Is a signature really required for card tricks as I am very poor 
and live in Australia where decks cost 10$ each unless i buy online
.....
and live in Australia where decks cost 10$ each unless i buy online.....
Signature
- Thread starter Sleight_of_Hand
- Start date
Is a signature really required for card tricks as I am very poor
.....
I know how you feel, and I have the same problem over here in NZ. You dont need a Sig. if you can prove that it is the only card in the deck and you have no dupes. any where.
What I do, I just have one card that everyone signs, for my ACR, and spread through the deck to show there are no other cards like it.
Or another idea, you could by a one way force deck (a deck with 51 of the same cards, I think one is different) and each time you do a Sig. needing trick, just force that card.
Cheers, Tom
Doing things like having cards signed creates an increased level of interest from your audience, but I would suggest that these little touches are only really important if you're performing in a professional capacity. If you're being paid to perform then a bit of cash for some new decks of cards becomes a lot easier to handle
If they sign the card you can always just keep using it in the deck you know...
you don't have to give it out.
Secondly, I think you should be buying cards online because the magic shops are there to rip you off.
If you're ordering online, a deck should come out to about....$4 AUD
including shipping.
you don't have to give it out.
Secondly, I think you should be buying cards online because the magic shops are there to rip you off.
If you're ordering online, a deck should come out to about....$4 AUD
including shipping.
Magic shops have to pay rent and have someone sit and watch the store.
A proper magic shop has someone who loves magic and knows much about it. While you may pay more for each effect you buy from the store, that person saves you immense quantities of money by pointing you toward the right effects.
When you go to buy an invisible thread reel for $20, and he says "that's crap, buy this $50 one", you may think it's a ripoff... but all he has to do is just once tell you that the $35 DVD you're about to buy is only an invisible thread routine you can learn from this $6 book.
What makes your local magic shop worth the premium prices isn't the effects, it's the advice of the guy behind the counter. Engage him in a little conversation and see what he says.
He may even be able to help you with the signed card problem.
I've never understood this statement. How do you make something MORE impossible? That seriously makes ZERO sense. Nothing can be more impossible than something else...
Mitchell
Look at it this way: The spectator is seeing the card placed into the middle of the deck. Now, when the card returns to the top of the deck, they are impressed, but some spectators might think "Oh, he has duplicates." But when the spectator sees their signed card return to the top of the deck, it makes the magic seem more "impossible" in their eyes.
I still don't think that makes sense. It's like saying there's something more than infinity. It just doesn't make sense to me, NOTHING can be more impossible. The audience can be more impressed, but with proper presentation you shouldn't have to have a signed card.
Mitchell
Think of it as "looks more"+"impossible" instead of "looks"+"more impossible".
This might be easier to explain with infinity.
Basically, you can make something look infinite when it isn't. You can place two mirrors facing each other, and if you walk between them, you can see your reflection repeated infinitely. And that's real infinity.
But you're not fooled into thinking the room is infinite, because you can see your reflection. You know there's only one of you, because you can intellectually process that information. In order to believe the room is infinite, you must not see your reflection.
Now put a mirror on the bottom of a shallow hole, let's say three feet deep. At the top of that hole, place a piece of glass. Midway between them, mount a bright light. Casting only a slight shadow over the glass, it becomes perfectly reflective - so when you look into the hole, you see an apparently infinite shaft with a light on the wall every three feet. (This is the well-known Pepper's ghost effect.)
Since you don't see your reflection, this looks more infinite. It fools you into believing it's infinite. The illusion is still true infinity, just like before, but there is no clear and obvious feature that leads you to question or doubt what you see.
Does that make sense? The shaft isn't really infinite, only the illusion is infinite, and the lack of your own reflection improves the illusion. Likewise, your trick isn't impossible, it only presents an illusion of impossibility. By having a signed card, the illusion is improved.
Don't forget you can make false signatures. sure it might be a little risky, but for those of you who like things with signatures i.e. ambishimalishus cardsh. Try using a fake signature on a duplicate - just scribble some name incomprehensibly and make sure the spec signs their card (forced) it somewhat similar (please, if you're going to try this, don't make a big thing out of it) Openly place their 'signed' card in the deck and show it immediately on top.
Personally I don't use signatures unless the effect calls for it. I.E. Mystery Card or Card to Wallets. And even then... I mean, REALLY think about why you'd need a signature. To Prove? Prove to whom? Other Magicians or Spectators? Only if my spectators think they're gonna break me and say "You've got two"; that's when I'll whip out my sharpie and go Jigglypuff on their proverbial buttocks.
I see what Mitchell is saying - You can't make something more impossible. By it's very definition, impossible is what it is... impossible. You cannot go beyond that! Saying "more impossible" is redudant, if something is "more impossible" it implies that what was before was less impossible and last I checked, you can't have half-impossible.
I see what others are saying - It looks more impossible to a spectator. Don't say that... The way I see it, spectators have two views and three states of mind.
Two Views are = Possible and Impossible
Three States of Mind =
Impressed (the good reaction, the "OMGWTFBBQLIFEH4XLOLZ")
Methodicall (the decent reaction, the "I have no idea how you did that") and the ever-loved
Heckler (you know what I mean, the "There's two cards there lolz I caught j00"
Obviously the best combination we strive for is the Impossible view and the Impressed state of mind. But do you see what I mean? There is no in between. You cannot have the Methodical or Heckler state of mind combine with the Impossible view; If they think something happened, or they physically saw something happen, they know it's possible. If they thought it was impossible then I highly doubt they'd be anything other than the Impressed state of mind.
All this probably makes no sense whatsoever, but I hope there's someone who'll at least see my point.
- Sean
P.S. All views expressed within this post are my own, if you think otherwise please do not flame. I'm more than happy to discuss this in a civilised manner but "lol u n00b spctatorz dnt wrk lyk dat lol" or "ur an idiot" will get you nowhere; granted then you can assume you've won and you can carry on leading your sad pathetic life. kthxbai
sure it might be a little risky, but for those of you who like things with signatures i.e. ambishimalishus cardsh. Try using a fake signature on a duplicate - just scribble some name incomprehensibly and make sure the spec signs their card (forced) it somewhat similar (please, if you're going to try this, don't make a big thing out of it) Openly place their 'signed' card in the deck and show it immediately on top. Personally I don't use signatures unless the effect calls for it. I.E. Mystery Card or Card to Wallets. And even then... I mean, REALLY think about why you'd need a signature. To Prove? Prove to whom? Other Magicians or Spectators? Only if my spectators think they're gonna break me and say "You've got two"; that's when I'll whip out my sharpie and go Jigglypuff on their proverbial buttocks.
I see what Mitchell is saying - You can't make something more impossible. By it's very definition, impossible is what it is... impossible. You cannot go beyond that! Saying "more impossible" is redudant, if something is "more impossible" it implies that what was before was less impossible and last I checked, you can't have half-impossible.
I see what others are saying - It looks more impossible to a spectator. Don't say that... The way I see it, spectators have two views and three states of mind.
Two Views are = Possible and Impossible
Three States of Mind =
Impressed (the good reaction, the "OMGWTFBBQLIFEH4XLOLZ")
Methodicall (the decent reaction, the "I have no idea how you did that") and the ever-loved
Heckler (you know what I mean, the "There's two cards there lolz I caught j00"
Obviously the best combination we strive for is the Impossible view and the Impressed state of mind. But do you see what I mean? There is no in between. You cannot have the Methodical or Heckler state of mind combine with the Impossible view; If they think something happened, or they physically saw something happen, they know it's possible. If they thought it was impossible then I highly doubt they'd be anything other than the Impressed state of mind.
All this probably makes no sense whatsoever, but I hope there's someone who'll at least see my point.
- Sean
P.S. All views expressed within this post are my own, if you think otherwise please do not flame. I'm more than happy to discuss this in a civilised manner but "lol u n00b spctatorz dnt wrk lyk dat lol" or "ur an idiot" will get you nowhere; granted then you can assume you've won and you can carry on leading your sad pathetic life. kthxbai
What I mean when I say it increases the factor of impossibility is not that the signature makes the effect more impossible, but it takes the effect that much closer to being impossible.
See... See what you've done... You just sorted out this whole thread with one small post
After my huge block of text that made no sense Curse you Calmagic_Joseph...
But seriously, I agree that signatures can help us bring our magic closer to impossibility; let's not over-use them however. But I still stand by the fact that we cannot go beyond impossible.
- Sean
I'll try not to do it again
I hope you didn't take me seriously
I was just joking around... Curse my dry British sense of humour.- Sean