talkmagic.co.uk

ive recently started up magic again after about 8 months off and ive burnt through a few decks already (signing cards, bent cards, just playing use, etc)

i was wondering what you guys do with the decks youre done using?

When I was performing in Japan (which sounds a lot cooler and prestigious than it actually was), I would give away worn out decks to the gig I worked as a token of my appreciation.

I've started to do the same thing as sleightlycrazy with some of my old decks. If there are any kids at the gig, they love to go home with a pack of 'the magic cards'.

chuck 'em in the recycling to do my bit for the environment

btw I wont be here next week as I'm going on holiday harpooning whales.

Depends really...

During my stage show, I throw half a deck into the audience from my 5 card repeat. Im lazy so cant be bothered to collect them, so I tell people to take the cards as a souvenir.

For close up, I get through destroying about 15 - 20 cards from a deck each gig and retire the deck at home, and use the cards for practice T+R effects. My decks end up with big teeth Marks in them because of my ambitious card routine, so the cards arent really any good for anything else!!!


Mark

I've kept all mine in an old ammunition tin.

I use old decks for more bizarre presentations. "Here's a pack of cards that were recently found in a coffin...etc"

And anyway, old decks have far more personality than new decks. Why throw them away?

It's a pity I won't see Tom Lauten's presentation to Tabula Mentis IV on making aged props until the middle of November. I've got a seance booked for Saturday 1st November, and an aged tarot deck would be just the ticket.

Tomo wrote:It's a pity I won't see Tom Lauten's presentation to Tabula Mentis IV on making aged props until the middle of November. I've got a seance booked for Saturday 1st November, and an aged tarot deck would be just the ticket.

Carnie Tarot from Outlaw?

Or...
A quick (and I mean quick, 2 seconds tops) dip in tea (no milk or sugar!!!) and then dried out overnight on a radiator. While still wet drop a grain or two of coffee onto a few cards to produce "age spots".

Or iron each card. Not too hot and again only for a second or two. The heat from the iron will make the cards go slightly brown and a little wrinkled. Don't overdo it or the board will begin to seperate, which will also happen if you dip them for too long in tea or other liquid.

Aging tarot cards is usually best done with just the major arcana. After ageing they get a bit bent (BINGO!) and 78 aged cards can take up a lot of room.

Just a few ideas. Dont blame me if you ruin a perfectly good set of cards!

Tomo wrote:It's a pity I won't see Tom Lauten's presentation to Tabula Mentis IV on making aged props until the middle of November. I've got a seance booked for Saturday 1st November, and an aged tarot deck would be just the ticket.

Car boot sales can be your friend!
Either that or i think i have an old deck kicking about, i'll take a look when I get home.

I tried making a clock out of some once but it went wrong. Good idea to start with, using the numbers on the cards for the hours & it looked like a fanned deck. Only had cheapo glue though & the clock mechanism from an old clock.

I usually save any cards from gigs which are usable & have a stack of each card to add to the deck during a gig when people sign them, tear or bend them etc. At the end I sometimes give out what's left of the deck to someone who showed particular interest. It's a nice gesture which the booker might see you do.

I make wallets out of them. In all honesty wallets.

I usually keep them all in a large suitcase for when I'm practising card throwing or card folding etc.

For anyone who has the dvd set 'no camera tricks', old decks can come in handy for 'Richardwave' and '20 card trick'

One of the useful snippets John Born mentioned at the talk last night was to use old packs for tricks where spectators handle the cards. The roughness of older cards keeps them together better for the specs that aren't so used to handling cards. When you give them new cards of the quality most of us use they'll fly everywhere.