Have you found that being lefthanded makes learning sleights and effect more or less difficult?

Or do you think there's any difference between hands?

I, myself, as a lefty have not found any difference in learning. Things do get interesting though when I try to learn the same sleight for both hands. Because it's a little difficult to learn later, I try to train myself to learn a sleight for both hands at the same time. What about you?

I'm a lefty, but consider myself slightly ambidextrous. For the most part, I've never come across any difficulties in learning sleights. Sometimes I'll switch the handling of a routine description, and other times work with it as presented for right-handers. I don't put a lot of thought into which effects I'm going to switch, and which I'm not.

As for problems, I've never been able to get the knack down for pressure fanning, though I can thumb fan just fine in either hand. My Classic Palm is better in my right hand than in my left. I wonder if anyone has ever considered making a book or video of lefty magic, and how much of a market there would be for such a product.

My newest endeavor is the Topit, and is an area that I am putting thought into. I've done little more than watch the Ammar Topit DVD, and have yet to decide which direction I'm going to toss from. Once I've put some more work into it, I'll post on my various successes and failures.

I guess ultimately it all comes down to practice. Bill Malone is a lefty, and I wouldn't say he has any trouble doing virtually anything he wants with a deck of cards.

Kevin

PS - Sorry for the lengthy post!

I am a lefty when it comes to cards and I actually find it takes more time for me to learn the sleights from books and videos than my friends because they are all right handed. Also, if I fan cards in my left hand I always fan them blank.

Roy Kueppers actually published his box routines from the left-hand perspective. It was the first one I have seen from that perspective.

Bill Malone seems to be left handed. Made learning interesting- like looking in a mirror.

I am left handed and have been in magic for about a year as a demonstrator at a shop. I tend to do the sleight or routine with the hand or handling that feels most comfortable to me, then try to learn the opposite. I figure this will make me an overall better performer, plus it might eliminate some of the angle issues we all come across. Just my thoughts.

Hello I'm London and I'm a lefty. It's like AA (just kidding). I found in the begining of my magic studies it was difficult learning left. Not because of my hands themselves but, because while reading through an effect and trying it and had to remember when the text said hold in left hand I had to hold in right or vice versa. That has been the only challenge for me in being left handed. Well there's my two cents.

Lefty here too. Haven't found any disadvantage other than having to translate routines by handedness. I have however become more adept at the same moves with my right hand out of necessity. Then again I would think those that are right handed would do the same.

I'm left handed. Simply consider the pictures in books to be a mirror and make your hands match. After learning magic from books since I was a kid I can translate the left/rights as I read. I get them reversed other times too but it hasn't been much of a problem. You will find some moves with cards that will not work, peeks primarily.

~ Dan

I'm a lefty too. Fortunately, my mentor, Larry Taylor is a lefty so learning from him is easier. Larry practices doing everything with both hands and makes me do this also. I know down the road this will help, but there are some things that is just much easier with my left hand.

Dakota Rose

I'll stick my name on the list.
I actually do most moves with my right hand for coins and balls and some cards but left hand does cards and tries to do everything else.
Matt

When I was 13 I started guitar lessons and the teacher decided it would be easier to just teach me how to play right handed. This may have screwed me up as I noticed a lot of times I will unconsciously switch my silverware back and forth between both hands. Odd I think. I do find it a little difficult when learning from videos as I think it would be easier to do it exactly as they do on the tv screen.

As a fellow southpaw I initially had a lot of difficulty in mentally transposing from right to left hand instructions, but as I became more familiar I don't have problems with this for the most part. Stephen Minch did a book of left handed magic that has long been out of print. Should anyone know where to find a copy I would be most greatful. Micky Hades shows a copy on his site but he emailed me and said he can't find it.

I was forced into using my left hand as soon as I started my manipulation and palming. I am missing my little finger and this made back palming almost impossible, along with many other sleights. It's hard to cover a poker size card with just three fingers.

Nick

I am left handed also, but the only thing I do left handed in magic is the overhand shuffle. I also play right handed guitar and prefer my right hand when punching. I really believe that it's just down to whatever hand you start learning something with. The overhand shuffle was the only thing I could already do when I started learning magic, and I just did what the book said.

As a left-hander myself, here are some of my experiences:

Learning from books can be harder, because I have to mentally "switch" right and left in the descriptions provided. I've gotten pretty good at that by now, but it does take more mental effort than a right-hander would require.

I have heard from some lefties that they find it difficult to learn moves and such from videos and DVDs, but I've always found it to be really easy. I just imitate what I see the person doing as though I were looking in the mirror. What is really hard for me are the "Superpractice" type things: because you're seeing it from the performer's perspective, it's really hard to follow as a left-hander. Of course, the opposite is true of Bill Malone's videos: there, I found it easier to learn from the Superpractice perspective.

Because of the placement of pips on cards, I've had to come up with some strange display handlings (fanning cards upside down, etc.) in order to ensure that the spectators can see what cards I'm holding. However, I kind of like this, because it makes me a little different than everybody else.

The exception to the above is that in moves that are hand neutral (for example, cuts, riffle shuffles, etc.), I tend to do them as a right-hander would. Since both hands are equally involved, I've found it easier to just learn it as a right-hander would. So, some things I do left-handed, and others right-handed. Oh, and I also will spread decks in both directions (I understand that Harry Lorayne does this as well).

As a fellow lefty, I have to say I think we get the best of both worlds: Being able to use the left hand, but due to societies need to use a right, both are equally as strong.
ST

Lefties are much better

I hate how you can't see the pips on my fans.

With cards, doing something left or right handed can affect the result of the move (blank fans being the classic example). However, a lot of "right-handed" card moves, are actually easier for us left handers. Look at the pass, for example, the standard "right-handed" method of doing the pass actually has the left hand doing the tricky bits. That extra left-hand dexterity can come in very handy.

Sometimes being left-handed makes them less difficult.

Also, most left-handers have some experience with learning things the right-handed way. (Remember those great left-handed scissors in kindergarden? Too bad by third grade all the scissors provided are right-handed ones. I don't see why they don't either provide the left-handed ones all the way through or just teach the right-handed ones early). However, all this annoying right-handed focus that we're occasionally forced to learn makes it easier to learn moves with BOTH hands!

My favorite move to annoy magicians is to hold a coin in each hand and simultaneously m***** p*** them so each archs into the opposite hand. A lot of right-handers only learn this in one hand, lefties tend to learn more often with both (there are, of course, exceptions to this).

Hahaha! Lefties shall take over the world!