theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

Are "E" cards good for magic ... ?

Slicke

Slicke

Jul 13, 2009
424
0
Edmonton, Canada
I've never owned any Ellusionist deck of cards and i'm not sure if it's really that good and durable. I've seen reviews of the cards (not from E) that contains both positive and negative comments. I only bought cards from T11, i've been using the Guardians for 7 months now and it's still very smooth, just a little dirty.

So my question, is it worth buying cards from E to use it for magic purposes ... ? Does it last longer than the T11 cards ?

Th4nk Y0u
 
My only E deck is the Bicycle ghost and its great for magic, very smooth but ever since I bought it I lost my love for E decks, I mean the design, E ethier take colour away or make a entire deck black. T11 card how ever like the guardians are normal in everyway with the black back design an the court card,its an opinion. So in the end you wont know till you try.
 
Well, I don't use E decks anymore just because they're a little too thick for my liking, but that's just personal preference.

My Ghost deck has lasted FOREVER. It still fans better than any other deck I've had. I'm not saying they will help you out with magic, but it's a very nice deck. If you get an E deck, I would get some Ghosts. They last forever, and are one of the cheapest decks by E.
 
A problem I've had with these cards in the past, including the Ghost deck, is that people ended up forgetting their cards. I've asked was your card a black card and they said that they were all black and it confused them a lot. This only happened to some people, but if it were me I wouldn't take the risk. They handle well for sleights and such, but I would make sure people get used to seeing these cards before performing.
 
scarecrow1 said:
Well, I don't use E decks anymore just because they're a little too thick for my liking, but that's just personal preference.
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Not too sure what you meant by that. In fact, if you take a deck of tigers (with the jokers) out of a well fit card clip and try to replace it with a deck of Centurions or Guardians, chances are you'll experience a bit of difficulty making it fit. I still have to take out the jokers to make 'em fit.
Although I have enjoyed all the decks from T11 for the artistic graphic qualities... sorry I must say this, but the original E Black Tigers are still my favorite deck of cards for the price. They are rigid and resilient; thinner and tougher than most of the other decks in their class.
 
pearce said:
Not too sure what you meant by that. In fact, if you take a deck of tigers (with the jokers) out of a well fit card clip and try to replace it with a deck of Centurions or Guardians, chances are you'll experience a bit of difficulty making it fit. I still have to take out the jokers to make 'em fit.
Although I have enjoyed all the decks from T11 for the artistic graphic qualities... sorry I must say this, but the original E Black Tigers are still my favorite deck of cards for the price. They are rigid and resilient; thinner and tougher than most of the other decks in their class.
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Thicker than what I like (Bikes).
 
what I don't personally like about E cards is that they look to suspicious to laymen I think magic wise, the best cards to use are the ones that blend in, for me taking out some black tigers screams " not a normal deck" but as for durability I have only heard great things about E decks.
 
you ask alot of questions.

Buy whatever cards you want. They all work fine. Theres no "suspicious" cards to laymen. Thats all bs. I will say one thing though,E decks are thick. You like it or you dont.
Either way,you pretty much HAVE to try it for yourself. Cant really decide by asking others on something that is purely subjective.
 
its all up too the kind of stock you like, ive found e decks are thicker.
Black tiger, black ghost, masters, etc.

As far as suspicious cards goes, im with visual, its a load of bs.

I mostly use regular bikes when i perform, and i always have at least one person ask if there *trick* or *magic* cards.
 
jok3r said:
its all up too the kind of stock you like, ive found e decks are thicker.
Black tiger, black ghost, masters, etc.

As far as suspicious cards goes, im with visual, its a load of bs.

I mostly use regular bikes when i perform, and i always have at least one person ask if there *trick* or *magic* cards.
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So, first you say the using any deck of cards, including custom decks, the spectators won't arise suspicion of the deck and it's a load of bs, but then you say that you always have one person ask if a deck of BIKES [ a deck mostly familar to the public] is a 'trick' or 'magic' deck...hm, how interesting and quite frankly, strange.

_BOLD for emphasis.
 
visualartist said:
you ask alot of questions.
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The number of questions he asks isn't what concerns me. It's that he doesn't seem to pay attention to the answers.

Jv said:
So, first you say the using any deck of cards, including custom decks, the spectators won't arise suspicion of the deck and it's a load of bs, but then you say that you always have one person ask if a deck of BIKES [ a deck mostly familar to the public] is a 'trick' or 'magic' deck...hm, how interesting and quite frankly, strange.
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If you don't understand causality, then yes it would be strange. It doesn't surprise me that most magicians still fail to consider that it's not the incidental prop that's suspicious, but them.
 
I find that people don't really care what the cards look like. They don't get suspicious and if they do, SO WHAT? you can hand out the deck. If I had to choose any deck from E I would go with the Ghost. My order of decks from E would go like this

1. Ghost
2.Masters
3.Vipers
4.Black Tigers
5.1800

I haven't tried their new Arcane deck but I don't think I will be anytime soon. Problems I see with the cards.

Ghost- Like mentioned earlier, the color of the cards make it hard to remember the card they select.

Masters- Pretty thick Deck

Vipers- I dont really have a problem with this deck I just don't use them that much

Black Tigers- Edges fade and every deck of BT's I have ever gotten have warped horribly even with proper care :/

1800- They clump like mentioned before. Kind of hard to do certain Sleights

Thats my thoughts on the E decks.
 
Steerpike said:
If you don't understand causality, then yes it would be strange. It doesn't surprise me that most magicians still fail to consider that it's not the incidental prop that's suspicious, but them.
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After months of watching some fellow magicians perform ive come to the conclusion that this is the sole reason the cards are suspected. Because the magician himself/herself looks suspect.
My acquintances,like everybody else,always first perform with cards.
And the reason some of them get asked if the cards are "trick cards" is simply because they dont look right holding them. They dont look like magicians or have a look of confidence on their faces. The cards in their hands look so out of place with them. So in turn,they assume your amateur who has no real skill yet and has to rely on trick props.(this is laymen thinking,using props makes you no less of a magician than if you were a move monkey)
Namely their wardrobe is terrible. They think the jeans and shirt look david blaine uses is going to make them appear street guerilla magicians.
What they dont understand is that blaine has a natural presence that they dont.
Its the way he is,not his tricks.
But what am I proposing? A change of wardrobe or presence? both?
I wanna see where this goes...
 
I agree. Walking up shyly saying "do you want to see a trick" is pretty lame. There's about 2 things running through their heads:

1. Does we want money? don't look him in the eyes, honey.
2. Why does he have a deck of cards? He wants me to pick one? what?

Which is why the streets is a hard venue. I much prefer the comfort of a house party or a walkaround thing indoors, as they are more civil :D. You need to be well dressed, and confident. People need to like you, not just your magic.

I read a book called "How to make people like you in 90 seconds or less". I thought it would be a great read for magic, as those first 90 seconds are where you have to take your whole show from, and they are vital. You must establish rapport, just get them comfortable with the idea of you there. As Daniel Madison says, magic should be invited not forced. It can be invited by you, and if they like you then they will accept.
 
If you like color changes I'd say pass on the ghosts just because I feel like it loses some 'oomph'. "You're all black card changes into...another all black card" YAY!. Beyond that they are really nice. And yeah stock is all personal preference.
You should at least try some E deck to see if you will like them. If not, give them away or something.

Visual-I think its the presence that matters. You can wear whatever and perform with whatever kind of decks you want and do whatever you want really as long as everything is congruent with your personality and presence. As long as you are comfortable with who you are and what you are doing it all seems to flow.

No matter what type of deck you use some people are going to ask if its a trick deck. IMO suspicion of the deck at the CONCLUSION of the trick isn't ~necessarily~ a good indicator of a poor performance. The whole thing is after a trick goes off, you've disrupted a persons reality and they don't have an explanation for something that just happened. What happens after that is they grasp at straws trying to find an answer that fits in their reality so they can fill this void you've created. Answers like "Its a trick deck" or "He did something tricky with his hands and I just didn't see it" are perfectly logical answers and regardless of if they verbalize these conclusions or not they do come to them.

That is what magicians do. We dose out brief glimpses into the ether that last until their mind rationalizes what has happened and tethers them back down to reality.
 
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