Sleight of hand, without hands

Here's a video of a Mahdi Gilbert card magic show at Magic-Con 2012. Madhi's a 20 year old magician from Toronto, whose arms and hands are affected by a congenital condition. His sleights and routines are rather novel, adapted for his anatomical quirks, and his mastery is indisputable. PeaceLove, the magician who sent in this video, notes that the second half is better than the first. There are plenty of other videos of his work on YouTube, including this interview.

Mahdi Gilbert performs miracle at Magic-Con 2012 (Thanks, PeaceLove)

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Atomicpanda

Pretty amazing.

Currently trying resist checking out the insensitive and utterly brainless YouTube comments this video no doubt has.
- http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
  
  Actually, there was only a single dickish comment, I’d guess from a fellow magician who felt hands made more difference to how impressive the tricks were than their difficulty.
  
  I suggested that if he was so jealous, perhaps he should jam his in a blender.
http://isomorphismes.tumblr.com/ isomorphisms

I’d love to hear reactions from famous magicians to this guy’s skills.

I’ve heard about people with unusual anatomies performing for entertainment in history as well.
mccrum

That last trick caught me breathless in amazement. So perfect I never want to know how he did it.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Contreras-Koterbay/100000181841911 Scott Contreras-Koterbay

That was just nice….
http://www.facebook.com/ieatlegos Blake Lowe

His “whatever” is perfect, not many magicians can pull that off in any circumstances.
- awjt
  
  Yeah, he skirts the edge of fascinating you with his unique arm movements, interjecting a touch of awkwardness, getting you to not quite know where he’s going, and then amazing you with the unexpected. Good stuff.
http://twitter.com/magicpeacelove PeaceLove

Mahdi is definitely in uncharted territory, having to basically invent a whole new technology of card magic.
Trevor Hays

Let’s get a show of hands if that was amazing or what!
Trevor Hays

Let’s give him a hand for that last trick. Amazing!
- SamSam
  
  Keep trying.
  
  [Edit: sarcasm, if that wasn't clear.]
  - http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
    
    No, don’t.
    
    [Edit: it was fairly clear, just thought I'd add my voice]
http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo

I’m bowled over.

The first bit was plenty impressive, IMO… he just kept nonchalantly doing the apparently impossible, and varying it.

And the last bit was just staggering. Total WTF.