| 1 |
Sheer absence of modesty once again compels me to declare that, prior to the publication of the present volume, there was no readily available, comprehensive, current examination of playing card flourishes. There has certainly never existed a single work that contains more information on card flourishes than the one you are, even as you read this, holding. It would be presumptuous to claim that all possible showy maneuvers with cards are described on these pages. For one thing, new flourishes are and always will be invented by the creative artist. For another, the very nature of increasing numbers precludes the comprehensiveness of even such an ambitious tome as that you currently clutch. |
| 2 |
Juggling three, four and even five ordinary playing cards is certainly possible, but what about seven? As of this writing, the world record for "numbers juggling" of any object (it happens to be rings) is thirteen. Will anybody ever be able to juggle twelve regular playing cards, perhaps all of the same suit for that added crowning touch? I'd wager heavily against it, but who knows? The point is, invention and increase are pretty much open-ended processes, and if you can add numbers or significant variations to existing flourishes, congratulations! In many instances however, the addition of one more rotation or packet or repetition or whatever won't really add to the visual effect of a move. If a variant on a flourish is indistinguishable from the original flourish to the layman, then unless the variant is significantly easier, the variant is almost certainly a waste of time and effort. Descriptions contained herein will simply include sufficient instruction for the execution of distinct and visually dissimilar effects, leaving either ascending numbers or extended motion to be merely suggested. Moreover, the author (me) freely admits to not having examined every single reference in the bibliographical indexes to which I (the author, that is) recently referred. |
| 3 |
So, while I might think I invented something or other, I may have only re-invented it. That being said, I think that even the well-read magician will readily admit that at least one-third of these flourishes are seeing print for the first time ever. I sincerely and particularly doubt anyone else has published instructions for the Gearscrew Cut, the Six-Packet Display Cut, the Overhead Spring, the L-X Interpolation, the Fan Twirl, any of the full-deck pattern twirls, and most of the advanced arm- spreads. That being said, while the originator of a particular stunt certainly deserves credit for his creativity, in many cases it is impossible to determine just who did it first. How do I positively know that I invented the Continuous Back-Arm Catch or Running L Cut? |
| 4 |
I don't, positively, but I'll let you be the judge as to the likelihood of somebody else not pathologically obsessed with flourishes being the culprit. On the other hand, I have personally "invented" many a move or variant, only to later discover its first. If you are a magician who doesn't give a rat's bottom about card flourishes as a specialty, you will still find many essential and or potentially useful moves. Every magician who uses cards should be able to make a decent pressure fan, and many tricks you will come across in other resources incorporate flourishes such as one-hand cuts and springing the cards. And although I have, in this book, purposely omitted descriptions of flourishes used as magical sleights, you will find many flourishes can still be so utilized. This is particularly true in the case of flourish cuts used as false cuts. If you pay attention to the order of the packets in a particular cut, you will find that you can apparently cut the deck in a fancy yet thoroughly fair manner, and still retain control over some or all of the cards. |
| 5 |
Most authors classify color changes, where one card is changed into another, usually with a quick wave of the hand over the deck, as flourishes. To what passes for my mind, this is a blurred distinction. For one thing, there are thousands of card tricks that involve transformations that are not referred to as color changes. For another, although I condone displays of properly executed color changes as being quintessential magical card tricks, they are not unequivocally florid enough to warrant inclusion in the present treatment. In my opinion, color changes are among the best feats of magic possible with cards. |
| 6 |
Finally, there exists such a vast multitude of color changes that any attempt to describe all of them would warrant another volume. So color changes, back-palming (both included in Henry Hay's group of flourishes), card productions and the like will not be described. Likewise omitted will be tricks that incorporate the use of flourishes to attain a magical result, such as springing the cards to find a selected card, or plucking fans of cards from thin air, or flourish-productions of the four aces. For this last reason and because of space considerations, I have also not included color fanning deck techniques such as color changing fans. A thorough description of fanning techniques with colorful exhibition fanning decks is material for another book. |
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