Must Have Card Gimmicks

[KeoSilver]

Have and use the following gimmicks:

Double backers (blue/blue, red/red, red/blue, and a double backed jack of spades)
Double Facers (all Aces with indifferent card on back, for a Chris Randal ace assembly)
A blank deck of cards (double and backs useful for many cool unorthodox effects)
Nosferatu card Tony Chris
The chosen Tony Chris (its a brainwave effect)
Presto Printo Daryl
Some other custom cards for revamps of packet tricks.

Double backers are useful for switching cards such as for an impossible prediction. (Envelope is in view at all times no slits nothing completely free of gaffs. A card is selected and signed and vanishes in an impossible manner the envelope is opened which it is then revealed that the card has somehow gotten into the envelope.)

 

[n:b]

"WOAH! thats so cool.... can i see that holder thing?"
"no....."
"why...?
"its.... mine.... >:["

HAHAHHAHA

Thats funny shiznit.

 

[.Molawin]

hofzinser card :]

-M.

 

[SleightOfHand Crazed]

im extrememly surprised no one said that 4 letter gimmick.

Anyway im not a fan of gimmicks (I LOVE SLEIGHT)

Gimmicks that is a must have
--> LOOPS
--> Blank Cards
--> Thumb Tip ? lol
-->Tarantula ^_^

 

[tokyoUW]

anyone who is saying WOW isn't a good gimmick/effect... really needs to step outside the box a bit and actually become a magician, not a watch and mimic exactly as I see it magician.

Not EVERYTHING needs perfect explanation to satisfy a spectator. Learn how to control a conversation. You don't need to completely hand the sleeve to the spectator to let them examine it. There are sooo many workarounds to this aspect of the trick and if you can't think of any, well, then that is another story/problem.

If you are someone who has just seen it, not actually used it, and don't think it is good, well then I guess it goes back to 'judging a book by its cover' and being stupid.

If you have tried it, and don't think it is good, well it might not play along to your style, but I am pretty confident if you play around with it, talk to other users of the gimmick, you will come up with something pretty solid and pretty amazing.

 

[praetoritevong]

I can honestly say that nothing in my current card repertoire uses a gimmick. From time to time I'd use Advocate.

But I've seen nothing that in my opinion warrants the description "must have". Double backers are great. If you like WOW, use it. But I don't see any reason why any of them are "must haves". The fact that someone does not have anything that has been mentioned so far does not change their skill level as a magician.

 

[tokyoUW]

I agree that a magician's skill is not determined by the gimmicks he possesses or does not possess. However, outright saying one gimmick is not good, by only supplying simple opinions such as 'you can't hand it out for full examination," or "there is no justification in the wow sleeve..." then, it does show something about their lack of experience, thus, their level.

 

[Jonathan Brown]

Gaffed card magic used to be a passion of mine before I got into serious sleight of hand. Then I drifted away from it. However, there are situations tHAT CAN MERIT USE OF GAFFS. I never carry gaffs per say, as I feel that when I do magic, the bare bones approach forces me to be creative, digging deep into my memory log, to perform impromptu miracles. On the other hand, if I'm going to a paid performance, then I HAVE THE ADVANTAGE AND YES I WILL USE GAFFS. But again, a gaff has to do something pretty special in order for me to use it. The Anniversary Waltz (I use Garrett Thomas' version) was a favorite. Then I started playing with Side Swiped by Simon Aronson. Both are very strong and I rotate the use of these. If you like gaffed stuff, Don England's "Gaffed to the Hilt" though hard to fiind is an amazing book. The magic shop owner in Richmons at Divine Magic and Novelties has a personal copy WITH all the hand made gaffed cards and will gladly let you take a look.

Also don't forget the wonderful items made by the devious mind of Bro. John Hamman. His Micro Macro, Hal-deuce-ination, Wild all the Way and numerous other items are great, most notably his version of Final Aces. In his book he also references taking five of his most popular gaffed items and creating a deck out of them creating a 15 minute routine that uses packet tricks, disguised as a regular deck. Incredible stuff. Gaffs should elevate the magic. Not just make it easy for you. And they should be rung in. No plastic wallet please. If they're so damn normal, whay aren't they in the deck? And don't gimme that isolation crap. They're odd and lay people look at them as such. You can say, "Oh but they never question me!" And I say, "Sure....not to your face." There should be a good damn reason for having to wrestle with and "over-prove" a few cards. The pain to glory ratio if you catch my meaning. And putting them in a special wallet just makes me cringe and it detracts from the seemingly impromptu nature. You mean you had those cards in a wallet waiting to do this trick for me!?!?! Now prediction effects are different....wallets are ok...sometimes. But I digress.. Just a few more of my favorite gaffed items:

Blizzard (Dean Dill)
A New World (Dean Dill and Michael Weber)
Wild Card (The Tommy Wonder "Tamed Card" version is the only one to use)
The Kennedy Mind Power Deck is A MUST if you have the right setting to do it.

And the list goes on. Gaffed magic should supplement good ol' fashioned sleight of hand. Not detract from it. They must be applied properly, and polished in order to make them logical in placement and performance.

Al the best,
Jonathan

 

[salventura]

My all-time favorite gimmick card(s) effect is -
Jay Sankey's - "In A Flash",
love performing that effect, and love the reaction it gets.

 

[TheatreHead]

the only card gimmick that i use is the invisible deck. probably my best magic purchase ever.

 

[moonchild]

i think a double blank deck and gaffs is a must have, u can do many routines with this such as presto printo...
i use them a lot
and i also have several killer gimmick that i made, such as R. sanders tagged, dan hauss laced, daniel garcia witness
i have matsuda's wow to in my pocket coz it can be great sometimes...
sorry for my bad grammar

 

[avihoffmanmagic]

you will not get any better than the ultragaff deck. period. i would also suggest panic, but it was discontinued. if you see it on ebay, or anywhere else, dont think twice. get it. also the invisible deck will never go wrong. and if you make TNR, you will be unstopable.

 

[kyle007]

i forgot who asked but theres PLENTY of effects that implement double backs beautifully. I love doing a richard sanders routine where you JUST met someone either right there or earlier, write the word magic on a card on the back get them to initial the face then change the word magic into they're name, hand out the card with there initials on the face and name on the back (using the right psychology you can make them think you NEVER knew there name) killer effect

edit: guy above me panic is not discontinued you ca buy it from aaron fisher himself i got it when it first came out and i don't even use it it's not that great imo)

 

[Nino]

so true so true.
"AND NOW! I WILL PUT THIS CARD WHICH ISNT YOURS IN THIS PLASTIC CARD HOLDER"
"why? its the wrong card.... and whats a plastic card holder for?"
"shh... just waiiiiit.....now if i take this plastic card holder and give it a shake. it changes into your card"
"WOAH! thats so cool.... can i see that holder thing?"
"no....."
"why...?
"its.... mine.... >:["

HAHAHHAHA

These like that make my day

 

[asaxena]

Well, I can honestly say that I use WOW by Madesua all the time, i'm in love with it and it loves me too. The reasoning behind putting the card into the holder is just to isolate it and bind it so it cannot be tampered with. I do however switch out the gimmick for an identical non-gimmicked holder and leave the non gimmicked one on the table, in case someone would like to play with it.

It's a personal preference when it comes to gaffs, my second favorite card gimmick to have on me it is card case itself, If you guys have ever seen Jay Sankey's Pandora's Box then you know what i'm talking about.

I've been looking for an "identical non-gimmicked holder" but can't find one anywhere, any clue where I can get one?

 

[Qvattels]

I've never actually understood what I can do with a doublebacker.
Any hints and tips?

Dai Vernon fooled Houdini with one. He put the chosen card face up on top of the deck with the double-backer second from the top and did a double lift. Houdini made him do it over and over but couldn't figure out how his card ended up second from the top.

 

[Qvattels]

what are some good card related magic gimmicks that every card magician should have?

just curious

example : wow , stripper deck ...

 

[Qvattels]

what are some good card related magic gimmicks that every card magician should have?

just curious



example : wow , stripper deck ...

A simple gaffe you can create is to take one of your cards and clip about 1/32" from the two corners above the indexes. This can then be used as a key card. You can use it to find the chosen card ostensibly by looking in the spectator's eye for a 'poker tell'.
Note: lightly file off the edges to round the two corners off and to smooth them so as not to create too much of a visual attraction.

 

[Qvattels]

I have two decks that are not only stripped but also marked. When the deck is stacked in Sy Stebbins sequence you can finish off an act with INCREDIBLE feats.

A deck case shell to facilitate a deck switch at the end would be an awesome gaffe as well.

 

[Qvattels]

Hey everyone.

Im starting this thread to find out what people think is the must have gimmick of all time. Lets see what people come up with.

I think I'd have to say the thumbtip.