talkmagic.co.uk

I don't know if this has been already covered in an older thread (I'm sorry if it has - but I really wouldn't know how to search for this one) but I am plagued with a very interesting dilemma.

I have purchased a few "premium" decks such as Bicycle Black Tigers, Ghost, and Tally-Ho Vipers. Personally I LOVE these cards. I especially love the look and feel of the Ghost cards and the all-round handling of the Vipers and Black Tigers. HOWEVER....... I am gradually leaving these cards behind whenever I perform tricks because people have this obsession with the fact that they appear to be "trick" cards because they're different.

Now, one can always hand the deck to the spectator and say - "have a look for yourself, they're just painted black" or whatever, but it puts a shroud of mystery and suspicion on precisely the item that you want to deviate attention from - the deck of cards.

With a regular deck you can always pass under the radar - but as soon as you show up with these exotic cards, I find a lot of people put their guard up - and that's exactly what you DON'T want. The LAST thing you want when performing (and this has happened to me) is for people to say "those must be trick cards" - even though the thought of the cards being able to do what I just finished doing all by themselves is even more ridiculously impossible than the actual trick!!!!

I would love to know what some of your views are on the subject... and if you would trade this "suspicion" for the sake of superior handling and/or "look".

Thanks!

I woulnd't trade it personally. I'd rather not have the suspicion in peoples minds that could damage the effect.

However, if it was a spooky routine then I think using Black Tigers and Ghost cards are great, as long as let them handle the cards a bit to prove they are normal A haunted deck type effect is great with Black Tigers saying stuff like the spirits will find their card through the midst of black smoke, blah blah.

I would agree

I don't own any "premium cards" - for precisely this reason. well, partially this reason, partially because I can't afford them But I know if I was a spec, I'd be suspicious as hell when someone brought out a deck like that. Familiarity is good - and people know red/blue bikes, plain and simple!

It's not like they're bad cards... before people order a "premium deck" I advise buying a 50p deck and playing with it for 1/2 an hour, then going back to bikes - you've got some "premium cards" right there

..i feel that for cards being familiar to someone, well...bikes are american arent they..

i'd never seen them in shops here or since ive gotten into magic...waddingtons are probably the most common in the uk surely?

Though these 'premium' decks do scream 'trick deck'...why not use it to your advantage? these cards are different, these cards will influence you in some way...but please, feel free to examine them in any way you wish...

well, thats what i do at least...what do i know..

abraxus wrote:..i feel that for cards being familiar to someone, well...bikes are american arent they..

Well, yes, but most laypeople aren't intimately familiar with different brands of cards. The main thing is that they know that cards have red and black pips, red or blue on the back, and so on. If you show a premium deck then it doesn't look like a normal deck of cards anymore so the seed of suspicion is planted.

That said, nobody has ever accused me of using a trick deck when I do something with my Ghosts so I can't really talk.

Kati

People accuse me of using a trick deck all the time... I take that as a compliment, so much so infact I have no problem with giving them the deck to keep after a performance just to prove they are real, just to make sure they walk away feeling like they have seen some magic and not good use of a trick deck... (to be honest by the time they have been handled and dropped in beer and the like they are pretty much useless to me anyway) and they are so cheap if you buy in bulk the cost is not factor.

I use bikes by the way even though I'm in the UK I find them the best.

As for "premium" decks I find myself uncomfortable using them in performance due to the fact they don't "look" normal. so much so that the last deck of White Ghost's I had went raining down over a neighbours garden (with the choosen card left on their upstairs window of course) due to the fact I was sick of people asking why the colours were mixed up!

Wukfit wrote:...White Ghost's I had went raining down over a neighbours garden (with the choosen card left on their upstairs window of course) due to the fact I was sick of people asking why the colours were mixed up!

Yup... I can't agree more! I should specify: It's the Black Tigers or Vipers that get the "trick deck" comment all the time. And with the Ghosts - it's exactly as you described - or after asking "what was your card?" they say "ace of spades" when in fact their card was the ace of hearts which I am about to reveal for not because my effect has pretty much been ruined.

Farlsborough wrote:It's not like they're bad cards... before people order a "premium deck" I advise buying a 50p deck and playing with it for 1/2 an hour, then going back to bikes - you've got some "premium cards" right there

That's funny! Yes my favourites for this are the ones that come bundled in most poker chip sets!

Abraxas wrote:Though these 'premium' decks do scream 'trick deck'...why not use it to your advantage? these cards are different, these cards will influence you in some way...but please, feel free to examine them in any way you wish...

Excellent idea - I guess I have to more properly think of which deck is best for which effect.

...why not make a massive thing out of it all...look at these, i found this deck...(possibly just tie the deck up in a ribbon or something not from the usual cardboard)...

...agree with the spectator..."yes, they are wierd or a little unatural..." and share it with them..."i found this a little unsettling...watch..."

and then go into some card 'experiment'...take a little step away from them knowing its going to be trick, and make it more like some strange or unusual thing, a special little moment you've both shared and experienced...

...great for rapport if nothing else...always a bonus...

I usually carry Blue Bikes, Red Bikes, Black Tigers and White Ghosts with me and when I go to do magic I get them all out and throw them down on the table asking which deck would they like to use?

Occaisionaly they will say red or blue, but most of the time curiosity makes them go for Black Tigers and White Ghosts, wierd isn't it?

I get the cards out and separate them into suits, while telling a story about the deck (as Abraxus sayed) With Black Tigers I tell them about the US Army in Vietnam used to have these cards sent out to the field, but the whole deck was made up of 52 cards all the Ace of Spades, because the Vietnamese people were very superstitious and thought this card was the Death Card, so I say "in old films you will see a GI with the Ace of Spades in the band of his helmet"...... then they see all the cards and off I go with some shuffeling....

With the Ghost deck I tell a different story alltogether.......

I hope this helps