.thecuso - Learn magic tricks, card flourishes and extreme card manipulation

Ellusionist Holiday Giveaway: “holly shiznit!”

TheCuso — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:48:36 PST

Here is a nice promotion from the E guys. Could be the best campaign this year… I wonder how T11 is going to respond to this… Anyway thanks BestMagicDeals for the post ;)

Here we go…

The guys at Ellusionist have gone crazy. For these Christmas Holidays they bring us a contest where you can buy from a $1500 credit card to spend at their store and a 32gb Ipod Touch loaded with Magic DVDS to hundreds of Arcane decks and even some ultra rare 1st edition Black Ghost Decks, yeah, those you saw at eBay for $500 a couple of months ago.

Here are some of the goodies up for grabs…

-1500 USD to spend at Ellusionist
-32gb 3rd gen Ipod Touch loaded with How to do Street Magic, Revolution, Shapeshifter, Crash Course 1, Crash 2, Ninja 1, Ninja 2, Kard Klub, Inside Magic, King Rising, Hover Card, and a backup DVD of each.
-45 minutes private training session with Brad Christian
-Hundreds of Arcane Playing Cards and Arcane Clips
-Uncut 1st Edition Black Ghost Deck Sheets
-Gaff uncut sheets
-Ultra rare 1st edition Black Ghosts
-Arcane Deck Uncut Sheets
-Ellusionist Street Bag loaded with DVDS
-Thousands of tattoos.

They have put out a special page where they explain how to get all those amazing prizes.

Go check it out now: Ellusionist Holiday Giveaway

Holly shiznit! Check out Brad’s S Fans!!! They are the best I’ve ever seen!!! ¬¬

Nebelfuchs – Smear Fan Shot Tutorial

TheCuso — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:25:00 PST

Learn to flick a card off the top of a smear fan from the master “fanning warrior” Nebelfuchs from Fun With Aces.

Enjoy.

Andrei Jikh’s GENESIS review by Alejandro Portela

TheCuso — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:34:32 PST

Here is my biased review on Genesis to get you guys to hear my sexy spanish accent.

Nah seriously, this IS the DVD you are looking for, no matter your skill level or style. Genesis is hands down the best cardistry DVD ever released.

I’m going to briefly go over the contents highlighting what caught my attention.

I must say it took me 4 days to watch all of it because there is so much stuff here that it’s insane.

And that’s just the first quickie I gave it! This material will last me months to master…

So…Let’s begin:

Charlier Cut

Loved the tips on real life perfomances to give meaning to what we do and those funny lines to involve the audience. Really valuable advice.

Thumb Cut

I learned it the wrong way!!!

Now I understand why so many people is adicted to these cuts, now my flares look much better with Huron Low’s ninja style.

Scissor Cut

I have to say I miss some advanced applications here but the teaching for the basic move couldn’t have been any better.

One Hand Revolution Cut

Is Brian Tudor the father of the move? I remember it took me a while to get used to the mechanics but soon it became one of my favourite flourishes when I was starting out.

The one in my right hand always looked a bit weaker so I’m happy that Andrei is a lefty.

Angel

A beautiful move by Bone Ho. Andrei teaches the way to do it if your hands are as dry as a “mojama”.

Widthwise Triangle

This is not the method I use but it is the same result so it’s always nice to train alternatives. He also gives you tips to add flare and personality. Don’t skip this part.

Lengthwise Triangle

I love the advanced handling using hand motions and his “Blink” move to close it. I actually use the Lengthwise Triangle in one of my flourishes that you can, by the way, quickly get a glimpse in Sexy Time, I call it “Triángulo”.

One Handed Shuffle

This is the first flourish i’ve ever learned, even before the charlier cut. When I first saw this in Rene Lavand’s hand I fell in love with card flourishing. Andrei gives some nice points on how to master this tough guy.

Thumb Propulsion

Aka Long Distance Spinner. A move I’ve never been able to do. Will move it up my to-do list right after finishing this review. I must learn this move in order to be able to…

“Do your flourishes, do your applaudes cue, and when they’re applauding McBride the f*ck out of them” -Ineski

Spring

Andrei explains all techniques in this extensive in-depth tutorial, even The Virts’ way is touched here.

One of the most impressive and all time Stars of card flourishing.

Flower Fan

Another one that I have to practice in order to get an even full circle shape. Credits to Jerry and Jeff McBride. Girls love this one.

One handed Fan

Andrei Jikh’s one handed fan is one of the best I’ve seen, i mean, there’s Jaspas’, Shoeman’s and Huron’s but hey, we are talking about Andrei’s DVD here right? ;)

I have to practice this in my left hand as I normally do a Carnahan Fan instead so again thanks Andrei for being lefty.

Thumb Fan

It truly is one hell of a tough move when you are starting. I love the way Andrei forms it with that 360 spiky shape.

Watch out for the “oilies”! Great tips on how to perform it on stage and live performances.

Angel Slide

Shows you how to apply concepts from other artforms that have affinity to inspire you to create new moves. Really fun to practice. I love it.

Blink

The cherry on top kinda move. “If you Blink you’ll miss it”. A little one to use after a combo or as a transition between flourishes.

Angel Catch

Love the performance clip of this move with the thumb cuts sequence. Simple yet effective.

Time shot

I loved this move when I first saw it in the trailer. Going to use it for sure but first I need a good one handed fan in my left hand (where i wear my watch). Both methods taught are cool.

Pickwhip

You already saw the intro for this one. First you learn the swing cut as a prerequisite. Pacman easter egg ftw.

52 motions closer

Nice way to close a thumb fan, I’ve been experimenting with a few differentways myself. They make your fans look much much better, dont underestimate the closers!

Basic Card in Fan

Easy to do. Fun to practice. Good looking. You MUST learn this one.

Tetra

Credits to Matt Lang and Daniel Garcia. Again simplicity here is the key. A tricky move. I love this concept of instant surprise and actually use it in one of my flourishes (Satellite).

Bullet shot

Extremely easy, you get a lot of control over the flick. A nice alternative. Not recommended if you are a poss girl, watch the explanation and you’ll understand why.

Card in Flower Fan

Another aerial catch move. If you can do the flower fan then you can do this one. Nice subtlety on how to handle the card you toss in the air in order to increase the chances of catching it into the fan.

Rewind

Credits to Jerry for the deck twirl concept. Beautiful move. I adore deck twirls.

Flashback

An aerial two-packets false cut. Looks damn great when done up to speed. I will use it.

Twitter

Credits to Ling “Nemesis” Xuan and shoutout to Decknique. I like the sound the cards do when you perform it.

Bullet

The move I was interested the most in learning ever since I saw the underground “Contents” and “Allan’s edit” videos.

Can’t belive it is so simple to do! I need Andrei’s speed on this one. DAMN!

Basic ONE

LOL at the Secret Books easter egg at the intro.

Gotta love the flare that Andrei adds to the move. Makes it look completely unique.

ONE Charlier

Awesome when done in both hands. This is “bringing sexy back to the charlier cut”.

Rebound Concept

The good stuff will be in the upcoming volumes of Genesis.

Winged Concept

Another great concept using a fan as a platform. You have to see it to understand it’s potential.

Winged Instant Three

One hand revolution + one handed fan = Instant aerial triangle

Arial Winged Throw

Awesome looking. I love it. Works great with cobra-ish sound effects, you know what I mean.

Blanco ONE

– Alejandro Portela (That’s me!)

Blanco one is an idea I showed to Andrei Jikh in a quick late night webcam session. He liked it so much that thought would be a great addition to the first volume where he explains the ONE concept.

It’s not the most original thing I have but it blends pretty well with Andrei’s style. If you already know how to do Blanco from my public tutorial then this is a piece of cake.

Carnahan Fan

– Dan and Dave

One of my favourite fans there is. And I’m sure everyone’s too. Nice bicycle eco deck there twins, I want one now!

Learn the history of the move from Dave itself and why was he chosen for Smokin’ Aces instead of Dan.

Overall GENESIS Impression

“5/5 stars from me dawg!!!”

Justflourish – Stuttgart Jam (April 09)

TheCuso — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:46:12 PST

Sebastian Skowron took the justflourish guys out for a jam in Stuttgart back in April. Here is the video, better late than never.

Gotta love those 1st edition Smoke and Mirrors ;)

Chris Ocampo – It’s me

TheCuso — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:00:13 PST

A bunch of mind twisted ideas from

Aviv M
Eric Tam
Garry A
Wilson Ku
Mark “Kram”
Sebastian Skowron
Dimitiri Arleri
and “that one creepey guy from tinychat”

Leon Tai – Uncompleted Outdoor Video

TheCuso — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:34:42 PST

” It rained halfway through filming :( ”

-Leon Tai
—
The Luxury Deck is just about to go out of stock but you can still try to order the last units, or get a few Arcanes instead!

Up and Coming: A new section to push the art forward

TheCuso — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:36:43 PST

Let’s start a new section here. I’m going to call it Up and Coming and I’m going to be posting videos of beginners and amateurs that I think might hit hard in the future if they keep up the good work.

I mainly do this to encourage everyone to start being creative from their early days on card flourishing and move away from topics and overused patterns.

I’ll try to post at least once a week to leave you guys enough time to discuss positively the ups and downs of the videos in order to help them, from our experience, to become better flourishers and eventually kick our asses.

I might also consider doing a few unexpected contests every X months to see who is helping the most and even reward your favourite beginners.

The top contributors will get to chose their favourite “Up and Comings” to share the sweet prizes i’ve been stocking up for you all this time in my basement.

How can you help?

Post comments, give some advice, teach them something, retweet the posts, share them on facebook, introduce them to your friends, meet up, do collabs, form a group, get involved.

When I say there will be prizes I’m talking in terms of bricks of cards, maybe DVDs too, you name it. Trust me, you will love to take part in this iniciative.

You know this is not a forum, this is a family!

Start now.

-Alejandro Portela
.thecuso

Photography by Eugene Soh

The Luxury Deck – Smoke and Mirrors V3 by Dan and Dave

TheCuso — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:25:47 PDT

A new brand of cards illustrated by renowned artist Si Scott in association with Dan & Dave. Engineered with the highest quality stock and finish available and manufactured with the US Playing Card Companies latest printing technology.

WWW.THELUXURYDECK.COM

Interest in the decks has been unrivaled since word first emerged of their existence. The First Editions & Second Editions sold out almost immediately after their release. All of the artwork was illustrated by hand in pen and ink. Smoke decks are white; Mirrors are black. Both decks feature a custom designed Box, Ace of Spades, Joker and simplified renderings of the Jacks, Queens, and Kings. The Mirror Deck comes with an inverted Ace of Spades.

elegant • refined • modern

From the intricacy of the design to the feel, finish, and quality, Smoke & Mirrors is a case study in attention to detail. The feel and finish is flawless – printed on premium Aristocrat quality stock. The result is an artistic expression of royalty: a true luxury deck.

Ekaterina – “The vid that got her banned”

TheCuso — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:03:23 PDT

Ekaterina Dobrokhotova (BabycatXD) was recently banned from Handlorz for doing this demo video with the arcane deck.

She was clearly one of the strongest participants in the XCM World Tournament this year.

Who do we blame? Those cool looking Arcanes or guys that think every day of the year is Halloween?

Anyway, I dont’t feel sorrow at all, I’m happy that she’s now going on her own and makes good use of her critical mind.

Now it’s time for you to speak out your mind.

-Alejandro Portela

Justflourish – Herbstferien Jam

TheCuso — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:17:12 PDT

A nice jam from the german justflourish.de team.

Depth of field orgy!

.thecuso - Learn magic tricks, card flourishes and extreme card manipulation

Ellusionist Holiday Giveaway: “holly shiznit!”

Holly shiznit! Check out Brad’s S Fans!!! They are the best I’ve ever seen!!! ¬¬

You might also enjoy these posts...

Nebelfuchs – Smear Fan Shot Tutorial

You might also enjoy these posts...

Andrei Jikh’s GENESIS review by Alejandro Portela

Charlier Cut

Thumb Cut

Scissor Cut

One Hand Revolution Cut

Angel

Widthwise Triangle

Lengthwise Triangle

One Handed Shuffle

Thumb Propulsion

Spring

Flower Fan

One handed Fan

Thumb Fan

Angel Slide

Blink

Angel Catch

Time shot

Pickwhip

52 motions closer

Basic Card in Fan

Tetra

Bullet shot

Card in Flower Fan

Rewind

Flashback

Twitter

Bullet

Basic ONE

ONE Charlier

Rebound Concept

Winged Concept

Winged Instant Three

Arial Winged Throw

Blanco ONE

Carnahan Fan

Overall GENESIS Impression

You might also enjoy these posts...

Justflourish – Stuttgart Jam (April 09)

You might also enjoy these posts...

Chris Ocampo – It’s me

You might also enjoy these posts...

Leon Tai – Uncompleted Outdoor Video

You might also enjoy these posts...

Up and Coming: A new section to push the art forward

How can you help?

You might also enjoy these posts...

The Luxury Deck – Smoke and Mirrors V3 by Dan and Dave

WWW.THELUXURYDECK.COM

You might also enjoy these posts...

Ekaterina – “The vid that got her banned”

You might also enjoy these posts...

Justflourish – Herbstferien Jam

You might also enjoy these posts...