I go by TacTwo on this platform. 8222 is Tac2 on a phone keyboard that covers the oddity there.
Anyway my Card journey started in late 2018 in a very familiar way for a lot of us I'm sure: Chris Ramsay. Except I started with puzzles, I spent a lot of cash on puzzles in a short period of time and binged his puzzle videos like a fanatic. But the thing about puzzles is once you solve them they aren't puzzles anymore they're just fidget toys. And there's only a certain amount of Haneyama ones to collect-- I got bored.
Luckily Chris had this other obscure thing going on in his channel: Playing Cards. So I got a few decks that were all custom and eagerly awaited them while watching tutorial videos for Cardistry. Standard wait time out here for a non-express package is like 3-5 weeks so let that settle in. Now when they arrived, being all custom decks (some Technique V1s, Monarchs of course and a couple others) I was too shy to use them for fear of dropping them so I ordered a brick of Bikes (express) and the waiting game continued.
Quick note: while waiting I used the Techniques and basically immediately scattered the entire deck over a dirty floor. I was not aware of the perpetually clean floor requirement of card enthusiasm back then. Ahh the heady first experiences
As I was settling in this whole global event happened and I was forced indoors - you might have heard of it - I used the time to expand my knowledge of everything 'Card' and refine my techniques. Past year 5 now and I'm pretty comfortable with the modern card market and my skillset. Cards have given me greater hand eye coordination skills, greater aesthetic appreciation and by extension: hundreds of hours of work and effort. I'm still not familiar with who all the designers are and it feels like the printers never stop popping up. Plus I'm still essentially lost with anything from the vintage market and beyond but it's only five years I've got time.
With the honeymoon phase of blind enthusiasm long gone now I find joy in cards by sharing my knowledge with other people and trying to figure out the philosophical approach to "card". What they are, why they matter and what their potential is. I've always been most fond of the multipurpose nature of a playing card and trying to express that is my current challenge.
People in town know me as the Playing Card Guy. I've dropped enough of them in the grocery store and post office to earn that title. But I'm not a standard performer, I wont perform a trick for you by request but if I notice you watching me playing with a deck I might start throwing some sleights in to make you second guess your sense of reality - I'm that guy. I don't actually share my hobby with anyone IRL it's all online.
And now I'm here. I've actually been here before with google searching heaps of times but really it felt right to make an account and be known. I might even jump in on the occasional conversation here and there, I see a lot of familiar names already. (Hey everyone!)
). Thanks for sharing your story and welcome aboard.
