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!!!”

Here is our entry to the Cardistry Collaboration Contest 2009.

Performances by Stein Halvorsen & David Pedersen
Filmed by Stein Halvorsen & David Pedersen
Edited by David Pedersen

Filmed with Sony HDR-HC7
Edited with Final Cut Express 4 & Adobe After Effects CS4
Music from Videocopilot.net

Thanks to from Daryl Easton, Ashford Kneitel, Dan and Dave Buck, Jerry Cestowski, Huron Low, Kevin Ho, Daren Yeow

It’s Cardistry Collaboration Contest time at Theory11 so I’m going to blog my favourite entries.

Let’s start with the “canaSians” Tam, Garry and James with this “All Your Deck Are Belong To Us” video.

A few new refreshing ideas but everything in the same $%&##GGRR~¬$% fast and chaotic style we are used to.

The highlights are the “story”, James’ fans, Garry’s wind elemental spin at 1:48 and the collab moves.

I think Tam could have done much more, he is probably my favourite of all three and I didn’t see much in this video.

Nice one anyway.

Good luck!

-Alejandro

Inspired by Lee Asher’s video where he talks about crediting in magic, I decided to use a similar format to say something that I’ve always wanted to say.

What do you think?

Now try yo get some 1st editionSmoke and Mirrors before the prices rise too much.

At first when seeing them, the A-omoro-decks came to mind. For now, I’m sharing most of the negative opinions, but I’ll still be awaiting some proper reviews. I too have a feeling these might look nicer in person.

I agree with the double D-stuff, as much as I usually like those, they didn’t really work here. For me, it’s about the fact that Ellusionist, Theory11, etc advertise on their cards by using web-adresses and such.

I dislike obvious marketing.

Fine if it’s a symbol or such that only people involved will recognize, but not a web-adress. We might be a bit too concerned about it though, this is a very subtle one. I don’t know if any layman will even think about the fact that there’s 2 D’s on the back.

But I also have a feeling the design will look a bit empty if you erase the D’s and the dots, here’s a quick render of that. I get the feeling the center-design will make packet-displays look very nice though, since you get a clear picture of where every packet is.

Awaiting real-life reviews for now, might purchase later.

-Jonas Haglund

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

Eleven random members that order DANGEROUS within the first hour of release tonight will also receive a signed copy of Lethal – the last 11 remaining copies of the original printing that d+M has in possession. Each Lethal disc has a signed Golden Nugget’s playing card within – a perfect collector’s item.

Two previews will be posted at the time of release – one for Mystique (volume I – magic); one for Motion (volume II – flourishing).

“On Friday the 13th Daniel Madison is releasing Dangerous, a cardistry DVD that will be sold at Theory11.com”

Daniel, if you read this please send me a free copy :P

-Alejandro

Preview 002 for Dangerous
featuring just a few of the effects/flourishes icluded
Coming soon

“Something Dangerous this way comes”
Sneak Preview 001

What are those ladies screaming at?

Theory11 knows how to sell stuff, and so does D+M. This is Madness…

Fiddling Steve and I entered this competition with one purpose. We didn’t enter the competition to try to gain fame, to better theory11, or prove anything. We entered to win. We realized that if we could put part of ourselves into the video – show everyone our personalities, that we would be different. Rather than pretending to be mysterious and underground we took you with us on our day in the city. Along the way several strange things happened, such as a cab driver telling me that the card I produced in his window was his, the random man walking up to me asking about how I threw cards so far, and more that couldn’t be shown.

We had a good time sharing each other’s company and hope that those watching can appreciate this. It is a true rarity in this world to find a fellow flourisher who lives in such close proximity. Add to this, a true camaraderie and the number suddenly drops to single digits. We understood this – it greatly improved our odds. If we could perform moves that utilize the two of us, we would enter into unchartered territories. Surely a panel of judges would appreciate two person moves in a collaboration competition, right? Well…one would think so.

Don’t take this the wrong way; the F501 video was truly an eye-popping work of cinematography. I have the upmost respect for you guys and wish you all luck in the future, although you really don’t need it. What troubles me about the results is the grading system. It seems fair. You look for videos that contain quality, originality, creativity, and a certain something. Naturally the last quality is somewhat gray; there’s no way to concretely explain what makes something “pop.” However, for the other three, there most certainly are. Theory11, you want to be the best forum, store, media center? Learn from those who have had contests before you. Handlordz, the originators of the so called “Battle”, created a system that declared a winner without any doubt. Like a teacher grading a paper, a rubric was designed that graded each portion of the video. This ensured the fairest results.

What happened was, you told us that our video had the best material. Dave Buck said himself that had this been a shorter video, we would have won – hands down. This puts a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. Let me verify for a second that this is in fact a collaboration contest. Were we not meant to create a video that utilized two or more people? What Steve and I did was perform moves that none of the other contestants thought of performing. We collaborated not only during the video, but in the very moves; performing cut sequences in time, transferring packets mid cut, and pulling cards from each others springs. Is this not what you were looking for? These moves had more originality than other groups – they had never been seen, they were devised in a Pinkberry. They were more creative. We saw the collaboration as a challenge and tried to create moves that would best show the teamwork. Quality you said was top-notch. So what then was the issue?

It seems this gray area has reared its ugly head. The intangible “wow factor” seems to have made the ultimate difference. So it was the style? I’m sorry that Steve and I stayed true to who we are. We aren’t mysterious. We’re two unassuming guys who can do some pretty neat stuff with cards. For us to make a video where we aren’t running around doing ridiculous things and generally having a good time would be ridiculous. It would be like the Bucks donning cloaks because it’s the cool thing to do at the time. I think that what many of us may have lost sight of, is the simple fact that what we are doing is playing with cards.

I’m not asking for a recount, an explanation, or an apology, because I don’t expect any. I just want people to see that flourishing doesn’t have to be so serious. Feel free to perform the way you want. With time, people will appreciate what you’re doing. Who knows, YOU may even get to be 3rd place in a contest somewhere!

-Adam

Without further ado… it was difficult for us to judge each of these videos. Our panel spent several hours this weekend going through each video individually, making notes as we went through. Overall, we were blown away by the quality and quantity of submissions, and we will continue to do more contests like it in the coming weeks, months, and years.

The judges’ choices were unanimous. The top three winners are listed below, from third place to first. Some of our judges’ notes on each are included as well:

THIRD PLACE :: 48dumplings by Adam & Steve

Dave Buck: I loved this video, but then I started to really hate it. Why? I felt like it was lengthy. You guys have mad skills, no doubt. However, I believe videos like these, since they don’t create emotion like film, should at least leave you wishing for more. You guys did a great job, but you handed us the full experience, 100%, which became boring and wonderless. There are some really amazing, one of a kind, moments in this video, in fact, pieces of this video were so good, that I guarantee if it were recut to under two minutes, it would be first place with a rating way above any other. It’s like David Williamson always says, “only give them 40%”, and I doubt he’s just talking about magic.

RichardZ: I loved the feel to the video at the beginning. Some very great moves in here too, and loved that they made it into downtown New York. A lot of great moves in the beginning, and I liked how they got other people out on the streets to come talk to them as well. What really set this video apart was the great collaboration moves they had together. Of course not everybody was lucky enough to have an opportunity to do this, so I’m glad they took advantage of this. However, like Dave said, I think the video went way too long, unfortunately and could have stopped way earlier, making it an even better video.

daniel+Madison: A lot of creativity and fun with a lot of personality, it was very entertaining. Very nice work.

SECOND PLACE :: Battle – Bowen vs. Jaspas

Dave Buck: This video showed good use of a solid concept, which by-the-way, if far more entertaining then just a montage, which I’m sure we can all agree too. The subway provided a style and appeal that enhanced the quality of the video but not so much to distract the important aspect of the flourish “Battle”. I also enjoyed the crescendo of music, rhythm, and complexity of each flourish as the video neared the end. Good work.

RichardZ: Another great build up to this video, and got to love Jaspas in a cowboy hat. However like in 48 Dumplings, I think they built up a story (with great build up fitted to the music) that didn’t really ever happen. That is, I didn’t get much of a sense of a battle once they discovered each other, which was too bad. Still some great moves, and I love the moment where Jaspas flicked the angel and the girl freaked. Also I was hoping they would’ve noticed the guy in the middle of the shot just staring towards the camera. It was a bit freaky. Overall great job, and obviously they entertained whoever was on the train. Great work.

daniel+Madison: An energizing and upbeat display of skill and style. I loved the moves, the interactivity, and the choice of location (subway).

FIRST PLACE :: F501

Dave Buck: Great video! I know you guys planned this out, and it shows. Great use of the location, awesome compositions, kick ass material, and well produced. You guys rock. Keep up the awesome work.

daniel+Madison: Amazing, charismatic and cool, perfect cinematography and editing with flawlessly articulated flourishing… Great teamwork; a very entertaining show.

RichardZ: This video had it all. Some form of story, snazzy clothes, great camera work, a Fiat, great setting, unique moves to boot too. Was a great video in general. The one thing I was hoping to see more of was people together. At one point you saw somebody sitting in a car while another person was doing their cardistry, but aside from that I think they could have made their great video even better if they had people doing their moves at the same time. I was also expecting they were going to do more with their story with such the great set-up. I also wasn’t sure what F 501 meant… I’m guessing it was a F 500 but then… why the 1, when there were 3 of them? Is this a sequel to another video they made?

===============================

Congratulations to everyone that submitted a video – great work all around. To all of you that won, prizes will be sent out midweek : custom engineered steel plaques created by Jamie Schoolcraft especially for this contest. Once again, amazing work, and congratulations to our winners.
__________________
// j.bayme
: ceo / theory11

One of my favourites. I love this casual jams. What do you like and what would you change?

Nice oldschool style moves and great fans. Congrats and good luck!

A Cardistry rendez-vous
My favourite video hands down. A must win. Congrats in advance frenchies.

Very original and smooth moves, perfect production and direction, what else can i say? you tell me, leave a comment.

CCC 2008′s biggest international competition, the Cardistry Collaboration Contest’s entry by my team is also a battle video. Hope you guys like it. The results of the battle aren’t out yet but I’ll update you guys!

-Jaspas

This one is in my top 3. Congrats Jaspas and Bowen. You rock!

In this video you can see Tical performing a variation of my Nebula flourish called nebuCUTnezar, of course, a lot more elaborated than mine.

What do you think?

This is a Theory 11′s Cardistry Collaboration Contest 2008 video entry, starring Ling Nemesis, Kate and Suzki.

I think this video is nifty because it is the first ever all-female flourishing video in history. =P

-Audio orchestrated by Dana Hocking of T11
- Filmed by Ling, Kate and Suzki at Singapore (Compass Point), Canada (Brick wall #1) and Finland (Brick wall #2) respectively.
- Editted by Kate wholesomely.

credits:
De’vo, Dan and Dave Buck, Jerry, Kevin Ho, Ling, Kate, Suzki, Sebastian… I am forgeting someone…