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 prac-
tice 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 rea-
sons 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 some-
thing 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