How To Spin A Playing Card

A playing card, spinning freely in a magicians hand can look truly spectacular and really add a professional shine to a magic act. Learn how to do do this super visual card sleight of hand by following the tutorial on this page.

This is a difficult card sleight to master. The core skill involved in the card spin move is balance. As it is also in the coin roll sleight .

The tutorial steps and video below will explain the basics of how to perform this visually spectacular card stunt.

It is important to make sure that the card is carefully balanced on your middle finger.

Take care to make sure that your fingertip is touching as near to the exact center of the card as possible to obtain the best balance.

Pinch the card between middle finger and thumb as shown in the photo.

The thumb can then be carefully removed to leave the card balanced on your middle finger.

You can practice balancing the card in any spare moments you have during the day.

It is more difficult to balance and spin the card if your fingers are very dry as the card will slip easily.

To make the card spin, your first finger is used to pivot the card around your middle finger. You can practice moving the card back and forward a little by pushing on the base of the card with your first finger.

Once you get used to movement and direction required, you could try a gentle push with the first finger and then releasing the finger from the card to let it spin freely.

Once this has been mastered, it is just a matter of practice to fine tune your balance and timing of the first finger to keep the card spinning.

This sleight usually takes a good while to bring up to a good standard, but once mastered will add an extra shine to your magic act.

The video below shows an explanation by 52 Kards, who is one of the better Youtube magic trick tutors.