So you say you are a beginner huh?
So you say you are a beginner to the world of magic and custom playing cards? No worries. This playing card buyers guide will get you off and running. If you are too impatient to hear all my advice just check out theBicycle deck review. Many magicians go their entire career without touching another deck!
Why is the Bicycle the #1 recomendation?
Most of you beginners, and intermediates who perform card magic but are not completely obsessed by cards, need not go further than this page. Simply read the following two headings and they should guide you to a deck that will suit you.
Beginners, Restaurant Workers, and Generalist Magicians who do “a few” card effects:
When you are first starting out in magic, the first deck you should get is the cheapest, most common deck you can find at your local convenience store, supermarket, or retail store. Chances are, if you live in North America, this will likely be the venerable Bicycle 808 Rider Back deck or one of its cousins, Hoyle Shellback, Aviator, Bee, and Maverick brands. Another group of magicians who should stick with one of these brands are restaurant/walk around magicians who perform signed card effects at every table or group for which they perform. These types of magicians might sign away a pack a gig at a busy event so it makes little financial sense to spend extra money on high quality decks. Just stick with what is cheap, usable, and doesn’t bring a tear to an eye when a spectator mangles them while shuffling them or spill a drink on them. Heck, some spectators manage to do both!
So where to go from here?
Okay so most new card magicians will drift out of their “beginner status” after about six months to a year. And those restaurant and other walk around magicians, signing away all those cards, might get to the point where they are willing to spend some extra cash for some “fun” cards. So what is the next thing to consider?
Let me first outline a pretty common learning path for magicians. First you learn some basic sleights and tricks. Then you see a trick on an online magic shop that looks impossible but claims to be easy to perform. A lot of these effects are done on Gaffed cards and other gimmicks. So you run out and buy decks of gaffed cards and gimmicks. Then you get a little better, realize that with a little dedication and a lot of practice you can recreate a lot of gaffed card effects with sleight of hand. Then you get pretentious and refuse to use Gaffs and Gimmicks at all. Then you learn a little more, lose the chip on your shoulder that afflicts many journeymen, and adopt a more blended style of magic that includes Gaffs and pure sleight of hand.
Now certainly not everyone follows this path but it is a common enough one to use as a development example.
Gaff Crazy!
So what exactly is a Gaff?
A gaff is a printed is such a way so that it gives the appearance of something it is not. If you have ever seen an effect where a pip moves around the face of a card, or a 7 is magically split into two 3 1/2 of clubs, chances are that effect was done with a gaff.
There are two types of gaffs. There are “active” and “passive” gaffs.
Active Gaff: an active gaff is when a card is printed in such a way that it is obvious, even to the audience, that something has changed with the card. The two above examples, pips moving around the face of a card and the 3 1/2 of clubs, are both pretty common gaff cards on the market.
Passive Gaff: a passive gaff is a much more subtle animal. These are cards that are altered but the audience is never aware of this fact. Two examples, and the two most common passive gaffs, are the double back card (a card printed with a back design on both sides of the card) and the double face card (a card printed with a face on both sides.) Some of the most devastating effects are performed with passive gaffs and the best part is the audience never even realizes you are using a specially made card.
To find out what decks are the best for people interested in performing with gaff cards check out the “Gaff Masters” page.
What’s the difference between a Gaff and a Gimmick?
Gimmicks differ from gaffs in that a gimmick is more than just altering the designs printed on a card. Gimmicks imply some sort mechanical operation, though this isn’t strictly the case. Gimmicks can be made out of single cards, full decks, and even the boxes. A very simple example(free trick/spoiler alert!) that you can find in many introductory magic books would be to cut a hole in the back of the box. This allows you to peek at the card index and even cause that card to magically rise out of the box!
Gimmicks may include secret flaps and compartments in a card box, different textures on cards, strings literally attached to cards, and almost anything else you can think of. While gaffs usually require sleight of hand to use, gimmicks are often sleight-less and rely on the design of the gimmick more than the dexterity of the performer. Some of the most common gimmicks include the “Invisible Deck,” the “Haunted Deck,” and “Deck Shells.”
For those who want to explore the decks that are most commonly used for gimmicks go to the “Gaff Masters” page, just as you did with gaff cards.
I’m Too Cool For School!
So once you passed through your gaff/gimmick phase and decide to dedicate yourself to the study of sleight of hand with cards here is where the fun begins. You gave up your double lift for one that actually looks deceptive, you have upgraded from the overhand shuffle control and you are now learning a false riffle shuffle, you nixed the three beginner moves you used to do for your card to pocket and you are now working on the Diagonal Palm Shift ot the Side Steal. You are now a journeyman and this is probably the most informative point in your development as a card magician. This is where you begin to foster what will become your “Style.”
Styles are important and this is also where you may develop an addiction for custom playing cards! At this point most “cardies” will experiment with what I call the Base Line Decks. Each of these cards serve as an introduction to some of the subtle differences you will learn to feel in decks of cards. The Bicycle, that has already been mentioned, is a medium stiff deck and, because of it’s commonality, serves as the most important baseline deck of all. The Tally Ho is another medium stiff deck that is usually printed with a slightly higher quality than the bike. It serves as a baseline for the “Jacks of all Trades.” The Bee Club Special is a softer flexing deck than the Bikes and Tallys and it serves as a baseline for what I call “The Artists.” The Bicycle UV500 was, for a time, the stiffest and thickest card made by USPCC. Sadly it has been discontinued but because it was such a common deck when these reviews began they are still the baseline representative for the “Workers.”
I’ll save some specifics for the representative pages but I’ll give you a teaser on just what exactly each of these categories means to the journeyman magician and his or her budding “Style.” “The Artists.” The Bicycle UV500 was, for a time, the stiffest and thickest card made by USPCC. Sadly it has been discontinued but because it was such a common deck when these reviews began they are still the baseline representative for the “Workers.”
I’ll save some specifics for the representative pages but I’ll give you a teaser on just what exactly each of these categories means to the journeyman magician and his or her budding “Style.”
The “Jacks of all Trades.”
These decks are the medium stiff decks. These will be the cards that most magicians will feel the most comfortable with simply because they are all fairly similar to the feel of a Bicycle deck. To learn more about these decks, and which magicians might use them check out the “Jacks of all Trades,” page.
The Artists
So if your an Artist that means you are sensitive right? Yes, but in this case we mean “sensitive touch,” which can be a real killer at the gambling table! These decks tend to be softer flexing than the Jacks class and that means they will serve you well if you have a light touch.
To learn more about these decks, and which magicians might use them check out the “Artists” page.
The Workers
So being deceptive isn’t good enough for you? You don’t just want to fool people, you want to show off while you do it? Then you need a “Worker.” These decks are stiff, snappy and powerful, which often makes flashy “knuckle busting” moves and flourishes feel more secure. That’s why they are called the workers. They are tough, durable, and powerful.
To learn more about these cards check out “The Workers,” page.
I’m past my “Phase.”
So you have made it past your Journeyman phase. You might call yourself an “Advanced Magician,” or “Advanced Intermediate.” Some people might call you an “Expert” but you are too humble for that(or not?) Here is the good news.
1. You have gotten past you “Gaffs are for sissies,” phase and have learned how and when to properly combine them with your pure sleight of hand moves. The good news is that, by now, you have probably learned to split cards and recreate your own gaffs and gimmicks. This means that you are no longer hemmed in by the decks recommended on the “Gaff Masters” page. So if you acquired the addiction that comes with a love of custom cards you are still free to buy any deck, in any design, you like. If “they” don’t make your favorite gaff, so what? You will!
2. You no longer worry about what style you are and what kinds of decks are best for that style. Your style is now intuitive and so is your feel for the cards. You can probably tell right out of the box is a deck is right for you. In truth, you may be so skilled that you can adopt different styles, with different decks, for different types of performances and practice sessions. You no longer worry about borrowing decks and performing. Whether it is old or new, stiff or soft, smooth fanning or clumpy fanning, you will know within the first shuffle what you can and can’t do with a deck and you will have the chops to do what needs to be done to entertain and amaze.
3. You won’t need the advice of this website. Instead you will use Custom-Playing-Card.com as more of a reference point. You will be able to scan through the tables and get a sense of whether a card is right for you or not with a quick scan of the tables provided. You will no longer need any commentary to help you decide on the right deck.
What’s the bad news?
1. You are already hopelessly addicted to card collecting. You don’t even collect cards to play with anymore. Instead, they sit, unused, in a temperature and humidity controlled glass case, where your magic buddies can only admire from afar, provided they are wearing white gloves, a face mask, and a tyvek suit. You have become the magicians equivalent of the old lady who collects teddy bears and won’t let her grand kids play with them.
2. You have resisted the temptation of custom playing cards. Unfortunately you have resisted this so well that you have transformed into a close minded card bigot. You believe that because “Red Backed Bikes,” served you so well over your career then, they must be the proper choice for every other magician in the world as well. Every time someone posts a question or comment about the latest custom deck on your favorite forum you feel compelled to pipe in with some snide comment about how expensive these decks are and how the “red bike” has always served you well. You are like the Bud Light drinker who goes to a micro-brewery and razzes your friend because he bought the local, homegrown, India Pale Ale. In short, you have become the “Red Back Bike Nazi!”
With luck…
you will avoid these fates. You will learn to love your Bikes, if that suits you, but you won’t feel compelled to denigrate and insult the young magicians who “experiment,” with custom decks. And if you do get bitten by the card collecting bug hopefully you won’t lose sight of why you fell in love with those cards in the first place. Cards are to be used!
Try not to think of your budding card collection as you would a collection of silver spoons, each one signifying a state or country you have visited. Think of cards like wine. It is only truly appreciated when it is used. No one, save the smallest minority within the 1%, brags about being a wine collector. Who cares about the wine collecting dust in the cellar? It is when you knock that dust off, and pop the cork, that the wine comes alive. So knock the dust off, and crack that seal! Don’t be a collector. Be a connoisseur! A card in a box is a stack of pasteboard, but a card in the hands of a cardist becomes….
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