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Hi - I have a couple of questions regarding short cards (having never used them before).

Firstly - is it best to trim the cards at both ends (as described in Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic) or to trim it at only one end (as described in Tarbell Volume 1).

Secondly - Is it common practise among magicians to always have a short card in your deck (for those that use them) or would you just switch decks?

Many thanks in advance for any replies.

neil_the_newbie wrote:
Firstly - is it best to trim the cards at both ends (as described in Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic) or to trim it at both ends (as described in Tarbell Volume 1).
.

Do you mean trim at both ends, or at one end?

In which case id say both ends.

You might need to edit that first question a little!

I don't use them much myself, but my instinct is that you should trim both ends if the card is going to come under scrutiny, but just one end if the card won't. E.g. trim both if you're forcing the short card on someone; trim one edge if you're using the short card to force the card above.

Also I suspect how you bring a short card into play comes down to routining. Will the short card be a problem in effects prior to the ones you're going to use it for? Would it be easier to add just the short card to a full deck when required in the routine?

If you use one all the time, keep it in the deck.
If it's for one effect - cop it in (which in real terms just means take it out of your pocket and put it on top of the deck - people aren't watching)!

Edited! Its been a long week.

Many thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.

You caould also try just trimming just the corners. Can't remember where I heard that, but I heard it somewhere!

I agree with Gary on this, trimming diagonaly opposite corners gives the same end result. you can buy "hole punch" style trimmers from arts and craft shops/sites they use them for making there own.. well... cards!
I never used to use short cards but now I find them very handy.

Yup, a corner short is usually a good way to go.

I bought my corner cutter years ago from www.cards4magic.co.uk but also try your local Hobbycraft store!

Going back to the original queery,( and at the same time agreeing with the corner sugestion) i think that if your cards have a white boarder on the back, trimming a small amount from both ends will be cosmeticaly better. If on the other hand your using bees, or Steamboats, which have an all over design, then one end only should be fine, as long as teh card used isnt a court card.

Any thoughts about the method of trimming? I prefer to use a small paper cutter which I bought from The Works and it means I can trim very fine amounts off each end. A 'Stanley' knife and steel ruler are probably next in the line of possibilities.

I would go with a paper trimmer too, but sometimes, if they have a wheel, they can give the card a burr on the edge.
Make sure you get one with a blade. then you can replace the blade, keeping the cut nice and neat.

Traditionaly, gamblers and magicians used special shears.
these are available but can cost hundreds of pounds.

http://home.comcast.net/~tabco/card.htm

I keep a short card in my deck all the time.
Personally, I trim just one end 1mm with a pair of scissors.

Then again i see some people that take about a quarter of the card off at the corner; it's a personal choice thing really.

I'd say try out a few suggestions and see what works for you.

Slightly off topic but perhaps allied to it, many moons ago I bought a card effect from a well known supplier (who shall remain nameless!), it involved a deck gaffed to the hilt including R&S, specially printed mismade cards, double backers, double facers and short cards. For some reason the Aces were the shortened ones but only at one end and it had been done so badly the tops of the 'A' indices had been chopped off and the cut was wider one side that the other so the cards looked awful.

The supplier immediately changed the deck but the replacement and the next one was just as bad. Part of the response from the supplier was that 'specs don't look that closely at the cards' which is true but these aces were so obviously cut and, for the money involved (over £30), I'd expect the gaffing to be somewhat better than that! I did get a full refund so all was sorted very swiftly.

The R&S section was almost non-existent as well so I reckon it was a bad batch from a dodgy manufacturer, I did get a full refund so all was sorted very swiftly. These days if I need to jigger with any cards I do it myself and have only myself to blame if it's not a good job .

The other possibility, often overlooked is the use of a long card. Many a cool things can be accomplished with one.