Flourishes

[Guest]

Hey guys, I want build my card flourish skills. What do you guys recommend? I know Mcbride has some stuff, but I heard that his stuff is meant mostly for stage. What would you recommend for close up? Thanks
Ran

[Richard Kaufman]

Dan and Dave Buck have a new DVD out:
http://www.dananddave.com/
And you should check out De'vo's website, which I can't find right now, but here is a review of his DVD:
http://www.ultimatemagic.com/reviews/sh ... .php?ID=32

[BlueEyed Videot]

De'vo's website is Here

[Guest]

The best resource is probably
The Encyclopedia of Playing Card Flourishes
http://www.flourishman.com/

I also suggest registering & perusing the forums at both the Buck's site & Handlordz (see links above.)

The Buck's forums has some video and links to other sites with tutorials (check out Kevin's stuff.)

The "challenge forums" on the Handlordz site is interesting... Flourish guyz challenge each other via internet videos... watch and learn.

[Richard Kaufman]

I think trying to learn flourishes solely from a printed source is pretty futile: videos are a much better way to get a sense of what's really supposed to be going on and what these things are supposed to look like.

[Guest]

You might also try Volume 8 of Daryl's Encyclopedia Of Card Sleights -- he teaches some fancy one hand cuts including his Super Duper cut and the Hotshot. As always, Daryl's a great teacher and fun to watch.

Even though you're right that McBride's Art Of Card Manipulation DVDs are mainly devoted to stage manipulations, he does teach a number of flourishes that can be done close up, one hand shuffle, etc. It's a great set regardless, and just watching Jeff do the most difficult manipulations with ease is fun to watch.

I also liked Tudor's Showoff video, even though the production quality is pretty awful. His Speed Cut and a couple of other things are worth checking out.

[Guest]

videos are a much better way to get a sense of what's really supposed to be going on

on a related note;

Jerry Cestkowski (author of the aforementioned flourish encyclopedia) has released a (peformance only) companion DVD that covers some of the material from the book (btw; this is scheduled to be a 4 volume set.)

More info here:
http://www.flourishman.com/DVDs.htm

[Steve Ehlers]

I purchased the book but it is extremely difficult to learn some of the complicated flourishes from the descriptions.

Therefore I concur with Richard that a video would probably be better.

Steve

[Guest]

thanks everyone for your insight and the references. I will be sure to check some of those dvd's out

Ran

[Edwin Corrie]

Another book worth checking out is "Indulgences" by David Crofts, which explains some of his original hinge cuts. You can order it from his website at http://www.altdac.co.uk/ .

The website also includes free photo-illustrated instructions for a 3-packet flourish cut and a 10-packet flourish cut. The style of the instructions is the same as in his book, and I managed to learn several of the cuts from them without too much trouble. In some cases seeing them performed does help, but it's not always essential.