TIP 1

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO PREPARE

YOUR CARDS BEFORE YOU PERFORM.

Performing is an art. Music, juggling, drawing, painting, and magic. These all fall into the
category of performing arts. However, a good musician will always tune his instrument(s) before
playing. A juggler will always powder his hands before juggling. An artist will always sharpen
his pencil before drawing. Yet, so many times, beginners take a fresh deck of cards out the card
case and immediately start performing, and very often pass blame onto the cards for not
functioning correctly. We as performers should look after our tools and give them the correct
care and attention they deserve, and in turn they will serve us better both in handling and
performance and, therefore, provide a better performance for the spectators, which essentially is
our main goal.

So, what should we be doing as a regular course of action every time we open a brand new
sealed deck of cards?
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Firstly, wash your hands.

It's important to wash your hands before you handle your cards. Dirty hands can carry oils, dust
and dirt. Just in the action of removing the cards from the card case you are immediately aging
the cards.
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Removing the cards.
Some people take great care breaking open the seal of the card case. This is all good practice. The
best route for opening the case is as follows.

Take a sharp knife and slowly carefully slice in a straight line around the cellophane, just where the
pull tab line is.

Remove the cellophane from the top of the sealed deck.

Using the tip of the knife, carefully slit the seal, following the half moon.

Using the half moon (that's what it's there for after all), using thumb and tip of forefinger slide the
deck out in one entire block about a third of its length.

Now lightly grasp the edges of the deck and retaining the case in your left hand remove the deck.

Removing the deck in this manner reduces the amount of contact with the cards keeping the cards
free of excess oils and dirt.

PLEASE NOTE: BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN USING ANY SHARP TOOL LIKE A KNIFE.
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Breaking in the deck.

What follows is a sequence of seven simple steps to go through that will ensure the deck is
thoroughly broken in and ready to use. The sequence is in a particular order for good reason.
TIP 5

Overhand shuffling
Perform one over hand shuffle with the cards face down. Instead of pulling off clumps as is
usual with an overhand shuffle, peel off one card at a time. Essentially, you want each card
to wipe against the one below, therefore, polishing the face of each card.

Then, turn the deck face up and repeat the process, so this time the backs of the cards are the
ones being polished. Remember, one card at a time.
TIP 6

Aerating the deck.

Now we need to get a balanced amount of air between each card in the deck. Hold the deck
face up in your dealing hand, now squeeze the cards by their short ends in the same action
that you would use if you were to spring the cards. Do not actually spring the cards though.
Then repeat the same process with cards face down. This will separate the cards, and any
oils that may have been picked up during the shuffling sequence.
TIP 7

Faro Shuffling and cascade -

face down
We will now Faro shuffle the deck. Cut the deck into
two equal packets. Due to the fact that during the
shuffling process the deck has been restored to its
original order, finding the dead center of the deck is
easy. Split the deck at the point where the King of
Clubs and the King of Diamonds meet.

Take one half of the deck in each hand. Now align each
short edge. What we want to achieve is that each card
becomes interwoven, or like a zip. The method to
achieve this is by gently teasing one packet into the
other. Imagine one half is made of butter, and the other
is a knife. It need not be a perfect Faro (every card
perfectly interwoven), but the closest you can manage
obviously leaves a better result.
With the cards in this interwoven condition, now grasp both ends with both hands, and bow
the deck, still interwoven, upwards creating a bridge. The main secret to this is to apply
pressure on both ends, the thumbs gently rest on the top. The thumbs do not push.

Now, gradually release the tension on the cards. This will cause the cards to cascade. The
knack to this is playing with the amount of tension you release. Release too much and the
cards will just fall, too little and they will remain in an interwoven bridge condition. The
sweet spot is just between the two. A little trial and error and you will soon find that sweet
spot.
TIP 8

Fanning.
Next, give the deck a nice wide face down fan.
Then square the deck, and then perform a
second wide face up the fan and square again.
The reason for doing this twice is when you fan
the cards once and then square them the
orientation of the cards is changed, plus by
fanning twice each card is getting air spread
between it in both directions.
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Overhand shuffle.
Now perform another overhand shuffle with the faces down. Make sure the cards wipe
against each other.
TIP 10

Faro shuffling and Cascade

face up

Next perform the Faro shuffle and cascade again, this time face up.
TIP 11

Overhand shuffle.
Now perform another overhand shuffle but with the deck held face up. The reason we are
repeating the process is because we need to ensure that each card has the same amount of air
around it; also the ‘wiping’ of the cards against each other during an overhand shuffle
ensures that any oils are evenly spread across the cards face and backs.

Finally, go through the deck and remove the two advertising cards. Because the deck has
been removed from the card case, shuffled and riffled and fanned, air has been allowed to
spread between the cards. Therefore, removing the advertising cards now will ensure a
perfect fit of the deck when replaced into the card case.

And that's it! Your deck is now perfectly conditioned and ready for performance. The entire
sequence takes no longer than at most a couple of minutes. It prepares the deck, and it
prepares you at the same time. You will have a better understanding of how the deck will
handle for you.
TIP 12
Final Thoughts.
One final tip: I always use a ‘quality’ card clip. I emphasize the quality. A cheap one may
damage your cards and the case rather than protect them. The reason for this is that it keeps
the cards flat, maintaining the case in pristine condition, protects the cards from humidity
and also, looks much more professional than pulling out your cards in a mildly dog eared
card case. It silently signals ‘I care for my tools, and I care for my art’.

This brings us back to the importance of breaking in your deck. It shows that you know how
to handle a deck of cards it also will enhance your performance many times you in yourself
will be more comfortable with the handling of the cards, and your audiences will
subliminally pick up on this. It's a win win situation, so breaking in your new deck should
become a regimented part of you, your act, and your love for the pasteboards.