Whats your favourite control to the top
 

There are a million ways to do it, but what is your personal favourite way to control a card from the middle of the pack to the top? Of course the choice varies depending on the context but in general what is your favourite method?

I'm pretty sure I don't know of all the good ones yet so it would be helpful to hear what you guys use regularly. At the moment I mainly use switches and a great convince and control cull rather than going for a pass, since I have not put in enough time yet on my passes. I'm also working on Chris Brown's venus trap and some variations on it because I think it is very strong when done well. What do you think?

Fin

I guess one of my personal favourites is the DL. There's also another method, but the name of the method gives away the secret, so I guess I can't say it out in public. Of course, depending on the context of the trick and situation the way I control the cards differ, but I just usually use simple shuffling to control it if I'm performing for laymen. They don't know better :D

Usually for effects where you don't get to see the card, I would just use a Herrmann or Turnover Pass. Otherwise, Blind Square's Brother seems to work just fine.

Repulse control

I use my variation on the Daniel Garcia - "Ego slip"
EDIT : I Also use a control to the bottom I invented, which I call the "Beast control".

i'd say my favorite is a version of palming and slapping the card on top( don't know it's name, nor if it's been done before, i thought of a way and simply do it naturally, so i use it alot)

Good question - worthy of a video response :)



Guys, feel free to criticize.
-Tom

I loved it! The switch from the second control had me amazed. The only criticism I could give is that the thread is about a top control...

Wooey! That was great Tommy. Lovely handling of the cards and made it look totally effortless. I'll be working on the second one you used.. The 1st time I saw it the p***ing move was almost totally invisible so I had to watch it again very closely to work it out. A layman wouldn't have a chance! Really nice!

Ps. What cards were you using there? Are they D&D's?

Cheers
Fin

True, depends of the situation..
But one that i like is spread pass...

Cool, thanks for watching David. I mean this is really a vid for magicians and although I have put this on my youtube channel, I stated that this is not a performance, more of a demo. I need to apply these to a routine.

---------- Post added at 09:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------

Thanks for watching Fin. As I said in the vid it's more to do with the moves in that second control. I think it's a bit gratuitous because there are much simpler ways to achieve the same thing... but on the other hand, if one is feeling flashy...;)
The cards are STUDS, cheap and cheerful witth a nice finish and back design, a change from bikes

Oh I just noticed how bad my grammar was. All fixed.

i liked the 2nd one a lot as well, it's the same as my style too

Thanks for commenting. That's interesting you said that because the move came to me through my love of watching artists such as Akira Fuji and Ponta the Smith. Forgive my ignorance but maybe it's the asian style. I mean that magicians from the east have a very different style to magicians from the west.

i don't really think so( well, the "Asian style" part), i'm the only one who likes to use (temporary) palms for controls in my club when performing( actually, i'm the only one who could actually do it naturally). But it is true that Eastern people have a different style from those on the West( imo), cause Eastern people are entertained because they think it's interesting, the tricks must usually be swift and visual or it loses people's attention, and Western people are entertained genuinely because they want to be, so it doesn't really matter how long it takes them to watch the whole thing.

Again, the above are just what i conceive, they aren't necessarily true nor are they hard hitting facts.

Very interesting insights la0o9

The one I use most often is probably just a simple Hindu Shuffle control

I balley see anyone use the hindu shuffle controls and flase shuffles now. THey are always using overhand shuffles. I should master the hindu shuffle ones and fool some of those yt magicians!

Lol, I have seen tons of people doing it. Kammagic does it too.

That being said, I don't think there is much magical about using it because you lose a card in a motion, the motion of shuffling. Laymen could easily guess that you controlled something, which is exactly what you don't want them to think. Sure it works fine if incorporated well, but yeah.. :rolleyes:

It just depends on if you are trying to create the illusion that a card is in the center or the pack, or if it is lost and could be anywhere in the pack. If the shuffle looks natural enough I don't think there should be any reason for a laymen to suspect that a card has been controlled. In my experience most laymen are not familiar at all with the idea of a controlled shuffle.