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Cardistry, The Art Form of Playing Cards

Most people thought playing cards are only for card games and gambling. Especially in Indonesia where playing cards usually seen negatively because peoples here gambles using it. But actually there's another use of it which is as an art form. It's called Cardistry and it's actually my hobby.

Cardistry is a name given to the performance art of card flourishing. The term is a combination of "card" and "artistry". Unlike card magic, cardistry is meant to be visually artistic and appear very hard to execute. People who engage in cardistry are usually known as "cardists".

Conjuring tricks with playing cards became popular around the 19th century. At that time, simple card flourishes were often performed by magicians as a way of demonstrating sleight of hand

Cardistry involves the use of hands to create cuts, displays, fans, patterns and sequences through the use of playing cards. Various armspreads, cuts, shuffles and springs can be used. The intent is to create a captivating motion and beautiful display. The effects are limited only by the types of cards used, the imagination, and the degree of manual dexterity of the performer. The presentation is typically neither “illusionary” nor purportedly “magic”, it is more like juggling or mime

American magician Chris Kenner published Totally Out of Control in 1992, an instructional book concerning magic tricks with household objects. On page 125 was a two-handed flourish he called "The Five Faces of Sybil". The cut became the most notable creation from Totally Out of Control and would eventually form the nucleus of what is now known as cardistry.



Sybil enthusiasts and twin brothers Dan and Dave released in 2001 Pasteboard Animations, a VHS tape explaining advanced cuts and flourishes. It sold hundreds of copies and was critically praised. In 2004, the twins released the instructional DVD The Dan and Dave System which officially separated advanced card flourishing from magic. Three years later in 2007, Dan and Dave released The Trilogy, a three-disc DVD set. The Trilogy is the best-selling cardistry release of all time, having sold more than 25,000 copies. Virtually every cardist mentions either the System or The Trilogy as the source of their inspiration.

Before Cardistry was born there was another community called Xtreme Card Manipulation (XCM) Which also do flourishes but they  focuses on perfecting and practicing moves rather than creativity and aproach it more like an Extreme sports rather than an Art form. Cardistry actually started when some members of XCM left the community and made a website where eventualy Cardistry will be born. Because of that there was some tension between these two communities for some years, but overtime they made peace.

Right now Cardistry is way more popular with lots of people within it's community even having it's own annual event. It's because people prefer the creativity of the Art form rather than the principles of XCM. Even the creator of XCM, De'vo Vom Schattenreich, had become a cardist himself though he used to mock Cardistry. 


Cardistry-Con is an interactive conference centered around the art of cardistry, where cardists from all over the world can gather and explore the limitless expressive potential of an ordinary deck of playing cards. The event promotes cardistry in an encouraging environment suitable for anyone passionate about the art. The first Cardistry-Con occurred in 2014 as a subsection of Dan & Dave's Magic Con. In 2015, Magic Con was discontinued and an official Cardistry Con took its place. Since then, Cardistry-Con has been held many cities even on countries in Europe and Asia.  One of the highlights of the annual event is the Cardistry-Con Awards, which includes categories for deck design as well as technical achievement. 

Cardistry moves typically have unusual names that reflect their creator, origin, or appearance. There are names like "Flurf", "Skater Cut", "Anaconda", "Friffle", "Vertigo", and many more.

Cardistry even had already started a new bussines which is Cardistry Playing Cards. These cards have a different back desings where they will look more beautiful than usual cards when it's used for Cardistry especially when being spinned. A lot of Playing Card companies now only made cards specialized only for Cardistry. Some of the most famous famous brands are Touch and Virtuoso which are very expensive but they are high quality cards where it's easier to handle for Cardistry. Not only a new industry, cardistry also made another art which is Playing Cards Design. A lot of people and companies are always creating new playing cards with new desings. You can see that by seing how many new desings released every day. so many that it's now an art by itself.



I first found cardistry when i was watching a Youtube video about 2 years back. I was intrested because it was different than anything else i've ever seen and it showed me another use of playing cards. It has became my hobby now and i do it all the time. I even got a cousin who also does cardistry and has a local community here in Bandung so now i got more time to practice.

I had a bad experience where my community was kicked out of a restaurant while we had a gathering because they thought we were gambling. The problem is  a lot of Indonesians still had that perception that if someone is holding a playing card then they must be a gambler. And i really want to change that perception so the first thing they thought is not gamblers anymore, but they were Cardist or Magicians. And i also want to make them realize Playing cards is not only for Card games or Gambling, But Playing cards is also an art form

And that is, Cardistry

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