i was wondering if anyone could be so kind to help me out with the tecnical aspect of the classic force.

as u know, u need to take a br**k above (or below) the selection.

However, when i spread the cards, there will always be a step or displacment formed at the br**k, which im my opinion is unsatifactory.

Does the displament matters? Or was there a knack in the spreading of the cards?

Hope someone can give me some useful tips, which will be greatly appreciated

:D

- post deleted because of exposure -

The 'displacement' which you speak of does not matter - it's all down to timing and psychology. Get the practice down, and you can get it to be 90%.

sorry, but how do you practice classic force. Is there other way than asking a person to help u in your practice?

One way to practice is to use it even when you dont need to, like asking a spec to tap a card, which can really be ANY card, but you practice your classic force and see if he/she gets the card, if not, it doesn't matter too.

When i do a trick with classic force, i always have a "standby" trick. If i miss my force, then i do some other trick.

I guess for this force its not easy to master.. Timing is the most important factor of this force. Not forgetting putting in lots of practice helps! ;)

i dun think this an exposure of any sort.

the classic force is more on the ti***g and ps*****gy rather than the tecnical aspect.

However, the part abt the br*** does "tip" the method a bit.

That is why i strive to perfect the apearance of my spread, so that the displacement will not expose the tecnical method.

any1 can help me on this?

:D

Let me try to explain this in as little exposure as possible.
I used to be rather cautious about the 'displacement' and how the spread would look uneven. But after sometime I came to realize that actually you can openly have the bit of separation in your spread. For one, the spectator won't know that you're forcing the card. Two, it should look like the 'displacement' is more of an accident then a deliberate step. I've tried to make my spread slightly 'messier' so that it would conceal the fact that there is a 'displacement' but ultimately is the way you patter, the way you time your movements, the speed of your spreading etc that really matters. This move is tricky and I've not perfected it but it's worth the effort to try and refine it. Try it on your family first. They are usually the most skeptical. :P Hope that helps.

Hmm, a short note.

The more you are concern about it, the more your audience is more concern about it.

Take it easy and not to be bothered about it. Get down the steps and practise in front of a mirror. I practise in a front of a mirror with 2 side mirrors.

So keep practising and watch ur moves in the mirrors, if it is exposure, then adjust ur angles. And do it slowly, let your hands memorize the position and then u are done. :)

Daren came up with a way to injog the card; instead of using a break (feel), he used his eyes to locate the injog (vision). Not a bad idea.

for a force, it is not 100 percent u will hit it...as some people will purposely miss the card...so...be prepared to do a recovery even if u failed to do it

I was thinking of the visual method of doing the classic force but it's really hard. Hmm. Anyway I always try to classic force a card even though I don't need to just so that I can practise the move. You won't be able to practise this in front of a mirror.

Rearding the injog method, i suppose u will need a very small injog and tipping up of the spread to make it deceptive.

Anyway its not that i have any major problem with the classic force, its just that "issue" bothers me "slightly", and i just want to see if anything can be done about it.

The br**k isn't an issue at all. I use the Classic force all the time, and trust me, it hasn't been a problem.

Let's say you need to force the top card, right? Swing cutting and maintaining the br**k kinda seems suspicious? Try the following:

1. Patter while swing cutting. Try to do more than one cut.

2. Swing cut one third.

3. Swing cut the second third, maintain br**k.

4. Swing cut or dribble the last third on top.

5. Displace and force.

Unless you have a br**k the size of the Kallang River or the audience knows what a triple swing cut is, no one will notice the displacement.

If you're working with a stack, do a blind triple cut before swing cutting. Swing cut only once this time and pass the deck or double undercut after the force. The single swing cut will be less obvious due to your blind cuts.

If the force fails, here are several "outs". Here are 2 of them:

1. "Oh no... I saw the card...please ignore the card. Pick another one...blah blah blah..."

2. Go to another trick. Get the audience to shuffle the deck after the trick. Spread the deck face up and say "as you can see, the deck is completely mixed up.'' As you are running through, sight the force card, use the Hofinszer spread control to put the card in the proper place for forcing.

People are less likely to make things difficult for you to do the force if you use the following phrases or do the following:

1. "It really doesn't matter. Just pick ANY card.

2. ''Dude...before Christmas.''

3. Spread quickly and speak quickly to instill a quicker pace for the audience.

4. Do NOT tell them you're doing a prediction.

The following things can be done to make the force a little easier to cope with;

1. Instead of "pick a card," say "point to ANY card." This allow you to slide the card to the right place rather than risk them plucking out an indifferent card.

2. Spread in groups and pause slightly in between each group instead of using an even spread. This allows more control and the erratic action can also allow you to spread groups backwards in case you have overshot.

Have fun!

The right words to the spectator can help on the classic force effect.
Say, 'Tap a card' and 'Touch a card' instead of 'pick' a card.
If you are a known magician to your friends, most skeptical ones would pick a card way at the bottom or near the top, and not where you are spreading, IF you tell them to PICK a card.

Many times this works for skepticals for my case, the word 'tap' does miracles, and you practising your classic force will be paid off.

Erm, i think i have already known wat some of u suggest.

As i have said, i am not really having problem doing the classic force, i just want to "sorta perfect" the spreading so as to improve this little details (which in my opinon is rather important) of the force.

Perhaps it really doesnt matter.

But anyway, if u noe any thing regarding this, perhaps u can help?

and just to mention, is The classic force video by Paul Green worth "investing"? does it mention anything about the spreading of the cards?

Thanks

i had the same problem u had, thats i why i use a injog instead of a break, the injog is extremely slight like a tiny bit of the white of the borders is showing..

There is a way out of this problem actually: Just hold a very tiny br**k, but experience will tell you that that increases the risk of missing the force card. Holding a teeny weeny br**k was the first method I used with the classic force initially, because like yourself, I found it rather awkward to have the displacement, but trust me on this, with a few cuts, no one will notice anything. I guess the only way to spread without a visibe displacement will be to use a different force. If you like an even spread, the only possible force I know of will be the Hofinzser spread force. Downside is, you can't allow the spectator to pull out the selected card.

Paul Green's video is pretty good. It teaches several techniques that can't be found in any other video. I like his "Excessive Force" demonstration where he blantantly does the Classic force over and over again. The huge kicker in this trick is when the spectator gets exasperated and decides to pluck the top card of the deck and it is STILL the force card. This is what he calls "The Zone'' and he teaches you how to induce this on your spectators. The vid covers everything from spreading, timing, technique, outs...well, pretty much everything there is to know about the force.

If you do intend to buy this video, I have the DVD which I'm planning to sell. It'll save you $$ instead of getting it brand new. PM me if you're interested. And yes, it IS worth investing.

Like some others have said, i have to stress it again.

The more you feel something is wrong and suspicious, the more the audience will feel likewise..

To me, the slight displacement doesn't matter at all. It's the psychology of the magician we're talking about now. You have to overcome that fear. UNLESS you're telling me that the audience can see your break from the front...

I've never been commented for my classic force before.. My audience always go like, "How do you know!?", "You can't possibly make me take this card!?"..

So, bottomline is, it really really doesn't matter.. I've never been commented for my classic force before.. My audience always go like, "How do you know!?", "You can't possibly make me take this card!?"..