Hey people
Kinda embarassing, but i can't do a decent pressure fan...Any tips on how to make a good one??

Please feel not ashame. Neither can I do it as well. Your audiences will never care what is pressure fan and all about. Only your peer magicians will care about it. Please ponder. Just my two cents.

Of cause you'll feel satisfy once you've realised you able to execute some difficult flourishes or sleight of hands. Though is it worth to spend much time on that. Think it yourself.

hey forrest...
I wanna learn the pressure fan, not as a flourish, but I find it useful a useful tool and it helps with certain sleights...

IMO pressure fan, indeed its not as easy as Thumb fan. Most of the fans i do is thumb fan (check out the MMF dedication vid when it comes out).

I can do a pressure fan but its not a good one. I wish it could be as good as Jerry's! haha.. tat's why XB its on its way. :P

Eric, i think all it takes is practice and adjustments. everyone's got difference hand size thus need slight adjustments to make it look good. Hope u get the hang of it soon.

Cheers!
Brendan

brendan, at least u still can do 1 tho its not nice.. my pressuse fan looks like a piece of ****!! :( i think i have to pay full attention to the 1 hour fanning ws by jerry :)

dam0n, what's your input on this, you stingy bast***d ....:P Hehe

hey hey... my pressure fan like crap one la... i said i can do... but well, everyone can do a thumb fan, but can they do a nice looking thumbfan? that's the Q..

oh yeah forgot to ask
when you do the pressure fan, do you use just your right middle and ring finger (+ your thumb) to bend the cards...or do you use your index finger as well?

eric, i use a combo... start off with middle and ring finger and then nearing to the end my index play a part as well.... lol...

how do u do urs? how abt others?
Brendan

Hi eryanic,

For the pressure fan, I use all my fingers except the pinky, from start to finish. And then finally the closing with one hand. However, this is with a bridge-sized deck!

To be able to execute a pressure fan, it is preferable to have cards that have been sufficiently seasoned. It's the same as card springing. You wouldn't wanna bother springing a brand new deck of Bicycles!

I am also aware of the many methods to "artificially" season the cards. But really, IMO, there is no better way than to simply break down the deck naturally. And how do I do it? I practice the Faro Shuffle... over and over again, ending it with a waterfall. Give it a try and see. And be patient!

Nice tips on the pressure fan and how to break in to the deck there anderson.

I often dribble my cards and riffle... and yeah faro.... and in no time my card will be in perfect condition for fanning. lol

The riffle followed by the waterfall would work just fine as well.

By the way, the waterfall I am referring to is from the Royal Road to Card Magic book. I am sure some books refer to it differently, or waterfall shuffle as another thing altogether. Can get real confusing!

i give up!! cos my pressured thumb fan looks as nice as a pressure fan!! no matter what i just cant do a pressure fan even i learnt from the flourishman.. just giv up.. rather spend my time on other moves.. :)

I'm with you brother!

I went from a no pressure fan to at least 95% of the ideal within..3 months...
lets change your mine...once you've got it, its one of the most fun fans to do....the kinna feeling that you won't get from a thumb fan...

as opposed to what most people say, My pressure fan is done with a relatively new deck (one weeks usage on and off...)..and relatively less "pressure"
to imagine how much pressure, read the following-->

"hold the deck as you would for a pressure fan (deck facing audience), slowly add pressure, so that the (back) cards bend first. If you continue adding pressure, more cards (towards the face) will start to bend.

-->so how much pressure is enough? --->I stop pressuring so that there are at least 10-13 cards from the face which remain relatively "unbent"

finally, place the deck in the opposite hand, and bend the deck slightly (this will bend the final 10-13 cards) as you start to rotate your (pressure hand).


3 other tips
: pressure increase for a short while when you start the fan, and immediately decreases. This is where the condition of the deck will help. I find that eventually, it is the side of the index finger that will finish complete the fan

: make sure the first joint of the index finger meets the "edge" of the deck on top.
best of luck!
:watch your thumb (the fanning hnd)

and just watch jerry do it over and over on XB..I believe I learned it from slow-mowing everytime he did a pressure fan which was actually better then him teaching it. lol~..

Hang in there guys. Don't give up so easily! Some people pick certain things up fast in one area, and slow in another. Nothing wrong with that. It only shows you are human! If I were you, I would be more worried if I was picking everything up real quick. Something wrong in genes!

Anyway, when I had to do the pressure fan in front of my mentor, I didn't have much problems with it. It was the split fans that were killing me. In contrast, some of my peers had no problems with split fans, but the pressure fans were a challenge. Same with ball manipulation. I thought I signed my death warrant when it came to the four ball split! But in time I picked it up, and till today I am still polishing it! Just remember this. If someone else can do it, so can you!

If you get fed up with it, take a break. Come back and re-visit it some other time. Maybe when you have a broken down deck or a new deck or something. Whatever is your preference. And if a new deck works for you, who am I to say you are wrong? ;)