Card Paranoia::..Affecting Your Performance?

Hey guys,

At the topic on hand. I have a magcian buddy that just started a couple weeks ago and bought the Street Magic Package along with CC2 and a couple Master Decks. Yeah, I know it's kind of alot for a beginner but I'm helping him along and stuff.

Anyways, the idea of this topic came to me when I was watching him practice and he told me that he didn't want to do some of the tricks such as Voodoo Zone or use the Pop Up Move from CC2 because he didn't want to bend his cards. This, along with not wanting to perform some of the best tricks of the videos, made him very VERY stiff in his performance and it affected his overall presntation of the routine.

I also remember me acting the same way. I tried to reframe from performing effects like Mindbender and things like that when I really wanted to, but worried that it might damage my cards because of the bend. And when I see you guys in the Media Forums being real stiff with your cards, it would be one of two reasons. One, you just learned the effect and should keep working on it, or your worried about your cards. I also read threads with such topics as, "How Do I Open A Deck Of Cards?". There's one simple answer, just open them! I mean, they are cards. You should be worrying more about other things in your routine than how your gonna open your cards.

So heres the bottom line I'm trying to get across. Don't worry as much about the condition your cards are in, it doesn't really matter, unless of course your a XCM artist in which it is OK to worry about these things. So, don't get all paranoid about your cards, it will affect your performance and worrying never really benifits you in the long run.

As a person I respect very much on the forums once said, "A true master can handle any type of deck."

Take care,
 
Sep 1, 2007
1,356
2
Los Angeles, California
Okay so a card master can do tricks and flourishing with a deck of cards made out of paper?
Anyways, I think if you want to do tricks that deals with bending your cards and what not, go use old and used decks.
 
Sep 3, 2007
308
0
Go to Costco.

Buy a 12 pack of cards.

You'll stop worrying about your cards because you have so many.

And if you are really paranoid, get a porper clip.
 
Sep 1, 2007
125
0
austria
yeah, i was like that in the beginning too, i never did a signed card trick or let anyone handle my cards or bend/crimp them, but hey, what am i talking about, i'm still just at the beginning. what you just don't realize when you start magic is that a deck has a high value, but basically it's worth nothing, and you just throw it away. i think that is because the normal stereotype when you handle cards as a laymen just to play some card games, you have a single deck that you use for years, but in magic and flourishing that's simply not possible. to notice that, you just have to get into it a little more, and the day will come when you start ordering 12 packs of decks or even more only, because you just need 2 decks a week or more.
either way, i think that's one of the few experiences everyone has to make for themself.

P.S: I'm using the same ghosts for my magic tricks for about 3 months now, and i know exactly which five cards got selected when i performed the mindbender, one of my favourite tricks btw.


Edit:
i live in central europe, and the prices for regular bikes/tally here are way beyond the imagination of US/canada, i can only dream of getting tallys in the 12pack for about 1.50 a deck, hell, i pay about 4$ for regular red/blue circle/fanbacks and about the same for bikes, so if there's anyone here who knows a nice european store where i can get cheap tallys (or bikes) please tell me!
 
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Guys, guys. I'm not saying be careless about your cards, I'm saying not to be sorry worried and paranoid about your cards to the point where it's hurting you performance.

You SHOULD take care of your cards, but not be worried to go the extra mile to have your spectator sign your card or bend them and make your performance a little better and that more magical.
 
i have quite a few decks of my own for what ever i want to do with them .. but the thought of righting or crimping a single card in a deck makes me cringe ... maybe its the fact that i've done more card manipulation in the past than magic involving the above mentioned but its something that i will avoid as much as i can ... every once in a while i will just destroy a deck, but it generally an older deck that i have been flourishing for 2 months or so.... eventually i guess i'll just say f*ck it and go straight into signing and bending the decks with out a care in the world... but im still working the nerve to get to that stage.

This is an old pic of my cards... i have more now :p

 
Cards are tools, use them to astonish. If that means burning, tearing, folding, chewing whatever just do it. And really they are very cheap, get over it.

This is my exact point of vue! During my sessions I often bend cards, make the spectator sign...What I think is when you put a signature on a card, the first point is that the spectator is sure that this is HIS card (there is no copy or anything else). The second point, the more interesting for me is that I give the card at the end of the routine. So the spectator keep something from me. And this is very good for me! Because if he need someone for a close-up (or any other show), he will immediatly think to ME!

So, guys, don't worry about your little cards. Ok when you have a particular deck (Ghost, tiger black...), but when you work with normal decks (red or blue...) don't worry...
 
Sep 4, 2007
207
0
Kansas City
So what if a few cards are signed, bent, etc? Just because a deck is missing 6 or 7 cards doesn't mean that the spectator will notice it. I almost always give out a signed card with their signature and mine at the end of a routine. It gives them something to hold onto and remember. Humans are tactile and like to have physical momentos of memories.

As for EU stores, I dunno.. I kinda recall when I was in Germany that Marktkauf sold Bikes for a couple euros a piece... or maybe it was E Center.. but that was a few years ago.
 

-Ty

Sep 1, 2007
248
1
Australia
In our world, cards are just tools.

There's no comparison between the price for a deck of cards and that moment of wonder when the see their signed card torn and restored.

In the spectator's world, created from our performance, the cards should hold some value. The more you seem to take a measure of pride the cards, the more the audience will respect them and the magic you will perform with this tool.

Ty
 
Sep 1, 2007
24
0
i have quite a few decks of my own for what ever i want to do with them .. but the thought of righting or crimping a single card in a deck makes me cringe ... maybe its the fact that i've done more card manipulation in the past than magic involving the above mentioned but its something that i will avoid as much as i can ... every once in a while i will just destroy a deck, but it generally an older deck that i have been flourishing for 2 months or so.... eventually i guess i'll just say f*ck it and go straight into signing and bending the decks with out a care in the world... but im still working the nerve to get to that stage.

This is an old pic of my cards... i have more now :p


Dude, wth do you do with pink decks of cards?
 
This is the reason i dont intend buying special custom decks like Ghosts etc.

If you bend a card or whatever and think you cant use it anymore, force it a few tricks later, have it signed, and give it away.
Nobody can tell a full 52-deck from one missing a few cards.

Shying away from having cards signed is a bit of a bad idea. Laymen keep one deck of cards for years and would never dare draw on them. That you are inviting them to sign YOUR deck makes the whole thing all the more personal and intimate and hieghtens your performance no end.
And why even bother throwing away signed cards? I mean, obviously give them as reminders for spectators, but some people dont want to... just keep them in the deck. All the cards are different on the faces anyway.. a few more marks doesnt make any difference. Plus, ive found the spectator enjoys the fact that you are including them in your signed pack of cards.

I guess what im saying is if its beyond repair, with a proper crease or whatever, throw it. If not, keep it. There are a million ways to get rid of bends.

Just dont be afraid of getting a little bit 'heavy' with your deck, its not the end of the world
 
Sep 1, 2007
662
2
Ah yes, back in the day when my new cards were sacred.

If you're unwilling to crimp a card, then you lose out on one of the best controls in card magic. And guess what? You can bend it back just the way it was!

Imagine this: A spectator selects a card, which is squared into the centre of the deck and immediately handed out for them to shuffle and cut to their hearts content. When the cards are returned, the magician makes one cut and the card is on the bottom of the deck. No force, no gimmicks, no looking through the faces, and you're ready for a location under impossible conditions. AND...it's ridiculously easy.

People fail to appreciate the crimp if they don't perform a lot, because they don't get a chance to see how effects which actually involve the spectator play out. Example: I used to turn my nose up at multiple selection routines, but they form an important part of my professional repertoire nowadays - because its good magic that involves most of the people at your table.

Roy Walton's Card Warp (to give the effect it's proper name and credit) is a magical effect using playing cards, but I wouldn't call it card magic. There are many jaded people who see card magic as "just card tricks", but do the card warp for them and they will see "magic" - properly presented of course. Sure, you have to destroy two cards to do it - but do Wesley James' variation Hyper Warp and you turn those two cards into an exceptional souveneer.

Having a huge collection of playing cards is like having a huge collection of spanners. Fair enough if you dig it, but for those that go out and use the tools for the purpose they were designed for, it's a bit odd. Get 'em bent, torn, signed, singed and dirty already!
 
Sep 1, 2007
34
1
Orlando, FL
Anyone who knows me well knows I usually butcher a deck of cards by the time I'm finished with it. When I used to practice all the time, I went through at least a deck a day. Different people have different ways of handling the deck. You can treat it lightly, but don't be afraid of it; you're the boss.
 
Aug 31, 2007
279
0
California
Go to Costco.

Buy a 12 pack of cards.

You'll stop worrying about your cards because you have so many.

And if you are really paranoid, get a porper clip.

hahah. funny thing. i bought two bricks of these at costco for this very reason. now i don't give a rat's ass about my cards, and i can just wreck em! hahah. rebellious. :p
 
Sep 11, 2007
3
0
Connecticut
The wholesale boxes of bikes are banging, the only bad thing is the cards end up being all over the house (On the floor, desk, etc). I'm a pretty messy kid so instead of picking them up I just get a new box haha. The only cards I really hate are those cheap decks that fan terribly, but they really don't affect the performance only the flourishes. But I did had my precautions when I did have those premium decks but I'd just use those to play around at home and use normal decks for performances. I hate it when people give me casino used decks whenever I don't have a deck on me, but i get by haha.
 

AllanLuu

Banned
Aug 31, 2007
545
1
32
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I don't care if my cards get bends because I will always get a new deck so I go through regyular bikes atleast once evry week or less sometimes and plus bicycle cards are like 3 bucks close to me so no biggy.
 
Sep 3, 2007
229
0
Canada, Quebec
Card paranoia... yeah, i guess I have that....

I really treasure the custom decks that i bought; i only bought one sample for each custom deck and just keep them as a collection. I might just play with them a few times at home but never perform with them.

I only practiced and performed with regular bike decks (bought from costco).

however, it's kind of a borther when there are too many old used decks at home...
 
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