would be difficult to know the exact year he developed the shuffle. However, he published a book in 1996 containing his creations, which is titled "La magia de Pablo Doménech". He devotes pages 155-170 to develop some ideas regarding false overhand shuffles and, particularly, the one talked in the quoted text can be found in pages 166-170 under the name "Mezcla falsa total por paquetes".

Fishman first published his shuffle in 1993 and had been using it prior to that for quite some time. Great minds think alike!

This is a really good instructional download. At $10 it's a bargain.
I also like the Gary Kurtz tip on the importance of staying open and relaxed.
Thanks, Patrick.

In response to someone's thoughts elsewhere, I tried my hand at an ordinary OH shuffle in an attempt to think about my finger position. It took numerous attempts for me to recover the method. As it turns out, I've not once performed an ordinary OH shuffle since I learned the one taught in Redford. My fingers will just not shuffle fairly any more!