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I saw a David Blaine show on a month or two ago at least now, I can't remember what it was called either.

What I wanted to know was if anyone knew the trick where he had handed what apeared to be a small packet of cards to one spectator, was doing a trick with another and finally revealed the second spectators card by throwning the packet at the ground and it smashed, leaving the single card lying on the floor. does anyone know what this is called or anywhere I could buy this?

Thanx for any help...

This packet trick is known as 'Strange Travellers'. When i saw blaine perform this, the ending where the cards shatter was incredible. Im sure it wasnt real glass though, he had children pick the pieces up to examine them, he aint that cruel The way it shattered sure looked like glass to me though. The cards turning into glass sort of reminded me of the Omni Deck effect, search this.
However the Omni Deck effect is different, in the fact that it is generally used in an ambitious card effect, where as the kicker, the deck changes into a complete block of perspex, after a little misdirection ofcourse.
Instead of a piece of plastic, im guessing blaine used a piece of glass shaped like a deck of cards.
My opinion, search onmi deck, see what i mean by watching it in action ( i think there os a preview on ellusionist.com) and try and figure how blaine may have achieved this effect.

No no no, this trick wasnt 'Strange Travellers'.

You are talking about the one on the Drowned Alive special right? Well, that trick cant be bought. However, if you purchase a trick called "Trace Unseen" then you can easily figure out how he done that trick.

The trick involves a certain method which is shown in Trace Unseen and some sleight of hand (which has nothing to do with Trace Unseen. He added this part himself). If you get Trace Unseen, you can pretty much figure out how the trick is done. You can probably recreate it for yourself.. might cost you a few quid though.. depends how much you can buy glass for

And no, that last part isnt revealing how its done. Everyone knows you cant make glass appear out of thin air

Yes it was the Drowned Alive special now you mention it...

I think it might have been a variation on strange travelers that he did, but with a different reveal??? I can't remember now, but the trick was similar.

Thanks for the help, I'll check it out.

No no, trust me. I'm still new to magic but its definately NOT anything to do with strange travellers. Find Trace Unseen and use your head and you'll figure it out. After seeing Trace Unseen, I figured it out in about 10 minutes.

Bixkit - I'm having trouble seeing how Trace Unseen has anything to do with the effect in question. Are you talking about the effect Trace Unseen from Ellusionists' Street Magic DVD? If so, it's not really the same thing.

As far as the Blaine effect goes - it is Strange Travellers with a variation to the reveal. I'm assuming this is something David Blaine came up with on his own, and isn't an item that you can readily purchase.

ok, was only the reveal I was interested in, the rest seems fairly simple...

I was watching on a small TV but the thing that got me was that the packet thats smashed appeared to be cards until he took them and threw them at the floor. I'm guessing then there's some kind of switch when he takes the packet back?

I can think of a few ways to pull it off, but I'm sure none of them are as clever as Mr. Blaines.

I haven't got my books at hand at the moment, but paul Harris (one of blaines advisors), has an effect in his art of astonishment books where you do an ambitious card routine, and then show that the deck is actually solid. I will post more details when I get home.

Sounds like omni-deck to me

The trick where the deck smashes to reveal it was a glass block has its roots i think in the effect called 'Petrified' This can be found in David Harkeys Book - 'Aha'

However as stated elsewhere, consider if you really see yourself performing this.

Can you afford to have these fake decks made up? or find a ready made subsitute?
There is no reset, you will break one every performance (again adds to the cost).
Who is going to clean it up after?
Where are you going to be able to perform it?

I suggest Solid Deception from The Art of Astonishment or the Omni deck instead, although not allowing you to smash them you will instead be able to just show what is now impossibly a solid block of cards or perspex.

Demitri wrote:Bixkit - I'm having trouble seeing how Trace Unseen has anything to do with the effect in question. Are you talking about the effect Trace Unseen from Ellusionists' Street Magic DVD? If so, it's not really the same thing.

As far as the Blaine effect goes - it is Strange Travellers with a variation to the reveal. I'm assuming this is something David Blaine came up with on his own, and isn't an item that you can readily purchase.

Well I wont reveal anything obviously, but the method in Trace Unseen for making the card 'disappear' from the deck is what I think is used to make it 'disappear' on the trick blaine did because he did it EXACTLY the same way as its done in Trace Unseen.

I wrote:ok, was only the reveal I was interested in, the rest seems fairly simple...

i wonder how hard you'd have to throw the omni deck,

surely if what the spectator was holding was glass instead of cards, they would have noticed the weight???

anyway, i was hoping it was available commercially, if not I'll have to come up with my own way...

thanx for all the help with this anyway.