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Richard Lucas Special user TX fornow- MemberMagicCastle'65-'88 737 Posts |
I have asked for opinions for a good deck switch (regular deck to Svengali and back to regular deck) and have gotten several excellent suggestions amongst which are by, Paul Gertner , David Korem,Max Maven & Tommy Wonder (in alphabetical order).
Now that we have the expert here I'd like you opinion of which method you think is best. jkBetter still, if there is a Wesley James Deck Switch, is it in Enchantments? Thanks for all the help you have given us. Here's one to your good health.
"The only difference between a Card Cheat and a Magician is that the Magician shows off.".......... Jay Ose 1965
Dicklucas |
Wesley James V.I.P. Hazlet, New Jersey 372 Posts |
Richard,
I'm something of a deck switch collector so I know lots of them, each well suited to specific circumstances. Many of the switches I find useful are best applied in card table situations of various types. Deck switches for magic applications are far easier and more flexible in that we dictate the conditions, the moment and the construction to a far greater degree. There is one deck switch in Enchantments, as part of my treatment of the Mindreader's Dream plot. It is titled "A Vision or a Dream?" It is not, however, a switch particularly well suited to a Svengali deck routine. A number of years ago, however, I marketed an effect called "Crossfire," that used a special form of Svengali deck to achieve an effect that doesn't appear at all like a Svengali deck effect. In the instructions for that effect I describe a procedure for switching out the Svengali deck by substituting only the prepared half. That concept is equally applicable to creating a Svengali deck in front of an audience. It merely requires that you Faro shuffle the prepared half into the unprepared half. You might want to explore that direction for your routine. Best of luck in your efforts. Wesley James |
ASW Inner circle 1879 Posts |
Quote:
On 2004-04-14 12:37, Wesley James wrote: Now that is a great idea. (As long as you used it for some subtle force rather than a tired ambitious card effect). cheers Andrew
Whenever I find myself gripping anything too tightly I just ask myself "How would Guy Hollingworth hold this?"
A magician on the Genii Forum "I would respect VIPs if they respect history." Hideo Kato |
MacGyver Inner circle St. Louis, MO 1419 Posts |
Quote:
Now that is a great idea. (As long as you used it for some subtle force rather than a tired ambitious card effect). Hate to go off on a tangent, but don't you think that using a Svengali for forcing is a little bit wasteful? I mean either a 50/50 deck, one way force deck or mirage(R/S Svengali) seems to all be better choices than Svengali because the Svengali "move" to show all different cards could easily done away with by using a different type of forcing deck. If you're going to go through the trouble of switching decks, just swap in a forcing deck! On the subject of half deck switches, I'd like to remind or inform everyone of Guy Hollingworth's Great routine the cassadra quandry, not only for a well motivated switch, and killer thinking, but also to see what great and Impossible magic can happen with such simple a premise. |
cardguy Inner circle Queens, New York 1171 Posts |
Macgyver, Mr. James didn't say anything about doing the standard Svengali display. He just said his routine used a Svengali deck. You can do impossible looking routines that will even fool magicians with a Svengali deck without ever doing the display. As a matter of fact, I recently closed a close-up show with a mental magic effect using this deck. The handling didn't include the standard display, but instead used another subtlety that is VERY convincing.
Frank G. a.k.a. Cardguy
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MacGyver Inner circle St. Louis, MO 1419 Posts |
I was refering to Andrew's post about the subtle forcing idea...
If you are going to use a Svengali to force over a one way forcing deck, the only advantage I could think of was the Display to show the whole deck right.... that is what I was refering too. sorry for the confusion. |
ASW Inner circle 1879 Posts |
I think you fail to see that forcing a single card using a Svengali deck would create the illusion of an unimaginably fair selection.
For example, let's say that half the deck has gone to the pocket as part of the previous effect. You hand the remainder to the spectator and ask them to shuffle the cards as thoroughly as possible. Then you "remember" that half the cards are in your pocket and make a show of getting them out. You say, "we'll mix them in as well" and do the faro. Now you recap the conditions (they "shuffled"), and show the cards mixed and the abscence of any control, and then have them cut to a card. An unimaginably clean force that could set you up for a number of great tricks - ie, Everywhere and Nowhere, and any number of mentalism or prediction effects. If you popped that deck out and did an ambitious card, then you would be blowing away the greater potential of the set up for a cheap cliched thrill. But to use the force... it would certainly fly past most magicians and really put the hurt on them, if that was your pleasure. cheers Andrew
Whenever I find myself gripping anything too tightly I just ask myself "How would Guy Hollingworth hold this?"
A magician on the Genii Forum "I would respect VIPs if they respect history." Hideo Kato |
Pete Biro 1933 - 2018 18558 Posts |
Andrew: That is bleedin' brilliant. Can't wait to pull it off on some of the boys.
STAY TOONED... @ www.pete-biro.com
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ASW Inner circle 1879 Posts |
Hi Pete,
Don't thank me, it's down to Wes... ;) Andrew
Whenever I find myself gripping anything too tightly I just ask myself "How would Guy Hollingworth hold this?"
A magician on the Genii Forum "I would respect VIPs if they respect history." Hideo Kato |
Wesley James V.I.P. Hazlet, New Jersey 372 Posts |
Andrew,
Thank you for the acknowledgement. Pete doesn't much like giving me credit. My application of the Svengali principle, in Crossfire, is as a Force, in a manner of speaking, though it is a Force of position. The idea of using a Faro was simply a way to get into position for the effect during a performance. While it would easily be possible, I did not, in the context of that effect, have the spectator shuffle the half deck. That touch is yours. I think Pete was effusing about that touch rather than the larger idea. As they say in your corner of the world, "no worries," there's plenty of credit to go around. Wesley James |
ASW Inner circle 1879 Posts |
Hi Wes,
I'm sure Pete would give you credit! You know how these forums work. You jump in, read the last three and then post. Well maybe you don't, but I'm guilty of doing it myself sometimes... By the way, another effect (from memory) that uses a delayed setup of gaffed deck is Swain's handling of the Mental Photography deck in "Don't Blink". But I haven't checked my library so I can't be certain... cheers Andrew
Whenever I find myself gripping anything too tightly I just ask myself "How would Guy Hollingworth hold this?"
A magician on the Genii Forum "I would respect VIPs if they respect history." Hideo Kato |
bblumen Special user Baltimore 987 Posts |
A great idea indeed...I will use this for Marlo's "The Ace of Spades Trick".
Brian B
"Lulling the minds of your company is more important than dazzling their eyes." Ed Marlo
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