Michael Herp entered a video contest hosted by Peter Jackson (Yeah, Lord Of The Rings dude) and he needs your vote.
Here is his message:

Hey Guys, as explained in the video, I really really need your support to win. 60 seconds of your time could change the course of my future!
http://www.your-big-break.com/entry/12018
There’s the direct link to my video, Perception, so go vote! Big Thanks!

-Michael Herp

But that’s not all.

Andrei Jikh is swinging back and forth the top 4 at the Nikon Festival Contest. If you haven’t commented there go now and give him the last push to win this. His video is just insane.
Don’t forget to rate 5 stars, that’s what counts and you don’t even need to be registered.

Here is his video: http://www.nikonfestival.com/blog/2009/12/09/in-the-cards/

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or email newsletter. You can also try Twitter if you want to know more about Alejandro Portela. Thanks for visiting!

Help Andrei Jikh win the Nikon Festival 2009 http://www.nikonfestival.com/blog/2009/12/09/in-the-cards/ … leave a comment there to take our art to the next level.

An instant flashback of a character’s life and all that’s significant to him all in one day. The Cardistry (card stunts) represent all the complexities and problems of life that live within him.

A short film I produced with the help of my trusty friends. Spanning over two weeks and a multitude of locations in Las Vegas, Nevada which was both a blessing (lots of lights), and a curse (too many casinos]. We had a blast making it! It was a ton of fun.

We need as many laymen watching this as possible. It only takes a minute. Go comment!

-Alejandro Portela
.thecuso

Andrei Jikh doing some flourishes for the new Bicycle 125 (years) deck.

theory11 is proud to present a collaboration that can officially come to light – the Bicycle 125’s. The decks will be marketed worldwide in the months to come, but we are honored and privileged to unveil them exclusively today, weeks ahead of the public release date.

Kinda cool eh?

Here is my biased review on Genesis to get you guys to hear my sexy spanish accent.

Nah seriously, this IS the DVD you are looking for, no matter your skill level or style. Genesis is hands down the best cardistry DVD ever released.

I’m going to briefly go over the contents highlighting what caught my attention.

I must say it took me 4 days to watch all of it because there is so much stuff here that it’s insane.

And that’s just the first quickie I gave it! This material will last me months to master…

So…Let’s begin:

Charlier Cut

Loved the tips on real life perfomances to give meaning to what we do and those funny lines to involve the audience. Really valuable advice.

Thumb Cut

I learned it the wrong way!!!

Now I understand why so many people is adicted to these cuts, now my flares look much better with Huron Low’s ninja style.

Scissor Cut

I have to say I miss some advanced applications here but the teaching for the basic move couldn’t have been any better.

One Hand Revolution Cut

Is Brian Tudor the father of the move? I remember it took me a while to get used to the mechanics but soon it became one of my favourite flourishes when I was starting out.

The one in my right hand always looked a bit weaker so I’m happy that Andrei is a lefty.

Angel

A beautiful move by Bone Ho. Andrei teaches the way to do it if your hands are as dry as a “mojama”.

Widthwise Triangle

This is not the method I use but it is the same result so it’s always nice to train alternatives. He also gives you tips to add flare and personality. Don’t skip this part.

Lengthwise Triangle

I love the advanced handling using hand motions and his “Blink” move to close it. I actually use the Lengthwise Triangle in one of my flourishes that you can, by the way, quickly get a glimpse in Sexy Time, I call it “Triángulo”.

One Handed Shuffle

This is the first flourish i’ve ever learned, even before the charlier cut. When I first saw this in Rene Lavand’s hand I fell in love with card flourishing. Andrei gives some nice points on how to master this tough guy.

Thumb Propulsion

Aka Long Distance Spinner. A move I’ve never been able to do. Will move it up my to-do list right after finishing this review. I must learn this move in order to be able to…

“Do your flourishes, do your applaudes cue, and when they’re applauding McBride the f*ck out of them” -Ineski

Spring

Andrei explains all techniques in this extensive in-depth tutorial, even The Virts’ way is touched here.

One of the most impressive and all time Stars of card flourishing.

Flower Fan

Another one that I have to practice in order to get an even full circle shape. Credits to Jerry and Jeff McBride. Girls love this one.

One handed Fan

Andrei Jikh’s one handed fan is one of the best I’ve seen, i mean, there’s Jaspas’, Shoeman’s and Huron’s but hey, we are talking about Andrei’s DVD here right? ;)

I have to practice this in my left hand as I normally do a Carnahan Fan instead so again thanks Andrei for being lefty.

Thumb Fan

It truly is one hell of a tough move when you are starting. I love the way Andrei forms it with that 360 spiky shape.

Watch out for the “oilies”! Great tips on how to perform it on stage and live performances.

Angel Slide

Shows you how to apply concepts from other artforms that have affinity to inspire you to create new moves. Really fun to practice. I love it.

Blink

The cherry on top kinda move. “If you Blink you’ll miss it”. A little one to use after a combo or as a transition between flourishes.

Angel Catch

Love the performance clip of this move with the thumb cuts sequence. Simple yet effective.

Time shot

I loved this move when I first saw it in the trailer. Going to use it for sure but first I need a good one handed fan in my left hand (where i wear my watch). Both methods taught are cool.

Pickwhip

You already saw the intro for this one. First you learn the swing cut as a prerequisite. Pacman easter egg ftw.

52 motions closer

Nice way to close a thumb fan, I’ve been experimenting with a few differentways myself. They make your fans look much much better, dont underestimate the closers!

Basic Card in Fan

Easy to do. Fun to practice. Good looking. You MUST learn this one.

Tetra

Credits to Matt Lang and Daniel Garcia. Again simplicity here is the key. A tricky move. I love this concept of instant surprise and actually use it in one of my flourishes (Satellite).

Bullet shot

Extremely easy, you get a lot of control over the flick. A nice alternative. Not recommended if you are a poss girl, watch the explanation and you’ll understand why.

Card in Flower Fan

Another aerial catch move. If you can do the flower fan then you can do this one. Nice subtlety on how to handle the card you toss in the air in order to increase the chances of catching it into the fan.

Rewind

Credits to Jerry for the deck twirl concept. Beautiful move. I adore deck twirls.

Flashback

An aerial two-packets false cut. Looks damn great when done up to speed. I will use it.

Twitter

Credits to Ling “Nemesis” Xuan and shoutout to Decknique. I like the sound the cards do when you perform it.

Bullet

The move I was interested the most in learning ever since I saw the underground “Contents” and “Allan’s edit” videos.

Can’t belive it is so simple to do! I need Andrei’s speed on this one. DAMN!

Basic ONE

LOL at the Secret Books easter egg at the intro.

Gotta love the flare that Andrei adds to the move. Makes it look completely unique.

ONE Charlier

Awesome when done in both hands. This is “bringing sexy back to the charlier cut”.

Rebound Concept

The good stuff will be in the upcoming volumes of Genesis.

Winged Concept

Another great concept using a fan as a platform. You have to see it to understand it’s potential.

Winged Instant Three

One hand revolution + one handed fan = Instant aerial triangle

Arial Winged Throw

Awesome looking. I love it. Works great with cobra-ish sound effects, you know what I mean.

Blanco ONE

– Alejandro Portela (That’s me!)

Blanco one is an idea I showed to Andrei Jikh in a quick late night webcam session. He liked it so much that thought would be a great addition to the first volume where he explains the ONE concept.

It’s not the most original thing I have but it blends pretty well with Andrei’s style. If you already know how to do Blanco from my public tutorial then this is a piece of cake.

Carnahan Fan

– Dan and Dave

One of my favourite fans there is. And I’m sure everyone’s too. Nice bicycle eco deck there twins, I want one now!

Learn the history of the move from Dave itself and why was he chosen for Smokin’ Aces instead of Dan.

Overall GENESIS Impression

“5/5 stars from me dawg!!!”

If you missed last night’s iTricks clinic you can watch it right here.

Andrei Jikh and Justin Robert Young discuss some points on cardistry originality, how to stand out and find your own persona in the card flourishing world.

Andrei talks about his early days in the “Hardcore” side of Xtreme Card Manipulation, how he started imitating the man behind De’vo Vom Schattenreich and how he started to move away into the path that would lead him to being a “rising star”.

Pretty interesting video podcast where you can see some familiar faces, check it out.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that the Arcane Playing Cards have been officialy released?

I’m sure I did ;)

-Alejandro

Official preview video for GENESIS v1 by Andrei Jikh, available October 31st at 11:00pm EST exclusively at theory11.

Over 3.5 hours of cardistry training jam packed into one disc – this is only the beginning. Welcome to GENESIS Volume 1.

I’m teaching a variaton of my Blanco Cut that uses some Andrei’s mojo, the BLANCO ONE.

Enjoy,

Alejandro Portela
.thecuso

The debut project of cardistry prodigy Andrei Jikh. The most comprehensive cardistry DVD set ever made, with 70+ moves over 3 DVD’s.

Shot on location in Hollywood, California and Las Vegas, NV. Full details coming soon

A video dedicated to my favourite cardist, Mr. Andrei Jikh =) Thanks for all the inspiration!

-Garry A

Three years ago one move was launched into the underground world of flourishing. Previously seen by select few…it’s here to take the public communities by storm as it did with the underground.

This time…it comes from the creator himself…Andrei Jikh.

A combination of moves resulting in one of the most fundamentally difficult card stunts ever to be created. Visual. Creative. Stunning. Imposyble.

Special thank you and tribute to legend Chris Kenner.

A flourishing routine with an surprise in the end.

“Different cuts done in a single shot. Experimenting with a different style. Mad props to Andrei for the first combo. Kevin, Dimitri and Kent get credits for overall inspiration.”

-Ineski

Andrei Jikh contacted me to remind that the auction for his personal White Centurions deck is ending within today so dont miss the chance to get a piece of history signed by the man that is revolutionizing the cardistry scene.

This is what he told me:

“In addition, I will provide one Las Vegas Club Special or one Brown Wynn Deck upon request, both of which are extremely limited and rare. Decks will also be signed upon request, contact me at jikhvladimir@yahoo.com”.

Right now they’re pretty affordable at $26 the lot. Here is the link to the auction: WHITE CENTURIONS BY ANDREI JIKH

PTV, a well known eBay seller has listed an unsold brick of Jerry’s Nugget decks, the last he has in stock. You don’t usually get the chance to see so many Jerry’s Nuggets listed at the same time so take advantage of it while you can, the higher supply the lower prices.

Bidding starts at $1000 which makes the decks $83 each, SEALED!. A bargain, isn’t it?
Here is the link to the auction: UNSOLD BRICK Of 12 DECKS JERRY NUGGETS CARDS

Where will you spend your saved bucks before the summer ends?

You can check out our PlayingCardCollectors.com forum for more good deals.

An original advanced shape-shifting sequence of mine from 2004. The concept is nothing original and has been experimented with for years. Special thanks to Nebel, Shoeman, and _ _ _ m _ for the conversations that led to this video and for jogging my memory.

Triangle, Square, Triangle, Double Triangle, Rhombus.

Enjoy.

Underground Creations from Moneyzrus 2005.
A video that echoed through the underground circles and has reached no more than ten people. The skill may not be so impressive; however, the creative ideas behind this video still stand strong to this days. Something completely different resurfaced from the past.

-Alejandro Portela

Subscribe to Andrei Jikh’s Youtube videos and stay tunned for more underground videos to come.

The’me [theem] [The Me - Andrei Jikh's style]

After leaving the Cardistry community for over a year, Andrei Jikh returned to bring you some of the newest material the card world has ever witnessed.

January 30, 2008.

Theory11 presents their new artist, Andrei Jikh. A very talented cardist from Vegas that started his career as a flourisher back in 2002 and after some issues in the Handlordz/Superhandz community he decided to continue alone until today.

Get ready to feel his rage.

Yesterday Theory11 holded a Saturday Night Contest in which you had to create a flourish within 3 hours.

I loved Andrei’s “Bam bam boom boom” using Bone Ho’s “Angel” spin move with a Joey Burton’s Skater Cut display look.

He obviously won and here is the video for you to enjoy.

“You start to love yourself when Andrei Jikh tags his videos with your name.”

-Alejandro Portela

This is an old video, made in Late 2005 – Early 2006 by my friend Scott, the brother of Sean. Yeah, Scott and Sean.
However, this is just Scott’s entry to a contest on 21Ace, which he won, becoming “a Card Trick Champion”. How weird that sounds lol.

Credits to Andrei Jikh, Bone ho, Dan and Dave, Jonas Haglund, Sean, De’vo and Jerry Cestkowski.

Enjoy, you better do.

Impossible…no more.

(The formation of a square from the back of the hand, a technique that was long regarded as impossible is finally a reality.)

-Andrei Jikh, creator. (developed in 2006)

Credits: De’vo for the idea of the square (method is original and was released before De’vo’s public release of the Viereck) Editor: Daren Yeow.

Here is Phil’s attempt and redefinition of Andrei Jikh’s XX flourish as seen in his Two Video.

I decided to refine Andrei’s cut to my liking, so here is my version of Andrei’s XX.

Here are just two little moves from me, a special thanks to Chris Kenner and Jonas Haglund. (originally “XXX”… presently “XX” with a slightly smoother closer).

-Andrei Jikh

“In addition to providing a place for people to post videos and discuss flourishes, the Handlordz forums were also the first to host a ‘battle’ section, where users could call each other out for a challenge.

The stipulations of each battle are not set in stone; the criteria and rules are made and agreed on by the challengers, and the winning video is usually decided by votes from forum users or a decision from a higher authority (usually the Handlordz forum staff.)

Starting in 2004, the tradition proved to be a very popular one, eventually resulting in the first Handlordz tournament, of which this video was a part of. In it, Andrei Jikh (then username ‘Moneys R Us’) was up against Mykal Seifers (then username ‘Seif’), with the category being Aerials, and criterion for judging being Smoothness, Creativity, Difficulty, Cool Factor, and Technique. (Side note: Andrei later on went to win the tournament.)

The concept of user-manufactured battles still continues to this day, many of which can be seen here:

http://superhandz.yuku.com/forums/6/t/XM-BATTLEZ-CHALLENGES.html ”

-cardclassics