Greetings,

I did the invisible deck in my high school (in Geneva, Switzerland). I was planning to show it only to one person, but in the end I did it about 10 times (including all the *ç%* deck resetting). It got great reactions, but not the ones I was expecting (i.e "Now that's interesting" instead of "I'm speechless", in other words it failed 90% of the time). The first spectator said "King of Spades" and I went to look for the card you-know-what. I didn't find it, because the deck was wet and the cards were sticking together. Another time two other cards split, again because of the wet, and in those situations I say "Let's restart". Another time I thought a card was a heart but actually it was a diamond. Well in the end there were a lot of (mostly involontary) exposures, but everyone I showed it to had a nice time.

Now I have some questions:

1) Has anybody had problems with a wet ID?

2) How do we practice ID?

3) (This happened another time) What do we do if the chosen card is the last one of the deck?

4) How do we reset the deck without the spectator noticing (because putting back a card backwards seems strange).

Why was it wet? Was it from your hands or ...

Nope, it was wet because I recently put it into my bag, I forgot to close the bag and rain got into it. Pretty silly, if you ask me. I just ordered a new one with a carrying case, so this should not be a problem anymore.
PS: Sorry about the questions, just forgot about the rules.

Posted: Oct 29, 2004 11:18am

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Well, hello again.
Actually I found out that my deck isn't that destroyed (as opposed to the box that holds it). I did invisible deck quite a few times in school again (since it is one of the rare baffling tricks a beginner like me can master), and this time the failing and succeeding proportions got reversed. You should have seen the reaction of my friends (laypeople) who know only mathematical tricks. Too bad I didn't have a camera. I just think this trick is PERFECT. Easy and baffling. Does anyone else (I am talking about amateurs) do tricks in their school.

Throw it away and make another one for $5...what's the problem there? I can make these things all day long.

Steve Thomas

I can top that story! I once did a show where I had the set up torn And Restored newspaper on my table ready to go for my last effect.

Well, the building that I was performing in had a leaky spot in the roof/ceiling, and guess where the leak was/ that's right. directly over my newspaper table! And even more lucky for me was the fact that it was raining hard that day. you can guess the rest. Blop. Down came a huge splash of water directly on my newspaper. It was SOAKED!

So what did I do? You guessed it. the show must go on, and it certainly must have an ending, so I picked up the soggy newspaper and performed the soggiest version of the T&R newspaper you ever saw.

I wouldn't reccomend you all try this at home! Did you ever try to get a nice straight tear on soggy newspaper? it sucked pretty bad!
Posted: Dec 18, 2004 10:23am

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On 2004-12-18 10:21, daffydoug wrote:
I can top that story! I once did a show where I had the set up torn And Restored newspaper on my table ready to go for my last effect.

Well, the building that I was performing in had a leaky spot in the roof/ceiling, and guess where the leak was. That's right... directly over my newspaper table! And even more lucky for me was the fact that it was raining hard that day. You can guess the rest. Blop. Down came a huge splash of water directly on my newspaper. It was SOAKED!

So what did I do? You guessed it. the show must go on, and it certainly must have an ending, so I picked up the soggy newspaper and performed the soggiest version of the T&R newspaper you ever saw.

I wouldn't reccomend you all try this at home! Did you ever try to get a nice straight tear on soggy newspaper? it sucked pretty bad!

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That's pretty funny daffydoug, but hey, if you pulled it off, my hat's off for you. LOL

Man, you haven't heard HALF the story! As luck would have it, I accidentally burned my hand during that show! (yeah, my hand was on fire with flames coming off of it!)

Anyway, I performed the Anderson newspaper tear with the soggy newspaper AND a badly burned hand. Brother, I am telling you I wanted to YELL at the top of my lungs from the pain and frustration, but Mr cool here just kept going until the show was finished. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

After the show was finished, a pitcher of ice water was brought to me, and I GLADLY plunged my burned hand into it. After this, the show was packed up, and my wife headed straight to the store where an Aloe Vera plant was purchased. we went home and she peeled off the outer skin from the stalks, and applied the inner gel to my burns. this was held in place by a large bandage.

That Aloe plant did it's work, and the burns healed, and to this day, I have no visible scars.

Point is, the show MUST go on.

NabsS,
I do ID all the time. It is a wonderful trick and a great backup if another trick fails. As to your questions:

1) I keep my ID in a plastic card case. If it rains... no problem. The only way any of the cards would get wet is if it fell in the pool or something.

2) You can practice ID by making sure you can get to any named card. You are basically getting a feel for the deck.

3) If the chosen card is the last one in the deck it is even better. I just pull out the deck with that card facing up and say... Look here is the card you named! Wow.

4) After the selected card is shown to be their card I then place it back exactly where it was taken from upside down. I then explain to them that I actually have 52 decks of cards in my pocket (or wherever you got the deck from). It brings a laugh. I am now set up for the next time. To me it seems natural to take a card out and put it back in the same place the same way.

If you get the wrong card you can just say: "That was pretty close through." and most people will accept this.
If you carry around a regular deck of cards you can just pull them out and have the spectator select that card from the regular deck of cards. Then they think you were planning it all along.

Thanks for sharing your story.

- Brian Nadworny

Just take it back reversed and close up the deck while they are reacting.

No one should notice or care... if you make a comment about it or wait to return it until they are all watching you again, then you just made a mess for yourself.