talkmagic.co.uk

Gimmicks are only a means to an end. It is the EFFECT that counts. It doesn't matter whether you use sleight of hand, secret prearrangement, mathematical principles, sheer bluff, or fake cards. The audience shouldn't be aware of your method anyway.

You use the method which best suits the effect. If the best method for a good trick is a gimmick then use it.

Sage-like advice, thank you very much Mr Gandalf Sir.

Svengali decks have various applications, and are a useful tool, when performing for a regular/familiar audience, that have no doubt that you only ever use an ordinary deck, because you always do, which makes perfect reasoning for using a Svengali deck. When I used to demo and sell Svengalis, I used to explain to people, when the question arose, regarding exposure, or the selling of magic secrets, that they were just a training aid, and the idea, if you want to become a magician, is to replicate what can be done with some of these decks, but with ordinary cards.
I would strongly suggest that you never riffle the deck face-up, showing all cards the same, because this will kill the magic that preceded it -No arguments - That's a fact. Remember, there is no such thing as a trick deck of cards. Instead of doing that, let them pick their card, after the initial effects, and say,"Not again! We'll get rid of that", and put it into your pocket (at this point, as the hand is removed from the pocket, you can do your worst impression of a palm, that's possible, a few cuts and they find their card again, continuing as follows...). Get them to select their card again (using a different method, such as asking them to name a number and cutting the deck into that many piles) and get them to put an object (lucky, key,etc.) onto any pile, etc. Look shocked as you put it into your pocket. Repeat this ad. nauseum. Think of the possibilities now. The Svengali deck is devised to make you look like you have amazing skills, and when used correctly, it does just that. I never use one, but it was the acquisition of a Svengali deck that made me want to become a magician, overnight. If you start with all pockets and wallet loaded (and shoes, and bottom, etc.), then you can do lots of amazing productions.
You may receive some points about the pluses and minuses of using such a deck (don't forget the stripper, for controlling multiple selections), and most will probably be correct, because they will come from different perspectives and from different levels of magic, but should all be aiming in the same direction- to help the fellow magician. Magic is a constant decision making process, and you always have to make the final decision, which is one of the pluses of sites like these, in that they offer a spectrum of advice.
All the best, Gary.

Tommyrot my boy. You MUST show the cards to be all different and then all the same. That is the idea of the trick in the first place.

The idea of being a performer is to get REACTION. The reaction you get from showing the cards to be all the same and then all different will far surpass all those tepid routines with a svengali deck that don't do this.

As for the tommyrot spouted by magicians who know nothing about the svengali deck that people will think it is a trick deck I can assure them that they are WRONG. There are ways around this. They are detailed in my most wondrous book about the subject.

I perform this in entertainment situations as well as selling situations. At trade shows it is a godsend.

Although I have detailed in my books several ways of avoiding the problem of people thinking you have trick cards I don't bother with any of them. I simply say to the people "this is a trick deck I purchased in a magic shop" and when I finish put them aside. The reaction is all that can be desired and they STILL don't know how it is done. I even have a way that the deck can be examined and that is mentioned in my most wondrous book which I believe is a classic of world literature and should be nominated for the Booker Prize.

However if I am in the mood I use another ploy. I switch the deck and continue with a svengali routine only with a regular deck. With a combination of hindu shuffling, top changes and double lifts you can do a svengali routine with a regular deck. Then I lay them on the table. Remember I have earlier stated that it is a trick deck.

Now watch them grab the deck and find nothing! The psychology is superb.

I am not a boy! I agree with most of what you say, involving switches and of the audience never suspecting you, but you'll find, that if you read my post again,with a little less excitement, you will realise that I was referring to regular audiences, which could involve people of some knowledge to the growth of your career, not to the regular lay-audience. I never use them, so why would it bother me? I was giving advice, and sound advice, without advertising another pointless tome on the Svengali deck. With a bit of thought, you don't need instructions on how to get a reaction from a Svengali deck. You are wrong, about showing all cards to be the same, and wrong to tell people that you use a trick deck. Honestly, you are wrong about that, and however you prance around our pretty little language, forging reasonable excuses and psychological angles and slants, why you are right to do so, the fact remains that you are wrong.
Whatever 'Tommyrot' is, I'll take it that it was intended as a derogatory remark. Nice opening, Tommy-[edited by mods].