Hello my friend!
In this article we wanted to dive into the second deal, and figure out what it really takes to learn it. We’ll also explore ideas around practice, mastery, and how to learn new moves.
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In 2023, me and my cousin Jacob set ourselves an ambitious challenge:
We gave ourselves 100 hours (that’s just 50 hours each) to try and master this move as best we could!
Watch our journey below to see how insane this project turned out to be…
As you can see, we didn’t master the move – but our second deal improved a lot over that time.
We came back a year later, after making even more progress with the move, and filmed a tutorial teaching the top four ways to do the second deal:
Now, we want to share something important that we learned while making the first video that we didn’t expect…
Of the 100 hours we spent practicing, for the last 70 hours, nothing really happened.
Yup!
As weird as it sounds, most of the progress came in the first 20 hours of practice.
Those were the hours where we broke down the move, figured out the actions required, and refined our technique.
The remaining 70 hours helped drill the move, and the final touches started coming in the last 10 hours or so.
It reminds me of something I once heard about karate…
Karate is a Japanese martial art that uses a ‘belt’ system to measure progress.
Beginners start at ‘white belt’, and slowly climb the ranks until they hit ‘black belt’. But once they hit black belt, the journey isn’t over…
See, the other way they measure progress in karate is using a ‘dan’ system. I honestly have no idea how it works, but simply put, black belt first dan is lower than black belt second dan.
From what I’ve heard, the effort it takes to get from white belt to black belt is the SAME amount of work it takes to get from black belt to black belt, first dan.
This is sometimes how I feel about magic.
Going from 0-90% on a move can often be as hard as going from 90-100%.
You can get the move ‘nearly’ invisible in a fairly short amount of time but getting it to be actually invisible can take years of effort.
Do you agree?
Either way, it was an important lesson for us to learn.
The US army secret to mastering the second deal
A friend that works for the US government’s anti- crime department once shared the following advice with me:
“Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”
This line, she told me, is drilled into new trainees when they’re learning how to operate a gun.
Rushing inevitably leads to mistakes, which often adds much more time than if you had done it slowly and correctly the first time.
This advice is also golden for magicians.
Here’s an example…
When I decided to learn the second deal, I spent a few hours learning the ‘mechanics’ of the move—and then dived straight into practicing.
As I practiced, I noticed that I was caring less about doing the move RIGHT, and more about doing it FAST.
See, I’ve grown up watching clips of card sharks like Richard Turner perform the second deal at blinding speeds—and that was exactly what I wanted to do.
I was in such a hurry to get to their level that I didn’t allow myself time to practice slowly, and my technique often stalled as a result. On the other hand, it was usually when I stopped and corrected my technique in ‘slow motion’ that I made progress.
Remember:
Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
Learn moves slowly but accurately—and the speed will come with time.
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Did you know?
While filming our video we created a LOT of content that couldn’t be shown on YouTube!
This content includes:
1. Two Effects (28 minutes runtime)
While we were shooting the YouTube video, we stumbled on a way to use the second deal that we instantly fell in love with.
Here’s what it looks like…
Your spectator cuts the deck ANYWHERE.
You deal cards face-up and stop on a random card. You deal face-up and the spectator calls out stop ANYTIME they like.
Somehow, both you and the spectator choose a card of the same value!
The effect looks like it’s over…but then, in an astonishing moment, you reveal that when the spectator cut the deck earlier, they cut to a perfect match of the chosen card!
It’s a beautiful coincidence effect that we’re proud to share with you.
- Zero gimmicks used
- The spectator really can stop you whenever they like
- The spectator can genuinely cut the deck ANYWHERE
- Now, this effect is NOT easy.
It requires some advanced techniques—from stack work to second dealing.
So we racked our brains and created an impromptu version of this effect.
It’s easier but still incredibly powerful.
Here’s what it looks like…
Impromptu and super simple.
Includes an optional kicker ending not shown in performance but taught in the video!
The effects you watched above are some of the most powerful applications of the second deal we could come up with—and in this section, we show you exactly how to perform them.
2. The Deals (20 minutes runtime)
We hope we already made this abundantly clear, but we are NOT sleight of hand experts. The moves featured in our project aren’t original to us, and can be learned elsewhere.
That being said…
..if you want to see a breakdown of how WE as beginners/intermediates approached this move, we shot a 20 minute explanation exposing the ‘nitty gritty’ of our techniques.
Experts can sometimes forget what it was like to be a beginner and so we hope this content has real value to those who are in the same position as us!
We show:
- How to perform the ‘standard’ second deal
- How to perform the ‘flip’ second deal (and why this variation surprised us)
- How to perform a move we like to call the ‘bird’ deal (as soon as you watch the tutorial, you’ll see why we call it this)
- The difference between Jacob and Benji’s second deals (you can pick your favorite tips from each of us)
- The strange ‘rollercoaster’ movement your thumb makes to push over two cards as one EVERY time
- A few more fun variations on the second deal that we didn’t show in the official video (one of these variations is actually criminally fooling)
3. Our Thoughts (18 minutes runtime)
In this informal interview, we discuss:
- Our journey learning the second deal (we go into MUCH more detail than we could in the YouTube video)
- The hardest second deal technique (we were surprised by how much easier one technique was than the other)
- How long we think it takes to ACTUALLY master the second deal
- Our complete second deal rankings (including which method of second dealing is most practical and useful when the ‘rubber hits the road’)
- The ‘economy of motion’ problem with the flip second deal (and how to solve it)
- The strengths and weaknesses of our individual second deals (and how we plan to improve)
- Our opinion on how far out you should push the card before performing the second deal
- The ONE thing far more important than the speed of your second deal (if you neglect this step, you’ll likely never master the move)
- And much more
Alright.
That’s a lot of great content…
So how much are we charging for it?
YOU decide!
Whatever you think the content is worth—you pay.
Perhaps you already have a flawless Second Deal and you’re just interested in the effects, or you’re like us and you’re ready to get your 100 hours in…
…or maybe you just want to say ‘thank you’ for the video and support us in creating more magic content like this!
(Purchasing this product, even for as little as $0.50, is THE best way to show your support for us creating more original, engaging YouTube content.)
Either way—the base fee is JUST $0.50
Want to see some awesome things you can do once you master the second deal?
You’d like The Silk Switch…
Get this free bonus when you buy.
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