I've recently learnt the ego change, and I think its a great change: Its got the practicality of the erdnase change and it looks visual.

At least when Daniel Garcia performs it.

I can do it but I'm trying to get it to look 'good'. My timing of the right hand (I'm right handed) seems a bit off.

Anyone have any suggestions? How do I get it to look really good?

Ego change is not an easy one. Its good, because of its quickness.

But the thing left is getting the timing and when to execute it.

Personally, myself have been playing with ego change for a long time, but I still like the idea that it change slowly than quicky. So in the end, I still think the classic color change will have a stronger impact than ego. But one to his own.

Anyway, for your problem. Its not the timing, its when you want it to be extended.

Ego change is not a change that you want people to see it change, but a change that give the impression, thats not my card, next moment, thats my card. It catches people offbeat and thats the impact of ego change. So for right hand problem, to me, its not a problem, the problem is, you must know when is the time that your right hand can go over to protect the change. :)

Hope you get what i mean.

Hmm.. Are you referring to how to "cover" the change?

You can get around by waving your right hand in a circular motion instead of a up-down motion.

Hope you understand what I mean and hope I am addressing your concerns.

LarryDK,

My idea is that I want the spec to see his card, then my hands move slowly and deliberately, and then the card suddenly changes without apparent explanation. I don't know if this is what you mean, but I think so.

muscleaxl,

I'm trying to get it down without excessive movement of the right hand. I feel that although it covers the change, it takes away from the spectacular visual change that happens right before the spec's eyes. I feel that it has the potential to be as powerful as the snap change.


Thanks for the replies and tips!!

Matt, i think i get what you mean, you want your specs to see the card change (right in frot of their very eyes) when your hand moves over so it will look so d@mn fre@kin magical. One thing i have to add, the Ego Change is indeed very visual but you will have to over come the sound problem whereas the colour change is silent.

As for your problem, the only thing you can do is to practise more or what you can do is to tilt your hand towards the side ( which ever side your spec is standing at) so that they will not be able to see you execute the move.

Yes, ego change is one of the powerful and amazing change which is not easily to execute correctly(right timing) due to angle and sound issue. You may try to practice in front of mirror or record it down to know where is the mistake lies and perfect it.

Hey Matt, If you want your audience to see the change. Classic change will be a better solution. Personal view, because it gives bigger protection, and better visual, whilst ego change is like a snap of finger. Well you might be guessing how to make it 1 card in the end, there is a DL move that allows you to draw out that card, I forget the name.

To cover the sound, while you making the gesture, and you speaking, just continue with, "whats your card?" "Aces of spade?" "Bang" The change is done, with the holy shit coming out from audience. The outbeat and the bang makes the sound virtually so small that you yourself wont know. Why we know its there because 90% of the practise time, we don't talk to ourself, that sounds crazy ya.

So in the end you conclude you still want to use the ego change. Then I suggest you practise on a long mirror. Do this few steps to conclude the postion you can show them. Face the mirror straight, point the deck towards the mirror and do the change, first time, change directly infront of you for exposure, and direct from the top for exposure. 2nd time, do it slightly tilted down. Exposure will be from the top, neverthless. 3rd time, turn to one side and do the change, check from the top, from the front. using the mirror to see for loopholes. Do like 20 over times to conclude the angles you want. Then you learnt something more.

For myself, I do it low, and in motion, just above my waist. Another situation is, I do it slightly below the chest level but closer to the audience, this prompt exposure from the sides and behind. So do the trial and error to find out what suits best for you.

For classic change, you can practise the same, due to its good protection nature, i tend to bring it low, so that everyone can see, and close to the audience, by his side, and ask them to concentrate.

LarryDK,

Are you referring to the KM Move? Or is there another way to do the same thing... =)

I'm actually exploring some other colour changes since I'm really bored with the standard erdnase.

My main colour change is still Ed Marlo's twirl change. I love it, but its been exposed quite a bit.

Thanks man. Really good tips. I'll try and let you know.

Larry got some excellent tips for the ego change =) Just follow his tips and you should be able to solve any angle issues of the ego change.

Another tip about the ego change is to have your right hand very close to the deck when you do the change. The right hand will cover the entire move if it is close to the deck. I think it is not so much about the timing, it's about how well you cover the change. I used to make the same mistake of leaving some space between the deck and the right hand, and I ended up flashing the move instead.

If you like the ego change you might want to get the In Your Face Change by Bill Perkins. You can change the card like the ego change and change the card back again.

I just gave muscleaxl's suggestion a try and it looks great! It gives the ego change a different feel! =)

Actually the ego change can be performed slowly. I don't really see the difference in speed between classic colour change and the ego change.

For classis colour change, when your hand goes up and cover the deck, the change already took place by then, and you slowly reveal the card that's been change.
The same thing can be apply to the ego change. Yes the change is quick but the audience did not know that the change had already took place. Just move the right hand over the deck as you change the card and move your hand down slowly to give the impression that you are painting the card.

You can decide how fast the card changes with the ego change. Sometimes I will just change the card at a great speed when I want to demonstrate skills in card sleights. If I want to give the routine a more magical feel I'll change the card slowly instead. You can control the speed of the ego change to suit your routine. That is one of the reason I prefer the ego change.

The only thing I don't like about the ego change is the clean up. Although the clean up looks normal to the layman, I don't like the idea of moving the deck around after you change the card.

For the right hand, just move together with the card that is moving. Not a second faster, not a second slower. Get the timing right so that the moving of your right hand is sync with the card.

Well i have never seen anyone do the ego change the way Garcia does it. His is really seamless. But i think the way you move your right hand is actually the key. It should not be like you are putting your hand there to cover a move, but rather make it seem like a 'magical' gesture.

how i did it was i did the change with only my left hand, making sure that the card moves in the correct direction, make sure that everything moves smoothly. When i was satisfied, then i used my right hand to try different things and see which one is the least suspicisous and most magically.

two things about this change:
1) the right hand must look magically.
2) the deck must be squared after the change and not have the card jutting out exposing where it had gone.

:)
ZiAn

Hmm, i love the ego change cos it's so visual and rather easy to do. ^_^ I usually incorporate it into ACR. So before i do the change, i will show my right hand to be empty before proceeding to pass my hand over the deck. i do it with my fingers outspread, using my palm to cover the thingy, mainly cos my palm is slightly longer than the length of a card. To me, it seems cleaner that way as my fingers are spread out.

To minimise the sound, you could use a deck that is really broken in so the cards are real soft, which somewhat minimises the sound of the move. Yeps. :D

Aaron

Is it possible to do ego change without any sound?
Mine is fast but noisy.

hmmm, i just did one and there's almost no sound at all, but it needs to be slow. When done fast, the sound is slightly audible but if u are gonna do this a few feet away from someone, there is almost no sound at all. Yeps. ^_^

Aaron

Thank you i have tried to improve on it.
I found the correct speed with my cousin help.