TV Magic Cards

[elgarak]

I vividly recall an old Mission: Impossible episode where they showed a procedure that very much looked like making stripper decks. They didn't call it that, and didn't used it that way, though.

The easiest way to achieve something like what Senex propose is to prepare a deck in advance, though, and switching with sleight of hand. Considering how common Bicycle cards are, there's a good chance that you're presented with a deck of Bicycles. Unless you come to Germany, in which case you would need to have an ASS Altenburger deck. You're chances of getting the right deck are lower here in Germany, as they produce more varieties of deck configurations and designs.

 

[Cain]

In this piece from a ForaTV talk, you can see an interesting (and disguised) version starting at 11:30

Argh, that was quite good (I'm not a fan of the performer, Eric Mead. He's an annoying douche). I think he got the idea of the cocktail shaker from Michael Close, who uses something similar for Bob Farmer's Bammo Card Walloper. The first time I saw it, it made no sense to me: are you supposed to be mixing the cards with that thing? But people like it.

 

[marplots]

Since we're writing about mechanical decks and a deck that can be made at home I'd like to mention a stripper deck. Many years ago I could perform minor miracles with a stripper deck. A couple of years ago I thought about how hard would it be to make your own deck or (how cool would this be) being able to strip someone's deck they present to you to perform if you can manage some alone time with the deck. Has anyone tried this?

I was at a little "mini-convention" yesterday (Penguin is sponsoring a traveling "Magic Expo" thing) and one of the dealers was selling a "wide card" along with DVD. The uses are similar to some of the things you can do with a stripper deck (some), but you can introduce the wide-card into someone else's deck. Better if the back matches, but not completely necessary.

 

[epepke]

A svengali deck can not be beaten for its ability to force a card.

Yep, and the TV Magic Cards sure beat buying a bunch of decks and spending all day with a razor blade.

 

[marplots]

Yep, and the TV Magic Cards sure beat buying a bunch of decks and spending all day with a razor blade.

Not always. There's at least one kit being sold to do just that (including a corner-rounder/punch). The reason is because the commercial version doesn't allow you to match your preferred card brand (back and face style), nor does it allow you to choose which card you want to force.

And when you mention "spending all day with a razor blade," it brought a smile to my face - that very much describes the extreme levels of behind-the-scenes effort many magicians will go through in the service of some minor miracle.

When I mentioned I was working on a version of the invisible deck above, I didn't mention it depends on memorizing a full deck. So I spent a week (on and off) doing that. And the memorized deck is a small part of it, not even essential to the working, just something that will make it smoother.

ETA: The extra stuff isn't a burden - it's part of the fun of the hobby.

 

[Senex]

Not always. There's at least one kit being sold to do just that (including a corner-rounder/punch). The reason is because the commercial version doesn't allow you to match your preferred card brand (back and face style), nor does it allow you to choose which card you want to force.

And when you mention "spending all day with a razor blade," it brought a smile to my face - that very much describes the extreme levels of behind-the-scenes effort many magicians will go through in the service of some minor miracle.

When I mentioned I was working on a version of the invisible deck above, I didn't mention it depends on memorizing a full deck. So I spent a week (on and off) doing that. And the memorized deck is a small part of it, not even essential to the working, just something that will make it smoother.

ETA: The extra stuff isn't a burden - it's part of the fun of the hobby.

This is a good logic problem I believe...

How many Svengali decks of 50 cards (I'm thinking you can get away with a deck two cards short) can you make from 27 decks of cards?

In keeping with the mechanical deck theme I also have had success with a cobra deck. My personal handling was to let an audience member put their middle three fingers on top of the deck and give them suggestion their hand is getting lighter as they focus on their card. The deck moves in a compelling way as the chosen card slowly squirms its way out.

 

[marplots]

This is a good logic problem I believe...

How many Svengali decks of 50 cards (I'm thinking you can get away with a deck two cards short) can you make from 27 decks of cards?

I should be 27. Here's how.

You take all the decks and divide them into piles of all the same card. Choose 27 out of the 52 piles for your force cards. Since each pile has an extra card, remove all those extras and set them aside as a new, mixed pile of 27 cards. That leaves you with 52p - 27p = 25 piles left over, plus the mixed pile. Make another mixed pile from the 25 left overs (since they still have 27 cards each). Move one card from the first mixed pile of 27 to this pile, giving you two mixed piles of 26.

You now have 27 piles of force cards, each containing 26 cards. You also have 27 piles of other cards, each containing 26 cards.

Distribute those 27 piles among the others to make your decks, taking care that you don't put a duplicate from the "mixed" pile into a deck that forces that same card.

Easy peasy.

 

[Senex]

I should be 27. Here's how.

Easy peasy.

Easy for you but it bothered me that I needed to figure out how many decks would you need to make in order to justify purchasing a "kit."

 

[marplots]

Easy for you but it bothered me that I needed to figure out how many decks would you need to make in order to justify purchasing a "kit."

I'm not selling them, but there are other neat things you can do with the same equipment. For instance, the edge trimmer can be used to make stripper decks, and the "rounder" can be used to make indicator cards (not the right name, but I'm having a brain fart).

I think the kit was originally designed for people who were printing their own custom cards - double-faced/backed, mis-indexed, and a dozen other variants. The point was to be able to trim your printed card to match regulation size and corner curve.

In any case, while I don't have the kit, there are plenty of used beyond just a Svengali deck.

 

[Senex]

I'm not selling them, but there are other neat things you can do with the same equipment. For instance, the edge trimmer can be used to make stripper decks, and the "rounder" can be used to make indicator cards (not the right name, but I'm having a brain fart).

I think the kit was originally designed for people who were printing their own custom cards - double-faced/backed, mis-indexed, and a dozen other variants. The point was to be able to trim your printed card to match regulation size and corner curve.

In any case, while I don't have the kit, there are plenty of used beyond just a Svengali deck.

How long do you think it takes to strip a deck using the kit? You would truly look like god's gift to card manipulation if your friends thought that your using their own deck made the deck gimmick proof. What are the ethics of leaving behind a deck that's stripped at your friend's house? He or she may find themselves in trouble at the next friendly poker game.

Has anyone else had experience with a cobra deck? I'd like to read how you used it.

 

[marplots]

Well, in the "everything old is new again" category, last night a magician managed to pass the audition phase of America's Got Talent with the invisible deck.

Meat of the performance starts at 1:29


There was one nuance that was good: showing a card flipped upside down at the beginning.

Moral of the story for me - Do the stuff audiences like, not the stuff you like.

 

[Senex]

Well, in the "everything old is new again" category, last night a magician managed to pass the audition phase of America's Got Talent with the invisible deck.

Meat of the performance starts at 1:29


There was one nuance that was good: showing a card flipped upside down at the beginning.

Moral of the story for me - Do the stuff audiences like, not the stuff you like.

Moral of the story for me - Go with the gimmicked deck.

Despite being incarcerated for five years with a deck of cards and a book of magic as his sole companions he still went with the gimmicked deck when given a chance to be on TV.

 

[Alpha1]

Aidan Sinclair, the magician in question, is very talented. If you get an opportunity to catch one of his shows, take it. Many of his shows have a creepy paranormal story around them, and they are quite entertaining!