by Razzo » Nov 17th, '09, 09:17
Katrielalex Wrote
One thing to note is that if you are going to get a gaff deck, I wouldn't recommend the Svengali (or hence the Mirage). The reason is that these are sort of one-trick ponies, and also nowhere near examinable.
Maybe a one trick pony in the hands of a beginner but I have seen some decent routines in the hands of a good magician. I also don't agree that you should only buy these gimmicked decks when you have learned the basics. I started with a Sven deck and it was because of that I moved on to wanting to learn effects with an ungimmicked deck. Decks like the Mirage and Svengali can give the impetus and confidence to move on with your magic as happened to me. As far as not being examinable is concerned, well, yes that is true but if you handle the deck confidently and show the cards as being all different the spec shouldn't want to examine the cards. After all the deck belongs to you and you don't have to hand it out. When a stage magician performs zig zag lady he doesn't offer the audience to come up and inspect the equipment so why should close up magicians? There are many magicians who do not hand out coins or cards for examination. Quite rightly IMO.
Razz