"Fantastic book. It will influence a new generation of artists." - Jeff McBride, Las Vegas Headliner
The Encyclopedia of Playing Card Flourishes is the first of its kind. This current, comprehensive treatment of fancy card manipulation (XCM - extreme card manipulation, contact juggling with cards, card flourishes and cardistry) will teach you everything from the Charlier Pass to juggling cards. This encyclopedia has already become a modern classic, the bible for anybody interested to manipulate playing cards in astounding and artistic manner. With 2,800 photographs and a wealth of informative accompanying instructions, this massive book will keep you busy for years.
For the digital version Jerry has added commentary to each chapter a total of about 10 pages of information. He primarily comments on new moves and other developments that have emerged since the publication of this work.
Robert (Ned) Nedbalski writes in his foreword:
In a dream, you could be walking along a mountain road, turn a corner and fall into a deep cave. When you look up to see where you are, you realize that you are inside a mountain of solid gold. WOW!
That's the way I felt the day I met Jerry Cestkowski. I was out running some errands, and the next thing I know, I'm watching Jerry juggle two cards in one hand while shuffling the rest of the deck in the other. During the next hour, I was amazed to see hundreds of card flourishes, most of which I had never seen before. I saw him spring the deck over his head in a perfect arc, with every card visible. I saw him do Houdini's "impossible" Double Arm-Spread. I saw flourishes I never would have imagined. It was pure gold - I was in the presence of a master of his craft.
I talked him into giving a demonstration at the local magic club. You know you are seeing something incredible when a room full of magicians is completely stunned into silence. It only takes you about ten seconds to realize that, in the world of extreme playing card flourishes, Jerry is obviously without peer. I have been a professional magician for forty years. I have an extensive collection of magic books and films. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of performers. Jerry does more flourishes, and does them better, than anybody.
In this comprehensive manual, the first of its kind, Jerry describes all the good flourishes he has found from every source available. And then he gives you dozens and dozens of his own inventions, many of which are more spectacular than anything ever before published. Jerry has gone out of his way to avoid describing minor variations, silly trifles, and time-wasting finger exercises. The flourishes in this book are practical, eye-pleasing gems that will add impact to any smart magician's card work. If you need to wow your audience, this book is a dream come true. It is a gold mine of beautiful and effective material you can use every time you pick up a deck of cards.
Don't forget that Jerry has also created four performance DVDs where he exhibits all the flourishes, moves and more.
1st edition 2002; original 545 pages; PDF 630 pages.
Table of Contents
- FORWARD TO THE LYBRARY.COM EBOOK EDITION
- FOREWORD
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- INTRODUCTION
- PHILOSOPHY
- TOOLS OF THE TRADE
- HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
- 1. ONE-HAND SINGLE CUTS
- Charlier Pass
- Thumb Cut
- Pinkie Cut
- Herrmann Cut
- Scissor Cut
- Horizontal Turn Cut
- Vertical Turn Cut
- Vertical Spin Cut
- Roll Cut
- L Cut
- Extension Cut (X Cut)
- Index Cut
- "Pincer Grip Cut"
- Helicopter Throw Cut
- Straight Throw Cut
- Roll Throw Cut
- Flip Throw Cut
- Hindu Throw Cut
- Aerial Cut
- 2. ONE-HAND MULTIPLE CUTS
- Charlier Tri-Cut
- Thumb Tri-Cut
- Turning Tri-Cut
- Extension Tri-Cut
- Running Thumb Cut
- Charlier/Thumb "Shuffle"
- "Five-Packet" Cut
- L-X Quad Cut
- Running L Cut
- L-X Interpolation
- Six-Packet Display Cut
- Flip-Flop Cut
- One-Hand Cut Miscellany
- 3. FANNING
- Pressure Fan
- Thumb Fan
- Finger Fan
- Side-Spring Fan
- One-Hand Close
- Twirl Close
- Fan Twirl
- Reverse Pressure Fan
- Reverse Thumb Fan
- One-Hand Reverse Close
- Left-Hand One-Hand Indices Fan
- Right-Hand One-Hand Blank Fan
- Right-Hand One-Hand Indices Fan
- Twin Fans
- S Fans
- Card Circle
- Fan Within a Fan
- Giant Pressure Fan
- Giant Thumb Fan
- Giant Angle Fans
- One-Hand Giant Fan
- Giant Circle
- Closing Giant Fans and Circles
- Flower Fan
- Automatic Flower Fan
- Fan Miscellany
- 4. SPRINGS and DROPS
- Basic Spring
- Waterfall Drop
- Flat Drop
- Cascade
- Double Spring
- Upside-Down Spring
- Very Long Spring
- Overhead Spring
- Behind-the-Back Waterfall Drop
- One-Hand Waterfall/Double Waterfall Drop
- One-Hand Spring
- Virtual Electric Deck
- Springing Miscellany
- 5. TWO-HAND SINGLE CUTS
- Pivot Cut
- Paddlewheel Cut
- Inversion "Cut"
- Drop Cut
- Cross Drop Cut
- Forward Tumble Cut
- Reverse Tumble Cut
- Twirl Cut
- Two-Hand Helicopter Throw Cut
- Two-Hand Roll Throw Cut
- Two-Hand Flip Throw Cut
- Behind-the-Back Deck Separation
- Arm-Roll Cut
- 6. TWO-HAND MULTIPLE CUTS
- Running Pivot Cut
- Quick Triple Cut
- Butterfly Cut
- Riffle Cut
- Thumb Riffle Cut
- Charlier Combo Cut
- Paddlewheel Combo Cut
- Pincer Combo Cut
- Juggle Cut
- Triple Transfer Cut
- Twirl Transfer Cut
- Loop Transfer Cut
- Half Gearscrew Cut
- Full Gearscrew Cut
- Tower Cut
- Two-Hand Cut Miscellany
- 7. ARM-SPREADS
- Basic Arm-Spread, Turnover and Glide Catch
- Opposite-Hand Scoop Catch
- Same-Hand Fall Catch
- Opposite-Hand Fall Catch
- No-Turnover Down Catch
- Full-Deck Cross Catch
- Half-Turnover Down Catch
- Half-Turnover Up Catch
- Changeover Arm-Spread
- Upright Arm-Spread
- Giant Arm-Spread
- Behind-the-Back Catch
- Elbow Double Arm-Spread
- Forearm Double Down Catch
- Back-Arm Reverse
- Continuous Same Back-Arm Catch
- Continuous Alternating Back-Arm Catches
- Double Back-Arm Catches
- Arm-Spread Miscellany
- 8. TWO-HAND SHUFFLES
- Basic Waterfall Shuffle
- Cross-Hand Waterfall Shuffle
- Double and Triple Waterfall Shuffles
- Spread Shuffle
- Flat Drop Shuffles
- Spring Shuffles
- Double Fan Shuffles
- Turning Overhand Shuffle
- 9. ONE-HAND SHUFFLES
- Standard One-Hand Riffle Shuffle
- Turning One-Hand Riffle Shuffle
- One-Hand Table Riffle Shuffle
- One-Hand Overhand Shuffle
- "Pincer Grip Shuffle"
- Shuffle Miscellany
- 10. DECK FLIPS, TWIRLS AND SPINS
- Thumb Twirl
- Corner Twirl
- Corner Thumb Twirl
- Palm Twirl
- Finger Twirl
- Quick Deck Spin
- Deck Twist
- Flash Toss
- Regrip Flip
- Flip Back
- Deck Flip
- Helicopter Deck Spin
- Twisting Deck Flip
- Arm Roll
- 11. TABLE FLOURISHES
- Two-Hand Twirl Deal
- One-Hand Twirl Deal
- Two-Hand Roll Deal
- One-Hand Roll Deal
- Multiple Deal
- Basic Ribbon Spread and Turnover
- Split Spread
- Double Spread
- Upright Spread
- Meshing Spread
- Table Fans
- T Cut
- One-Hand Square Cut
- Two-Hand Square Cut
- Running Square Cut
- Fall Cut
- Rolling Cut
- Flap Cut
- Wing Cut
- Chaos Cut
- Cross Cut
- Pyramid Cut
- Deck Bounce
- Pad Roll
- Deck Put-Downs
- Deck Pick-Ups
- Table Flourish Miscellany
- 12. THROWING AND JUGGLING
- Throwing For Distance
- Throwing For Accuracy
- Boomerang Card
- Helicopter Card
- Snap Throw
- Long Thumb Propulsion
- Short Thumb Propulsion
- Pinkie Propulsion
- Index Finger Propulsion
- Card Twirl
- Thumb Wrap
- One-Finger Spins
- Juggling
- Brushing
- Ultra-Miscellany
- CONCLUSION
- SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
word count: 104136 which is equivalent to 416 standard pages of text