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Hidden in Plain Sight: A Manual for Marked Cards
by Kirk Charles with Boris Wild



The Effect
Not applicable.

Cost
£7.99, post free
I purchased my copy from Magic Nevin.

Difficulty
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used, 4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)
1-4
See main review for further details.

Review
I purchased Hidden in Plain Sight (HIPS) to accompany my Bicycle Ultimate Marked Deck which, by the way, is an excellent marked deck. HIPS is quite a slim tome, but is absolutely crammed to the brim with insights, ideas and the psychology of how you can convincingly use a marked deck in your performances without the spectators suspecting a thing. There are quite a few chapters in this book and most chapters contain a number of sections, so I'll take each one in turn.

Introduction
The short introduction explains how HIPS combines elements from Marked for Life by Kirk Charles and The Complete Boris Wild Marked Deck by Boris Wild. It also contains the most convincing paragraph I have ever read on why a marked deck is the greatest of all gimmicked decks.

History and Background
Another short chapter on the... er, history and background of marked cards.

Printed Decks
This section is devoted to Deland's Automatic Deck. This extraordinary deck contains a staggering 238 marks on each of the cards which convey an almost overwhelming amount of information.

Hand Marking
This fascinating chapter details the main techniques that are used to hand mark a deck of cards. It also details the systems that are used, explaining the Cluster and Directional systems.

Readers
HIPS is limited to the discussion of "readers", which is defined as a deck of cards that has been marked on every back in order to identify the suit and value of the card. This is yet another intriguing chapter on the various marking systems out there, including the Ted Lesley system and the infamous "juice" deck (which is explained). The next chapter...

Other Readers
...is basically more of the same, including an explanation for the excellent Blob-O-Vision marking system. This is probably one of my favourite systems and wins the award for Best Name if nothing else!

Strategies for Misdirection
Five pages of invaluable information on this most important of subjects.

Instant Miracles with a Marked Deck
Sixty pages of tricks with a marked deck that are, for the most part, fairly simple to perform and technically undemanding. These tricks utilise a number of different principles, including stacked and memorised decks, estimation, the virgin state, blindfolds, mathematics, labelling and pseudo-phenomena, cold decking, etc. etc. The list goes on.

There are numerous quality tricks in this section that I would class as practical and easy to perform in the real world for a real audience. Some truly excellent tricks here, make no mistake.

The Boris Wild Marked Deck
The book ends with a great thirty-page chapter explaining the Boris Wild marked deck. Personally, I prefer my Ultimate Marked Deck to the Wild one; briefly, this is because they use different marking systems. With the Ultimate Marked Deck, I can tell at a glance what card I'm looking at without any problems at all. The Boris Wild Marked Deck is very similar to an extent but requires some mental work, at least for the newcomer. Like anything, though, this would get easier with time so is no great hardship. The truth of it is that both decks are excellent; I guess it's what you're used to at the end of the day.

This section also includes "two miracles with a Boris Wild Marked Deck". These are superb tricks but both require the use of, for me at least, quite an advanced sleight. I can, and often do, find alternative methods for achieving the required result so this was not an insurmountable obstacle for me. In any case, I would say that a considerable number of TM members would have no problem whatsoever with this sleight. The second of these effects is a truly remarkable sandwich effect; I am particularly fond of sandwich effects and this one is up there with the best of them. Great stuff.

If you're still reading this (!), the book ends with an extensive bibliography.

Overall
For such a slight book of just 137 pages, HIPS contains a wealth of information on marked decks. There are about thirty tricks explained and they are, for the most part, very good indeed. But the clincher, for me, is the section on psychology and misdirection; the little pointers dotted throughout the book on how to handle and perform with a marked deck, are gems. Little gems that are worth so much more than the price of this superb book.

And remember this: a marked deck does not have to be used as such all the time. The beauty of a good marked deck is that it can be used as a regular deck, utilising the marks as required. Do not underestimate the power of a marked deck! I have been using mine with confidence and to great effect for a while now and no one has pulled me up on it.

This book is highly recommended, especially at this price. You really can't go wrong.

Score: 10/10

I was really close to buying Boris Wilds marked deck recently, I've never had a marked decked before, and the dvd version was supposed to be great!

I guess I might look into this!

I bought this from davenport magic for the same price if i remember correctly. Nice read.

I also have boris wild's deck and mark deck dvd... it's good but wasn't something i like as i hated boris wild's marked deck system. Was an impulse purchase after hearing Martin from International Magic telling how great it is and how much he liked it. But it wasn't for me, ended up an expensive buy for me..... as it's in the back drawer

I much prefer the Ultimate Marked Deck cos the markings are more well hidden.

This is a great book irrespective of what marked deck you use. I use a Boris Wild deck to do my 'normal' card stuff; it's a great back-up if things go wrong and it means you can add an extra climax or two if you want to.

Has anyone used the 'visionary deck' principle mentioned on page 96? This is a deck that has been obviously mismarked - e.g. 7D on the back and the card is the 10 clubs (you can see where I'm going here). There's scope for some humour ("I marked these when I was drunk" or "I asked my young daughter to mark these for me...") but I'm struggling to build more than that?

Any ideas or pointers gratefully received (PM me if you like). I'll also add this to the support forum.

I have used both marked decks. And feel the Ultimate Marked Deck is superior. The markings on the BW deck are dodgy on the court cards
and I was once sprung with this during a routine.
The UMD tells you immediately what the card is without having to give any thought or mental workings.
However, the book 'Hidden in Plain Sight is terrific! I highly recommend it.
TGR

Old post, just bought the book,

I very much like the make your own ones as doing the making really gets the markings into your head.

Saying that I also love the Ted Lesley deck, having seen a pic of the Ultimate Marked Deck I think it owes a lot to Ted Lesley but as the price is around £23 for UK I'm not going to buy a deck.

Going back to making your own, I'm sure I ready of a marked deck that scratched off the ink IE adding white, not taking away.
Does thing ring a bell to anyone, if so could you point me in the direction of getting the details?

Johnny Bravo wrote:Going back to making your own, I'm sure I ready of a marked deck that scratched off the ink IE adding white, not taking away.
Does thing ring a bell to anyone, if so could you point me in the direction of getting the details?

Ignore the above, remembered or worked out a suitable system.

However just been to poundland & picked up a pack of "8PK Mini Fine Writer"

The blue is a pretty darn good match

This is a very useful little book. I bought mine with a Boris Wild deck but somehow seem to have lost the deck!!!

I think the best marks are the homemade marks, just do a new deck once & its always there, no extra cost!