talkmagic.co.uk

My fav is 'Kids Kards'. Sort of charming idea, easy to use, hard to screw up. Something different than your standard run-o-the-mill bicycle tricks. Esp. nice if you perform for kids.

Deck can be used to perform 2-3 different mini-effects that fit well together. The moves are pretty clean, not much worry about getting caught, and you don't have to be a master manipulator or anything.
Deck comes with a nice little story to tell while you do the trick.

Cardtoon is okay. Kids like it, but I would like to see it redesigned for better handling and resetting. And you can only use it for one specific trick.

I have stripper, svengali, brainwave, invisible, blank face, blank back, mixed pack, vanishing deck, and probably other decks. However, I prefer the themed kid decks for some reason. Seems to make it easier to present/relate to the spectator, more enjoyable.

I think you can see a demo of Kids Kards on the penguinmagic website if you're interested.

Mike

Sorry, regarding the stripper/svengali debate, I guess I would probably go with svengali. You can pretty much use breaks, creases, jogs, and other things to control the cards in a fashion that would make a stripper deck somewhat unnecessary. But I don't think there are too many ways to 'fake' what a svengali deck does.

Check out Daryl's card videos for some good stuff.

Mike

Just wanted to make a small point about stripper decks, you can do a killer out of this world routine as you can show the cards fairly mixed before the trick. It takes a very light touch but you can be ready to start after a single cut (a tip is to get some air between them by bridging the deck as if you're going todo a waterfall).

Another benefit is that you also don't need to keep count so you can really concentrate on your presentation. One key drawback with Svengali deck is that you can only really do one trick at a time with them, unless you start switching decks which is very suspicious.

And lastly, the best thing about stripper decks are the lovely ladies - nudge nudge say no more? C'mon, someone had to mention THAT deck!

I think it's got to be the Stripper deck.

Why bother switching decks when you can do all your "regular" tricks and then do your "Stripper dependent" tricks without stopping.
Most of the other ones mentioned would have to be switched in/out at sme point in the evening so it really is Stripper for the win.

I don't use gaffed decks that much any more (I don't have any problem at all with their use but I just get more personal enjoyment from using a regular deck). Having said this, I vividly remember the feeling of being absolutely stunned and utterly confused when I was shown the Svengali deck - well worth buying in my opinion.

Has anyone seen Andy Nyman's presentation of the Svengali deck? It's on his DVD, Get Nyman and it's brilliant. I believe he used the same presentation when he was working for Hamleys and sold a record number of decks. With a little routine like that, I'm not surprised.

Someone mentioned Kids Kards in an earlier post. I liked the sound of this so read Mandrake's review and then went in search of a video demonstration. It really annoyed me to find that someone has posted an explanation for this deck on YouTube (I don't know why that surprised me, but it did). Needless to say, I did not view it. But I did view a demonstration of the effect and will be ordering mine today.

Tam Shepards didnt have any decks in blue so ill have to buy thru t'internet.
Oh well.

TheAlkhemist07 wrote:Tam Shepards didnt have any decks in blue so ill have to buy thru t'internet.
Oh well.

I should have said that if you're getting stripper decks, be sure to get USPCC factory cut ones. They're sealed, and as subtle as a polar bear in a blizzard. The card Collection and International Magic do them for about six fifty a piece- but they are very nice.

I have bought them here in the past and always been very happy with the quality, service and price:
http://cgi.ebay.com/MAGIC-TRICKS-TRICK- ... dZViewItem

I 100% agree the factory sealed strippers are the only way to go.

Do try Mene Tekel deck. Also Easy to make one and cheaper.
also learn deck switch and use all matching decks.

ID

TS had a blue stripper so Ive got that!
Should be alot of fun!

This may seem odd coming from me, but can someone explain the difference between an ID and a Brainwave? thought they were the same
I have the Brainwave, and someone said you can make you own invisble deck?
On PM plz so as not to give the Secret to others!
Ta

If you want to see what can be done with a svengali deck then go here. The video clip is near the bottom of the page.

http://www.marklewisentertainment.com/h ... eshow.html

I, too, reckon that is the greatest Svengali routine in existence. It's certainly the greatest I have ever seen (and I have seen many). It never occurred to me that you could overhand shuffle and spread the deck like that; I watched the video demo in awe. That was seriously impressive stuff.