Newest control in my arsenal...

[quick_trick]

Hi guys, it's been almost a year since my last thread I started lol. Too long hahaha.

I'm posting a video of a control I'm working on at the moment and want to get it to performance standard before I start using it in public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpTTd_OJk4o

It's my own rough handling of a centre steal and top replacement. The purpose of this post is that I'm asking for some constructive criticism of my technique. The video is not publicly listed and I don't care if some people think I'm flashing and my be revealing - it's not a searchable vid! I'm just interested in some tips, I think it looks reasonable but you guys will defiantly see what I can't. So be cruel but constructive!

Cheers
~Jesse

 

[magyk11]

alright, well first of all. it looks good, but there is a little too much cover with your right hand throughout the video. And you need to practice to get rid of the click that the card makes. yeah my main thing is, after you push the card in, maybe bring you right hand away, or riffle the front of the pack. then do the steal. because your hand is there for way to long. but other than those things and just practicing to make it smoother, it looks good. So just practice some at smoothing it out, and it will be very good.

 

[HeCtic]

I thought it was some control you thought you invented at first. My bad. I was like "isn't that just a side steal?" The second half when you leave the jack upside down is more visual. When you do it face down it seems to slow and lingering. To me a sleight should look natural and invisible. Not like "now gimme a sec while I do this sneaky thing". I think you should work on speeding it up a little while still maintaining the natural look. The upside down one look good as is in my opinion. Good work overall.

On an unrelated note, you need a new camera. Haha. Too blurry. Are you using a webcam? Try getting a video camera and if its too much then a coolpix camera. It records HD video. Looks fantastic.

 

[quick_trick]

Yeah I defiantly need a new cam - it's just not in the foreseeable budget atm. I could use my iphone to film - much crisper res and less picture noise but no way to mount it in position lol.

I know I need to get quicker, I'd like to get it in one motion instead of stopping to riffle the pack because that's something I never do. But that right hand is lingering over the deck too much as pointed out. I'm going to practice stealing quicker and just jetting the card on top with my left hand so there's no cover. I'll post my progress later.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Well, to me, it looks like you take the card out of the deck and put it on the top. As in, if I were watching that with no experience in sleight of hand, the motion your hand is making would make me think, "Ok, he took the card out of the deck and put it on top." You could disguise this in a sideways motion, perhaps, as is suggested in most of the descriptions of the side steal I've seen, but you really don't want to be curling your hand like that. At least, that's something I would avoid.

 

[n0va_jason]

Nice control there, and I agree that the right hand offered too much of a cover such that people get suspicious. And the way you move your hand away from the deck and back really gives the impression that you are just taking the card away from the middle and replacing it on top. I think you should make it more natural, like after inserting the card just get a break and make sure your right hand doesn't exactly cover the deck all the time. If the card is supposed to be injogged at an angle, u could try making the top half messy so it will shield the injogged card. Then in the action of squaring the cards up, do the sleight, and move on with your trick. That's how natural I believe it should be.

 

[Grimshaw]

I think you're all missing out on the idea of misdirection. If this is a control, and you're not using the face up move as some kind of visual colour change, then you don't need to examine every last detail because you'll be taking your spectator's eyes elsewhere.
This move could be done in several stages so as not to arouse suspicion, you could cover the out-jogged cards by using a biddle grip and covering the card with your right hand. This gives you time to patter, to misdirect while you finish the move off. People are saying it's 'lingering' over the deck. So what? If you're involving your audience properly, you need time to talk to them. It's not about you and your moves, it's about them and their experience. I doubt any spectator is going to stop you mid-flow and say " Aren't you lingering your hand over that deck a bit too long there? "
Also, if you execute a move quite quickly you'll draw your specatator's eyes to it. They may not know what they just saw, but they know they saw something. If you execute it smoothly they will miss it. Work on it being smooth, not it being fast, and to me it looks quite smooth as it is. It's the same as people bragging about the speed of their pass. My pass isn't fast at all, yet i've never been caught using it because no-one's been looking at my hands when i carried it out. Same applies here and with any control, get the technique down, but with the right misdirection everything's invisible.

 

[onimushalord89]

I think you're all missing out on the idea of misdirection. If this is a control, and you're not using the face up move as some kind of visual colour change, then you don't need to examine every last detail because you'll be taking your spectator's eyes elsewhere.
This move could be done in several stages so as not to arouse suspicion, you could cover the out-jogged cards by using a biddle grip and covering the card with your right hand. This gives you time to patter, to misdirect while you finish the move off. People are saying it's 'lingering' over the deck. So what? If you're involving your audience properly, you need time to talk to them. It's not about you and your moves, it's about them and their experience. I doubt any spectator is going to stop you mid-flow and say " Aren't you lingering your hand over that deck a bit too long there? "
Also, if you execute a move quite quickly you'll draw your specatator's eyes to it. They may not know what they just saw, but they know they saw something. If you execute it smoothly they will miss it. Work on it being smooth, not it being fast, and to me it looks quite smooth as it is. It's the same as people bragging about the speed of their pass. My pass isn't fast at all, yet i've never been caught using it because no-one's been looking at my hands when i carried it out. Same applies here and with any control, get the technique down, but with the right misdirection everything's invisible.

As a contrary opinion, if we were all practicing magic to just perform, then a simple cut with misdirection would accomplish the same thing as a clipshift. I think the point here is to better ourselves.

As for the sleight, I would suggest reviewing proper handling of a side steal, and then modify it to a more comfortable handling to you. As stated in other posts, you overhand give a lot away and makes it look like you are stealing the card. It should look like you are squaring the deck. Studying even the card college handling on the side steal, will give you a much better sleight.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I think you're all missing out on the idea of misdirection. If this is a control, and you're not using the face up move as some kind of visual colour change, then you don't need to examine every last detail because you'll be taking your spectator's eyes elsewhere.
This move could be done in several stages so as not to arouse suspicion, you could cover the out-jogged cards by using a biddle grip and covering the card with your right hand. This gives you time to patter, to misdirect while you finish the move off. People are saying it's 'lingering' over the deck. So what? If you're involving your audience properly, you need time to talk to them. It's not about you and your moves, it's about them and their experience. I doubt any spectator is going to stop you mid-flow and say " Aren't you lingering your hand over that deck a bit too long there? "
Also, if you execute a move quite quickly you'll draw your specatator's eyes to it. They may not know what they just saw, but they know they saw something. If you execute it smoothly they will miss it. Work on it being smooth, not it being fast, and to me it looks quite smooth as it is. It's the same as people bragging about the speed of their pass. My pass isn't fast at all, yet i've never been caught using it because no-one's been looking at my hands when i carried it out. Same applies here and with any control, get the technique down, but with the right misdirection everything's invisible.

The ability to misdirect is no excuse for sloppy technique. One shouldn't think, "Ok, this is good enough, I can stop improving it." Yes, this move could easily be covered as is with a little misdirection, but that doesn't mean he's not telegraphing the move to anyone that happens to ignore his direction.

Furthermore, he wants us to pick it apart and give suggestions on how to make it better. We did just that.