The invisible deck is dead?

[kangsham]

I used to performed the invisible deck a lot but ever since dynamo got really popular people have been calling me out and revealing the deck. I have had people tell me "Oh thats a invisible deck I saw it on youtube" then they explain how it works to me and its the right method. Its very frustrating because this is a very good effect, has this ever happened to you ?

And i know not everyone knows about it but i get called out a lot because i perform for mostly younger people and their on youtube a lot.

 

[slicksleights]

I wouldn't say that the invisible deck is dead at all. Maybe it could be argued that the original performance of it is dead. Since you mention Dyamo performing it, in conjunction with people calling you on it, I'm guessing you use a style of presentation similar to his? If this is the case, stop copying him, rethink about how to use the deck and how you routine using it as to disguise the method. I've used this for years and still do use it to people all ages, I'm yet to have someone even mention a gimmick deck in use let alone using it's actual name.

 

[Josh Clarke]

If you think the invisible deck is dead, I highly recommend you purchase Identity by Daniel Madison.

http://www.lybrary.com/identity-p-977.html

 

[Lyle Borders]

If you think the invisible deck is dead, I highly recommend you purchase Identity by Daniel Madison.

http://www.lybrary.com/identity-p-977.html

Highly recommended. This blew my mind back in the day about how you can use the Invisible Deck. If you use the same presentation as everyone else, they will find out what you are doing. If you use the ID in a secretive, more devious way like you find in this, nobody will have the chance to make that connection.

// L

 

[krab]

Jay Sankey has a ID presentation that is pretty slick as well.

 

[formula]

Welcome to the youtube generation, where all you need is a key word to learn the secret to a lot of tricks. Really though, if it's good enough for some of the most famous magicians on the planet (most of them use an ID) then it's good enough for you.

 

[RickEverhart]

I still use my ID. It is all in the presentation. Allow it to be an "entertainment" piece and not a puzzle to figure out.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Don't really have anything else to add.

Come up with a unique presentation instead of doing what everyone else does and no one will put the two together.

 

[yyyyyyy]

I use the Imaginary Deck from Dani DaOrtiz. It's a very nice, clean and impromptu version of the invisible deck. I really like his version because psychologically, it hits so hard. The presentation couldn't be any more fair, the deck is in the spectator's pocket and you never have to touch the deck during or after the trick. Maybe you should look into some other versions, there are seriously hundreds of variations on the invisible deck.

 

[William Draven]

Audience Management my friend. You need to learn to control your audiences better.

Spectator: "Oh I know what that is! That's an invisible deck, I saw how it was done on youtube!"
Magician: "Good, and you're also smart enough to keep your mouth shut about it until I'm done performing too right?"

or

Magician: "Good for you. Don't spoil it for the rest of the audience."

or

Magician: "Okay that's nice." and just move on ignoring the person.

or

Magician: "Look man. Don't ruin the magic for everyone. Don't be that guy."

or

Magician: "I bet you are also the kind of person who tells little kids Santa Clause isn't real too aren't you? Don't ruin the magic."

 

[Josh Clarke]

Spectator: I know what that is. It's an invisible deck.
Magician: I don't know what's wrong with you, but I can see it just fine.

 

[Steerpike]

I was not aware that one could kill an inanimate object. Drollery aside, it's just a matter of being a better performer, writer and showman than Dynamo. Which should not be that difficult to pull off if we're being honest.

The stock presentation of the ID was fresher in the 70's, but we're living in the 21st century now. We don't tell stories about the Temple of Love in India anymore. Jay Sankey's DVD Invisible has a lot of interesting presentations and that should be a springboard for more of you to come up with something clever.

Certain illusions being exposed are more problematic than others. I mean, what else can you do with a zig-zag? But the ID has more potential. Just don't do it like everyone else and their dog has been doing it.

And if nothing else, lie! You're magicians. That's what you're supposed to do. I got caught metal bending once. Here's how the conversation went:

Guy: Did you (correctly describes method I used)?
Me: That would be one way of doing it, yes.
Guy: But was it the way you did it?
Me: No.
Guy: ... Damn.

 

[William Draven]

Steer makes a point. Laymen take a puzzle approach to magic. You know something they don't. When you show them what that something is they feel it is their job to solve it. This is where Weber talks about Trick vs Magical Experience in his book Maximum Entertainment. If you were actually giving the spectator a magical experience then they wouldn't try to solve the puzzle. There would be no puzzle to solve!

However living in modern times as we do people are going to figure us out, and they will approach us to inform us as such. The thing you don't want to do is lie. Telling them you don't know, or telling them it's a secret is blunt bull crap and it is mentally confrontational. You're setting yourself up for the spectator to press the issue. Instead, as Steer tells us in his story, quietly, and quickly reward the spectator for his intelligence, and then change the subject, deflect the question and move on. Lie about it to save the integrity of the trick, but do so in a means that defuses the situation.

 

[Steerpike]

Lie about it to save the integrity of the trick, but do so in a means that defuses the situation.

Or even lie during the setup in order to throw them off the scent. Lots of magicians and mentalists have used this. Kenton Knepper, Luke Jermay, Rick Maue, Docc Hilford... There's a certain book in which the performer point blank says that he's not going to use a certain gimmick that's been heavily exposed and then proceeds to use that exact gimmick because now no one's looking for it. Even the ones who aren't into the act and are hoping to catch the performer out are going to be looking for something else and thus miss everything. An extreme example, yes, but I hope the point is clear.

 

[krab]

To build on what Steer and William were talking about, Gregory Wilson will tell you he is not doing what he is clearly doing. He will say something like I won't put my hand in my pocket and while putting his hand in his pocket to show what he will not do. Or he won't shuffle or cut the cards while doing those things.

 

[Randy]

Find a new audience. You most likely performed it for friends and they will often be the toughest audience ever. Because they know you and because they are likely in high school/middle school. So you are pretty much performing for people that are constantly trying to out do each other in some shape or form. Just stop performing for them, and go perform it for people that DON'T know you and will never see you again.

 

[Diavo]

Also to the root of the problem from the original post -- what presentation are you getting busted with?

Is it the David Blaine "street magic" presentation of "Think of a card, not the Ace of Spades, what is it? Okay here it is reversed in this deck that I just pulled out and haven't used for any other prior trick with you and will put away immediately after this one"?
I'd bet that is the exposure you'll find on YouTube with a single search.

Or do you have a presentation with substance, a story or a plot to engage the audience?
I love love love Bill Malone's presentation of the I.D. on his On The Loose DVDs. I feel it's a perfect example of a good presentation, as I can watch it over & over and enjoy it, despite knowing (and owning) the gimmicked deck. The entertainment is the presentation there, and the gimmick deck just ties it up at the end. =)

 

[Nicholas17]

Paul Harris has an "impromptu invisible deck" idea in Art of Astonishment. It isn't perfect, and it's a little knacky, but I've found myself performing it quite a few times and it's done 100% with sleight of hand.

 

[Josh Clarke]

Definitely not dead:

[video=youtube;ava6wJwKwVA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ava6wJwKwVA[/video]

 

[Diavo]

Definitely not dead:

I love that presentation -- clever and plays big for TV!

I wish he had spread the deck wider after revealing the reversed card, just for a better display.
In my mind as a magician, he was too guarded with the deck in the revealing spread, like he was hiding something. Maybe laymen don't think about this, and maybe I only think it because I know what's going on (and you can't always trust a big, wide spread of an I.D. because it's possible some cards maybe separate).


One thing I mentioned to my best friend/magician when he showed me this clip was:
When I first started watching the clip I had gotten distracted on my 2nd screen and was reading an email. So I wasn't watching the video when he said "Think of a random one, not the queen of hearts, ace of spades..." and AS SOON AS I HEARD THOSE WORDS I immediately assumed he was using an Invisible Deck.
And then it only took a flash of a neuron to realize he has 52 Invisible Decks spilled out there. All the anticipated magic for me as a magician spectator was removed the instant he said those cliche I.D. patter lines. v_v


So that just goes back to the original post here -- wherein if you use the popular presentation that's spoiled on YouTube/the internet (or just the same unnecessary patter lines as David Blaine did in his first TV specials in the early 2000s... 10+ years ago) then you're likely to get busted by people who have done some looking into it. >.<