Gaffed in Cards: page 1

Visual and practical effects are rarely combined into one trick. Hallucination is a very practical and visual trick. Imagine you draw 4 points on a playing card, after which you shake the deck and they line up, and that’s not all, you shake the deck again and the points completely disappear.

1st edition 2020, length 6:27.

The Spectator chooses any card from the deck. The magician rips off the corner of that card. One hand wave, and the corner changes color. The magician throws the corner on to the card, the card is restored and the whole card changes color. And that’s not the end. The magician places the card on the deck and the entire deck changes color. Four effects in one trick. (Supplies may have to be purchased in order to perform this effect.)

1st edition 2020, video 17 min.

There are different tricks which use a hole in a card. Mario Tarasini presents one of the smartest and simplest methods to perform this effect. Just punch one hole on the selected card and the hole will multiply. The best part is that after the trick the card can be given to the spectator.

1st edition 2020, length 6:40.

Take one card and place it on top of the card box. With a wave of the hand the card melts through the box and appears in the middle of the deck. The effect is so convincing that the spectator will think it is an optical illusion.

1st edition 2020, video 13 min.

Created by Zaw Shinn and taught by Mario Tarasini. This visual ink moving effect is easy to do and it looks just like CGI. No fancy or fragile set up is required and the material to make the gimmick can easily be found. Zaw likes to thank Martin Lewis, Alan Rorrison, Rizki Nanda, and many more for inspiring him to create Triangle Theory.

1st edition 2020, video 24 min 12s.

The magician shows a card and a black disc. In front of the spectator's eyes the disc jumps on to the card and turns into a hole. After the trick the card with a hole can be handed out to the spectator as a souvenir. Usual card gaffing supplies are needed.

1st edition 2020, length 10 min 40s.

If you didn't like Burmese Change because of the setup, then here is a different way you may like much better. Zaw Shinn has created this version in pursuit to find the most practical and visual effect he can perform up close in front of the camera. This vanish is easy to do and it looks like CGI. No fancy set up is required and the materials to make the gimmick can easily be found.

1st edition 2020, video 17 min 27s.

The magician takes a spectator signed card, folds it in half, and splits the card into two parts! Only one hand movement and the card becomes whole again. Before and after the trick the spectator can inspect the card.

1st edition 2020, length 8 min 26 s.

The magician shows two cards: a regular picture card and a blank face one. The magician stacks the cards on top of each other and the card with the picture visually turns white. After the effect, both cards can be examined by the spectator. Includes a bonus idea by Zaw Shinn. Gimmick requires arts and crafts and some supplies you may not have at home.

1st edition 2020, video 15 min.

A collection of new and novel gaffed decks, which you can easily all make at home, and strong effects that go along with them. Requires little to no sleight-of-hand.

From the introduction:

Few people know that there is a secret assistant in each deck of cards. “Secret Assistant” is a little helper for card magicians. It will definitely help you find the chosen card. The card can be signed. The gimmick can be used for other tricks. The gimmick requires various supplies to construct.

1st edition 2020, length 18 min.

This is Tarasini's version of a popular trick on Instagram where a card appears to be melting through another one.

• No threads
• No magnets

1st edition 2020, length 8 min 45 s.

A Card Warp effect that ends with an 'impossible' signed card with half turned face-out and the other half back-out.

Effect: A playing card is folded and then signed by a spectator. This folded and signed card is inserted between another folded card, just like in the classic Card Warp effect. Then the inside card is pushed from left to right and from right to left. First the direction of the white border of the card's back switches position. Then one half of the card turns face outward. At this point the folded and signed card can be handed out as souvenir to the spectator. It will have one...

Burmese Change is a triple card change using a gimmick and sleight-of-hand.

Spectator signs a card which is returned to the deck. The magician takes a random card and the card changes two times in to different cards, and the third change is when a random card changes in to the card signed by the spectator. After the trick, the card can be given to the spectator as a souvenir.

Requires the preparation of a gimmick which is three cards thick.

1st edition 2020, video 13 min.

Place a coin on a card. Just wave and the card will change. Mario Tarasini brings a new ultra visual card change system to the magic world. It is called "Jumping card system" and it looks impossible. Take an old trick to a next level.

• Use a borrowed coin
• The coin can be singed
• Highly visual
• Easy to do
• Requires some arts and crafts to construct the gimmick

1st edition 2020, length 6 min 55 s.

The Card Guillotine is one of the most visual, mysterious and interesting card tricks. Mario Tarasini has brought it back to life. This is a new method that, when applied, can make the trick even more interesting and can fool any magician. The trick can also be performed with the spectators finger. Requires arts and crafts to make the gimmick.

1st edition 2020, video 11 min.

Here is an astonishing ending to one of the classics of card magic - "Oil & Water". There are many ways to perform it, but Mario Tarasini has created an extremely visual final phase with face-up cards and just before the very eyes of the spectator. After a couple of your favorite phases of Oil & Water, this is an amazing way to end the routine. Just tell the spectator to not blink and she/he will witness a miracle. Requires arts and crafts to prepare the gimmicked cards.

length 9min 7s.

Effect: Show to spectator 4 blank cards. Suddenly the blank cards change into four normal face cards. Additional supplies may need to be purchased to perform this effect.

length 3min 29s.

The combination of special cards and sleight-of-hand is far more powerful than either alone. When the two are combined with inside knowledge, the resulting magic can be astounding in ways that enable you to leave audiences speechless and dumbfounded. The combination is synergistic: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

When the minds of Rick Silberman and Wesley James combine with William Coffrin, Jean Hugard, and Fred Braue, you have a level of knowledge and experience rarely equaled in magic's long history. The whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.

When special cards, sleight-of-hand,...

This set consists of 52 gaffed cards with Bicycle backs. The cards are listed below and can also be seen in the image to the right. They come in a white tuck box that has a small window on one side.

• Ace of Spades with inverted black Bicycle back (2 cards)
• Ace of Clubs with inverted yellow Bicycle back (2 cards)
• Ace of Hearts with inverted red Bicycle back (2 cards)
• Ace of Diamonds with inverted blue Bicycle back (2 cards)
• King of Hearts - King of Spades horizontal split face, Ace of Clubs on the back (11 cards)
• King of Diamonds - King of Clubs horizontal split face, Ace of Clubs on...

The most successful effect of this kind was Dan Harlan's CardToon where a deck of cards doubled as a flip book. Riffling through the cards one would see a cartoon magician drawn on the backs find and reveal a chosen card. This effect was a huge success, potentially it was the most successful magic trick of all times (my guess, I don't really know).

Toony Angel builds on the basic idea to use a deck of cards as a flip book, but rather than animate a cartoon character on the back, the angel on the bicycle, from the Bicycle back design, starts to cycle towards you, zips around on the back of the card and...

Jean Boucher's "The Dark Card" is one of the greatest utility card gimmicks ever--you can do MIRACLES with it! In Dark Thoughts, Scott teaches seven incredible routines using the Dark Card.

PART ONE: ALONE WITH THE DARK

• Olympic Champion: Two spectators' signed cards (with different colored backs) transpose!
• Red & Blue Times Two: The Alex Elmsley classic, with an impossible instant repeat!
• The Legend of Scott Star: A tale of the Old West, with lawmen, card cheats, killers, and a hangin' judge. There is magic all the way, including a poker deal, and a finish that they never see coming...

Ronald Haines, through his business Haines House of Cards, sold a deck of gaffed cards called 'Fa-Ko' cards. This deck is not anymore available but perhaps you can find it second-hand. However, now that it is very easy to make your own playing cards (see DIY Playing Cards) this collection has gained in value.

From the foreword

Making dry-mounted gaffs just got a whole lot easier!

This new 80 page ebook introduces you to the wonders of dry mounting tissue (a.k.a. "DMT"). What's DMT? It's an adhesive that lets you make gaffs that look, feel, and snap like a normal card. If all you've ever known are rubber cement, sprays, and glue sticks, then you've been missing out big-time. This book will open your eyes.

On the other hand, perhaps you heard of DMT, but never bothered to try it because the equipment costs turned you off. Or maybe you gave up on it after getting horrible results with a clothes iron. Well, it's...