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Emillors New user 18 Posts 
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Hello everybody
I have just started reading and study Card College. I have came to the first part of controls, and I love it. I really thinks that Robert Giobbi is doing an excellent job. Now to my question. How should I keep practicing the different moves, so I don't forget how to them, and always try to be better at the different moves? I have thought about something like this: I write a slight on a playing card. Doing it for all the slights I have to practice. I then collect all the cards into a form of a deck, and then I every day pick one of these cards, and just practice that slight there is on the card. What do people think of this idea? Hope somebody can help. Regards Emil |
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Topper2 Regular user 130 Posts
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When I started magic I learnt from general books which taught effects from the various branches of magic, and that included cards. The first magic book I ever bought was Bruce Elliot's 'Classic Secrets of Magic' and from that I learnt my first 'real' card trick, namely an ambitious card routine involving double and triple lifts. In other words by thoroughly learning particular tricks I was able to pick up the necessary moves required to perform the effect. I did not learn the sleight first and then hunt for a trick that might need that sleight. These days books like Mark Wilson will teach the beginner how to so some first rate effects including Triumph and Stewart James's 'I can go further'; similarly other books, like Peter Eldin's Pocket Book of Magic' may teach tricks like 'Out of this World', and you soon find that the ability to false cut and false shuffle, control cards, and force cards and how to exchange decks are massively helpful to putting the tricks you learn over to best effect. If you have Card College, or some other reference source (and in my early days it was Norman's 'Basic Card Technique') then you have a wonderful source to consult in perfecting all the moves you need.
What I'm suggesting here is that it is much more constructive to learn a small quota of really sound effects and perfect them so you can put them across to your best ability, and thereby acquire the necessary skills rather than ploughing ahead with multiple sleights many of which you'll never need. By all means have a careful study of all the material in books like Card College but I consider it counter productive thinking you somehow need to know every available move. That can come later but learn to do good tricks with cards first and dip into your reference source as and when you need it. Some really good entertainers with cards do excellent work that is sleight free, some magicians learn every sleight in the book but end up entertaining no one but themselves! |
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JonHackl Regular user Western Australia 198 Posts
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I have several practice modes. In a single practice session, let's say a half an hour just as an example, I might drill a single sleight through that whole period. In that case, something like your deck of cards idea would be cool, but I would use it for a session rather than for a whole day. Anyway, the sleights I drill this way will be new ones I'm picking up and/or very difficult ones that I know will take a long time and lots of practice.
Another practice mode I have is drilling multiple sleights within a single session, in which case I might just run through each a few times and then move to the next kind of randomly. Which sleights I use in this mode will usually be a combination of new ones or long-term learning ones, and just whatever I feel like doing at the time. Then there's running through tricks as another practice mode, which means practicing sleights within the contexts in which they'll be used. I keep two lists of tricks, those I enjoy and am ready to do, and those I like but am not ready to do. So I might run through either list in one of these sessions, or some of both. And I really like Topper2's point about practicing selectively. I don't have an interest in collecting sleights for their own sake, although if that's what someone else likes then of course that's great for them. But I add to my practice priorities sleights that I think will fill an important niche or gap in my abilities, and that will give enough benefit to justify the time and effort the sleight requires to learn.
"Magic is the only kind of entertainment where 90% of the audience is trying to ruin it for themselves." - Pete Holmes
https://www.lybrary.com/ivy-p-925586.html |
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Haruspex New user 62 Posts
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It depends allot on what your main interest is.
- If your interest and enjoyment lies in learning allot of sleights or trying to master every card control there is, the idea of writing them on a playing card and selecting a few of each practice session will suit the purpose. - If however you want to learn effects and routines, you will benefit more from practicing these routines as a whole. When doing it this way you can focus on the effects you want to accomplish in your routine first, when you have decides what you want to do, you can think about how to do it and select sleights that fit the particular routine best. Finally you may want to think about an alternative handling for certain venues. If your focus lies in performing and practicing/inventing routines, chances are big that in time you will rely on set of sleights which suit you best. You may learn more, but in performance you will often go back the your "core sleights". |
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copperct New user Cincinnati, Ohio 93 Posts
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Hey Emillors - As someone who has recently "completed" the Royal Road to Card Magic, I can tell you that even though I have arrived at the last page and worked through all of the moves, I still didn't actually need to be performance-ready on every single move. Some moves like the Overhand Lift Shuffle took me longer to work out the fluid muscle memory while others like the Glide really come down to the blocking on the individual tricks I am working on performing to ensure it remains natural.
Long story short, I've found it most productive to spend about 20 minutes a day working through some of the muscle memory sleights that I want to have performance ready, while the rest of my time has been spent on rehearsing tricks from beginning to end until they are so natural it's second nature. I've gotten to that point with a couple, and I will say it is tedious, but performance is so much more relaxed and avoids the feeling of being about to be caught. |
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Emillors New user 18 Posts
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Thank you everybody! You have given me some useful tips for my future studying! I'm gonna use them for sure!
So thank you very much! ;D Merry Christmas |
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landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts
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Don't forget there's a whole section on the Magic Café devoted to questions of practice and rehearsal:
https://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/view......108&3176
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
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HofzinsersFan New user Scotland 81 Posts
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Be careful of the newbie trap - or so it was described to me by a very proficient magician! What I mean is exactly what I used to do: I had been doing magic only for a few weeks when I stepped up my practice time and began to practice cards solidly for about 3 to 4 hours per session and no less than 2 session most days. Yes you read that right, that was between 6 and 8 hours a day of mostly, card repetitions. I was studying the side steal at one point and I would repeat the side steal for 4 hours, each time trying to make it better than the last. I was never just blindly repeating things, I would do ten moves, analysing them and then looking at how to I prove and then spending lots of time actually working towards the improvements. I will say one thing though - I explored that move like nothing on earth! I got to know it inside and outside, backwards and forwards and every which way that was possible but I cannot say it made me better than people who have done it the other way, that is, for a half hour per day!
I learned eventually that short practice sessions often yield the best results and so I changed to that. I did get good results an so I no longer find myself walking around the room for 4 hours again!(I have the habit of not being able to stay still when practicing an in the hands move so I pace around. Great exercise!) So my advice is simple. Be aware of practicing for too long and mistakenly equating length of time with better practice. It isn't. If anything, fatigue sets in and the practice quality very likely drops. 
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. What do you mean you don't read?
. You need to read FITZKEE - Dick Oslund, 2019. |
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livejeh New user 50 Posts
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👍🏻
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3sdb New user Mississauga, Canada 4 Posts
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All good points.
For myself, I find that practicing in the context of routines (as opposed to simply moves) is far more helpful - getting patter down and the timing of it right, learning the transition between various moves, etc. - practice in the context of performance is where the gains really come from. |
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Mark Boody Illusionist Inner circle 1368 Posts
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Here is a resource that would be helpful to all magicians.
The Ostrich Factor by Gerald Edmundson. http://www.geraldedmundson.com/tof1/bookorder.htm Read some of the reviews here: http://www.geraldedmundson.com/tof1/TOFReviews.htm I have this book and highly recommend it. Mark
Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible. Frank L. Gaines
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TKD27 Elite user Wallingford, CT 458 Posts
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One thing about practicing that it took me far too long to learn: slow and steady wins the race. What I mean is, when practicing, don't try to do things at performance speed right away. Doing this builds bad habits that can be impossible to change later. If the move allows for it, practice it slow and steady. Make sure your movement is perfect. Speed comes with time and you don't have to rush that (no pun intended). Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
Connecticut Kids' Magician, Matt Matthews (formerly known as Matt The Balloon Man)
Magic Shows, Face Paintingand, Balloon twisters. |
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jkr Regular user Mn 147 Posts
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Quote:
On Jan 2, 2021, Mark Boody Illusionist wrote: The Ostrich Factor is an amazing resource., worth every penny! It’s incredibly useful for both how to go about learning sleights and for putting together/practicing a routine. Jacob |
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Nikodemus Inner circle 1199 Posts
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PERFECT PRACTICE by Doug Lemov is an excellent book on how to practice anything more effectively.
Over the years my hobbies, have included martial arts, music and dancing, as well as magic. In all of these I have found it best to follow the following general approach - 1. Start with a foundation of basic skills, and then gradually build up your repertoire. 2. At any given time have a fairly small collection of new skills you are working on. 3. Choose these wisely so (1) they are achievable (2) you get maximum payback on the effort you put in. 4. Practice slowly and carefully. Build up speed gradually. 5. You haven't mastered something until you can do it automatically. 6. Frequent short practice sessions work better than infrequent marathon sessions 7. Enjoy the journey, rather than being too focused on the end goal - you will get there eventually. 8. Learn from others, but don't be afraid to experiment. |
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jkr Regular user Mn 147 Posts
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Quote:
On Jan 5, 2021, Nikodemus wrote: I’ve never heard of this book before. I’ll have to check it out. Out of your list #7 is the one I need to keep reminding myself of! |
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PhantomStranger New user Tri-State Area 97 Posts
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6. Frequent short practice sessions work better than infrequent marathon sessions
I think this is so true. When I’m first learning a method I will spend a “marathon” amount of time understanding all the moves and mentally grasping the method and effect. But then to get the muscle memory down it’s many small practice sessions. While watching tv just taking the cards and doing the moves a few times. Putting it down. Coming back to it in a bit and practicing it again. Slowly building the muscle memory in short bursts. Till it becomes second nature. |
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copperct New user Cincinnati, Ohio 93 Posts
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Quote:
On Jan 5, 2021, Nikodemus wrote: Adding this to the list of things to read! Sounds like a great read! |
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Nikodemus Inner circle 1199 Posts
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Quote:
On Jan 6, 2021, PhantomStranger wrote: Me too! I go through an initial period of analysis & experimentation as I try to kind of take something apart to see how it works, then put it back together again. |
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Gerald Veteran user Arkansas 328 Posts
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Thank you Mark and JKR! I'm glad you have found The Ostrich Factor helpful with your practice. "Practice makes perfect." We all know it really doesn't. We can approach perfection, but few, if any ever attain it. If we practice in an organized, intelligent, consistent manner, our results can be far better than if we practice haphazardly. Thanks again for your interest in the methods in my book. I do appreciate it.
Best regards, Gerald |
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gaddy Inner circle Agent of Chaos 3530 Posts
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I think I understand what you mean. You're talking about practicing many individual sleights, right?
I would suggest not doing so. Try practicing an entire individual trick, and focusing on the slights you need for that trick. My opinion is that, unlike practicing activities like guitar chords and licks (or other fine motor manipulations like this) grinding multiple individual slights -out of context, isn't really useful. I've tried it and it doesn't work for me. YMMV, of course..
*due to the editorial policies here, words on this site attributed to me cannot necessarily be held to be my own.*
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Posted: Dec 14, 2020 08:39 pm 