Improved Invisible Deck

Copyright © 2015 by Devin Knight All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval now known or to be invented, without written permission from the author.

All Manufacturing Rights Reserved. 2

For Becky One Final Time

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IMPROVED INVISIBLE DECK How To Make It Yourself

Devin Knight The rough-and-smooth principle has been around since the early 1920s. The Invisible Deck was invented by Joe Berg in 1936 and was first released as the Ultra-Mental Deck. My deck is an improvement because it deals with two issues. First, with this deck you can show the backs. I am not the first to think of doing this; Joe Berg, Aldini, Jochen Zmeck, Alan Shaxon, Cody Fisher, and Lawrence Turner have all developed methods. Second, a lot of magicians have trouble handling the Invisible Deck. They have trouble separating the cards, or have trouble with too many reversed cards showing up in the spread. The cards are either too snug or too loose. My deck deals with these problems and makes doing the Invisible Deck almost foolproof. Although others have thought of ways to show the backs, I think I am the first to solve the issues of easily separating the cards and not having unwanted reversed cards show.

How The Deck Is Made: This deck is not made like the standard Invisible Deck because the full backs of the cards are not roughed. Only the lower halves of the backs of odd-value cards are roughed. This term for this is “Super Roughing” and was coined by Aldini. In addition, the upper halves of the faces of all the even-value cards are roughed. I have not used standard roughing fluid, because many magicians have trouble with this; either they cannot get the cards apart, or too many reversed cards show. Instead, I have used Harry Robson’s Roughing Sticks, put out by Vanishing Inc. These sticks are available from magic dealers for about $15. You can also use the expensive Science Friction or the cheaper alternative, Plastic Dip Spray, which is sold in hardware stores. All the cards are back to back. The even-value cards are backed with odd-value cards, and the Kings are backed with each other. With the exception of the Kings, the value of the two back to backs cards will total 13. That will be explained in detail later. Only the lower halves of the BACKS of THE ODD-VALUE CARDS are roughed with the roughing stick. The lower half is roughed from the middle of the card to the bottom of the card. When an odd-value card is roughed like this and put back-to-back with an even-value card, the cards will not separate (even though the back of the even-value card has no roughing stuff on it). This is true whether you put light or heavy pressure on the cards, provided you put the pressure at the lower half of the card that is roughed. It is as if the cards were glued together. Normally, with a roughing stick you only put a strip of the material across a section of the card, because if two

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cards were completely roughed they would NOT COME APART. We are using this principle to our advantage.

HOW TO CONSTRUCT THE DECK Take a new deck and separate them into odd-value cards and even-value cards. Take a roughing stick and apply the roughing material to the lower back of the odd-value cards. Only the lower halves of the BACKS of THE ODD-VALUE CARDS are roughed with the roughing stick. The lower half is roughed from the middle of the card to the bottom of the card. If you are using a roughing stick, there is no need to allow the cards to dry. Now take the roughing stick and apply the roughing material to the upper half of the faces of all the even-value cards. The half half is roughed from the middle of the card to the top of the card. Now you will assemble the cards into back-to-back pairs that total 13. The spades are backed with hearts, and the diamonds are backed with clubs. Put an odd-value card face down on the table so that the roughing material is at the lower half of the card. Take the face-up even-value card that goes with it and place it on top, so the cards are back to back. The roughing material on the face up even-value cards is at the top of the card. HERE IS THE LIST OF HOW THE CARDS ARE MATCHED BACK TO BACK. 2S/JH, 4S/9H, 6S/7H, 8S/5H, 10S/3H, QS/AH, 2H/JS, 4H/9S, 6H/7S, 8H,5S, 10H/3S, QH/AS 2C/JD, 4C/9D, 6C/7D, 8C/5D, 10C/3D, QC/AD, 2D/JC, 4D/9C, 6D/7C, 8D,5C, 10D/3C, QD/AC. RED KINGS ARE CONSIDERED ODD AND BLACK KINGS ARE EVEN. KH/KS, KD/KC Stack the pairs in a random order so the even-value cards are face up. Do this so it appears to be a mixed deck of cards. Since the black Kings are considered even, put the back-toback Kings in the stack so the sides showing the KS and the KC are face up. Put the Kings on the faces of both sides. Put the King of Clubs on the face of the even-value cards and the King of Hearts on the face of odd-value side.

USING SCIENCE FRICTION AND PLASTIC DIP SPRAY You can spray half of the card’s backs with either of these sprays. Follow the directions on the can. You can spray all the odd-value cards at one time, but you will need to mask off the 5

other half of the card so it doesn’t get sprayed on the section you do not want roughed. It takes about 4 hours for these sprays to dry. I have found it more effective and faster to use roughing sticks. The cards are put into the card case so the lower roughed halves on the back are at the lower section of the case. When you remove the cards from the case, make sure the roughed backs are at the bottom. When you spread the cards, hold them so your thumbs can only spread the cards at the lower section. Make sure that the upper halves of the cards extend above the tops of your hands. See Photo 1. So long as you only spread the cards at the bottom, from hand to hand, NO REVERSED CARDS WILL SHOW.

PHOTO 1 The cool thing about this is that unlike the standard Invisible Deck, there is no way unwanted reversed cards will show if the pressure is too light. Square the deck and turn it over sideways, spread the cards the same way at the bottom, and only odd-value cards will show. Square the deck and move it down in your hands so your thumbs can only spread the top area of the cards. Something amazing will happen and you will fool yourself. Except for the face card of the deck, ONLY BACKS will show! See Photo 2. This is the incredible secret behind this deck.

When you spread the cards, spread them lightly. Exert almost no pressure on the cards. That could cause them to clump together. Hold them loosely as you spread from the bottom, and you will find that all the cards will show and not clump together. 6

PHOTO 2 To help you know which end is up, you may wish to take a pencil and draw a straight line across the top edges of the cards. See Photo 3. This is an easy way to tell which end should be up. If you put the cards into the case so the pencil line is always at the top, they will come out ready to work.

PHOTO 3 The values of each back-to-back pair add up to 13. Aces are 1, Jacks are 11, Queens are 12, and Kings are 13. Paired with a 5 would be an 8, because 5+8=13. Because the Kings are already valued at 13, they are paired with each other. The Hearts and Spades are back to back with each other, and the Clubs and Diamonds are back to back. Commit this to memory. Remember that a Spade looks like a Heart turned upside down, and that is why they are together. The remaining two suits, Diamonds and Clubs, will take care of themselves. You can also remember that in bridge, Spades and Hearts are the major suits and paired. Clubs and Diamonds are the minor suits and paired. The red Kings are considered “odd” (both “red” and “odd” have three letters). The black Kings are considered “even.” 7

You will notice that one side of the deck only shows “odd” cards (Ace, 3, 5, 7, 9, Jack, red King). On the other side of the deck, the top card of each pair will be an “even” card (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, Queen, black King). Remember, because the Kings are back to back with each other, you must think of the red Kings as “odd” and the black Kings as “even.” To perform this effect, you need to determine the name of the card that is back to back with whatever card is named. Let’s assume the 10 of Clubs is named. The card paired with the selection is known as the key card. Subtract the chosen card’s value from 13 (13-10=3). Because you know that Clubs and Diamonds are paired, you know the key card for the 10 of Clubs must be the 3 of Diamonds. Let’s try another: the 2 of Hearts. 13-2=11, 11 is a Jack. The key card for the 2 of Hearts would be the Jack of Spades. The only exceptions to this rule are the Kings, but those are even easier, because each King is paired with another King. Remember the King of Hearts is back to back with the King of Spades. The King of Diamonds is back to back with the King of Clubs. If you are new to the Invisible Deck and a little confused at this point, do not worry. The mental math will get easier with practice, and it will be well worth your effort. Here is how to perform the effect: Hold the deck with the even sides face up, and place it into the card box (the half-circle cutout should be upward); close the flap and you are ready to perform. When the deck is removed from the box (half-circle side up), the even side will automatically be face up. An Ace of Spades is on the front of the box, and this will help you remember that this side of the deck is where the Ace of Spades is, the odd side.

SCRIPT: The deck should be in its case on the table in full view. Tell the spectator(s): “Earlier, I removed a card at random, and turned it over so it was upside down. I returned the deck to its case. I would like you to see if you have psychic abilities, by using your intuition to see if you can correctly guess the card. Please name any one of the 52 cards.” Assume the spectator says Jack of Diamonds. First, you need to determine the key card next to the face-down Jack of Diamonds. The key card for the Jack of Diamonds is the 2 of Clubs (13-11=2). Remember, Clubs and Diamonds are paired. Because the key card, the 2 of Clubs, is an even value card, remove the deck from the box so the even side is facing up. Remember, the chosen card is to appear face down. Grip the deck so you are holding the lower half in your hands. Spread the cards from hand to hand, being sure to only spread from the lower half. Refer to Photo 1. Only faces will show. If you were to spread them from the middle, a mixture of face-up and face-down cards would show. If you spread them at the top, only backs would show. Spread through the deck until you see your key card. When you see your key card, your right hand breaks the deck at that point and moves inward, toward your body, so the top edge of 8

the key card and all the cards to the right of it are lined up with the middle of the deck. See Photo 4.

PHOTO 4 Remember, the top halves of the cards are NOT roughed on the backs. They will separate with ease. Your left thumb pushes over the key card; a reversed card will immediately show beside it. See Photo 5. This will be the named card, in this case the Jack of Diamonds.

PHOTO 5

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Your right hand moves toward the table so the back of the reversed card is seen, and leaves the card on the table. Be careful not to tilt your right hand up and expose the bottom of the cards. See Photo 6. Alternatively, you could have the spectator take the reversed card. Do not reveal what the reversed card is yet.

PHOTO 6 NOTE: This all boils down to timing; the above must be done in a smooth nonstop action. Spread to the key card, break the deck at that point with the right hand, and bring the cut-off section toward your body. In the same action, your left thumb pushes the top of the key card slightly to the right, revealing a reversed card. Because there is no roughing material at the tops of the card’s backs, you will find that the cards separate with ease. Your right hand continues toward the table in one smooth action and leaves the reversed card on the table. Practice until you can do this smoothly. I do not recommend the idea of NOT SPLITTING the deck and simply stretching your left thumb up to push over the top of the key card. Because the backs of the top halves of the cards are not roughed, you may accidently cause some other face-down cards to show. By breaking the deck at the key card, as shown in Photo 5, and bringing it down so the tops of the cards are at the middle of the deck, you will not reveal reversed cards you do not want the spectators to see. Practice this a few times and you will see how easy and smooth it is. Breaking the spread to put the reversed card on the table is completely natural. If you have the timing down, it will appear that you spread to a reversed card, split the deck at that point, and put the card face down on the table. It is all one smooth action that is undetectable. You can do this with ease and no fumbling. 10

Once the face-down card is on the table, put the cards in your right hand under the cards still in your left hand. Square the deck, still handling the cards at the lower half. You may now spread the cards, remembering to keep your thumbs positioned at the lower half of the deck. All the cards will be face up. At this point, you may wonder if the spectators will notice that there are only 26 cards showing or that only “even” cards are showing. Do not worry; they will not notice, because they are too busy looking for face-down cards. “See, no other card is reversed.” Square the deck again. With your right hand, turn the deck face down, END TO END. Do not turn the deck over sideways. Grasp the deck at the lower half again and spread the cards from hand to hand. Only backs will show. See Photo 7. Keep the deck below eye level, so no one can see the bottom sides of the cards. This is because the other side of the deck will show backs, too.

PHOTO 7 “All the cards are face down.” Square the deck and turn the cards over END TO END, as you did before. A card will show on the face. Place the squared deck on the table. Point to the face-down card on the table. TURN IT OVER SIDEWAYS AND SHOW THAT IT IS THE NAMED CARD! Drop the card face up on top of the deck, and return the deck to its case. Be careful not to flash the bottom of the deck. TO RESET: Reset is easy. Remove the cards from the case and turn the top card over sideways so it is face down. Place the face-down card on the bottom of the deck, and return the cards to the case so the roughed backs are at the lower section of the card case. 11

Dealing With The Kings: The Kings are easy because there is no subtraction. Remember the Kings are on the face of the deck on both sides. The King of Clubs and King of Hearts are spectacular revelations. You just have to remember that the King of Clubs is the face card of the even-value side and King of Hearts is the face card of the odd-value side. Suppose you want the King of Clubs to be the only face-down card. Remove the deck from the case showing the King of Clubs on the face. “Earlier, I removed the King of Clubs, reversed it and put it on top of the deck.” Hold the deck so the upper halves are above the top of your hands. Spread the cards with your thumbs at the bottoms. Underneath the King of Club, will be seen a face-down deck! This is quite a stunning revelation, seeing the card just named reversed on top of an otherwise facedown deck. The King of Hearts works the same way. Remove the deck so the King of Hearts is showing on the face and spread the deck at the bottom area showing a face-down deck underneath. The other two Kings are shown reversed as in the standard trick. The key card for the King of Spades is the King of Hearts. Remember that the red Kings are “odd” and the black Kings are “even.” Because your key card (King of Hearts) is “odd,” remove the deck from the box so the odd-value side is up. That means that you turn the card case face down (half circle facing downwards) before you open the case and remove the deck. The King of Hearts will be the face card, push it OVER AT THE BOTTOM, revealing a face down card. Put the King of Hearts on the bottom of the deck. Spread the cards at the top showing all cards face up except for face-down card Show the face down card is the named King. The same process is used to reveal the King Of Diamonds. You remove the deck so the King of Clubs is the face card. CHECKING YOUR DECK Before each performance, check your deck. Spread the faces, holding the deck at the lower section, and make sure no reversed card shows. If it does, this means you probably returned a reversed card by flipping it end to end instead of sideways. This is easily fixed. Take the reversed card that is showing, rotate it 180°, and replace it. Spread the cards again, and the pair should lock so you cannot separate them at the bottom. If in looking over your cards you see what appears to be a little bead of wax, it is okay to pick it off. This is just a bit of residue from the roughing stick.

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ADVANCED ALTERNATIVE HANDLING This is my favorite way perform the Improved Invisible Deck. This method is not as easy as the basic version. It takes a little more practice, but it is well worth it. This version allows you to remove the cards from the case and a face-down deck is seen! You casually spread the facedown cards showing backs. You flip the deck over and show the faces. You spread through the face-up cards until you come to one face-down card. This face-down card is up jogged. You continue to spread through the cards, showing that all the cards are face up except for the one upjogged face-down card. Leaving the face-down card up jogged, you square the deck and flip it over showing the backs again. You spread the cards showing only backs, except for the one up-jogged reversed card, which happens to be the freely named card! You can spread through all the cards showing all the backs. In this version, there is no need to remove the reversed card and cut the deck at that point. The reversed card is up jogged and left in the same position, yet you can immediately show backs on all the cards while the reversed card is up jogged. Read on to discover the amazing secret. This version uses the two jokers that are included with all decks, the regular Joker and the extra Joker. The Jokers are one-way cards, and both Jokers are roughed with a roughing stick at the lower half of each joker. So take your roughing stick and rough the lower half of the faces of each Joker. This version of the invisible deck is also handled differently than in the basic version. However, as in the original version, the deck is still stacked in pairs that total 13; I suggest you follow closely with the deck in hand. Take the deck and turn it so the roughing material on the faces of the cards is positioned at the lower half. In the basic version, the roughing material is at the upper half of the cards. In this version, it is completely opposite. Place one Joker face down over the face card on the even side. Make sure the roughing material on the face of the Joker is also at the lower section. NOTE: If you have penciled marked the top of the deck, then the pencil line will be at the bottom of the deck instead of the top. If you spread the cards from the bottom section, all the cards will appear to be face down. When you spread the cards, hold them so your thumbs can only spread the cards at the lower section. Make sure that the upper halves of the cards extend above the tops of your hands. Refer back to Photo 1. So long as you only spread the cards at the bottom, from hand to hand, NO REVERSED CARDS WILL SHOW and all the cards will appear to be face down.

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Next flip the deck over SIDEWAYS, not end to end, and place the other Joker face down on top of face-up odd-value card. Be sure that the roughing material is at the lower half of the Joker. The same thing will happen if you spread the cards; they will appear to be face down. This is the secret behind this ingenious version. Insert the deck with the two face-down Jokers into the card case so that the roughed faces are at the bottom. As in the basic version, the side of the deck with the odd-value cards goes on the side of the card case with the Ace of Spades on it, to remind you which side has the oddvalue cards. Close the flap of the case and you are ready to perform. TO PERFORM: You compute the key card the same way you did in the basic version, but the way you remove the deck is different. Let’s assume the named card is the Eight of Spades. We know that the key card is the Five of Hearts and that the Eight of Spades will be face down beneath it. In the basic version, you would remove the deck so the odd cards are face up and spread through them looking for the Five of Hearts. However, in this version, you do just the opposite. You remove the deck so the even sides are up; however, remember that a face-down Joker conceals the faces of the even cards. Hold the card case in your left hand as shown in Photo 8. You right hand pulls the deck out about half way. The thumb and forefinger of your left hand brace the sides of the deck, keeping it stationary and secure.

PHOTO 8 The middle finger of your right hand presses against the back of the Joker underneath the deck and pushes it back into the case. Since the top of the Joker is not roughed, this is easily done. This takes place in the action of removing the cards from the case. See Photo 9. This photo 14

is an exposed view. Normally your hand is turned downward, concealing the fact that the card is being pushed back into the case.

PHOTO 9 The cards are removed completely from the case, leaving the Joker inside and unseen. It will appear that you are holding a face-down deck in your hand. IF SOMEONE NOTICES THAT YOU LEFT A CARD IN THE CASE, JUST PULL IT OUT AND SAY THAT IT IS A JOKER AND YOU DO NOT NEED IT. Remember, the faces are roughed at the bottom of each card. Quickly spread some of the cards. When you spread the cards, hold them so your thumbs can only spread the cards at the lower section. Make sure that the upper halves of the cards extend above the tops of your hands. As long as you only spread the cards at the bottom, from hand to hand, NO FACE UP CARDS WILL SHOW and all the cards will appear to be face down. Do not spread them all, because an astute spectator may wonder why he did not see a reversed card. Just spread about the top third of the deck and the bottom in bunches as shown in Photo 10.

PHOTO 10 15

Square the deck and turn it over SIDEWAYS, not end for end as in the basic version. In this version, your left hand holds the deck in standard dealing position. Your left hand loosely pushes the cards over, pushing AT THE UPPER SECTION OF THE CARDS. See Photo 11.

PHOTO 11 In this example, the named card is the Eight of Spades, so we are looking for the Five of Hearts. Once your thumb comes to the Five of Hearts, your right hand moves the Five of Hearts and all the cards to the right of it upward. In the same motion, your left thumb pushes against the lower section of the Five of Hearts, revealing a reversed card. Your right hand up jogs the reversed card. See Photos 12 and 13 for this procedure. After the card is up jogged, continue spreading the face-up cards, showing no other card is reversed.

PHOTO 12 16

PHOTO 13 This takes some practice to do smoothly; you must be sure that your thumbs do not accidently push against the lower section of the cards. If they do, you may expose other reverse cards. A little practice and you will get the knack of doing this perfectly. Once the reversed card is up jogged, square the rest of deck, leaving the card extended as shown in Photo 14.

PHOTO 14

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Ask for the name of the card again and turn the deck over SIDEWAYS. Spread the deck at the lower half and only backs will show, except for the one reversed card, which happens to be the named card! See Photo 15.

PHOTO 15 There is no need to remove the reversed card. Be careful not to flash the undersides of the cards, as they will show backs instead of faces. To finish, push the reversed card flush with the deck, square the cards and turn over the deck sideways, revealing a face card again. Everything will look as it should be. Reset is fast and easy. Just remove the Joker from the card case and put it face down on the face-up card, making sure the roughing material is at the lower section. Return the deck to the case in the proper orientation, and you are set to perform again. This makes the Improved Invisible Deck perfect for strolling gigs.

IN CONCLUSION Please practice with this deck until you can perform flawlessly without having to think about what you are doing. When you achieve this goal, your performance will look like a real mental miracle. If you know the Don Alan Invisible Deck routine, you can use this deck for that presentation, too.

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