talkmagic.co.uk

Perform an ACR (or any other routine) with the spec signing a card, and you now have a deck consisting of 51 cards rather than 52.

Perform again with a different spec, and you're down to 51.

Pretty soon, you've got a deck that feels weird to perform with, as it feels a bit thin, and that may look odd to the spec.

I find this problem fascinating, if only because I've heard of (or thought of) so many potential solutions.

One of course is to not care about it and just throw the deck away (or use the cards as spares) once it gets a bit thin. Maybe pad it out with Jokers. This can work well enough. Personally, however, I like to perform ACR with what feels like a very full deck, so I'd be throwing the deck away after just maybe half a dozen ACRs.

This is my preferred solution, below. Maybe lots of people work in this way? I've not heard of it, though I expect lots of people have come up with it before me.

__

* Keep a perfect 52 card deck in your pocket. (I keep this in my right outside jacket pocket.)

* Wander around shuffling a deck made up of any random cards of the type of deck you're using. This starts as a full deck, and you add random cards to it from a third deck (kept at home, stored behind the garden shed in an old rusty biscuit tin) whenever it gets a bit thin.

* Spread this deck when inviting a punter to pick a card (any card).

* Switch this with the perfect deck while finding a pen or while they sign their card.

* If you're concerned about the dupe, find the dupe and put it in your pocket, maybe saying something about getting rid of the Jokers. Return it to the deck after the performance. It shouldn't matter too much about the dupe, though, as they've signed their card.

You now have a perfect deck of 52 once again, and a punter grinning while rubbing the signed card gleefully.

_____

Can anyone suggest any other solutions to this problem?

Why the need to switch in a normal deck? Why not just continue with the deck of spares that's full of dupes? (Padded out with more spares or from a 2nd deck for the same reasons you mentioned.) Since the point of ACR and similar is that the card is signed the suit and value don't seem to matter much at all.

Slight changes to patter and performance could cover the issue of dupes. (Signature vanishing and reappearing, for example.)
You could even eliminate the issue entirely right off the bat and flat-out tell them it doesn't mater what they pick, fan the deck face up for them to pick and sign and if you like, tell them why there are dupes if it's obvious there are.

That said, I've never done any signed card stuff before so I apologise if there's any serious issues with this approach.

The ACR that I perform goes something like this...

A spectator picks a card from a blue backed deck..clearly blue backed, it rises to the top...speak about the possibility of dupes so they sign the face. The trick is performed a few more times with every progressing impossibility.
The finale is that I show a red backed prediction card in my wallet/pocket/envelope/under a glass/etc that actually turns out to be a signed card.

The blue deck never loses cards.

Buy a pack of 52 matching cards of choice eg. 10 spades.

Force that card for any routine where spec signs.

Give card away and replace with pack of 52 (now 51).

Lenoir wrote:The ACR that I perform goes something like this...

A spectator picks a card from a blue backed deck..clearly blue backed, it rises to the top...speak about the possibility of dupes so they sign the face. The trick is performed a few more times with every progressing impossibility.
The finale is that I show a red backed prediction card in my wallet/pocket/envelope/under a glass/etc that actually turns out to be a signed card.

The blue deck never loses cards.

So they pick a card from a blue deck (a fan or spread, no force?)...

Do you use Consignment? I've bought it, haven't opened yet/watched the DVD yet (busy!).

Lenoir wrote:A spectator picks a card from a blue backed deck..clearly blue backed, it rises to the top...speak about the possibility of dupes so they sign the face.

The concept of discussing dupes is a good one. I once considered performing with a perfect 52 deck, then pulling out a Joker and saying, 'If you sign a card, you'll know it's definitely your card and not a duplicate, and it's best you sign a Joker as it's kind of a spare card', and performing with that, but it feels messy and a bit weak to start with one card then switch to another.

Another option with a Joker is to perform using my preferred method (as I explained at the start of this thread), letting them pick freely from a 1 way Joker deck, then switching for a regular deck while they sign. Though, although you can buy a 1 way Joker deck in Bikes on cards4magic, you won't be able to buy a 1 way Joker in a posh deck (like the new David Blaine White Lions, or the Aristocrat, both of which I really love the look of).

A_n_t wrote:Buy a pack of 52 matching cards of choice eg. 10 spades.

Force that card for any routine where spec signs.

Give card away and replace with pack of 52 (now 51).

Ant, I was typing my previous post while you were typing your post, but I think we're talking about almost the same idea here, though not quite. I like to approach strangers with the cards spread, in which case, I'd need an almost perfectly reliable classic force to force the card. Hence I prefer to use the forcing deck (Jokers is my preferred choice; possibly blank face; or just any random spot and picture cards), let them choose freely, then switch decks.

I was going to suggest using a 1 way deck and a card force, but that means a cost of about 12p per performance instead of about 4p.
Maybe too cheap to reasonably worry about either way, but worth a mention.

BigShot wrote:I was going to suggest using a 1 way deck and a card force, but that means a cost of about 12p per performance instead of about 4p.
Maybe too cheap to reasonably worry about either way, but worth a mention.

Uh. I didn't think of that.

Mind you, I'm thinking of switching to a posh deck like the David Blaine White Lions, or Aristocrat.

Prices vary of course but maybe would cost around £6 per deck. 11 or 12 pence a time. I guess it would work out expense. 100 performances would cost more than a tenner.

I use a force on the first card Lawrence, but the card is then signed a few seconds later so the idea of a force is completely out of the question.

Which force do you use, Lenoir?

My only 100% reliable forces involve a riffle (I have two, not sure what they're called, one with the force card on top and one with the force card in the middle)... and I don't feel comfortable walking up to some random stranger and saying "Tell me when to stop". They'll most likely not understand what's going on. "Stop what?", they'll most likely respond.

Spreading or fanning the deck though, and saying, "Pick a card", they immediately understand what's going on. In fact, you don't even have to say anything. Just smile, or raise a James Bond eyebrow.

So, for these reasons, personally I don't like to begin Ambitious Card with a force.

Of course, here I'm talking about random environments like a pub or Covent Garden, rather than a paid gig where everyone is expecting to be approached by a magician.

Laurence (with a 'u'!)

Apologies, Laurence.

I use a force that looks exactly like the classic force, except it is 100% reliable. It combines the underspread cull with the Bert Allerton change. I came up with it independently a few years back but I believe somebody else has now published the idea via Theory11 or somewhere similar. The Mirror Force I think it might be called..but maybe not.

You spread fairly through the deck, the spectator touches any card...you show them the card ( you do not see it) very fairly...no double lifts etc...and then they can push it back into the deck...you have complete control of the card.

Hmm. Sounds like it may well be the perfect solution.

Perhaps you will teach me?

For sure. If you know the Underspread cull, it's a doddle.

I think I vaguely know it...