Difference between revisions of "Invisible Deck"

Revision as of 15:55, 2 September 2009

The Invisible Deck is a routine developed by Eddie Fields using Joe Berg's Ultra Mental Deck very shortly after it was created in 1936.

In the classic presentation of this effect, the magician hands the spectator an imaginary, or 'invisible' deck, hence the trick's title. On being handed the deck, the spectator is made to mime the acts of 'removing' the cards from their case; 'shuffling' them; 'spreading' them face-up on the table; freely 'selecting' a card; 'replacing' it face-down among the other face-up cards; and 'returning' the deck to its box.

At this point, either the spectator keeps the imaginary deck while the magician removes the real deck from his pocket, or the spectator hands the imaginary deck to the magician, which suddenly becomes real in the magician's hand. The magician then asks the spectator to name the card he/she selected, removes the deck, face-up, from its box and spreads the cards to show one face-down card. The spectator removes the card to find it is the one he/she named moments earlier.

A more serious routine can be performed, which focuses more on the magician's mindreading abilities and the fact that the spectator had a completely free choice of card. The magician could hand the spectator a box of cards to hold, ask them to freely think of, and concentrate on, any card in the deck, and then to name it. The spectator then hands the box back to the magician, and the trick completed as before.

Publications

• Edward Bagshawe advertised his "Reverso" in the December, 1922 "Magic Wand": The pack, after being cut a number of times, is slowly run through, showing that all cards face the same way. This done, it is enclosed in its case and stood upright on the table. The performer now undertakes to reverse any card in the pack, without touching it. A card having been called out, the pack is removed from the case, and without any false moves or manipulation, slowly run through. The chosen card is found reversed, now facing the opposite way to the others.