Hmm.. Just wondering .. what do u do when u first open a fresh new deck of cards.

Ill usually try to thumb fan it first.. since its like freshly new. well and apparently from some friend's advice, i should do a couple of faro's and springs,, bend it a bit here and there. Le Paul spread a bit.. get it to loosen up a bit. basically " warm up" the deck.. i always " sayang " a new deck.. dun dare to bend or even spring. hopefully to maintain its smoothness. but i've tried like fanning other soft and season cards also. It seems easier to do cos its damm flexible. So what do u guys do with ure fresh pack ?
BuYaKaSha !

Hmm.. Normally i will apply the fanning powder to it.. Then i can fan it very well.. And smooth.. Then do some riffle and faro.. Then some tricks to see whether can handle anot..

Then its done..

Was that me?

Well, I riffle the cards so that they bend easier. Then some cuts, interlacing shuffles, springs..

I dont powder my cards to warm them up because I want to be able to do stuff with an average deck. Fanning is like giving an advantage and practicing on them too long might render you unable to do stuff on normal decks.

Fanning powder does extend the life of your cards though. And if youre a hardcore FAN-atic, then fanning powder would do wonders for u. Especially when you're performing to people.

I usually do faros, riffles and some springing to break them in. Followed by some cuts.

Check out the link for more info on Kevin's Warm-up a la Essence

http://singaporemagiccircle.com/index.php?...topic=621&st=15


:ph43r:

You know those things that come in guitar cases and Magi-mee bags that say "do not eat"? Yeah, eat one of those, they help.


































You still there? Okay. The dirt and body oils that get into the deck turn it into a brick after a while. One way is to wipe all 52 cards off, front and back, with a towel. Another way is to just bring more AIR between the cards ala a few bridges, springs, dribbles, and riffles. The most drastic solution, or PREVENTION, for some, is to powder the deck with fanning powder. Not baby powder, not corn starch, not cocain, FANNING POWDER. This will guarentee a nice, flowy deck. But then your hands get smothered in powder, which isn't so great when you're eating sugar donuts, lick your fingers, and then die. Burr.

-Kev

Oh my god.. Kevin.. U din wash ur hand before u EAT!!! Hai.. Ya.. The powder is not deadly.. But it wont be nice to eat them..

When the cards turn into brick.. Haha, u will automatically create a floating deck.. Haha!!..

That's silica gel. I discovered this odd method of revitalising old cards. I always carry a pack of cards around. One day. i decided to remove the box, and just leave the cards in my pencil case (which has 3 packs of that gel). Those stuff remove moisture from whatever is nearby it. I left the un-boxed cards in there overnight. Voila! A dry and unsoggy deck in my pencil case the next day.

Anyway, back to warming up. Put deck in the microwave or oven for 45min. Add Fanning Powder to season. Baby powder optional for garnishing.

But seriously, i just riffle, faro, fan and overhand shuffle repetively (in that order). This keeps the cards relatively straight.

whenever i open a new deck, the first things i do are a few thumb fans (bc new decks almost always give perfect, easy fans) and then i do 8 perfect faros an dfan after every faro (with the top card of the top packet being the top card of every faro) so that i can watch them go from new-deck order, to pairs, to every other pairs, etc back to... new-deck order! it's a very satisfying feeling! and i either do bridge or waterfall the cards together after the faros.

then i do a few dribbles, or some fans again, then a couple false sybils, because i hate getting new decks out of new-deck order for awhile.

haha.. i wouldnt wana microwave or deep fry my cards man but anyway ...
which do u guys prefer ... for flourishing..

1) stiff hard cards, that dun slide around , eg angel.
2) other smoother decks, hmm.. BEEs ?

cos for my personaly preference, i cant sse smooth cards for flourishing, ive been trying to change tho but it keeps sliding around, thus it gives an untidy look, where as stifer cards, give me a more secure FIRM grip, and the other packs not involved in any movment wont give me trouble sliding around cos they stick to each other..

whats your preferance ?

second option for me
and by the way try dont microwave your cards lol
tried it when i went to a chalet with dong, senghoe and a few other friends and the cards were toatlly destroyed when it was ready :P

Actually sam, there arent "smoother" cards, just newer cards. I really think you should practice cuts with a warmed up bicycle deck. that should be the standard. If you do stuff with SIA cards and do them well, and someone hands u a pack of bikes, and you cant, people will think less about your skill level.

tip: practice everything on every type of deck. USPCC is the standard though.. IMO.

Hmm... warming up a deck. Do a couple of springs and faros. Works like a charm. About fanning powder, if you cant find your zinc stearate, the perfect substitute is Talc Powder available practically everywhere.

I like a deck lightly powdered. Regarding why, I'll explain in a while.

Have you ever left an old deck in your cupboard for a month or so, removed it and had a mental orgasm?

The cards fan like they have the perfect finish... but the thing is... it doesn't last very long. Sadly after half an hour of fanning and playing with it the decks feels like crap and gets all sticky again, and you can just dream about doing another thumb fan.

That half an hour dream is what a lightly powdered deck feels like. By lightly powdered I mean the deck has a gentle coat of powder on it, so little that none gets on your fingers when you handle it. The corners are smoother and easier to faro with, the cards stick together when you need them to, and spread on your command.

Now let's explore something else. Do you usually perform magic or flourishes with your own deck, or with a spectator's deck?

I'd say with your own. And if you were to be using spectator's, as which would cut it as 'an average deck', you definitely wouldn't be doing much fanning with it. So, if we consider the aspect of the cards you perform with as your own, then your 'average' deck would be a lightly powdered deck.

According to the Virtuoso, Elijah, his analogy is this "Using powder on a deck is the same as using a deck of choice. Some people like Bikes to Tallys, but it doesn't mean one is better than the other."

I replied with this.

"But think about this. Someone who practises with a normal deck can handle a powdered deck. But someone who practises with a powdered deck, cannot handle a normal deck quite as well."

But I've been cogitating over this and I've realised this. The person who practises with a normal deck still handles the powdered deck, will still be more proficient with the powdered deck. So relating back to the analogy of deck of choice, someone who used Aladdins would probably not handle a Bike deck quite as well, and vice versa.

In other words, it's not that you'll suck with a normal deck, it's just that a powdered deck expresses your skill much better. The results with a powdered deck will ALWAYS be better than or be on par with a normal deck.

For those who just still feel that powder is still too much a form of cheating, go with the "lightly powdered" way. It feels like a normal deck, but it just doesn't get sticky quite as fast, and restores its spreading consistency way faster than a normal deck would.

When we perform we want our card handling to look the best it can, so why is fanning powder cheating?

If that's the case, I'd say don't warm up your hands before a performance. Because if you do not warm up, you won't be able to perform as well as someone who does.
Yes, some are proficient performers with minimal warm up times. But they'll never hit the standard that you can be with a proper warm up.

The verdict?
Train with BOTH a powdered deck and a fanning deck. If you have one hour of practise a day, take half an hour for handling both decks. But when it comes to performance, whip out your powdered deck.

At least you know that you'll be able to own anyone who approaches you with a deck they've dropped 60 000 times in the last hour.

Huron

Nice one.. thumbs UP!!!

Hehe.. I practise with an old deck.. which is real bad.. And it explain everything..

Good job..

MASSIVE explaination there by Huron..im trying to change tho from my sticky angel to at least Aladdins. true enough, it gets messy sliding around cos im not used to it. even tried with fresh bikes.. too smooth and soft. so i got to slowly adapt to US playing cards. maybe ill play around with the powder thing. haven really tried them tho. How about this... do you normally use a frim hard tight very solid and strong grip while flourishing or a very light softy fingers kind of gentle grip.. I know Im getting a bit annoying but im just curious. cos im still having problems making my WTH smooth.

That GP-like post by Huron sure was long. :blink:

Gonna read it again later to let it absorb into my head..

I usually powder my cards with talcum powder(johnson's baby powder). I spread them on the cards using a cotten pad, and i spread huge amounts on one card(the cards get all white and powdery). Although the cards will suck(and i mean REALLY SUCK, so sucky that it is impossible to do a fan even with the most superb set of hands). But after a few min-hours of dribbling(when you dribble you can see clouds of powder all over the place :P )/fanning/blah blah blah, the cards will become the ideal deck of cards. It lasts for about a few weeks-months and there will be no powdery feeling at all. It revives my old deck(REALLY OLD) everytime it wears out. Yeah, that how i do it...works well.