I canon,y really think of using them as part of a revelation. What do people use mini decks for?

"Would you like to see a little card trick?" Said with a smile this corny opening line just about always gets a smile back and an affirmative response; then you're off to the races!

Most of the tricks you would perform with a standard size deck can be performed equally as well with a mini. (Easier to ring in a cold deck, too.)

Julie

There are lots of tricks where normal size cards appear to shrink to small size. It could be a selected card, the whole deck and even the card box.
Try a search for Shrinking Cards, Diminishing Returns, Micro Macro, Shrinking Card Box, Squeeze.
Troels

This mini deck effect by Michael O’Brien and Ray Wickham is pretty slick - http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/9759

Julie: I know that this reply is 2 years late--apologies! I just loved your tip about "a little card trick" and will likely use it--thanks. Also, I agree completely that "Most of the tricks you would perform with a standard size deck can be performed equally as well with a mini." Recently I added some ink marks by hand to the backs of a couple of mini decks (a tedious task, BTW), and find that they are almost as legible as on regular size decks. I can't wait to perform a "mini-miracle" using them and doubt that anyone will ever suspect that they are there.

I use a few when I make up my Diminishing Cards...Mine isn't that much different from some other methods, but the real point is that audiences seem to like Diminishing Cards in the middle of a set with manipulation of regular size cards.

Note: Meir Yedid is selling a trick again, which uses small and a large card. One and Only by Bill Prior. An old trick he found in his warehouse and now available again.

I made an invisible deck with a mini deck and used it for walk around for years. I held it together with a rubber band and did a crisscross on one side with the rubber band so I knew the direction. It was easier to make it appear from nowhere and took up very little pocket space.

Great Idea oagwood!

A great trick with Mini cards is "Micro-Macro" by Brother John Hamman.
In the original presentation a full sized card turns into 4 minis and then an entire deck of minis grows into a full sized deck.
In the late 50's & early 60's Don Alan popularized the second part of Bro John's trick by performing it on TV and in his lectures.

There is a great packet trick in Paul Harris's Art of Astonishment (Book 2, I believe), in which a card "shrinks" into a miniature card in the spectator's hand.

Edit: "Bizarre Shrink" from AoA book 3.

I have an IP in mini form. I go through the classic routine where the spec thinks of a card, they picture it, then the deck is produced. Creates a funny moment of, "you need to think big, follow your dreams!" Then, if I have time in the performance, I produce a regular size and show BOTH decks have their thought of card.

For a while, I carried a mini deck in my pocket in case I wanted to do impromptu cartomancy. I had a very good outcome following one such reading, so I never left home without that miniature deck for the next 6 months.

If you decide to keep your mini deck in a stack that you know, then you always have a powerful performance tool at the ready.

You could do also a beautiful card rising effect with a miniature deck. Two cards are selected and lost in a miniature deck. The deck is placed under a drinking glass and the two selections visually rise out of the deck.
It can be found in Martin Lewis - Close Up Miracles for example.