talkmagic.co.uk

I dont know if im the only person who thinks so but some of the magic tricks are expensive, I recently got hole sensation from a web site and when i got it (albeit a great trick) was shocked to find all it was was a gimmicked card that for 3 time less (which for me is quite a lot because i also pay shipping to spain) i could have made one myself, After this experience i feel now i would like to look into making tricks myself but wouldnt know where to start, is there anybody on he that already does make there own, or does anybody have any tips on where to get info so i can start making. I must also explain that it is only the card gimmicks that i am interested in.
Thanks in advance
Matt

I’m sure you'll see this elsewhere on TM and other places but the cost of magic isn’t the cost of the props it’s the value of the secret as well. OK, perhaps a trick will consist of a gaffed card or two but without buying you wouldn’t know that and neither will your spectators. I’ve purchased packet tricks in the past which consist of a few ordinary cards and I could have provided them for a fraction of the purchase price but without the secret they have no other value than that.

If you can invent and develop your own tricks and routines then that’s the way to do it. If you’re just going to try and copy marketed effects then that’s not so good.

Mandrake,

That is a very good point, your full of wisdom.
I would like to invent tricks using gimmicked cards. but where would i start??

My advice would be to skip on buying or making gimmicked cards and buy some good books instead. Not sure of what it would cost you, but over here it costs close to the same price to buy a book on card magic as it does tro buy a packet trick (where you get one trick, whereas in a biook you get a whole lot more, plus the perspective of someone experienced on how to perform). I've never been much into card magic, though - so I'm maybe the wrong guy to be saying this.

mattmagic wrote:Mandrake,

That is a very good point, your full of wisdom.
I would like to invent tricks using gimmicked cards. but where would i start??

The USPCC (who make Bicycle cards) will produce them—so long as you order a minimum of about 5000 decks.

Cardmaker, a member of this site hand-crafts his own.

I guess you could just invent tricks first, and think if gimmicked cards are necessary?

Not being much of a cardie, I can't nudge you very far in the right direction. Cards4magic.co.uk do a nice assorted deck of various gaffed cards, and others on TM have mentioned that they've developed their own routines to use some of them. I may have this completely wrong but if you think of an effect you'd like to do then work it backwards in stages which would allow that effect to happen then you're well on the way to inventing. Of course, others may have already had the same idea but that's no reason to stop trying! Hang around a while and you might find other TM members will chip in with some suitable suggestions as well.

when i first started i just bought packet tricks and gimmick after gimmick...it was fun for a while, but after that (especially after adding up how much you spend) you realise a few classic books, a couple of well selected dvds (if you learn better visually) and you learn so much more..

...once you learn, you can then apply...when you apply, you make yer own...far more fun and satisfying...royal road to card magic, 5 packs of cards £15 to £20 the lot...one packet trick £12-15...

perhaps by learning the card sleight basics would help you in then defining what gimmicks you want to make yourselves?

I haven't got this but it sounds like your looking for something like 'Marty “Martini” Grams The Art of Card Splitting':

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic6904.php

http://www.magictricks.co.uk/prodshow.asp?code=479

Matt, when it comes to cards, there are some basics.

you can make a card disappear,
you can make it re appear,
you can make it change places with another card, then change back,
you can find a "thought of", spectator "selected" or "lost" card,
and with some gaffed cards, you can do different things like change it's appearance.

that's really the bread and butter. what is great about card handling, is the fact that you can achieve these things above in 100's, perhaps 1,000's of ways.

The Royal Road to Card Magic is as good a place as anywhere to start. get the book or the DVD, whatever you feel more comfortable with. most good magic dealers will have it or at least be able to get it.

this will teach you some tricks which can get you started. but more importantly, it will teach you the good basics of card handling. if you want to develop your own magic, good basics are a must. you need to learn handling, the right way to cut, to shuffle, to spread, how to hold a break, how to do what we refer to here as a DL, and how to force a card. a simple thing like the force is the basis of 100's of tricks itself.

practice, practice, practice... DO NOT be stupid like me and buy a new effect before you have mastered the first one... there is more than enough in the Royal Road to get you started. then with the following in mind:

you can make a card disappear,
you can make it re appear,
you can make it change places with another card, then change back,
you can find a "thought of", spectator "selected" or "lost" card,
and with some gaffed cards, you can do different things like change it's appearance.

then pick a couple of the tricks you have learned from the Royal Road, and ask yourself... if you could change something a little, do something somehow just a little differently to get (for you) a better handling, what would that be??? then develop a way to do that. and that becomes "your handling" of that trick and you have taken your first step.

then develop your own tricks, and once you have PERFECTED one, put the video up on this web site for all of us to enjoy. then you can struggle with the moral issues such as this:

to make the gaff costs you only .50c. but it took you a year of practice and development to get it right... so will you be happy selling it to us for $1.00???

good luck Matt! all the best!