talkmagic.co.uk

Marked Deck idea. Can't remember the origin.

Make the spec a magician.

Explain you will teach them how to do magic.

"Take the cards and spread them out asking me to take one. Now ask me to remember the card and replace it. Now ask me to shuffle so the card is lost. Brilliant. Now ask me to hand you the cards. Perfect. Now ask me to name a number between 1-20. 7? OK. Deal down 7 cards. Ask me to name my card. (2 of diamonds). Turn over the card. TWO OF DIAMONDS!!!!!"

(Clearly the working is easy. You just read whatever the 7th card is and pretend that was the card you chose at the start.

Have fun.

Got mine this morning with the Manual Of Miracles booklet looked for instructions to find out how to read the deck but there were no instructions. Spent ages looking at the backs of the cards trying to identify the marks. Concluded in the end that they must have sent me an ungimmicked deck lol.
If only I had opened the manual earlier I would have seen it in there. I just assumed there would be typed instructions with the deck. So not thinking to look in the book (It was a heavy night lol) I tried to find the marks. The marks are very easy to read once you know where they are but they are a devil to spot if you don't. If you buy these you can rest assured that you can show effects with confidence. I am glad I didn't get the Ultimate deck now as these are half the price and the cards have a nice feel to them. Never had Fourniers before but I like them a lot. The only thing as has already been said is, they don't fan well but they Elsmley well enough and DLs seem to be easier to do.

Raz

I ordered my UMD a couple of days ago (had hoped it'd be here by today, no such luck) on a bit of a whim really. I'm trying to remove cards from my routine but was recently asked to do a series of 'poker themed mentalism' vids so this seemed like a nice little idea.

I'll post more thorough thoughts in a week or so once I played and performed with them a bit.

I bought an UMD fairly recently and, although I think the marking system is really deceptive, they stopped fanning properly after only a few days. They now take pride of place in the back of my drawer.
Interestingly I've just read something in another thread about putting cards in the fridge to resurrect them so I'm off to try that now..

Ettienne Frost wrote:I bought an UMD fairly recently and, although I think the marking system is really deceptive, they stopped fanning properly after only a few days. They now take pride of place in the back of my drawer.
Interestingly I've just read something in another thread about putting cards in the fridge to resurrect them so I'm off to try that now..

Isn't the deck on standard Bicycle stock? If so, they should last as long as a regular deck.

I've been thinking about buying an Ultimate deck, but then I went to another website and had a look at the markings. I'm a little concerned that spectators who handle the deck are going to spot the marks; they seem so obvious.

Yeah they are, but for some reason mine didn't last too long. It's strange because I never really let anyone else handle them..

You're right, the markings do seem quite obvious when you look at pictures of the deck but in reality they are so small they go unnoticed. However letting someone riffle through the deck would be a very bad idea.

Ettienne, what if they were just to handle the cards normally, or if you fanned through them to let them select a card? Would they be likely to spot the marks in that situation?

No chance.

I think I'll settle for one of those, then! Thanks for your advice.

handled normally, nobody is going to spot the marks. I was once performing some tricks for the local magic club and only after I got home did I realize I had been using the UMD deck.

Thanks, bmat; that's good to know. I have an effect I want to do which requires the spectator to deal out the cards themselves, so that was what I was concerned about.

I don't know about other people's experience's with marked cards, but I have used a classic method which is reliable and has served me well. I often think that people are too concerned that because they know the marks are there that the spectator will spot them. Of course they'll be obvious to you! As long as you handle them correctly nobody will even suspect them, and for one of the most suspected methods that's not bad! Btw, I don't know the name of the system that I use, but I added my own psychological touches and because of a certain invisibilty psychological principle, nobody spotted them even if they were looking ( I was once submitted as an amateur into the position of having my deck checked for marks. I was thinking 'o.. 'bother'' but they still missed them!)

I was just about to buy a marked deck and wondered if these are still the best out there?

I've been really happy with mine. So easy to read, and not even my wife spotted the marks! Passing the wife test has got to be a good recommendation!

They are brilliant. Worth the money? I'd say that there are better value decks around. Specifically the 505s.