Cardistry is the non-magical, artistic manipulation of playing cards.

For some examples, check these videos:

A Cardist.

An alternative is "Card Artist," but it is more ambiguous. Cardist makes sense since it's obviously a form of the word Cardistry.

Cardistry is the non-magical manipulation of playing cards, while Magic focuses on manipulation designed for illusion.

These terms distinguish between sets of moves that can be performed with cards. It is absolutely possible to mix them together if you like. You can add some magical effects (productions, vanishes, control) to your Cardistry routines, or you could add some Cardistry (springs, fancy cuts, fans) to your Magical routine.

Cardistry and Card Flourishing actually mean essentially the same thing. "Card Flourishing" was the original term but the art has evolved to a point that it no longer fits.

Card Flourishing is an old term used in the magic community to categorize fancy moves (flourishes) that you can add to your magical act. The word "flourish" is not simply a magical term but is also widely known in the laymen population too. A "flourish" is not usually a standalone movement, but generally added on top of some other art. This is why it was very appropriate within magic: people were adding flourishes to their card magic routines.

The art as we know it has now evolved into its own art and can be performed on its own. The term Cardistry seeks to acknowledge and accurately define the significant growth of this art.

Card Manipulation is widely defined in the magical realm as the manipulation of playing cards including productions and vanishes. So, when you tend to hear "Card Manipulation" it is generally focused around a magical purpose. Cardistry's main goal is not around magic, but "just" great looking feats with a deck of cards.

It is a myth that Cardistry is "more cuts" and XCM is "more fans and spreads." These terms actually intend to describe exactly the same art. The difference is purely in the words.

While the art is fascinating and the moves can be complex, most moves do not fall under the "Xtreme" category (is a charlier cut, fan, or armspread really Xtreme?), and it is just one performance style.

Comparing this art to other Xtreme Sports might make more sense if:

• The cards are on fire
• You're doing it upside down in a roller coaster.
• You're doing it while sky diving.

For these cases, it would make lots of sense to use the word "Xtreme." Otherwise, in general, there is no real physical risk except maybe carpel tunnel.

Cardistry seeks to encapsulate the art as a whole, to oversee all styles. It is worth noting that if you really want to use the word "Xtreme" you could call it "Xtreme Cardistry."

The standalone art of non-magical manipulation as seen today is evolving and gaining popularity very quickly, even within the last 5 years (compared to thousands of years of magic).

3 years ago, the best name for the art was "Card Flourishes" which (explained above) served to describe the art as a subset of magic but never took into account that it could become its own art.

With the evolution of this art, many things are left to be explored, defined, and structured. It's an exciting time. One of these things is what the art is actually named.

These are important years in the art's development, and as such they should be treated with care.

While you might not consider yourself an expert in Cardistry, you obviously have an interest in the art since you are visiting this page. For years this art has been seen as a subset of Magic, but it is quite clear it has evolved into its own art with no magical base or purpose.

The term "card flourishes," while possibly suitable for your magic routine, is not necessarily suitable for the world at large! The terminology is about a global perspective, not just what you specialize in. You can still mesh Cardistry into your Magic routine, but you also recognize that the art has become much larger and greater than it's ever been.

Absolutely. In fact, I think it would be silly not to experiment with this. Your cards are good for both of them, and you can use either one to add some accents to the other.

For some basic examples:

Imagine performing a beautiful Cardistry routine with long armspreads, intricate cuts and shuffles and then still managing to produce the 4 aces, exhibiting supreme card control.

Or, imagine springing your cards over your head in between magical tricks. Come up with a better example and I'll replace this one.

In a performance, this whole terminology thing doesn't really matter at all, you're right. However it can come up, and it's not JUST the audience that matters. We must also think about magicians and other practitioners of our art!

Imagine this scenario:

You label yourself as a "Card Expert" in your performance, which goes great. Your audience sees you performing spectacular feats with a deck of cards and so the label makes sense. Little Jimmy in the audience is starstruck, and decides to go Google "card expert" to learn some of these tricks. The top results are: "Expert Card Technique" (the popular magic book), "The Credit Card Expert," and "Expert: network card expert."

Hmm.

So at some point the terminology does matter, even for the laymen. Plus imagine a situation where you want to teach the art to new people. What do you call it? Granted you could say "learn to be a card expert," but that's probably not what you would tell people who really wanted to learn the specific art and grow from there.

Again, the point of the word Cardistry is to find a term that truly encompasses as many styles of the art that we know of rather than a specific niche. It doesn't limit you in this sense.

If your performance is truly "Xtreme," there's nothing stopping you from saying "Xtreme Cardistry" (XC?) if you really like.

It is natural to be most comfortable calling the art what we have for the past few years. For many this is "card flourishes." However, the art has grown well beyond its original definition.

Our art has grown and is no longer just a subset of magic. The term "Card Flourishing" does not recognize this (it's explained the section "What's the difference between Cardistry and Card Flourishing?") "Flourish" is not just a magical term, but a word laymen use as well, and it's not an accurate meaning anymore.

The term Cardistry recognizes this evolution and serves to accurately show what it has become.

The fact that you are asking this question makes the answer obvious: No. It has been used on occasion in the past as a magical term, but it has never caught on as popular or widespread.

If you have been in the magic community for years and still have not heard of Cardistry as a magical term, it's not a popular magical term at all.

However, research has clearly shown that the term "Cardistry" has been used on occasion starting in 1913:

• It has been mentioned in 3 publications from 1913 to 1954.
• A magic magazine called "The Cardiste" was published from 1958-1959, and its subtitle included the word "cardistry."
• A magic book called "Cardistry" was published in 2007, over a year after Cardistry started to gain momentum as a non-magical term.

These are 5 instances (about 19 if you include each issue of the magazine) in 94 years. That's a tiny spec on the map compared to the number of non-magical Cardistry videos posted on the Internet and people who say they do Cardistry intending the non-magical art we know and love today.

So Cardistry has been used as a magical term in the past, but it never caught on as a popular magical term.

But it has caught on as a popular non-magical term. This is evidence that the word is far more apt to describe the non-magical definition.