Slave To The Spade By Spade Jm

SLAVE TO THE SPADE Inside the Deceptive Mind of Joko Curioso All Rights Reserved 2018

SLAVE TO THE SPADE

© 2018 Joko Curioso | All Rights Reserved

SLAVE TO THE SPADE THOUGHTS OF A MADMAN TEN TRAGICALLY INTANGIBLE THOUGHTS

About the Author Joko Curioso is a sleight of hand artist that specializes with a deck of cards. Recently, he pursued sleight of hand fully and wholeheartedly as he has discovered its difference with Magic. He manages a social media platform as well as a group called Cardipelago in which their primary aim is to change the stigma of playing cards as a means to gamble in the Philippines. He has a profound love for poetry and has been into its beauty ever since high school. This is his first publication in terms of poetry and he will be doing much more in the future.

Slave to the Spade The Spade is the most iconic symbol that you’ll see in a deck of cards. It is the one with the most elegant design almost 99% of the time. The reason I made this catchphrase is for me to be reminded that I am a byproduct of these cards. My sleight of hand is a byproduct of these cards. Without these, I am nothing. Joko Curioso will not exist nor will ever be reborn without a medium. I’ve come up with this catchphrase as well as a sign of devotion to my art. For my sleight of hand to be restricted only to playing cards. Although sleight of hand in it’s purest form is a general term that may involve coins, ropes or generally anything to induce deception. I think sleight of hand is most devious with 52 pieces of paper and endless possibilities. I have devoted as well to not use gimmicks that will make things seem impossible to a spectator, as sleight of hand will be misguided and misconceived as magic. Although, for theatrical purposes and for comedic laughter, gaff cards may be considered at such cases as my goal is to present sleight of hand in its purest form. No gimmicks, all pure skill.

SERVUS ET LIGONEM SLAVE TO THE SPADE SLEIGHT OF HAND METHOD KING OF SPADES CARDS DECEPTION PERFORMANCE ART HANDS EXORCIST KING DEATH TO DIAMONDS HAIL THY HEARTS CRUEL CLUBS FINESSE DUTY COVERT OPERATIONS

THOUGHTS OF A MADMAN

EXISTENCE PONDER ON SLEEPLESS THESE WORDS DECEIVER DEAD WHY

TEN TRAGICALLY INTANGIBLE TOUGHTS I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X

SERVUS ET LIGONEM Servus et Ligonem Paciscor factus est Decipere in aeternum copulati Omnium animis cernere Pravum est per modum Cogendae habere sensum Carere omni affectu Omnino cavendum procedere Ut enim homo decipi Fallere sit Deus Servus et Ligonem aeternum vento moveri

SLAVE TO THE SPADE Slave to the Spade The deal has been made Forever chained to the deceive For all minds to perceive Devious to each method Trained to have a single thought Forego all emotions Proceed with utmost caution To be deceived is man To deceive is God Slave to the Spade Eternally swayed

SLEIGHT OF HAND

10 fingers, 2 hands All with 1 motive Mechanical in it's own way Magical to many Technical to some I am of the latter Purely second to none

METHOD We are all slaves that subject to our methods Our actions define them Our hands serve them Our body is being dictated by them Our eyes gaze upon their shine All for the glory Every so often for the dime Although priceless Still it has value By trade, it gives you skill For you to have til the end of time

KING OF SPADES

The King and the Spade The crown and the blade My fiercest weapons To instigate deceptive acts All for the joy and sophistication Of sleight of hand in its purest Some Kings like Opulence, true Kings prefer Power.

CARDS Perfectly interlaced Precisely handled Dealt with care From the dirtiest hands Able to create the impossible 52 sacred warriors Representing 4 different houses 13 carefully selected representatives of each house All of them fighting for their glory

DECEPTION

Two steps ahead Each person in the room A few more further compared to the victim Being frowned upon Unknowingly being done the unimaginable All for the sake of deception

PERFORMANCE ART Be merciless. Kill your spectator. Not literally but with devious intent. You are the wolf, hungry and ravenous for its prey. They are the sheep. Falling victim to your deception. You slash your wrists intentionally And use this artform to heal your wounds It is the salt that will bring you pain And restoration shall kick in soon As the blood seeps out from your veins Your audience feel your growing pains Crimson liquid to contaminate their minds As the truth open the eyes of the blind What you do will define who you are How you do it will elucidate your value Where you do it will establish your worth And the reason why you do it will forever be A question you don´t know how to answer

HANDS Made with divine intelligence All unique to every person Destined for greater things Our daily companions Befriend them Use them well For you do not know its fate And what it may bring you I have been utilizing mine For the purpose of deceit And to induce authority How about you? What have you been using your hands for?

EXORCIST Tear out my Heart for Diamonds Reform these Clubs to Spades Pardon me for my demons I am the one to blame Teach me as I sharpen my blade Be the spark for me to show my flame For me to exorcise these demons That lead me to commit a crime of treason A treason to my art and to the one I love How will I be able to fulfill my ultimate task If I am not fully capable of Destroying, controlling, or befriending Extinguishing, exorcising or obliterating Myself for me to witness my own rebirth.

KING Of Gold and Might Every king stands their ground With power unrelenting Incomparable to his foe A King's reign is measured through The vision of his eyes As far as the horizon As near as his feet And every few and far between Is completely within his grasp His crown resembles authority and legacy It is not to be dealt with Rather it is to be respected As you are to bow down every time Your eyes glimpse upon it's radiance

His sword sharp as his will His words as devious as his actions His threats bound to be fulfilled His approval swift and of the highest gratitude And his demise is the only thing that can stop him And the only thing that could make him immortal

DEATH TO DIAMONDS Adamas Prestigious Built for the perfect deception Strongest of its kind Rarest of the find Unstained purity Radiant and with intent To share its radiance Cannot be tampered with Not for now As I bring forth its ruin Like a hellion Trying to destroy the devil himself

HAIL THY HEARTS

Pierce my Heart with the Spade As you’re the most cunning to wield this blade Though my life source begins to fade I know I’ve fulfilled the destiny that I’ve made Hail the hearts that bled out for you Seek what is right and you shall find truth Enlightened The void in your soul has been extinguished Breathe the life that you once never thought you could grasp

CRUEL CLUBS

Cruelty to the incapacitated The Club be the medium of punishment Smashed into bits and pieces My will broken as much as my body I intake the pain time and time again Received but not reciprocated I am the sole bearer of the cruelty of clubs And its my choice to be in this state

FINESSE

The bane of sleight of hand Is the absence of finesse It goes hand in hand Finesse is the secret ingredient That would make your sleight of hand look natural However, being natural is a broad statement It is hard to define through the words we speak If done with finesse, it could be properly expressed through action And the artist in charge may give justice to it

DUTY

Slave to the Spade The calm against the enraged Fueled by deceit Progressive action Negative reconciliation Deception A godly duty Tasked to a select few One, two, three steps ahead You thought you were close And as you realize that you are We were behind your back all this time

COVERT OPERATIONS

Slave to the Spade The art of the strayed Hiding in plain sight Operating beneath the twilight Howling at the moon Your demise shall come soon Covert is its nature Deception is their ultimate pleasure Actions and methods Learned and harnessed Tested and initiated With great success Slave to the Spade Forever astray

THOUGHTS OF A MADMAN

These are the poems I wrote long ago and was planning to release it handwritten to 50 copies. Very ambitious effort. Til I realized that after finishing the very first handwritten copy, it's really hard to do 49 more. Here it is. Inside the next few pages of this book you will see the thoughts that have been running on my head for quite a while. The reason for my depression, the reason for the void inside my heart. The love I found, the love I lost and the highest calling I continue to seek.

EXISTENCE I always justify the existence of my being. Questioning if it deserves to be existing. But still I haven't had an answer to these theories. Rather I am still bombarded by more questions with no definite result. I guess all this is just another phase. Another chapter in my book as many would say. Yet the words that were written seem to not make any point. Seem to not make any sense to the circumstances that fate has brought me. Will I ever be guided to my deliverance? To my full potential? I told my self that I'd let life take me as it is. Just as the waves make the ship course through the seas.

PONDER ON I am poisoned and it's dangerous. The very spirit of me is petrified. Petrified of the thoughts rushing through my head. My soul longs to be cleansed However, this rotting stench of death Is still stinging the very core of me. Having a tight grip on myself. In which if I let go, it only tightens up even more. I am left with a minute feeling of happiness. Which I am suprised that there are still evidences of it left. No progession. Only stagnancy. Perhaps this is the way that I am being shaped by fate. Or it is just another chapter in the wretched life I live?

SLEEPLESS Restless mornings. Sleepless nights. Oh what a burden I bear. Not because of the workload but because of the time. So much time has been wasted in travelling to work and home. On and on and on without end. Hours and hours with no avail. Spent on the road. My second home. In which I spend almost half of my day with. Rather than being at home. In bed. Getting rest. Sleeping sound.

THESE WORDS All these words blurting out of my mind. All the pain that I've exposed in stanzas. The blood in which these poems have been written. All of these came from a man who longs just to be understood. By an entity. A concept. A person. I speak in the context of being true to what life has brought me. And to all the people who can't speak for themselves. To all who have been brought to the dark and cannot escape. To all who have been writhing in agony in a span of a lifetime. All of these words are for you. Even though the generation today have no interest for such divine things like these. Even though no one is looking. Still, I hope someone can have a mutual feeling to the words I've written.

DECEIVER It's way past my bedtime as I type these words. This insomnia literally is a curse. I wish I can drill my brain to bits Just so I can make myself forget. But still you run through my mind even after the sun has finished to set. One month of happiness. One month of gloom. The pain overweighed the affection. As I prepare myself for doom. I question myself if even a single strain of it was real. Or was I completely deceived? I don't know... So many questions yet to ask and still you have no answer. So many left to die and still you watch me suffer. I am left trudging in this journey we call life. As I get the point that living is the slowest way to die.

DEAD I tear my life away with each cigarette hit I take. I'd die to live one more day just to glimpse at your face. Yet you won't let me. Eternally yours, I am withered. Drained to the bone as my heart turns to stone. Cursed. No dirge will be sung at my funeral. No visitors, no tears will be shed. Only despair will thrive. Hate will be bred. I long to be one with the void that is death. Travelling in the plane of nothingness. The blackest essence of death coursing through my veins. As it may eternally take the pain away.

WHY

A simple question with a million answers. A word of utter complexity in it's own purest form. A question you would ask yourself in your darkest moments. But not in your brightest.

TEN TRAGICALLY INTANGIBLE THOUGHTS

I

I find it very irritating for a practitioner of a certain artform not mastering the essentials of it first before moving forward to intermediate/advanced moves/methods. Remember, it is your respect to the art for you to learn the basics and nurture it. Because even if you're one of the greatest magicians in the world or the fastest rapper, or best poet, you still rely on the basics for you do to what you do best. If for example, you tend to learn the more advanced methods of an artform, you'll slack off in the long run since there are no essentials for you to back the skill up to what you are learning right now. I see most card handlers practice magic and cardistry at the same time. In my very honest opinion, this is wrong and will lengthen up your learning process and mastery. You basically are putting too much food on your plate when you are already filled with what you ate.

I see people do all these flashy flourishes but cannot do the Werm, or a magician do a nicely executed DMB Spread Control when they couldn’t even do a false shuffle neatly. What’s my point? What’s all the fuzz about? Basics are important. Choosing a quadrant of card handling is important. Choose one first. Whether if it is sleights, cardistry, gambling demonstrations or magic. CHOOSE ONE. There’s all the fucking time in the world for you to learn so much. That’s why I suggest you put devotion to one quadrant first and then if you are excelling at that quadrant, move on to another one. Don’t fucking juggle them all at once. Remember, a jack of all trades is a master of none. The Mona Lisa was not made in a single day and I’m blurting out all existing quotes that would inspire you to do so. But at least you get my point...

II

When it comes to practicing sleight of hand, each method that you practice needs to be dealt with thoroughly. Practice does not make you perfect, practice makes permanent. However, if you practice the method wrong, you might master the method erroneously. That´s why correct practice makes permanent. The learning process is a deliberately intricate exercise for you to master your art. It uses 3 out of your 5 major senses to correctly execute a given sleight. Sight helps you with spotting the correct finger placements that the method requires. Touch helps you feel the cards and determine how many cards are you holding to execute a certain sleight. Sound helps you listen to the tutorial that you are studying. And with proper comprehension and fusion of these three major senses, you would be able to execute your sleight of hand properly and with deceitful intent.

III So many people that I perform sleight of hand for tell me to teach them a trick or to teach them wholly. I return to them their question and ask them ¨Are you sure you wanna learn?¨ The reason behind this is because sleight of hand/magic is not a thing that you will learn overnight. It´s not like addition or subtraction that you could learn in an hour or a day, this involves countless hours of practice. Blood, sweat and tears. Tireless devotion. Even religious attraction to the artform itself. Of all the people who asked me that question, none have dared to actually learn sleight of hand. Yeah, given the fact that some have tried. But they didn´t last long enough to perfect even a single move. You see, there are so many things that you need to learn in order for you to become an established sleight of hand artist/magician. You need to learn, false shuffles, cuts, controls, productions, fans, shifts, color changes, routines, patter, audience control, and many other things that I could´ve thought of right now as I am writing this excerpt. The basics of it you could learn in a full years time. Or depending on the practitioner´s learning curve. However, there are still subtleties, nuances, and unique touches that you also need to partake in for you to improve more on your technique and presentation.

IV

Essentials. The essentials of sleight of hand can be a broad spectrum of moves that can be classified through different difficulties. However in my opinion, what you only need is a good control, production and patter for you to perform it as magic and make something magical out of your routine. This is speaking in context and with bias to magicians. I have branded myself as a magician before I committed to become a sleight of hand artist and one of my weaknesses was patter. Patter and having a connection to your spectators is important since this will make something special out of a simple trick. Even if you´re just doing the most generic ambitious card routine, with good patter, audience control and connection, it could be the best day of your spectators lives.

A good control is a card control that would not seem fishy to a spectator. In experience, doing flashy or fancy controls seem to have less effect and seem to be more fishy to the spectator. However, a simple cut that could control the card anywhere you want could induce maximum deception. Sometimes presenting magic to laymen with the most complex of methods may have no grand effect to them and most often than not, the simplest of tricks can be the most fulfilling of them all both to the magician and spectator. A good production basically is a way of showing the chosen card. Can be in a simple way or in a fancy one. It depends. However, in most cases (not all), the fancier the better. From the Latin word ´producere´ which means ´bring forth´, you are basically presenting them first hand their selected card from somewhere or nowhere. You can be quite ambitious on this end since this will be the climax of your routine. This is what the spectators are waiting for. Sometimes it can be a go big or go home type of scenario and when you are able to pull off the effect with a patter than would seem impossible for them to think of, the outcome can be the most pleasing of all.

V 3R´s of Sleight of Hand by Joko Curioso Repetition Repertoire Reinforcement Repetition. Through repetition, you will master the sleight that you are practicing. Do and repeat the sleights that you are practicing til your hands hurt. Literally. Although sometimes advisable, mostly not. This will give way to muscle memory which will make your sleights easy when you do/practice them on another time. Repetition will help you familiarize yourself with the sleight. It will help you know it more and discover the ins and outs of the move that you are dealing with. Repertoire. Repertoire is the selection of the move that you want to learn. You have to question yourself if it will be beneficial to the routines that you know, to the size of your hand, to the current sleights that you have mastered, the speed and flow when you do your sleights. Some moves may be easy for you and some moves may be tough as hell. Most often than not when you are an experienced sleight of hand artist or magi, you will find the selection of moves easy to do when the prerequisite of it is a sleight that you have mastered.

Reinforcement. Reinforcement is a strong word. Figuratively and literally. Since the very essence of it is to strengthen a certain thing/ action/etc. This will help you out on finding the subtleties of the sleights that you learned. You will encounter some moves that will be easy to execute on a certain angle, a simple movement from left to right or backwards and forwards may hide the very essence of a sleight. This will help you induce maximum deception to your spectators. When you think of ways to reinforce your sleight of hand, it is imperative for you to think ahead, think of the possibilities, the outcomes of what may happen when you perform it to people. The handling of the move, alternative handlings, methods and executions. Time delay and misdirection can be put into account as well. These are the things that in my honest opinion will help you out on solidifying your sleight of hand game. If you think that there are more to add, you can easily let me know.

VI NATURAL (of a skill, quality, or ability) coming instinctively to a person; innate. (of a person or their behavior) relaxed and unaffected; spontaneous. Many of our fellow brothers and sisters tell us that we have to be natural. Heck, it is one of the most valuable lessons that S.W. Erdnase has imparted to us. However, what does it mean? How do we show it? How can it be expressed through our actions? That is the recurring question that is very hard to answer. These are my completely honest opinions towards it. These thoughts may vary from one person to another as I know for a fact that this topic is very sensitive to many sleight of hand artists and magicians all around the world. The reason why I quoted those two definitions of it on top is because the word itself has many definitions. From Law, Nature, Behavior, Skill and Music. it is very broad. And these two are the closest meanings that I found that can be correlated to our artform. As mentioned on my previous literary piece, The bane of sleight of hand is the absence of finesse. Without innate finesse or learned finesse, your sleight of hand and performance may suffer.

Finesse is a really really big deal to a sleight of hand artist or a magician. Since it makes the moves that they do less suspicious. Sequentially, doing a move/sleight in a rush causes a lot of suspicion. Take your time. No one is pushing you to your nerves to perform your sleight. Yes, they are burning your hands, some even try to heckle you but they do not know what is about to happen and that’s your advantage. That is why you are always one step ahead. Through time and practice, finesse is an acquired skill that you can have. Although finesse is pretty invisible to the eye since the movements that your fingers are doing might not connote the presence of it. However, sometimes you are not aware that you’re doing a certain move with great finesse. Finesse is highly seen with cardistry. An artform that branched out of sleight of hand in which focuses on shuffling cards purely in a delicate and unique manner. When you see a cardist perform let’s say Tobias Levin or Oliver Sogard, you’ll know that they put a great deal of effort to execute the flourishes that they do. It seems innate in them that they are really born to do cardistry. When in fact, they learned and practiced hard to achieve this level of experience. Same goes with sleight of hand. Tony Chang, one of my inspirations in sleight of hand does it very very well. Since he puts attention to the minute details of the sleight itself to execute it perfectly and with finesse. Don’t get me wrong, perfection is sometimes achieved without finesse. Sequentially, finesse can be achieved without perfection. The two are coexisting together but totally unrelated.

VII MAGIC IS DECEPTION This idea has been presented to me by one of the members of Playing Card Enthusiasts of the Philippines, a local Facebook group of magicians, cardists and playing card collectors here in the Philippines. This idea bulged out of nowhere when a certain post urged people to argue healthily upon a certain fellow who posted a sleight. He presented that Magic is Deception since we are lying to our spectators and not telling them the truth of what we are doing in the back end of things is deception to the people we perform our art to. Deception when defined is the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid. When it comes to magic, it depends if it can play a big role. You are presenting to people something that is impossible to happen. Something that their minds could not comprehend. And with this being said, deception would not be a factor since the goal that you are trying to achieve is not to fool people but to show them something magical. Again, my take on this idea is that “IT DEPENDS”. There are, I think, two motives that a magician has. One is to fool, the other is to show something magical. If your intention is to fool, then yes, deceptive practices are being used in order for them to be amazed. However, if your intention is the latter, then something impossible is made possible and that is in my opinion is a lot more powerful than deception. Although in presenting these two motives, deceptive practices still are being used and it all boils down to how you present it to your spectators. Correct choice of words will matter as well if your intent is the latter since some words would accentuate and empower the trick that you are presenting.

VIII Fundamentals Many young magicians tend to refuse to acknowledge the importance of the fundamentals of sleight of hand card magic. There are several reasons why and in my very honest opinion, these reasons are what affects this issue the most. 1. They want to be cool 2. They want shortcuts 3. They want to learn everything 4. They still haven’t found the real reason why they are doing this 5. They just want to have fun 6. They are not taking this art seriously enough. //They want to be cool. Didn’t we all go through that phase one time? Wherein we want to impress somebody with our “unique skill”? Wherein we want to have a nice first impression with that chick you wanna get to know? We’ve all been there. I think this applies to beginner magicians who are itching to perform yet are still not ready. Which heavily connects to number 2. //They want shortcuts. Many magicians want to learn the real deal when it comes to the art. Many want shortcuts to perform the cleanest DL in existence or any other knuckle busting sleight. Spoiler alert. THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS. This artform requires tons of practice hours and tons of devotion as well. It could take you weeks, hell even months to somehow familiarize your hands with a move. The fundamentals are often overlooked as beginner moves but in retrospect, these moves are the ones you most probably use on a daily basis without you even noticing.

Tony Chang worked on the cover pass for ten years and also worked on a color change for five years. Xavior Spade worked on the Riser for nearly twenty years before even releasing it as a download. He even needed ten full years to perform it with efficiency. Just think about that. //They want to learn everything. You can’t learn everything. It takes almost a lifetime to learn and master 100% fully sleight of hand. Yes, time after time you can learn a new move but learning eveything is virtually impossible. You can though, learn consistently. Which practically is the most advisable thing you can do. But do not overlook the fundamentals still since many of the moves that you want to learn have the fundamentals as a prerequisite to the move itself. //They still haven’t found the real reason why they are doing this. Every magician or sleight of hand artist should ask themselves why they are doing this. Is it for the fame? For you to have a hobby? To impress girls? (Please don’t), to be a legitimate professional magician in time? To be a magic consultant in time? There are many aspects and a broad spectrum of answers that everyone has. Everyone has their own reason as well. Some just haven’t had the chance to ask themselves WHY.

//They just want to have fun. Will I expand more to this reason? Literally they do this just for fun, nothing more. //They are not taking this art seriously enough. I see many young people get into the art but not taking it seriously. They still have not understood the depth of sleight of hand. Per Tony Chang, there are two realities, the internal and the external realities. The External Reality is what you show to your spectator. The Internal Reality is what you show to yourself in the backend. What you have practiced for months on end just to perfect. It’s basically how the sleight moves in the underground. Many are fascinated with the External Reality as they know that they will benefit from the reactions of their spectator when they perform the art to them. However, the artist should be truly fascinated in the Internal Reality even more. Since they succumb their selves in it for so long that they live and breathe it.

IX Is exposing Sleight of Hand in Youtube or Social Media Platforms okay? This has been a common ground for argument over the recent years since we are approaching the digital age and social media is growing exponentially as time passes by. There have been several opinions and arguments circling around Youtube and in Magic forums/groups about this certain topic. For a brief grasp of this controversial topic in magic and sleight of hand, I suggest watching Xavior Spade’s video with Justin Miller and Chris Ramsay and listen very carefully about their thoughts with Sleight of Hand Exposure. If you have, then with an open mind, read through my thoughts about this topic in the next few paragraphs. Sleight of Hand and Magic is highly intertwined with secrecy. Since it is our duty to do and achieve what seems to be impossible and make it a reality. And with doing so, we are altering our spectator’s reality for them to realize that we have, let’s say, turned water into wine, or restored a torn playing card. Quoting one of the best movies I’ve seen which is The Prestige “Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called “The Pledge”. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course...it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary.

Now you’re looking for the secret... but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “The Prestige”. The Turn essentially means what lies behind The Pledge. What is the secret? How has this been done? That is what our artform is built on. Technical, mechanical, intricate and complex procedures developed, practiced and mastered through centuries. Nurtured by every magician and sleight of hand artist all around the world. That is why I think most magicians and sleight of hand artists are very emotional in tackling this thesis. In my very honest opinion, the exposure of sleight of hand is tolerable if it’s only the basic principles of it. There are basic routines and moves in the art that have been already exposed and have been taught correctly. I think that is completely fine. For people to know the basic principles of sleight of hand and magic. It’s their entry point to our world. And it is our duty to welcome them, not kick them out. Many magicians have been closed minded and selfish towards the art that they present. I know that secrecy is a big deal to our artform but people grow everyday and knowledge could be easily acquired digitally as our time goes by. This could not be prevented and there will come a time that most of our basic “secrets” will be exposed.

Now, that is a wake up call for us sleight of hand artists and magicians to step up our game. For sure we do not like to be heckled by laymen saying “Oh, that’s an *insert sleight* you did there!”. Even I do not want that with the rare instances that I perform nowadays. But that cannot be prevented nor extinguished. It will always be there and it will never go away. That’s why it with the digital age pushing forth, and with direct knowledge of our artform readily available in their fingertips, we shall step up to the plate and rise above our ignorance. People may see and search for how a trick is done and they might wait for an encounter with a magician or sleight of hand artist to prove them wrong. But we got a bag of tricks that will shatter their reality in response to their attempt of humiliation. This is our advantage. One advantage as well is this, even if they know the contents of a sleight, they do not know how to do it. Most of the sleight of hand we present are a product of hours and weeks of consistent practice for us to perfect it when presented. Almost 96% of laymen are not able to do that in a day or two The basic principles of sleight of hand were available when we once started as young magi and sleight of hand artists. I myself have started learning this art from Youtube. There are several channels there that teach good basic sleight of hand. It is out duty when delving into the artform to look for what we want to learn more.

This means that if you want to take this art seriously, you have to look further beyond the horizon and search for the good stuff. LEGALLY. Since it is the Creator’s intellectual property. Yes, I do not discount that the basic principles of this art are intellectual properties of pioneer magicians. But, the reason why it is acceptable for their creations to be exposed freely is because these certain selection of sleights or moves are the entry point when it comes to learning it. Look at it this way, the basic sleight of hand techniques that we have now can be considered as common knowledge when it comes to card handling. Let’s say you are learning a double turnover or a Charlier Cut. These two moves in magic and sleight of hand are basically it’s essentials. It is one of the key ingredients of the art. It’s like when you’re cooking Pasta, you need to salt the water for it to be cooked perfectly. And does anybody give credit to that idea? Frankly not. Since it is common knowledge. Now, if you’re learning let’s say The No Break Pass of Akira Fuji. You’re basically buying content from a creator. It is like buying a cook book from Gordon Ramsay wherein he tells you his best recipes to serve. In turn, buying Akira Fuji’s famed touch in a already revered sleight can be considered the same as the previous argument.

Final Thoughts: Sleight of Hand exposure comes at a price. If you want to learn it, go and bask in the information that is readily available to you and learn. However, if you want to figure out a secret, then look away since you’ll just find yourself facing a door with several keys to open it. The routine is simple, the method behind it is complex. And a magician or sleight of hand artist that you’re trying to mess up or figure out can do the same routine to you 52 different times like you’ve never seen it before.

X Dedication. I am not passionate about Sleight of Hand, I am dedicated to it. Passion is merely a thing that I have for it. I owe my life to Sleight of Hand. If it weren't for this, I've eternally succumbed to depression and took my life. You see, 3 to 4 years ago, I have been depressed because of relationships that have been severed. I found myself waking up to a dark room, seeing shadows and hollowed figures creeping upon my feet. I was nearly an inch to giving in. Good thing, it was prevented. By this time, I have sufficient knowledge of the fundamentals of sleight of hand. I do perform them and practice them without persistent thought and application. Just for the sake of having a hobby. During these dark moments I have discovered the true essence of Sleight of Hand and Magic. During these moments it never came to my mind that it saved me. I used Sleight of Hand as a distraction and as a means to keep myself busy instead of being alone in the cold corners of my room. With this being said, I have developed my skill immensely and deepen my knowledge about it. I remember buying Tony Chang’s Thinking on Sleights and watching it every night before I go to sleep. Learning his theory about every move, how he approaches it, and how he delved into sleight of hand.

With labeling myself as a Sleight of Hand Artist, I distanced myself with performing magic to laymen. I as a magician back then and most so often than not, many young magicians as well can relate to this. We were more interested with the reactions that we were gonna get through their spectators. They see themselves as a vessel of happiness and it is their moral obligation to perform magic to people. I do not have any problem with that. No issue whatsoever. It just came to my understanding that the method is much more important than the performance. However, a strong performance can suffice to present a weakly demonstrated method. The difference between a sleight of hand artist and a magician is that magicians are more performance driven and sleight of hand artist are more method driven. How about you? Among all this rubble, where do you place yourself in? A Magician, A Sleight of Hand artist? A Hobbyist? It is for you to decide like what I have done with mine.

Now that you have reached this part of the book, I thank you for taking the time to read through my mind. These are the thoughts that run through my head, that make me crazy and make me lose sleep at night. They keep me awake. Just as my demons haunt me in my dreams.

PRAISE YOU V CARDIPELAGO NEIL LUNA TITIK POETRY DANIEL MADISON TONY CHANG XAVIOR SPADE HENA NIDEA PCEPH