Breaking and making new world records

 

His latest record was for the highest throw of a playing card. He beat the previous record by throwing a card as high as 55 ft 9 inches. Rahul, who recently received his certificate from the Guinness authorities, explains why he chose to break this record. 

 

“In 2013, I was watching a video on the Discovery Channel. I saw Rick Smith Jr, a street magician, set a new record for throwing a card the longest distance, 216 ft. I was intrigued by the entire act and since my magic involved using a lot of coins and cards, I started working on honing my skills.”

 

The fact that Rahul is a cricketer as well helped. “One has to throw a card from a normal pack into the air using only two fingers. It’s a lot like bowling, except you use the force of the fingers here.”

 

Rahul has been practising with the cards over a year now and he had attempted to break the record in May too. He says, “I had broken the record by throwing a card to a height of 53 ft, but due to technical reasons the video couldn’t be sent to the Guinness authorities in London. After that setback, I got everything in place. But I had to run around to check for a suitable place to set the record. According to the Guinness officials, the record could only be set in an indoor facility with no AC or fans. Finally, I found a mall that was very helpful,” Rahul says.  

 

While that was one issue, he also had to sort out the funding for his record. “My dad helped me out and so did a few authorities. I also had to put in some money from my account,” he says.

 

Currently, Rahul is working on breaking and setting three other records. 

 

“I want to beat Rick Smith Jr’s record of throwing the card the farthest and though I’m ready for it, I’m yet to find a suitable venue to break the record,” he explains. The other two records involve the most number of Charlier cuts in one minute and the most number of scales in one minute.