I have been working on this with a Caféteria tray for years. I am just getting it down with this large object. BTW Piddiling is the flourish where a flat object (book, tray, card) continuously spins on one finger. My fore finger is almost pointed straight up in the air. I am trying to convert this idea to a playing card. Any help would be appreciated. Has anyone ever seen someone spin a card like , this (keeping it going) I do the card spinning on a finger thing, but the beginning is different and the card is spinning on a finger that is pointed more horizontally. Can this be done with the finger pointing "up"???

Help

Thanks
Joe

I know exactly what you mean. My buddy alwasys walked down the halls in school just spinning his books, note book ect on his finget like a basketball. It just kept going like it was nothing. He could do it for about how ever long you wanted him to. I can sort of do it with books, trays, pieces of cardboard (thicker ones) but I havent been able to do it with a card. To light weight and to small. I saw him one day take a cd burner that was unhooked just sitting on my desk and he did it with that. Kind of funny looking. I think its near impossible with a card because of the size, the center of gravity is to close to the edges. I would love to see someone do it. post a vid if you get it down.

Latz,
Kepp

I don't really know if its worth the time practising.

Don´t get me wrong but when I showed Jerrys demo video for a friend, when Jerry did the padiddle, I asked my friend what he thought and he said that it looks easy. I prefer to do stuff that looks hard but is easy.

Remember, learning a Padiddle takes at least a year of practising and yeah,
that says a lot, doesn't it?

Piddiling with books is definitely worth learning. It took me one or two weeks of practise several years ago to get it down, and I'm not an especially fast learner; the three ball cascade took me longer to get down (and I'm still not much good at it.)

The good part about spinning is that the skill is like riding a bike, you don't forget it, not so for most card/pen/coin stuff if you neglect to practise. I hadn't spun anything for a good year or so and to my surprise, when I picked up a book to spin again, I could do it just as well as before.

I find that book spinning impresses people a lot, and they always want to try for themselves, which is comical. A lot of people are convinced there is a gimmick until you show them otherwise. Plus spinning a thin flat hardcover book fast gives a very pretty effect, in my opinion prettier than the card spinning, just because of the speed.

Chris, maybe this is what you're looking for
http://www.handlordzstore.com/mpegpromo.mpg
Jerry's demo video; the spinning is his last effect.

Card spinning doesn't seem to be worth learning. Might as well just learn the pirouette, easy to learn, and done fast it looks cooler. To me, anyway.

Thanks for the link. that's one of Jerry The Man's demos I havent seen yet. I have seen basicly every demo he has ever put up, but not that one. Nice stuff. that's cool, it looked great. Thanks again for the link.

Kepp

The move may be for special interested. but JUGGLING cards is another story.

Like I wrote above.

Hard that looks hard or easy is good to perform for people who knows that its hard (in other words that try the technique themselves or is practising it.)

Easy that looks hard or east is good for, well, all really.

I think it gets better reactions from so called "laymen" doing a padiddle with a book rather than a card. It´s the same thing with balancing stuff on your cheek. A guy balanced a drumstick on his chin, its VERY hard. Its like 15 times easier to balance a big object on your cheek as its heavier.

But people not knowing how hard is it thinks its cooled with a huge object. I think its the same with spinning a card/book.

I have tried card and book spinning, I tried to spin a few of my magic books but they aren't hard cover plus their cover is too slippry.

I need a book that is bigger and thinner I guess.
Ill see if I can find a better book to do it with.

I do sort of agree, harwin is right about the bigger object thing in the spectators eyes. If you balance a broom on your chin people are like, yay, very nice. Then you balance a computer desk on your chin peoples eyes pop out of there head and are like "WHAT THE F#$@"

The card thing is cooler to us magicians because we relize that it is indeed harder. The book is cooler to layment because well for one, they cant do it and the object looks hard to do because its bigger. Nice point Harwin.

Actually laminated surfaces are the best with which to learn, because it gives your fingers a better grip. Or you could just wet your finger. But any spiral notebook or thick magazine would do. Make sure you're going anti-clockwise if you're using the right hand. A soft surface is best to learn with because it moves with your fingers more. Might have been easier to learn if I had used a couch pillow to start with.

Does the clockwise/anti-clockwise thing really matter much?

The paddiddle is an old circus technique. Freestyle Frisbee players use it when they run low on spin. Clock vs counter is crucial. As Charles Tips put it 'when you learn one spin you have gained nothing on the other.' You must start from scratch on the other direction. Laymen do appreciate the paddiddle, if properly presented close-up. The Flourishman paddiddles on one hand while juggling two cards in the other. The whole thing takes about ten seconds but looks surreal. Francis Brun (Sp?) would be proud.

Yeah, because the direction of spin is natural anticlockwise with the right and clockwise with the left. Just try holding up your arm like you're spinning and making quick circles with your hands, it's much more natural one way than the other.

I learned anticlockwise with both hands so that I could jump the book from hand to hand while it was spinning, and the left hand never has quite as much control over the book as the right.


Actually Jamil, if you learn it with one direction, it is easier to learn it with the other. Still takes time, but not as much.

For those who can spin a book, try printing out this image

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v75/kxxcheng/spiral.gif
(I'm having trouble using a href to link?)

and taping it to the book. Make sure that the beginning of the spiral is dead center on the book.

The effect is hypnotic, very cool. Can't believe I didn't think of this earlier

Hey guys, I havnt posted here in about 6 months and was jsut reading through, I learned the padidle with a card about a year ago, I disagree with some of you saying it isn't worth learning because of the spectators aren't all that impressed, this move gets one of the best reactions out of the lay people, they think your god, and when I show it to magicians at conventions, they ussually think there is a gimmick, if I had to pick 5 flourishes I could perform for the rest of my life this would probably be one of the first. Peple absolutly freak out when they see this. It is by far one of the hardest things I have ever learned, and it took a ton of practise and what seemed like forever to get it, but now I can do it with my eyes closed, literally... its kinda weird. and once you learn with a card, you can do it with practically any object. because everything is larger, and therefore easier, and to those of you who think card is to small, I can actually spin a 3 by 5 index card cut in half. good luck with the move if any of you try to learn it, but be warned its very very difficult.

-Dominic

Well ok I picked up padiddiling (is it padiddle or piddile??) and I can't really get it going forever yet but I can do it for long enough periods of time... but how did you go about learning with the card? it really seems to me that every time I push it with my finger to get it started, I'm just pirouetting the card sorta with the wrong finger, and it always falls off once I start trying to actually padiddle it, but I guess I ought to try with a glued packet first to learn. however, dominic, I'm just curious, for how long you can keep the card padiddle going?

All right, I can pretty much padiddle a book until my arm gets sore so maybe I'll try with a card. But, same question as Jessica... where to start? Should I start with smaller books and work my way down, or just begin with a card, etc. And how are you setting the card into motion?

Start with a heavier card first. Example a thicker plastic card? It'll be more stable and will help you get the feel before you go on to use a normal pasteboard.

I actually do it on my middle finger, like a the reguler spin, I can keep it going as long as I like, and I don't think flueing cards together helps for some reason I forgot why. I just learned with a card, which I don't know if it was the best way but that's how I did it, I have heard its easier to learn with larger objects and work your way down

dominic

Do you do the regular spin with your middle finger too dominic?

I just thought gluing might help bc it makes the cardsa bit heavier. that's what is recommended for learning to juggle cards so I have 6 glued packets on hand.

-j

This is a verrry hard one! I do it with books and text books but cards are too light for me. Just have to keep tryingg!! lol Practice makes perfect riggt?

Reverse

I'd like this to be readdressed as it's a very popular flourish now but few can do it well. I really want to be able to do it. After the pirouette has finished I can not keep it going