I got a free gold arcane deck from Ellusionist a while ago and I still haven’t opened it. I thought about doing a contest but everyone on facebook and twitter was like “Keep it! Let it age and sell it on eBay for a little fortune!”

These cards are expensive, I guess I could trade it for a deck of Jerry’s Nuggets or two…

But I think I’ll do a contest, a card flouirishing contest. Maybe magic, I don’t know. And I think it should be a YouTube contest…

What would you do?

I need ideas so…

Leave a comment below!

—–

If you got a gold arcane deck for free when you ordered all your cool and expensive magic stuff at E, and want to throw it into the contest as some kind of sponsorship let me know and I’ll give you a call ;)

Preqel® a new card flourish + contest by dananddave
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4hR_16TWCw

Never did we expect such a tremendous turnout of submissions, let alone great ones, when posting this contest to YouTube last month. We thank each and every one of you who participated; your continued support and love of this art form will not go unseen. Keep practicing and always try to push your limits.

152 Submissions, 3 winners… Drum roll please

WINNER Contest #1: Preqel® by nicobva
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UofW7jlh5U
Comments: This video is clean, simple, and to the point. It shows Preqel® in its original form and then offers several unique variations.

WINNER Contest #2: Preqel® + Pandora by niKolanikola13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip-SMsN1_y8
Comments: We tell everyone to use our flourishes as building blocks for their own creations. This was the only video in this category that went above and beyond the simple guidelines of showing Preqel® + Pandora so naturally it wins. And of course that insane Royal Flush production at the end had nothing to do with it taking first place. 

GRAND PRIZE Contest #3: Helix by nastydodger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_PCSx1Ozgo
Comments: I really enjoyed this video along with the descriptive meaning behind it, “2 pairs of hands combined, 2 styles intertwined. Like the “helix” in our blood, the engine for our minds.” These two guys took a simple concept, found a great location, matched it up with original flourishes and edited it to great sounding music. Congrats!

HONORABLE MENTIONS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM6hOrskuvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuzwmLzpIVc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo-TGFtjWt4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG_We6fBwR8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn1DVRpb4qg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZGgfeLc5O4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA98Ut2kJMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcn83M3omNM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJeqdGq6GWE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIx6bqk8p6o

You can view all 152 submissions at: http://www.youtube.com/video_respons…?v=o4hR_16TWCw

This contest was just a small way for us to say thank you. Every now and then some motivation is needed to push the boundaries. Hopefully we succeeded.

Judged by Dan Buck, Dave Buck, and Alejandro Portela (.thecuso)

Until next time,
DAN & DAVE

—

NOTE: The best videos will be posted here as promised. Stay tuned!

These guy have gone crazy again…

Remember the Holiday Giveaway? It’s back and it comes with some real GOLD nuggets. Here are the details…

http://bit.ly/freegoldarcane

Time to go shopping, you can get one of the best Ellusionist classic decks and a stainless steel card clip for free!

From now until Thursday at midnight ALL shippable orders over $75 will receive a FREE Ghost deck AND a free Ghost Steel Card Clip

Make sure you use the coupon code ELL313 to get an extra 5% discount on your entire order.

Click here to go to the special promo: Ellusionist – free ghost deck and card clip

Are you looking for one of those Best Magic Deals on custom playing cards from Ellusionist? Here is a great one…

Now, one of the darkest decks to hit the street is now on sale for almost 50 percent off. Until midnight Thursday, you can buy our Bicycle Shadow Masters decks for $3.87 each (limit of 12 decks).

The Shadow Masters are used by magicians and flourishers because of their shaded design and incredible durability, so this Memorial Day you can spend it weaving your dark art in style.

If you use the coupon code DECKPROMO during checkout you’ll get a 10% extra!

Act fast, this awesome magic deal ends Thursday night.

Click here to go to the sale: Ellusionist Shadow Masters

Hey guys, I got six decks of Tim Burton playing cards in the MoMA museum in New York. I thought I could give them away in a little contest…

But I want to keep a couple of them for me so I’m going to giveaway 4 decks and $20 via paypal so you can buy a few more. Sounds good?

All you have to do is make a card flourishing / xcm video with a Tim Burton feel. Can be the editing, your clothes, the flourishes you use… It’s up to you, but you have to give it that special Tim Burton style.

For those of you that don’t know who the guy is…

Timothy William “Tim” Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American film director and producer who specializes in dark and quirky-themed films such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, but has also produced cinema blockbusters, including Batman, Batman Returns, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Alice in Wonderland.

This is not a promo or anything, just want to give you guys something for free from my trip to NY, and hey, you rarely get payed directly for making a video so work you ass off and put the youtube link down here on the comment’s section.

Deadline is Sunday, April 11.

You have a whole week.

I might post photos and videos of my trip to NYC on my twitter and facebook so go stalk me there if you want.

If you have any questions, leave a comment.

GOOD LUCK!

-Alejandro Portela
.thecuso

I’m working on getting you some cool freebies and deals with my BestMagicDeals website. This one I think it’s pretty good…

I’ve been talking to Alex from ExoMagic to give you guys some Massa decks for free since it’s one of the coolest decks they carry on their store.

He told me he’d throw in 6 free decks for everyone who orders at least two of these cardistry dvds, until supplies last.

I got my deck of Massas on Magic Weekend 08 and filmed Valiente with it at David Pedersen’s. These cards are cool for collecting and fans look really awesome.

If you don’t have them or wasn’t sure about where to get them from then now you don’t have any excuses. Go get them, they are free… for a limited time :P

Here is the list of products…

The Trilogy (3 DVD Set) by Dan And Dave Buck
The Trilogy: Andthensome by Dan And Dave Buck
The System by Dan and Dave Buck
Generation Extreme By Brian Tudor
Card Sharp By Brian Tudor
Generation X By Brian Tudor
Cradle to Grave by De’vo
Xtreme Beginnerz by De’vo
Secret Books of De’vo
Xtreme Beginnerz II by De’vo
Cobra Cut Collection by De’vo
Surfaced by Chad Nelson (Clipshift)

Here is what you have to do next

Make sure you add the 6 massa decks and 2 of the above dvds to your cart and use the coupon code “bestmagicdeals” during checkout to get them for free.

Ekaterina, BabycatXD, has a new contest for you and she’s giving away her first edition “Secret Books” of David Beyer, De’vo, and some Arcane Playing Cards.

Not the best prizes but at least you can resell the book on eBay.

Just kidding…

All you have to do is vote thumbs up (I like) on a facebook fanpage to get her a webdesign upgrade. Just watch the video and you’ll understand.

Here is the link for you to enter the draw: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Montreal-QC/Passion-DLN/294921208797 Just click I LIKE on her wall post.

Thanks and good luck,

Alejandro

Edit: 1 secret books winner and 4 arcane deck winners :)

“My name is Antariksh but most people know me by my nickname Chotu. I’m 19 and from India. I was into magic before but flourishing gripped me more so I shifted my gears last year .This video showcases what I have achieved till now and I hope you enjoy it.

Looking forward to your feedback on improvement – Chotu :D ”

I’ve chosen this video for the third Up and Coming entry because I was shocked when I saw this guy. He opened me a chat on facebook and said, “Hi i’m Chotu, check out my video, I’ve been flourishing for about a year now”. I was like, ok… let’s see (I have to do this like dozens of times every day so I wasn’t expecting it to be this good, seriously)

So I saw those super cool moves and told him, man, you are going to be in the next Up and Coming!

So yeah, congrats Chotu and I hope the guys here can give you some advice on how to spend your following years in this community. Welcome and thanks for your potential contributions ;)

-Alejandro Portela
.thecuso

Read more about the Up and Coming initiative if you want to know how to win some cool prizes by helping the future stars of card flourishing. Visit the original post here: Up and Coming: A new section to push the art forward.

Any help will be appreciated and rewarded.

The last couple of weeks I’ve been talking to Michael from BMPokerworld to give you guys a nice deal on this deck they have produced exclusively with the USPCC.

They got a really small run printed and I thought you wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to get your hands on one of these for your collection.

Brown Bicycle Rider Back

I didn’t present myself as .thecuso but “the guy from Best Magic Deals“, so after I explained what the blog was all about he thought we should do something together.

I tried my best to get you a 50% discount but that would only happen on my dreams… Instead, I managed to squeeze a cool contest that will be up until the end of february.

Brown Bicycle Contest

For every $10 spent from today to the 31st of march you will get an entry for a raffle where you can win a $100 gift certificate to spend on their store. Be it playing cards, poker chips, accessories… (milf not includded in the package)

NOTE: It’s very important that you write a note on your order saying that you want to enter .thecuso‘s raffle.

Wan’t free decks

I also managed to get a coupon code that reads:

“Buy 12 Brown Bicycle decks or more and I will throw in 2 extra decks for free”.

If you want to know how to get this coupon code head over to BestMagicDeals.com and find out ;)

EDIT: Ok, the coupon code is “bestmagicdeals”, feel free to use it but if you find it useful go subscribe to the god damn blog!

-Alejandro Portela

.thecuso

Ok guys, i’ve just got SICK in the mail so after a first quick look through the contents here is my review, I’ll keep it short and direct.

First, if you are a noob (and sorry for that but I couldn’t find a better word) stay away from this.

This DVD is for the passionate only, I’m not bad with coins but haven’t put as much time into them as into my cards so I found it really hard and technical (this is just a first impression, we’ll see in a couple of weeks hehe), but then again, that’s just the way I like it.

Another point to mention. Ponta uses big silver dollars for most of the routines and only half dollars on the matrix ones.

There is a reason to that. I tried with my halves and found it impossible but then I watched the matrix and said… Ok let’s start with these :>

You will need big coins for some of the sleights. Maybe you can practice with poker chips or chinese replicas but if you were planning to make an investment on Morgan dollars, now it’s the time.

About the teaching… You all know: silent, over the shoulder and first person view, slow motion, a couple of text annotations here and there… I think it’s enough.

This DVD will last you a few years to get down. Not only the technical aspect, if you are like me you won’t stop practicing these routines until you’ve mastered them 100%, and that includes achieving Ponta’s level of smoothness.

Good luck with that.

-Alejandro Portela
.thecuso

“Last year we were approached by fashion giant Christopher Wicks’ clothing company English Laundry to incorporate our unique style of magic and card flourishes into a fresh new video that would showcase their brand. The end result is spectacular and to our knowledge, something that has never been done both in the fashion and magic industries. The video, directed by Silas Howard and Ben Peyser of Standard Quality, was shot with a Red camera on location at the Global Rebels warehouse. It incorporates a clever special effect that required us to wear green body suites and be filmed performing flourishes against a green screen.”

-Dan and Dave

Here is another promo video shot in downtown Los Angeles by Dan and Dave Buck for English Laundry to display during the 2009 MAGIC show in Las Vegas.

The goal of this project was to create eye-candy that would visually attract attention and create buzz for English Laundry’s new product line without the aid of a mannequin.

Check out the English Laundry playing cards at Dan and Dave

It’s been a while since the last time I blog something about coins instead of cards but there’s a good reason…

First of all, this DVD is only on sale in Japan at the moment but it’s coming to our market later this month.

Ponta the Smith is a magician from Osaka Japan, and in this DVD, he takes you through his handlings of some of the best coin routines around includding: Spellbound, One Coin Routine, Tenkai Pennies, 3 Coins Across, Vanish, 3 Fly, Winged Silver, Matrix, Backfire Matrix, Quick Matrix, Backfire Assembly.

Ponta the Smith has been a highly-sought, underground sensation and his improvements in the coin genre have taken the world by suprise. With Sick, he’s ready to blow up your conceptions of coin magic. Sick is his first DVD, and it is ready to take coin magic to a higher level of performance. Shot in a visual style, Ponta the Smith doesn’t say a word — he walks you through each one of his moves in an easy-to-learn, up-close style.

The reason I’m blogging this is because, man, I want some Morgan Dollars and I want them RAITNAO!

This damn trailer, and the other performance videos from Ponta the Smith at youtube, have made me want to pick up coin magic again.

I’ve read somewhere on a forum, maybe at the magic café, that this guy has done to coin magic what Dan and Dave did to card magic…

I’m not sure it’s the same thing but trust me, David Roth or Troy Hooser among others didn’t get me so motivated. Even though everyone KNOWS (and i’m no exception) that they are the “pros”.

I can’t wait to pick this up as soon as it’s out (this month) but first I need some good ol’ dollars.

Question is, Schoolcraft or Lassen?

-Alejandro Portela

Check it out: Sick by Ponta the Smith

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/

Hey guys,

A couple of weeks ago I passed the 4500 subscribers mark at youtube and today youtube wants me to tell my followers to subscribe again!

Why?

The subscription system delivers videos from content creators to eager viewers and has become such an essential part of YouTube that that “subscribe” button is clicked over 1 million times every day. That’s a lot — which is why we’re especially focused on improving the reliability, usefulness and transparency of subscriptions.

If you subscribed to .thecuso on youtube before September and want to receive my bulletins, simply visit my channel, click the “Edit subscription” link, and choose “Subscribe to all videos uploaded, rated, favorited, and commented on.”

If you trust my taste and like the selection of videos I blog here you might want to activate this on youtube as well.

If you want to upgrade your subscription go now to http://youtube.com/thecuso and follow the easy steps on the photo, it will only take you 7 seconds.

I promise to bring you more awesome stuff on my youtube channel this year, includding some cardistry tutorials and exclusive videos that you will love and learn from. To all my subscribers…

Thank you,

-Alejandro Portela

.thecuso

Source | Youtube Blog

Cool promotion from Arcane Playing Cards. For a limited time, order an Arcane Card Clip by Joe Porper with the special ace cutout and get a black arcane deck for free.

If you speak to Joe (call him, he’ll talk to you), you’ll realize he feels strongly about metal work.

Joe will talk your ear off about the metal you start with and how you conduct your project. Joe sees no point in doing it if it’s not going to be the best.

Joe implemented our idea for the cutout reveal so that the beautiful Arcane ace could bleed right through the metal. It’s wonderful.

Not only do you get a tough-as-nails, card straightening, card clip to keep your cards safe – but you get a clip that lets the ace shine right through the metal.

Magicians in many countries swear by Porper protective clips, so why not do some mighty fine swearing of your own? Order one, or both, today.

Want more bargains like this one? Subscribe to Best Magic Deals

Hey guys,

2009 is over so we have to choose the cardistry video that represents this awesome year.
I could have put way a lot more videos on the list but I tried to narrow it down to only a few. I know it is a bit biased but hey, this is my site after all hehe.

Anyway, here is the poll.

[poll id="2"]

If you want to rewatch the videos before you submit your vote click the thumbnails above.
Enjoy, again,

-Alejandro Portela
.thecuso

PS: If you want to help the participants make sure you post this on the forums and share it on facebook and twitter.

HO HO HO!

I know you’ve been waiting for this for almost a month and it’s been killing you and all that but today the wait is over.

52 of you have been chosen by the stars to be one of the lucky winners. It has been an awesome experience climbing down your chimneys and falling down your rooftops.

This giveaway has been a huge one thanks to all the sponsors that made it possible, let’s give them a big round of thankful applause!

I just want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

Congratulations for being so awesome,

Here is the complete list of winners: Christmas Giveaway Contest Winners

There will be more contests and special deals really really soon so subscribe to Best Magic Deals’ RSS Feed, Email Newsletter, Twitter and Youtube.

Once again congrats to the winners and everyone who participated and see you on the next one!

-Alejandro Portela “Santa Cuso”

Hey guys ,

The Anaconda DVD is already Up and Coming property thanks to Ekaterina who donated it for the views and comments she received on her “Second Best Job in the World” video.

Get involved

I’ve been re-reading the comments you guys are posting at the Up and Coming #1 and #2 and taking notes for myself to later decide who is going to win the prizes.

So far I have a few names in my mind but I want to see more people involed contributing with knowledge and experience. It’s not only about commenting a video but to help the new card flourishers on their path to the top.

Kate needs your vote!

Kate posted a video this morning with the instructions to help her out in the last stage of the contest. You don’t need to register or anything, just click thumbs up on her video (and thumbs down on her competitors’ if you want hehe). It’s pretty easy and it takes less than 10 seconds.

Here it is for you to check:

I’m sure that if we help her be at least on the top 3 she is going to throw in some more goodies. Here is the link to the site you have to go to vote for her: Vote for Kate

New Up and Coming Prizes

I’ve been contacted from different people wanting to donate stuff for the Up and Coming section. Some of them are the ones who already donated stuff for the holiday giveaway but I have new ones with super cool gifts.

Again, I want you to contribute actively. Although .thecuso is not a forum I consider you guys part of a small community or a big family if you want, let’s take cardistry to the next level.

One of the prizes for this year‘s Up and Coming is the Titan’s Finger “Twist” by Titanas, a neat magic effect that allows you to twist your finger 180 degrees. Since Best Magic Deals are donating it, I thought you might want to check out the review posted there by Dee Christopher.

I think it’s an awesome thing to do as a cardistry gag after someone sees you do your crazy flourishes and ask the usual “That must take a lot of practice right?” So you can reply, “Well, you just need some flexibility on your fingers, check this out…”

You can check out the trailer to see what it looks like here: Titan’s Finger by Titanas.

Who said you can’t mix magic with card flourishes?

-Alejandro Portela

Happy Holidays guys,

Christmas is here and it comes with a nice red sack filled with shiny gifts for you, my loyal and adorable readers.

I’ve been talking to a few friends and companies about sponsoring a unique giveaway with magic products, playing cards and collectors’ items… because I know everyone loves free stuff, am I right? ;)

What first started as a small contest for Black Friday has turned into one of the richest giveaways with contributions from the main companies in the business and big names from card flourishing, magic, hypnosis and mentalism.

You are the ones that make .thecuso and I want to thank you for being there everyday, sharing your videos and ideas and helping others with your tutorials and constructive comments.

Christmas is a good time to give back and reward you for being part of this growing family.

“There are 52 Christmas packets for 52 different winners with an estimate total value of over $1200 in magic gifts.”

Before I explain the rules of the game let’s take a look at the good stuff.

THE PRIZES

1 Pack of Signed 1st Edition Smoke and Mirrors by Dan and Dave‘s (one of each).
2x Downloads of your choice from Vanishinginc Magic Store.
2x Decks of Bicycle 125th Aniversary from Aceking
3x Packs of 1 Black and 1 White Arcane Playing Cards.
3x Karnival Assassin decks from trickshopmagic
2x “One-Hand Popover” DVDs from Aaron Fisher
1x “GENESIS” Download from Andrei Jikh
1x “Surfaced” DVD from Chad Nelson
2x Signed Copies of 1st ed. “Inside” from Daniel Madison.
6x Uncut sheets of Bicycle Raiders From MagicNetwork
2x “My night with a stripper” DVDS by Chris “Orbit” Brown
1x “Stain/Shiv” DVD by Andrew Mayne
1x Copy of Hong Wong’s hypnosis DVD “ZAP” from Jay Noblezada
1x Full “Reality is Plastic” Hypnosis Book and DVD set from Anthony Jacquin
1x “Manchurian Approach” Hypnosis DVD set from Anthony Jacquin and Alakazam
1x $200 worth annual subscription to MagicMez
2x Packs of 3 Red/Blue Bicycle Vintage Racer Backs from Eyellusionist
2x Packs of 3 Red/Blue Tally Ho Fan Backs from Eyellusionist
2x Packs of 3 1st edition Bicycle Raiders From MagicNetwork
6x PDF downloads of your choice from Dee Christopher
1x $25 gift certificate to spend on Dan and Dave‘s On Demands
1x “Thunderbird” PDF from Lee Asher
3x 1-on-1 Training Videos (of your choosing) from Theory 11
5 “Devious” PDF from Geraint Clarke

How to win

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment below before everyone else.

Yes, that’s all.

The first 20 people that leave a comment will receive a prize from the above list. 100% sure.

The rest of the gifts will be assigned at random from all the comments received before the 25th of December, just make sure you use your personal email when you post the comment so we can contact you if you win.

RULES

In order to participate, you must write a Christmas related comment. It could be a quote, a funny line, something cheerful or simply your best wishes for the holidays. Be creative and original, but please try not to be repetitive.

Want a suggestion? Start writing it down right now and store it somewhere in your computer so when the time comes you can copy-paste it right away. It will save you some precious time.

How will you know when the comments are open?

I highly encourage you to subscribe to the rss feed or email newsletter, friend me on facebook and follow me on twitter.

Especially the last ones… because there, I’m going to announce the official launch in real time and give you some clues and hints prior to the event.

Hey, that’s optional, you can always try the oldschool “refresh page” method muahaha!

How to double your chances of winning

Here is a little trick you can do to double your chances of winning one of the gifts.

With your twitter account follow @BestMagicDeals and retweet the following message:

“@BestMagicDeals RT to Win over $1200 worth of magic, cardistry, poker and hypnosis products. More info at http://bit.ly/santacuso”

Sounds good, right?

Stay tuned and alert, Santa Cuso is watching you…

Good luck,

-Alejandro Portela

—

Looking for good magic coupon codes to save on your orders? Take a look at Best Magic Deals…

Hi guys,

As promised here is the second (and last) Up and Coming post of 2009. This time I’m going to introduce you to these two guys from Kazakhstan, Aituar Kazbekov and Sergey Lagutin.

When I saw the video I thought it would be perfect for the Up and Coming because I’m sure you guys have a lot to say about it. Production wise, style, moves, etc.

Here is the video, enjoy.

…

What you have to do here is to obviously check out their video and take a couple of minutes of your day to write a constructive comment about what you’ve just seen. Of course you want your comment to be as in-depth and relevant as you can if you want to opt in for the rewards but that doesn’t mean you have to only say positive things about the video.

Be objective, highlight the good things but don’t forget the bad things because those are what really matter in the end.

You know this Up and Coming initiative wasn’t conceived just to encourage people to write more comments but to help the newcomers to get quicker to the top so think of ways to make that possible and let’s move the art forward one step at a time.

Here comes the cool part…

Rewards

Oh, before I forget, let’s talk about some of the prizes for the first two “Up and Coming” posts (if you missed the first one you can check it out here: Up and Coming #1)…

If you help Kate with their modeling stuff here, she will donate a sealed copy of Bone Ho’s Anaconda DVD, the “Secret Books” of De’vo vol.1 and some cards.

Chad Nelson contacted me the other day to offer a copy of the best seller Surfaced DVD where you can learn the multiple variations of the famous Clipshift color change.

I will make sure my friend Jason Brumbalow throws in some Arcane decks.

Dan and Dave are also willing to contribute with some gift cards filled with magic cash for their store and other cool stuff I can’t tell you just yet.

Contribute as much as you can and it will pay off.

-Alejandro Portela
.thecuso