talkmagic.co.uk

hey guys,

I ordered the black ID, and the Viper fan back deck, cause im just starting and these cards were big time eye-catchers for me..
untill now I had only seen regular cards..

anyway, the reviews on te E-site are all very positive..
and the reviews everywhere are positive..
and I do believe they are great..

but why do I find the normal red and blue cards in all video's and demonstrations on magicTalk and so on..??

do people like those more? or are they more proffesional?
cause like everyone.. I want to look proffesional by the skills of my magic but also by having nice cards..

so, why?

this is a bone of contention for me...

the most used are the bicycle brand (from america)...and the majority of gaffed cards are bike backed too...

however...

alot of people think that using any other brand of cards will somehow alert others that it might be a trick/marked deck (despite whatever actual methods you do use)...but thats more down to them not being able to explain how the effect is done rather than anything else...

I'm not too convinced personally...if you can handle a deck out at the beginning of your set, let everyone see them, handle them, look at them then i would say that helps make them above suspicion...

and in the right circumstances, they can actually help you with certain effects...

"yes, this deck does look unusual, but thats because i've found it behaves strangely too...please touch any back you wish - but no matter which one you choose freely, you cant help but pick the 6 of clubs (or whatever)..."

and also, in the UK, the most popular brand of cards is Waddingtons in most people's homes...yet most magicians still use bikes...

i have some vipers, but on a day to day basis i use fourniers...far better in my opinion...

i think thats it...pick the ones you feel most comfortable with and just stick to it...i dont really use gaffed cards, i've got a svengali and stripper deck in fournier, and a few blank faced and so on..but thats it...

Pros & cons...
Some of the disadvantages of the E designer decks are:
1) They're expensive, especially if you're using them to practice with.
2) If you want matching gaffs they're mind-bogglingly expensive.
3) They don't look like the decks people use at home so may arouse suspicion (this point is debated)

I have a couple of Tiger decks in the drawer as I bought them for novelty value but I've never ever used them. I don't know about other people but the reasons I don't use these decks are 1&2 above. I simply refuse to pay that much for playing cards. People have been using plain-old poker Bikes for decades and knocking people dead with them. They do the job very bicely indeed so why would I want to pay a premium of 100%+ per deck? Apart from anything else I think that magicians who should get out more are the only people in the world capable of getting excited about a 'cool' looking deck of playing cards. Real people just don't care.

real people don't care...

that's the whole point i think...we as magicians in general worry far too much about certain things...what's our label, what cards...blah blah blah..

yeah I guess you're all right..
even though it doesn't matter what cards I get..

I do know that having the more prof. cards.. as viper for example..
will give me new motivation to learn tricks.. cause now I have cheap dutch cards which aren't even the official size..
en they stick to each other, which is annoying cause im trying to learn how to Fan smoothly.. and double lifts show much to easy, since the cards are messed up

Vipers! come and my make magic-learning-experience better and more fun!

I have a couple of Vipers, Black Tigers and a few Ghosts...

RARELY use them... again, more novelty value.. however..

if I go to a club.. where there is UV light... MAN these cards are awesome...

no greater reactions than normal from people.. but you would probably find it hard to approach people in a club when they cannot hear you talk..

chill out by the side pull out ur black tigers.. they shine in UV light.. people approach you.. most likely the bouncers... and before you know it you get a crowd round you and your doing magic..

thats the ONLY instance I can think to use them though.. lol

and just to save 1st and 2nd editions HOPING one day they will be of some value... wishful thinking mind... lol

I do like bikes....that is not to say that other brands aren't good. It simply comes down to the fact that when I am doing some regular card handling I can throw my invisible (or other gaffs) into the mix and they are without suspicion. People assume that it is always the same deck.

For a stand alone presentation, it is really irrelevant what back you use on your ID.

To me, its personal preference! I practice with normals bikes, but perform with ghosts, tigers, masters, vipers, or even normal bikes! Whatever i feel like doing! Normally i use normal bikes for tricks that might ruin the cards with writing or tearing or folding etc.

I have never had anybody get suspicious about the cards im using. If they do, i'll let them shuffle and see that the cards are normal, or as said earlier, say that i helps them perform in strange ways!

and with a tally-ho fan back, you've also got a sneaky one way deck too if you look carefully....

I just use Tally Ho fanbacks, not Vipers. I have a deck of Vipers (and sold another ). The Vipers do look good but bit too expensive for what they are. They last about the same as a normal deck of Tally's. However, Tally's do last a lot longer than regular Bikes.

Also, Vipers are too thick a deck for my liking. Doesn't fit into my Porper clip!

Steve

Well, I brought loads, LOADS! of Tally Ho Vipers about a year ago? But that was only because it was on "offer" still cost me a bomb though. Sure it looks cool and catchy at the start, but soon after useing them for performance for quite awhile....you will start to thing that WHITE/normal Bicycle decks are cool

Its like whoa! look its a white deck, because black has been your norm. But from all those about 40 vipers? I ended up selling quite a few. Used alot. They don't last that long I dont think, well not as long as it states. Its just like a normal deck really.

I've been using normal Bikes for awhile, but lately my friend from HK can get ghost decks alot lot cheaper, so I got him to send me a few, and I'm using those at the moment. I think they're pretty cool and its white too ^^

But get a few, see what you think yourself.

K

In Turkey we don't have bicycle brad cards. So for the people I perform, it doesn't matter if it's a normal or an E deck. They all see them as a "special" deck. I have Vipers, Tigers, Ghosts and I like the Ghosts a lot. I could use them more frequently if they were somewhat cheaper.