Good topic 
I am on the fence with this one. To be honest though, I say use em' if they work well with your style! Personally, I only use a few gimmicks, and over 90% of my performances are done with ordinary objects & cards. I would never close myself off to gimmicks or tools because of how powerful and visual they can be, but I definitely enjoy the feeling of finishing up a performance with people speechless across the board knowing full well that I only used a standard deck of bycicles and maybe some coins that people had on them.
One thing to remember though, it does not matter how you deal with the ethics about your magic, it is all about how it all translates to your audience. I should clarify what I mean in the last sentence by the way I mean, if you don't like to use invisible decks because you feel like you are deceiving people, then I really think you should analyze what magic is all about. Don't worry about the guilt or annoyances of using gimmicks, if people around you are having fun, and you are having fun, and if you are willing to practice enough to become comfortable with gimmicks, then there is no reason not to use them
But now, it's time to play devil's advocate (because I stated that I was on the fence about this...) I know a handful of gimmicks that I try not to use too much because of how strange it makes me feel. One of the first tricks I learned was the coin vanish with The Raven. Even now, after perfecting the effect, I still don't like to do it. The only reason I ever perform it is because of the feeling it gave me when I first saw it performed, knowing how it is done is enough reason to want to pass on the brilliant effect to anyone who would appreciate it. Even with that mindset, I still simply do not like using it. I can say that about many gimmicks as well. Some "guilt" is difficult to get rid of, different gimmicks have different levels of intensity. As for the invisible deck... I will use that anyday
peace
-Tim
I am on the fence with this one. To be honest though, I say use em' if they work well with your style! Personally, I only use a few gimmicks, and over 90% of my performances are done with ordinary objects & cards. I would never close myself off to gimmicks or tools because of how powerful and visual they can be, but I definitely enjoy the feeling of finishing up a performance with people speechless across the board knowing full well that I only used a standard deck of bycicles and maybe some coins that people had on them.
One thing to remember though, it does not matter how you deal with the ethics about your magic, it is all about how it all translates to your audience. I should clarify what I mean in the last sentence by the way
I mean, if you don't like to use invisible decks because you feel like you are deceiving people, then I really think you should analyze what magic is all about. Don't worry about the guilt or annoyances of using gimmicks, if people around you are having fun, and you are having fun, and if you are willing to practice enough to become comfortable with gimmicks, then there is no reason not to use them But now, it's time to play devil's advocate (because I stated that I was on the fence about this...) I know a handful of gimmicks that I try not to use too much because of how strange it makes me feel. One of the first tricks I learned was the coin vanish with The Raven. Even now, after perfecting the effect, I still don't like to do it. The only reason I ever perform it is because of the feeling it gave me when I first saw it performed, knowing how it is done is enough reason to want to pass on the brilliant effect to anyone who would appreciate it. Even with that mindset, I still simply do not like using it. I can say that about many gimmicks as well. Some "guilt" is difficult to get rid of, different gimmicks have different levels of intensity. As for the invisible deck... I will use that anyday
peace
-Tim
