Even though I have enough card magic material to honestly last a lifetime, and I bought even more during the annual Black Friday & Cyber Monday sales this year, I haven't been practicing anything new lately, let alone reading. Not that I haven't been interested, I just haven't had the time.
I have, however, been tinkering with a new gizmo I picked up a little while ago: TIES!
I had seen an ad, I think on Instagram, for it and thought it looked neat, but figured it wasn't really my thing. However, I kept thinking about it later, more and more. I've never really liked seeing magicians on Instagram "levitate a playing card" because it's the only thing the video's about -- it's pretty clear that there's a thread there, even though we can't see it. But, nevertheless, I kept thinking about this special thread...
When I saw the ad again, I opened it in a tab in my phone's web browser and there is sat... for another month. In finally bit the bullet and went ahead and ordered the 10 pack. The 10 pack is just that, a 10 pack of invisible thread "ties", or circles. But wait, there's more! It also comes with 2 hours of instructional video... 2 hours of tutorials, for only $8?! It would be more than worth it just for that.
A year or two ago, I bought a rather large package full of invisible elastic thread for card gaffs (e.g., flap cards). Technically, I can make my own TIES with little effort. The instructional video acknowledges that right off the bat too; they do say that their thread is better because it's even smaller, but I think the one I have is about the same so who knows.
Anyways, yeah. I watched a little over an hour of the video and got to know the little threads fairly well. How to wear it, the basic ways to use it, etc. It's pretty neat and I already got to the point where I forget that it's on my wrist.
I've been trying simple things like balancing a card or paper between my hands, but I haven't been able to do it in a comfortable way. Whenever my hands get into a natural position, whatever's there falls. It seems like something that shouldn't require a ton of practice so I'm either wrong, or not very good =P
I will keep it up though, and will try to always have one on to try to do something "spontaneous" like knocking over a bottle or something small on a table. Maybe one day I'll be able to be one of those magicians on Instagram that floats a card in between my hands!
p.s. and yes, I've already broken one =P