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Consider the review for this is old and not that much in depth I have took it upon my self to review this “Most wondrous of decks” to quote Mark Lewis


The Effect
The Svengal. Show all the cards different have a spec shout stop. You do and with no jiggery pokery their card is at the top. Show the card no longer at the top and in the middle. Show it gone from the middle and on the bottom. Show all the cards to be the same! Ok that’s just one effect with the deck.


Cost
Round about £4 to £8 depending on the card stock it self these are made on everything from cheap plastic cards to Black Tiger cards.


Difficulty

The basics of the deck is a 1 no doubt about it. If you cant do the basic routines to quote Jay Sankey “There is a lot of stamps out there to be collected”

(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)



Review
My good friend wanted to get in to magic and he was watching the demonstration of the svengali deck in a large toy shop. “I get me one of them he said” so we end up in the pub with this deck and some other things and he asked me “well how do I use it” so I showed him. I have had one of these from Marvin’s magic kicking about for ages now and never used it wasn’t to I picked up my friends deck I that I thought to my self “oh I see”.
So off I went and got my self one on Bicycle stock and loved it ever since. We all know the simplest of tricks can be the most satisfying to perform and usually get the best reactions. And no doubt it the Svengali is that. The mechanics of the deck or so wonderful yet so simple at the same time. It can be used for the worlds most easy ACR or even a no palm no gimmick required card to anywhere. The limits of this deck are few, however for those of you out there who like the specs grubby little hands on your props I suggest you switch this deck in latter in your card act .
Now the cheap price dose warrant value for money it be one the most versatile gimmicked decks you will ever slip in to your pock or case.
Of course there are a few people out there who get the jitters and say you can get in toy shops, the market or the local doctors surgery. I don’t think this matters if performed well enough. Hey folks its all the performance ,is it not?
Give it ago it will make you look like a great card master.


Overall

So overall I say buy this deck what you got to lose if you don’t like it? £4? And I think most of you will like it or come up with a new way to use it, it’s the deck that keeps on giving. Although I don’t own it and would like to very much because of the reviews of it have been rave, I suggest Mark Lewis’s book on the deck The Long and Short of it.
So what if you cant hand it out for inspection I find people seldom if ever ask to see the deck if you use a “clean” deck before and after. Burling Hull should be proud of invention and I give it a 8.5 out of ten. Why not more? Nowt is perfect now is it?

Could I suggest that anyone who lives in fear of the Sven deck or considers it a 'toy' to track down a copy of the (humble) Mark Lewis's book 'the long and short of it'.

Nice review, and a positive thumbs up for what is very much an understated magic tool.

Mr Seige you are embarrsing me You may not like the man but Mark Lewis is one of if not the worlds leading expert of svengali decks and if you dont think he is ask him.

Its sad that such a tool is classed as a toy by magicians but more fun for me with it then.

Markdini wrote:Mr Seige you are embarrsing me You may not like the man but Mark Lewis is one of if not the worlds leading expert of svengali decks and if you dont think he is ask him.

Its sad that such a tool is classed as a toy by magicians but more fun for me with it then.

I was actually praising him!

I cant think of a rebuttle at the moment.

But yes Mark has done more for the deck then anyone else.

It is indeed true that I am the worlds greatest expert with the svengali deck as Markdini has quite rightly pointed out. However I am not proud to admit that Markdini knows something about the svengali deck that I didn't.

He has added to my knowledge and for that I thank him.

I wasn't aware that the deck could be found in Doctor's surgeries. I must have a look for them the next time I go.

I am glad you agree with me Mark that you are the foremost expert on the deck. I will be hunting down your book in the new year.

The svengali is one of those things I always keep hidden away until I either need an emergency backup or an impressive encore. Brilliantly versatile and ingenious, one that everyone should have in my opinion.

I think the only people who should have them is me and Mark Lewis, Well it has been said 100s of times before its not just a toy.

Heres a little storry about the deck, me and my friend was bouncing ideas of each other in the pub i was doing some XCM and we was talking about the deck. We decided it be a good idea to stick the card on the back of the menu and so we did, one of the waitresses came over I did my svengali routine and showed all the cards to be diffrent and her card not in the deck. Showed her the back of the menu and any one thought we was commiting murder because of her reaction.

Personally, I think anyone considering getting a Svengali, could re-consider and get a mirage... ever since i bought my mirage, my Sven has stayed in its packet....

The mirage deck is the same as a Sven, you can do ALL the tricks a sven can do, plus a few more, but the key feature, is that you can FAN the cards without giving the gimmick away... anyone wanting to convert their Svengali into a mirage, use your imagination!!!!

I think Mr Lewis's book covers all that fanning the deck and shuffling them too. If i am not mistaken.

when did this turn into such a novelty? surely when this first came out (prob many years ago) it was very popular, how long untill some of the other classics are included in a marvins magic set

The mirage is pathetic. Furthermore it should be known by the proper name which is the Rough and Smooth deck. Lots of sticky stuff all over the place. And it wears out eventually rendering the thing bloody useless.

There is NOTHING you can do with the mirage deck that you can't do with the svengali. You CAN fan a svengali deck. You CAN spread them on the table. You CAN shuffle them overhand. And you don't need that horrible sticky stuff.

mark lewis wrote:The mirage is pathetic. Furthermore it should be known by the proper name which is the Rough and Smooth deck. Lots of sticky stuff all over the place. And it wears out eventually rendering the thing bloody useless.

There is NOTHING you can do with the mirage deck that you can't do with the svengali. You CAN fan a svengali deck. You CAN spread them on the table. You CAN shuffle them overhand. And you don't need that horrible sticky stuff.

rendering it useles?? i disagree, if th RF wears off, it becomes a plain and simple sven deck... now, personally, i used to like the sven deck, but now prefere the Mirage, but it doesnt mean im going to call it useless...

also, i dont know WHAT was on your mirage deck (sticky stuff), but mine is certainly not sticky to touch... prehapse the deck you tried had been made via improvisation?

Now you opened a can of worms.