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Orangutan · 26th December 2006, 11:07 AM

I got a Svengali deck for Xmas. I know it's almost considered a novelty and takes little skill but it's surprising how many people have never seen this trick and are amazed by it. Apparently It was picked up at restoration hardware for $10, a bit pricey but it had good instructions for various tricks and a few bonus cards in there that you could work into your routine. I think I might start a collection of Trick Decks.

Joy

Dinsdale Piranha · 26th December 2006, 04:22 PM

Here's a book you might want to go with your Svengali Deck.

http://www.dennymagic.com/cgi-bin/ha...il&item=001572

brodski · 26th December 2006, 04:30 PM

I got a stripper deck for xmas.
years ago I had a svengali deck a stripper deck and a marked deck. All three decks had identical backs, which meant I could swap between them to do a varity of tricks. Hours of fun.

Azrael 5 · 26th December 2006, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by brodski

I got a stripper deck for xmas.
years ago I had a svengali deck a stripper deck and a marked deck. All three decks had identical backs, which meant I could swap between them to do a varity of tricks. Hours of fun.

I got a stripper deck also!! "Tapered Cards". Some relative who thought they were giving me something I hadn't already had 25 years ago!

firecoins · 26th December 2006, 06:55 PM

I love stripper decks but enough people are aware of them. I have do some card tricks with a normal deck and that is one of the things people check for but most of the time it would go by unnoticed.

I use marked decks all the time. If you get the right ones, the marking are invisible to those not in the know.

Orangutan · 27th December 2006, 07:39 AM

OMG!

How do guys resist the urge to let people know how it works! This goes against every instinct I have. I love telling people how things work most of the time! When my daughter was learning how to drive stick and couldn't understand how the clutch on a car works, I ended up building a model of a clutch out of lego technic with a motor and everything! Aggh! I don't think being a engineer and a magician mix! I have How Stuff Works as a button on my navigation bar!

I need a rational argument for letting people remain ignorant of the mechanism of the tricks.

Help!

firecoins · 27th December 2006, 09:27 PM

Originally Posted by Orangutan

OMG!

How do guys resist the urge to let people know how it works! This goes against every instinct I have. I love telling people how things work most of the time! When my daughter was learning how to drive stick and couldn't understand how the clutch on a car works, I ended up building a model of a clutch out of lego technic with a motor and everything! Aggh! I don't think being a engineer and a magician mix! I have How Stuff Works as a button on my navigation bar!

I need a rational argument for letting people remain ignorant of the mechanism of the tricks.

Help!

1. Don't do magic if you not resist! It ruins for the rest of us.

2. Not telling the secrets means you respect the art of magic. If you tell the secrets it ruins the entire art of magic. People will think all magicians are using the "secrets" your showing.

3. If your telling people the secret on "urges" to tell, your not using logic.

Garrette · 28th December 2006, 05:05 AM

Originally Posted by Orangutan

OMG!

How do guys resist the urge to let people know how it works! This goes against every instinct I have. I love telling people how things work most of the time! When my daughter was learning how to drive stick and couldn't understand how the clutch on a car works, I ended up building a model of a clutch out of lego technic with a motor and everything! Aggh! I don't think being a engineer and a magician mix! I have How Stuff Works as a button on my navigation bar!

I need a rational argument for letting people remain ignorant of the mechanism of the tricks.

Help!

The practical argument (versus rational) is that most people will be very disappointed in the secret. They expect a "wow" factor--something James Bondish. When they learn how utterly simple, mechanical, and mundane the real secret is, they do more than gain disappointment, they lose interest.

If you truly have to indulge your need to reveal the secret, then find a regular partner on whom you practice, such as your wife. Practice on her. When you can do it well enough to perform for someone else, then let her in on the secret.

brodski · 28th December 2006, 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by Orangutan

OMG!

How do guys resist the urge to let people know how it works! This goes against every instinct I have. I love telling people how things work most of the time! When my daughter was learning how to drive stick and couldn't understand how the clutch on a car works, I ended up building a model of a clutch out of lego technic with a motor and everything! Aggh! I don't think being a engineer and a magician mix! I have How Stuff Works as a button on my navigation bar!

I need a rational argument for letting people remain ignorant of the mechanism of the tricks.

Help!

Playing with this stripper deck this Christmas is the first time I'd preformed a magic trick since I was about 13.
When I was asked by people over Christmas "how did you do that?" I answered "not very well, but you seemed to enjoy it".
If they pushed me I'd tell them that me telling them how I actually managed to find their card in a deck which I hat let them shuffle, I told them that to do so would ruin their enjoyment of the trick, and my enjoyment of performing it.

Brown · 31st December 2006, 08:52 PM

One of the best--and least well known--uses of a Svengali deck is as a tool of mentalism. It is a good way to force a card, without looking like it is part of a "card trick."

Consequently, one can perform a very effective "one ahead" trick by using a Svengali deck. The other selected items can indeed be truly impromptu. For example, you can ask a first spectator to think of any city in the world, ask a second spectator to find any unusual item in the possession of any spectator, and ask a third spectator to select any card at random from an ordinary deck....

26th December 2006, 11:07 AM	#1
Orangutan Graduate Poster Tagger Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Florida. Posts: 1,175	Christmas Present. I got a Svengali deck for Xmas. I know it's almost considered a novelty and takes little skill but it's surprising how many people have never seen this trick and are amazed by it. Apparently It was picked up at restoration hardware for $10, a bit pricey but it had good instructions for various tricks and a few bonus cards in there that you could work into your routine. I think I might start a collection of Trick Decks. Joy

26th December 2006, 04:22 PM	#2
Dinsdale Piranha A cruel man, but fair. Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: In the conversation pit. Posts: 842	Here's a book you might want to go with your Svengali Deck. http://www.dennymagic.com/cgi-bin/ha...il&item=001572
	__________________ "Don't hit me with them negative waves this early in the morning." Oddball from Kelly's Heroes. "I almost had a psychic girlfriend, but she left me before we met." Steven Wright

26th December 2006, 04:30 PM	#3
brodski Tea-Time toad Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 15,159	I got a stripper deck for xmas. years ago I had a svengali deck a stripper deck and a marked deck. All three decks had identical backs, which meant I could swap between them to do a varity of tricks. Hours of fun.
brodski Tea-Time toad Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 15,159

26th December 2006, 05:30 PM	#4
Azrael 5 Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Yorkshire,Uk Posts: 5,042	Originally Posted by brodski I got a stripper deck for xmas. years ago I had a svengali deck a stripper deck and a marked deck. All three decks had identical backs, which meant I could swap between them to do a varity of tricks. Hours of fun. I got a stripper deck also!! "Tapered Cards". Some relative who thought they were giving me something I hadn't already had 25 years ago!
	__________________ "I achieve these results through a mixture of magic,misdirection,suggestion and showmanship"-Derren Brown

26th December 2006, 06:55 PM	#5
firecoins Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Nyack, NY Posts: 3,191	I love stripper decks but enough people are aware of them. I have do some card tricks with a normal deck and that is one of the things people check for but most of the time it would go by unnoticed. I use marked decks all the time. If you get the right ones, the marking are invisible to those not in the know.
	__________________ NY Paramedic, skeptic, 9/11/01 Reality-ist. I am both right wing nut and left wing lunatic. Deal with it.

27th December 2006, 07:39 AM	#6
Orangutan Graduate Poster Tagger Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Florida. Posts: 1,175	OMG! How do guys resist the urge to let people know how it works! This goes against every instinct I have. I love telling people how things work most of the time! When my daughter was learning how to drive stick and couldn't understand how the clutch on a car works, I ended up building a model of a clutch out of lego technic with a motor and everything! Aggh! I don't think being a engineer and a magician mix! I have How Stuff Works as a button on my navigation bar! I need a rational argument for letting people remain ignorant of the mechanism of the tricks. Help!

27th December 2006, 09:27 PM	#7
firecoins Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Nyack, NY Posts: 3,191	Originally Posted by Orangutan OMG! How do guys resist the urge to let people know how it works! This goes against every instinct I have. I love telling people how things work most of the time! When my daughter was learning how to drive stick and couldn't understand how the clutch on a car works, I ended up building a model of a clutch out of lego technic with a motor and everything! Aggh! I don't think being a engineer and a magician mix! I have How Stuff Works as a button on my navigation bar! I need a rational argument for letting people remain ignorant of the mechanism of the tricks. Help! 1. Don't do magic if you not resist! It ruins for the rest of us. 2. Not telling the secrets means you respect the art of magic. If you tell the secrets it ruins the entire art of magic. People will think all magicians are using the "secrets" your showing. 3. If your telling people the secret on "urges" to tell, your not using logic.
	__________________ NY Paramedic, skeptic, 9/11/01 Reality-ist. I am both right wing nut and left wing lunatic. Deal with it.

28th December 2006, 05:05 AM	#8
Garrette Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,641	Originally Posted by Orangutan OMG! How do guys resist the urge to let people know how it works! This goes against every instinct I have. I love telling people how things work most of the time! When my daughter was learning how to drive stick and couldn't understand how the clutch on a car works, I ended up building a model of a clutch out of lego technic with a motor and everything! Aggh! I don't think being a engineer and a magician mix! I have How Stuff Works as a button on my navigation bar! I need a rational argument for letting people remain ignorant of the mechanism of the tricks. Help! The practical argument (versus rational) is that most people will be very disappointed in the secret. They expect a "wow" factor--something James Bondish. When they learn how utterly simple, mechanical, and mundane the real secret is, they do more than gain disappointment, they lose interest. If you truly have to indulge your need to reveal the secret, then find a regular partner on whom you practice, such as your wife. Practice on her. When you can do it well enough to perform for someone else, then let her in on the secret.
	__________________ My kids still love me.

28th December 2006, 05:33 AM	#9
brodski Tea-Time toad Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 15,159	Originally Posted by Orangutan OMG! How do guys resist the urge to let people know how it works! This goes against every instinct I have. I love telling people how things work most of the time! When my daughter was learning how to drive stick and couldn't understand how the clutch on a car works, I ended up building a model of a clutch out of lego technic with a motor and everything! Aggh! I don't think being a engineer and a magician mix! I have How Stuff Works as a button on my navigation bar! I need a rational argument for letting people remain ignorant of the mechanism of the tricks. Help! Playing with this stripper deck this Christmas is the first time I'd preformed a magic trick since I was about 13. When I was asked by people over Christmas "how did you do that?" I answered "not very well, but you seemed to enjoy it". If they pushed me I'd tell them that me telling them how I actually managed to find their card in a deck which I hat let them shuffle, I told them that to do so would ruin their enjoyment of the trick, and my enjoyment of performing it.
brodski Tea-Time toad Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 15,159

31st December 2006, 08:52 PM	#10
Brown Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Twin Cities, Canada Posts: 12,293	One of the best--and least well known--uses of a Svengali deck is as a tool of mentalism. It is a good way to force a card, without looking like it is part of a "card trick." Consequently, one can perform a very effective "one ahead" trick by using a Svengali deck. The other selected items can indeed be truly impromptu. For example, you can ask a first spectator to think of any city in the world, ask a second spectator to find any unusual item in the possession of any spectator, and ask a third spectator to select any card at random from an ordinary deck....
	__________________ Klaatu: I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it. Mr. Harley: I'm afraid my people haven't. I am very sorry. I wish it were otherwise. -- The Day The Earth Stood Still, screenplay by Edmund H. North "Don't you get me wrong. I only want to know." -- Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, lyrics by Tim Rice