4) THE TABLE FARO REVISITED When we were talking over and deciding what material was going to be put into this volume, I mentioned to Martin that I felt he should in- clude his method of doing a Table Faro. He hesitated because he wasn't sure the sleight could be described on paper. Howevez, I convinced him to let me try, and the description below is what I've come up with after discussing the shuffle with Martin and asking questions on anything that was not clear. I hope that for those who care to learn this beautiful shuffle, the description put down here will guide them to it. The definitive book written on the Table Faro is Marlo's "Faro Shuffle", and this man must be given credit for pioneering this area along with so many other vital areas in modern card work. The Faro Shuffle is, of course, the most exciting tool to come to light in recent years in card magic. Its one drawback is that it is a flourishy shuffle that is seldom seen outside the magician's realm. This point can be worked around, but in routines that imitate card table happenings, the In-the-Hands Faro looks out of place. So the Table F2ro came along. But most Table Faros still looked fishy because the corners of the cards had to be interweaved before the halves were riffled. The riffle was a useless front done to make the Table Faro look and sound like a Riffle Shuffle. Only it never quite did. In the method Martin uses for Table Faroing, the corners are not interwoven before the riffle. The cards are actually riffled into a perfect Faro interweave. Let's start at the beginning. The first thing you must learn is to riffle up to twenty-six or exact center of the deck, while it is on the table, If you already do the center cut for the In-the-Hands Faro, you will have a head start. But it will still take some work, Almost as much as it did to first learn to cut center for the regular Faro, The deck is set perfectly squared in position for a Riffle Shuffle before you. Now run up from the bottom of the deck with the right thumb to twenty-six and stop. There is no secret to this knack. Just practice until it comes. Run up to center and check. Run up to center and check. Over and over until your fingers and eyes learn where center is and can stop there every time. Once you can hit center, cut off the top portion of the pack with the right hand and bring it to the immediate right of the bottom portion which is held with the left fingers. Butt the ends of the two halves together as if ready to doa Faro. The halves of the pack are resting perfectly flat on the table surface. The forefingers of both hands press on the center of the backs of their respective halves. The thumbs and second fingers press on opposite sides of the packets at each end while the forefingers press down on top. This keeps the cards locked into position for the shuffle about to take place. This locking in of the cards serves two functions: 1) it lets you visually check your cut to see you have the same number of cards in each packet; and 2) it keeps the cards from moving and the edges from getting42 out of square. The halves must be kept perfectly square for the cards to interweave perfectly during the shuffle. See Photo 32 for the exact finger positions at this stage. ‘As the hands go into the actual shuffle, the halves of the deck are angled very slightly so that the main contact of the halves occurs at the tear corners of the packets, just as in a regulation Rifle Shuffle. The thumbs lift the rear edges of both halves slightly as for a riffle and evenly release the cards off the thumbs at exactly the same speed.a Inward pressure on the corners of the cards is constantly main- tained during the releasing of the cards off the thumbs. If done properly, the cards will interlace perfectly, one-on-one, and the appearance is that of a normal Riffle Shuffle. Photo 33 shows this in progress from the performer's viewpoint, Please understand that it is not the riffling of the cards that causes them to perfectly interweave. Nor is a Fazo done. Rather, it is a combination of the two that happens. The cards are butted in Faro position, but it is the impetus of the cards riffling off the thumbs that, gives the final kick, necessary for the cards to interweave. What actu- Silly happens is « simultaneous Faroing as the cards ave rilfled. Again, it is not a perfect Riffle Shuffle. It is a Table Faro in which the cards are caused to interweave by the riffling action of the thumbs, ‘Two things to always keep in mind while learning this Table Faro are to keep those cards perfectly squared up at all times, and to release the cards at an even rate as they come off the thumbs. A great aid to getting the deck perfectly squared up on the table in preparation for the Table Faro is move Martin calls the Squeeze Square-Up. The deck is lying unsquared on the table. The hands come to either side of the cards and the tips of the forefingers aze placed along the sides of the cards while the thumbs rest at the rear corners of the deck, Photo 34 shows the position. ‘The finger and thumbtips press in gently but firmly on the edges of the cards, pushing, or squeezing, them together in line and square. As the cards are lightly pinched or squeezed between the fore- fingers and thumbs, the tips of the fingers and thumbs are broughtReet and finally together, traveling along the edges of il they meet at the rear corners of the d. i This squeezing action of the two fingerti mablips eueree the gertips and thumbtips s. cards perfectly and effortlessly. i deftly at thee are perfectly an rtlessly. Everything happens deftly at the very ‘That is the Squeeze Square-Up. It is a small touch that makes your card handling look neat and professional, and is a great help in preparing the deck for the Table Faro. Martin tells me that once you have mastered this Table Faro, it is easier to do than the In-the-Hands Faro. But getting there is half the fun. Ihave done my best to describe this on paper. Lhope you will give it the practice it needs to perfect it, Hf you do, I'm sure you will never “egret it.