Cards for magic

[walrus]

Hello I wanted to see if people have a favorite deck they use for magic. I try not to use something to flashy unless it is a friend who is familiar with my playing card collecting issues. A couple customs that I do like to use are the Blue Artifice which can give effect a bit of a classy look, the Americanas as they seem very practical and not overboard and, although not really custom, the Red Dragons which handle great and have a good look for magic. I have not had any "is that a trick deck" questions with any of these decks.
For those friends I perform for I like to use the Fantasique, great off the wall deck and one of the better manuvering decks I use.

[nur1988]

I have a crap load of decks lol I swap between the bicycle mandolin back and my purple artifice (which i'm severley in love with lol) .. Also, for me, it depends if there's a holiday coming up .. for example, I've used the Ghost deck around halloween, the xmas that just went, i used cards from "fast n genious" and "fake n genious" with my red n green deck but my artifice collection is just my all time fave

[michaelveatch]

I switch it around all the time.....my two standards are monarchs and vintage plaids, I use the vintage plaid more then I use monarchs nowadays......and somedays I use skull and bones, all depends on what mood im in

[walrus]

Have you guys ever had a problem with custom decks. I have found certain ones (Black Arcane) can create suspicion.

[nur1988]

I can't say I have. I've had a few oohs and ahhs for the look of some decks, but nothing suspicious

[michaelveatch]

not really....I dont really use crazy looking decks, if they get suspicious i always hand out the deck for inspection since I never use any gimmicks or anything.......I can see why the arcane and the ones along those lines look suspicious thats why i never use them...that and im not a huge fan

[walrus]

Mr. Veatch, that is a great picture you have, very Jim Carey esque. I have had the card suspicion debate on the E forums several times. Many there say it is not the cards (ever) it is the presentation. Of course there is some truth to this. Any effect presented poorly or with no confidence is going to raise suspicion. But I have tested out the card theory several times and have found the same effect done with regular bikes causes no comments and when done with Black Arcanes does create comments regarding suspicion. I bring up Black Arcanes as it is really the only deck I have had this problem with. I do not even bother using them for magic any longer. I have a Black Arcane invisible deck that I do not even touch. It does not create that much of an issue for people like us who have 3,789,989 decks of playing cards but for someone just enetering magic it may be a bit difficult.

[michaelveatch]

lol thanks..I dont know why I always make that face.........Yeah its all about preference i guess......id just go with a deck that fits your style, and if your a pure slight of hand guy then you dont have to worry about them wondering if the deck is gimmicked cause you can let them inspect it and they can see its a perfectly normal deck ....just fancier

[ibrahimjaber]

In my country there's no standard Bikes
So I have no problem using any deck to perform with
I prefer using decks Like Artifice 2nd edition & Artisans
Sometimes I perform at places which have playing cards so I use their cards to kill all doubts
First when I started learning I used bad Plastic cards so I have no problem with using those too (ugly thin plastic bridge cards )
It's all about magic not about cards at the end

”Skills rest in your mind not in the props you make use of”

[walrus]

In my country there's no standard Bikes
So I have no problem using any deck to perform with
I prefer using decks Like Artifice 2nd edition & Artisans
Sometimes I perform at places which have playing cards so I use their cards to kill all doubts
First when I started learning I used bad Plastic cards so I have no problem with using those too (ugly thin plastic bridge cards )
It's all about magic not about cards at the end

”Skills rest in your mind not in the props you make use of”

Hey Ibrahim, I see you are from Jordan. I have heard some Islamic countries do not approve of magic (read it in Genii magazine) have you experienced this or is it inaccurate.

[ibrahimjaber]

In my country there's no standard Bikes
So I have no problem using any deck to perform with
I prefer using decks Like Artifice 2nd edition & Artisans
Sometimes I perform at places which have playing cards so I use their cards to kill all doubts
First when I started learning I used bad Plastic cards so I have no problem with using those too (ugly thin plastic bridge cards )
It's all about magic not about cards at the end

”Skills rest in your mind not in the props you make use of”

Hey Ibrahim, I see you are from Jordan. I have heard some Islamic countries do not approve of magic (read it in Genii magazine) have you experienced this or is it inaccurate.

By that I think they mean Magic Like Black Magic and Voodoo which aims to hurt others

But the kind of Magic we do (For Entertainment) Is welcomed by everyone

[Frequenter]

I usually try to stick with the normal decks, as I too have experienced issues with audience suspicion when using less recognizable decks. Here in Australia, and when I was in some European countries too, they don't even have many bikes, and I've had to use Queen's Slipper or local variants. Inspection is not an issue, but I think that as soon as the seed is planted, the rest of a set is tinted in a bad light, with the audience less obliging... Such a shame though! So many beautiful decks, and we can't even display them in their best light!

[Theory]

I don't do magic anymore but when I did I made it a habit to use only standard bicycle rider backs in red or blue. This is what most people are familiar with .

[Magic_Orthodoxy]

I think a lot of noobs recognize "E" decks, and personally Theory 11 and D&D make better cards in my opinion.

For magic, I only use a deck of red bikes, plus - it's super easy to get gaffs (see below)



Red bikes handle great, totally common, never arouses suspicion. I suppose if I were some place elegant, and maybe performing for magicians who knew and could recognize cards, or if I had a "persona" I might use a different deck, but let's face it, a lot of tricks require handing decks out for examination or signing cards, so use a $3 deck and not a $9 deck.

[walrus]

Is there a certain deck you guys find raises suspicion. I seem only to have problems with the Black Arcane

[DelMagic]

If you do effective card magic, it doesn't matter what deck you use - it will probably arouse suspicion. I once used a house-brand deck of cards from a drugstore (Eckerds, I think) to perform with and someone asked if they were "trick" cards. When you start fooling people, even with Bikes, they will likely suspect "trick" cards. We can't spend our peformance time trying to disprove things, so use what works best for you. The economics of $14.89 for a dozen Bikes persuades many magicians that they are what works best for them. I tend to rotate through my decks, but I am not really any sort of regular performer so even I realize my thoughts on this aren't very authoritative.

[eschifman]

Is there a certain deck you guys find raises suspicion. I seem only to have problems with the Black Arcane

I did magic with the black and white arcane decks when I got them a few years ago and I would suggest not doing magic with any black deck because of the large variance to what a spectator normally sees. The white deck also had faded cards which made it unusual. I have started doing magic for spectators with cards like monarchs and S&M decks. For further advice, don't bother buying black decks if you plan on doing solely magic with them. If a card is turned the other direction it is very noticeable. Also the inside of the stock is naturally white so if you put a lot of use into the cards the edges will started to turn white. Black decks are mainly used for cardistry.

[sms69x]

The deck I love to use for magic is the Master Edition (UV500 Air-Flow Finish) by E, this is by far the best deck to preform with, IMO. Also like to use regular bikes, and in some special occasions I use the Green Artiface!