I would use any method to get a great reaction. If it meant years of practice of one sleight, or using a gimmick that did the same effect. I would use the gimmick, though. Then you could really only worry about your presentation, rather than holding multiple breaks, jogs, etc... I have seen many newcomers to magic that want to learn the sleights without even giving a second thought to how to present the effect. The easier you make the behind-the-scenes action, the more time and energy you have to present the effect.

Now I do practice sleights often, I like to practice. Like Vernon said, "The more you know about cards, the better you will be with them." You have so many ways to add little subtleties to effects with more knowledge.

I practice with a stripper deck constantly. I practice all the moves I know at random. In front of this keyboard, there are currently 5 decks sat on their cases in different states of use that I pick up at random, just to keep the "feeling" for them all. I might be doing normal sleights, or I might be doing stripper sleights. But the idea is that I can be reading something on screen, not looking at the deck, and still know exactly when to turn over the top card and still show the card or stack I've been controlling all the while.

One must not forget that there are effects possible with the stripper deck that you wouldn't be able to do with a normal deck of cards. Sure, you can hold a break. But can you hold a break WHILE the spectator is shuffling (Hindu or overhand, and sometimes riffle) the cards? Can you instantaneously locate blocks of cards that have been spectator-shuffled into the deck?

Lazy strippers don't get the big tips...

A stripper deck can make you work harder on certain tricks for a bigger payoff. I'm thinking, for example, of the trick "Turn Over" in CCIM. I love the plot of the trick, but the trick as written has no shuffling once the spectator's card is re-inserted into the deck -- which is a big limitation in the eyes of some spectators. There are different ways out of this -- either false shuffling or a stripper deck, for example. Anything that distracts a spectator from enjoying a trick should be eliminated. Sometimes this means getting rid of a gimmick; sometimes this means ADDING a gimmick.

I actually just picked up a cheap stripper deck in the toy aisle of a store the other day. It came with a 3 and a half of hearts card

I dunno why, but I can't help not buying really cheap, crappy magic in mainstream stores when I see it. Especially a $1 stripper deck...

Stripper n.e. lazy

Just to combat the point made MUCH earlier on...

...a stripper deck has nothing to do with your "habit" of holding breaks.
I rarely use stripper decks, though they are really cool, but I also hardly EVER hold a break.
Why hold a break?
Why not just keep the cards you want....where you want them...the whole time?

That's my train of thought.
There isn't even a need for breaks when you are comfortable letting go of the deck and trusting your memory for key cards, good timing, or other methods of control.
But, don't forget...
...gimmicks make the world go round!

http://themagicwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/findit.pl?x_item=DV7140

That sandwich demo looks nice and clean.

Don't knock the stripper deck. I was at a houdini's magic shop in Stateline Nevada and the guy behind the counter used one that was also a marked deck. He pulled named my freely selected card, then did a triumph with it and my friends did the Daniel Garcia demo spectator thing where they run around screaming "NO!!! How did you do that!!!!" thing for about 5 minutes.

I feel the same way as Ron Bauer. To quote his article "Is This a Good Trick?":

"...methods are merely the means to an end as far as I’m concerned, and my only technical interest in them is that there are no tells. "

RB also says that most magicians don't "...consciously differentiate between the plot of the methods (as perceived by the magician) and the plot of the trick (as perceived by the audience)."

I recommend reading the article. It discusses this issue and includes a GOOD TRICK! If you want a copy, shoot me an email. roatc@comcast.net

Speaking of Ron Bauer, he just released a new Private Studies book and there's a new free trick on his website. http://www.thinklikeaconjurer.com/

Thanks for the link Cameron.

Exactly! I have said this before in some other thread... If in the eyes of your audience you have done the impossible, then you have succeeded. It is not about the method, it is all about the effect.

Interestingly, one of the most special features of the stripper deck can be done without a stripper deck. Specifically, a riffle shuffle that you can undo with a stripper deck, you can also undo with a cull on a normal deck. Tamariz's "Mnemonica" discusses how to do this... and you can also undo an overhand shuffle with his methodology.

Have to agree here, the confidence issue for some people is the biggest thing to overcome. Working with a gaffed deck gives you the advantage of focusing your efforts more so on the performance and presentation of the trick, not to mention the patter.

Well, I for one am VERY glad that such blanket judgments keep a lot of folks from the Work. BUT, for those interested: The late great Victor Farelli devoted a large number of pages in Hugard's Magic Monthly to advanced uses of the Stripper Deck. There are handlings there that WILL fool you - BADLY.

If the Stripper Deck was good enough for Farelli it sure as h**l is good enough for me.

I am of the Annemann school of thought that teaches EFFECT IS EVERYTHING!! So I use sleight of hand, gaffs, you name it - even llamas; whatever gets the job done.

The point is this: no artist should limit her/his pallet. Laziness and limitation are the fault of the ARTIST, NOT the TOOLS.

Flame suit donned.

Best,

Vlad

Strippers can make you miss a few other opportunities to impress yourself. That's true. In rodeo we ride broncs and bulls using only one hand. Back on the ranch when training a valuable horse, we use both hands! Fun is fun and work is work.

On stage, it is not an experiment. (There is much more than a piece of pizza at risk.) It is a business. My standard back up deck is a stripper. (But that has only been true since the 60s.)

Another professional magician friend of mine who can certainly make a deck of even borrowed cards sing and dance also has a different set of rules for professional work. On stage he uses a two-way forcing deck.

The best of pilots still carry a parachute. Professional work is different from fun with the boys. Gaffed decks have their place. When playing for real, don't count out the stripper deck. Moving it in and out is also a skill. (Pros don't usually teach that!)

They are both tools and toys. Use the right tool for the job. It's the professional thing to do!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

PS --- As a rodeo clown, when we started the bull riding, I took off my boots and put on baseball cleats. It wasn't because they look good with jeans!

In a lecture, Eugene Burger talked about one thing that he didn't like in a lot of card magic that he sees. i.e.The spectator re-inserts their card into the deck whereever they want, and then the magician immediately does a bunch of complicated moves to put the card elsewhere. By contrast, he says that there's much to be said for letting the spectator burying their card into the deck and leaving it there. The deck is immediately set down with the magician not touching it again (at least not for awhile.) He didn't specifically mention or advocate the stripper deck, but his ideas could cause you to look at things like the stripper deck in a new light.

Bingo!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

There is an effect on jay sankeys secret files that uses a stripper deck. The stripper is used because he could actually shuffle them face up into face down, then spread to show they are really mixed face up into face down but then they all right themselves. this can only be done with a stripper deck, and its an amazing effect

Hi Gang,
It's never been Aboout How! But about WHEN!!!