Deck switches?

[chriswible]

How do you guys plan your effects out when you have more than one that requires a set up?

I've never done a deck switch bye I'm thinking I'm going to need to, no? I don't like it though. I'm kinda imagining a little wooden box full of fancy looking decks and using that as my excuse to have multiple set ups. Lol but I'm probably just avoiding learning how to do a deck switch. Maybe a vest with multiple cat pockets on the inside or something?

What do you do?

[Ben Blau]

I do deck switches all the time. In an informal setting, switching decks is trivial. I keep the decks on opposite jacket pockets. I'll do a couple of routines with the first deck, put it away to do an effect that doesn't involve the cards, and then wait for them to ask me to show them "one more thing". I act as if I'm reluctantly obliging the request, and bring out the other deck. (They never notice that it comes from the opposite pocket.) Lately, I've been using two decks that contain setups. The deck in my left pocket is set up for my opener. I perform that routine, and then another impromptu routine with the same deck. I then put the deck away, and do something with a set of ESP cards I keep in my shirt pocket. When I put those away, I'm all set to either conclude the show, or do a sort of "encore", using the deck in my opposite pocket, that is set up for a different routine. Needless to say, everyone assumes it's the same deck I was already using.

So, in my experience, deck switches don't have to be especially clever in the contexts in which I perform.

[charlie]

Preparation:

I place the top half of my Mnemonica stack (first 26 Cards) in my Left jacket pocket.
I place the bottom half of my Mnemonica stack (Cards 26 to 52) in my Right jacket pocket.
I place a piece of card in front of the stacks of cards to separate them from the cards I will introduce to my pockets later.

Routine:

I have another deck shuffled in front of the spectators.
I force 2 cards on 2 spectators,
(The 4 of Clubs, which is the top card of my Mnemonica stack AND the 2 of Clubs, which is the 27th card of my Mnemonica stack).

I cut the deck approximately in half and give each spectator a packet. Each spectator returns their selected card into their respective packets, and are then asked to shuffle their half of the deck.

I then take each half packet back, one in each hand and state that I will find their cards by touch alone and in the dark. I place each half in my outside jacket pockets and it is then a simple matter to retrieve the top card from the stack in my Right jacket pocket and place it face down onto the table. I remove the switched half stacked deck and place that on the table. I then do the same with the other card and stack deck from my Left jacket pocket.
I then turn over the 2 cards to reveal that I have found each selection.
My deck is then assembled back in Stack order. :-)

The above is the simple version, this is what I normally do:
I normally do 7 out Faro shuffles and then place the stacks in either respective pockets. I then force the 4 of Clubs and the 2 of Hearts and do the above routine.

After assembling the cards at the end of the routine, I do one last out Faro and I am back to Stack order. ;-)

[chriswible]

Wow that's involved! Very cool to learn. Thanks

[rezamikhaeil]

Chris, Ben's way of doing it is the way to go... I have numerous deck switches (The Cooler, Cold Case, etc.) and while I do love Cold Case, it's for those afraid of being "dirty" or who are going to be performing for magicians. When you are performing for laymen, Ben's technique is definitely the way to go. Allow me to impart some wisdom: Last Wednesday my daughter did a mentalism piece for her school talent show that used a classic switch box to force a word. I thought all night long that the box would be suspect but it never was brought up, NOT EVEN ONCE. We magicians over complicate our acts because we think too much like magicians (or mentalists). Having a deck switch is nice but I prefer something that I can carry on me to do in a moments notice and so far, there are no deck switches on the market that can do that. If you carry The Cooler, Cold Case, etc. the cards are going to get ruined in your pocket before you ever use it, and when you go to use it, it won't be as beautiful as it we perceived it to be. I see deck switch devices useful only if you are doing a paid gig, or something that you prepare ahead of time and know that you will perform within a few hours. Otherwise, Ben's suggestion of carrying two decks with you and casually using one, then the other is the way to go.

This is of my personal opinion too but I prefer not to start with a card trick because when I begin with something else, the cards are framed more like a mentalist so they are never suspect. When I used to begin with "I have this deck of cards" as my first trick people immediately used to say "can I examine them?" but when I do a few other mind reading pieces and then go into them, no heat whatsoever. None of this is new of course, I learned it from various people like Ben Blau, Sean Waters, and personal experience.

[Craig]

If you don't care, they don't care (for the most part). If the action reads as unimportant to the spectator, they won't pay much attention to the action. That said, Patrick Redford has a painfully simple and easy deck switch that's worth learning if you wear a jacket. He teaches it in his first Penguin Live Lecture (which I couldn't recommend highly enough).