talkmagic.co.uk

Domcsore wrote:

Ted wrote: an 'aged' card that looks and feels new.

T.

I will agree with that comment. That card is a bit silly.

How about you f**** the equivalent card from a standard deck, p*** it away, reveal that the card has now disappeared from the deck and then the spec finds the aged copy buried apart from one corner in a plant pot which you've not been even remotely close to for the duration of the trick. The card isn't aged- it's just really dirty from having been in the soil the whole time. You can then colour change it clean like Dale suggested.

With gaff decks you really need to spend time looking at each card and seeing where your imagination takes you. You may find that for most of the cards you don't come up with anything particularly good, but you might just work out one showstopper. You've spent your money, you might as well try to get some value out of it before it goes in your drawer of forgotten magic.

is anyone going to believe that its really spooky though just cos its got a printed skull on it?

if i remember rightly, i enjoyed the dave forrest dvd he did with gaffed cards, there's a review knocking about in here...two-faced was it called?

just thought of another thing that would be cool..

though method? Lord knows.

a card is chosen.... it's placed in their right hand.. you now have them close their eyes, and imagine that they are traveling in time....

when they open their eyes, they look down... and the card has aged.

Like i say.. no method.. that's up to you to discover... but it uses the feel of the card to your advantage, because during the induction, it doesnt feel any different.

IAIN wrote:is anyone going to believe that its really spooky though just cos its got a printed skull on it?

possibly, since as far as they know, they will be the only one who can see it. It looks quite subtle, and you switch it back out as soon as they have seen it)

daleshrimpton wrote:

IAIN wrote:is anyone going to believe that its really spooky though just cos its got a printed skull on it?

possibly, since as far as they know, they will be the only one who can see it. It looks quite subtle, and you switch it back out as soon as they have seen it)

Before burning the card in an ashtray, and then rubbing the ash on your arm, where it forms the name of the spectator that saw the skull...

daleshrimpton wrote:just thought of another thing that would be cool..

though method? Lord knows.

a card is chosen.... it's placed in their right hand.. you now have them close their eyes, and imagine that they are traveling in time....

when they open their eyes, they look down... and the card has aged.

Like i say.. no method.. that's up to you to discover... but it uses the feel of the card to your advantage, because during the induction, it doesnt feel any different.

I may know a method, very difficult to pull off but I saw Liam Walsh use the slight in one of his effects. I'll give it a practice but I highly doubt I could pull it off haha.

I imagine a standard DL would work. Otherwise, check out Erdnase - I think it's free these days? ISTR it's on the Learned Pig?

EDIT: Yup, it's there for free.

I do not think my method would work =\ Have old gaff on the bottom of the deck, f**** a card standard card (same as old gaff) to the audience. Ask them to return card, f**** sh***** it to the top with gaff underneath it. Make their card 'magically appear' to the top then show them (Without revealing gaff). Say something like 'thats not all' DL the gaff and standard. Ask audience to hold out hand with other hand hovering over then give the audience the gaff retaining standard with p*** then get them to cover quickly (I don't quite know how this would work without them seeing) then use the travel back in time thing. Just a theory.

From the top you have... dupe , gaff .
"shuffle" the deck, retaining the top 2 cards...
Fan the cards, and ask the spectator to touch one of the cards.
remove this free choice, and top cha*ge for your dupe. hand this to person A face down. get them to turn it over.. revealing the ace of spades.

explain that this, is known as the death card.
people are listening to what your saying, and looking at the person you are talking to, palm off the indifferent card, or slip it out of the way. You no longer need it.
Take it back from person a..... and top ch*nge it again. this now rings in the gaff. whilst moving, it will look the same .

hand it face down to person B. have them close their eyes tight shut. patter about spooky stuff... and have them turn the card over.. then ask them to look at the card. As their eyes refocus , from being shut, the skull should appear ... they should react... take that card back, and do a third Top Ch*nge, leaving the ungaffed ace with person a.

It is not the cards, it will never be the cards, it is what you do with them.

For most magicians the deck will sit around and never be used. For the guys that are bent on everything has to be slight of hand and all the cards have to look like cards, they will never be used. For the un-creative (some people just are not creative) they will never be used.

Does a card look spooky because there is a scull on it? Nope, Does a picture of a ghost look spooky because it is a picture of a ghost? Nope. Is any death card in a tarot deck spooky? Nope. Put it in context, build a story around it, draw the spectator into the plot, then the card is symbolic and the spectator will view it in the context in which you deliver.

That being said a normal gaff deck would probably be of a little more benifit to you, Double face, double back, bland face, blank back, etc.

Use the ones you got, build something around them get those creative juices flowing. It is only going to be a bad purchase if you let it. And you can always gaff them more, make the old cards look and feel older, etc.

check out bro hammans book, the third version of dia vernons twisting the aces is awesome. i think it's called the final twist (not sure if thats the name, and cant be bothered to get my books out.) that's my favourite gaffed trick, and the only one i perform. just a few double facers. but there is a few others in his book that are quite fun.

i agree with bmat though, go buy yourself double backs, blank backs, double facers, blank faces and have some fun making your own tricks up.

Hi,

I looked into this issue for quite some time and after seeing what the Ellusionist deck had to offer I decided it was not a good buy!

Try the little known deck and accompanying DVD the 'Packet Killer'.
This is a real worker's series of gaff cards made by Magic Makers (yeah, yeah, I know, I know!) that allows you to do some great classics and maybe some effects you have never heard of. IMO, every gaff card you are ever likely to use on a regular basis is in the 'Packet Killer'.

Research it and see what you think.

In my opinion a much better long term buy than the Ellusionist offering!

Regards,

dgmagic