talkmagic.co.uk

I'm pretty sure I've seen PD use bridge Aviators a lot as well as the Waddingtons in the past, but I've never seen him use pokers. Maybe a combination of spec familiarity and his tiny-wee girly hands!

A while back I was showing some card magic with a deck of Bikes - no gimmicks / gaffs etc. when one of the young ladies watching asked "can you do a trick with my deck of cards"?

Sure I said, before she produced a deck of bridge sized cards.

I suspect that like I did, most magicians are so used to working with poker sized Bikes that you wouldn't give this a second thought in replying 'YES' if asked the same question. But could you still do your same tricks with a different sized deck that feels totally different?

Fortunately I was bought up playing cards with bridge sized decks so it wasn't a problem for me after a few adjustments and applying some carefull thought as to what tricks I would perform.

I would recommend that everyone practices occasionally with all different sizes and brands of deck and I think that you'll be surprised at how usefull this can be - and of course, you're far less likely to be caught out if you're asked the same question.

dat8962 wrote:I suspect that like I did, most magicians are so used to working with poker sized Bikes that you wouldn't give this a second thought in replying 'YES' if asked the same question. But could you still do your same tricks with a different sized deck that feels totally different?

Yup. it happened to me on Christmas night. Someone handed me a deck from a new card games set they'd just received. I demonstrated Finnel's Free Cut Principle from MacTier's Card Concepts on the coffee table (oo-er, missus). I was, of course, very, very drunk...

as a mathematician it worries me that the polls are 70% and 29%
by definition, one of these is (or possibly both are) wrong!

That is something I should start doing. Because Tally Ho's are the cards I use the most so I obviously am always using poker sized cards. I need to get my ass out there and get some bridge cards. However all we have here are Aviators....ooooor maybe we do have bridge size Bikes...Ill have to check.

Lawrence wrote:as a mathematician it worries me that the polls are 70% and 29%
by definition, one of these is (or possibly both are) wrong!

The problem is that 45% of people don't trust statitics and the other 70% just don't understand them.

dat8962 wrote:A while back I was showing some card magic with a deck of Bikes - no gimmicks / gaffs etc. when one of the young ladies watching asked "can you do a trick with my deck of cards"?

Sure I said, before she produced a deck of bridge sized cards.

I suspect that like I did, most magicians are so used to working with poker sized Bikes that you wouldn't give this a second thought in replying 'YES' if asked the same question. But could you still do your same tricks with a different sized deck that feels totally different?

Fortunately I was bought up playing cards with bridge sized decks so it wasn't a problem for me after a few adjustments and applying some carefull thought as to what tricks I would perform.

I would recommend that everyone practices occasionally with all different sizes and brands of deck and I think that you'll be surprised at how usefull this can be - and of course, you're far less likely to be caught out if you're asked the same question.

Good point, I'm afraid to do sleight of hand card magic to anyone in my country that produces their own deck. I only do the self working stuff.

You should just feel the quality of cards around here, cheap ink on a cheap thick paper, with no finish. Unfannable (I guess that word isn't in the dictionary), great for flashing a double or a triple, or making a very natural sloppy shuffle. So be happy that you live in a country were you can get any USPCC cards at decent prices.

Mandrake wrote:

Lawrence wrote:as a mathematician it worries me that the polls are 70% and 29%
by definition, one of these is (or possibly both are) wrong!

The problem is that 45% of people don't trust statitics and the other 70% just don't understand them.

and if you do your research you'll discover that 80.8% of statistics are made up on the spot!

Scriptorilsky wrote: So be happy that you live in a country were you can get any USPCC cards at decent prices.

I would have thought that Piatniks and Fourniers are easier to get hold of for you and probably cheaper. They make some very good quality cards.

Thanks for the tip. Only Fournier cards around here are the 818 Poker playing cards and they don't seem so good for magic. As for the Piatnik cards, only the cheapest bridge sized decks that are s (the s word) for magic. It would be great to find some nice Fourniers though.

Tally Ho Fanbacks all the way for me! They feel MUCH better than Bikes IMO. They generally last longer and you can buy in bulk at magicbox. They look better especially when I do giant fans. The ace of spades is one of the best designs also!

Steve

There are some lovely backs out there if you want to spend money. The KEM, Gemaco and Copagranges are lovely, but they're a bit pricey. Only for the serious working close-up card botherer, I'd say, or the serious card player.

But they're....they're....plastic! Eurgh! <shudder>

Yeah, they're impossible to fan with! Good for practicing cuts while in the shower though!

Steve

Yeah, but they look great! If you can handle them, I bet you could handle any deck.