talkmagic.co.uk

Getting together a fairly solid mind-reading act after reading Derren's "Absolute Magic". However I need a switch from a normal deck to a gaff deck at one point, and I think it's a bit weird to put it away, do a non-card mental effect then take it back out again.

Cheers

I don't think it's weird at all. All you really have to do is link them through some motivating factor; at this point why is it necessary to put the cards away and show something else? Find an effect which you can patter up to connect to the previous card effect and use it as "another example of the same principle". Then find some reason to go back to the cards.

Really since the audience doesn't have a program to know that you're going to do a card effect, another effect, then more cards they're not going to think "hey, why not put the card tricks together?". By the second card trick they will likely not be thinking of the previous one unless you give them reason to.

Another option is to find a reason to necessitate a new deck. Maybe you want to use a new sealed deck every time to prove it's above board. Maybe you move from playing cards to a Zenner deck. Maybe the cards are for some reason scattered all over the floor, have been mangled, or are for some other reason inaccessible - obviously a new deck is in order. Did the previous trick include a signature, or several - time for a fresh deck and a full 52 possibilities.

P.S. I can't remember the thread or even exactly which forum it was but the videos at the Mind Science Foundation revolved around magic for one of their conferences. Teller touches on what I'm trying to express here on the first video on the page. It's his second point when he's dealing with the sponge balls and the position of the table:
http://www.mindscience.org/magicsymposium/

I don't see any problem at all with putting the deck away, doing a non coin effect and then getting out the prepared deck. The audience are't going to notice as long as you do it casually and don't draw attention to it.

There's also a few ideas for deck switches in Annemann's 202 Methods of Forcing.

Done casually it shouldn't even be noticed.

What you need is a number of good deck switches. In general it is very easy to do a deck switch (=DS) on the off beat.

One way that served me well is described in a number of Arenson's books on memorised deck. I use his methods frequently and have never been caught. He methods are very practical and if you pm me I will be happy to provide you with more information.

Roughly the DS I use occurs in 3 kind of situations:
a) DS before the effect, b) DS during the effect and c) DS after the effect.

In case a) DS happens between different effects and require a bit of planning. In case b) the DS take place during an effect. Require minor slight of hand e.g. slight in pocket, or slight involving your belt (both methods are discussed in Arenson's books on memorised deck).
Finally, in case c) the DS take place to clean up. This might require work after the climax of the effect has taken place.


Finally let me mention that it is possible to design nice and fast routines that besides being entertaining in their own right also accomplish a DS.

There are two switches I use quite often, which fly by any spectator. Since some of it is exposure, I won't post on the public boards. Feel free to pm me if you're interested.

Soren's advice is quite sound (you should always pay attention when he has something to say, I think), and you should look into the Aronson works.

The good Lady is also spot on - if you don't draw attention to it, no attention will be given to it. This is purely magician's guilt rearing it's ugly head. We all suffer from it at times.

Confidence in what you're doing is one of the greatest tools of misdirection. Any action you make is only strange to you - unless you let that thinking dictate the actions themselves. Once you BELIEVE what you're doing is weird/off/suspicious - your audience will spot it, too.

But, if you are casual, in command, confident in your presentation and how you are perceived, you could switch your deck of cards for a Volkswagen, and no one would be the wiser.

Confidence is the key, my friend.

How about employing some time misdirection? Your regular deck is Deck A, your gaffed deck is Deck B.

You finish the effect with Deck A and patter as you replace it in its box.

You explain you're going to perform another effect that doesn't involve cards.

With the boxed Deck A still in your hand you lean temporarily out of view (behind table, etc.) to retreive your props for the new effect (coins, a pad of paper, whatever) and as you return to view with the new prop, you also now have the boxed Deck B, which you casually place in full view on the table as you begin the non-card effect.

Now your gaffed deck has been in plain sight all through your non-card effect and is ready to be returned to with people swearing it's Deck A.

deck shell...

you can also use a clipboard as cover too if you think about it...

I perform mindreading and have to do deck switches from time to time. I have put the deck I'm using in my left pocket and walked from one end of the stage to the other and taken the gaffed deck out of my RIGHT pocket.
I read in books "be bold" so thats what I do. I agree it is a confidence thing. If you are putting on a mindreading act and believe in what you are doing those small moves, and they are small will go un noticed. Remember as a mentalist the audience are not burning your hands as much as a card magicians hands. The above switch was done infront of press. They didn't notice it. They weren't looking for it. Only you know what you are doing next. You don't need a reason to do a switch sometimes , just do it. It works for me.

Try a deck vanish, followed by a reproduction of the gaff deck instantly, no-one should suspect a thing...