Product: The Invisible Deck

Difficulty: Age 10+ (very simple)

Where to buy: Amazon, most magic shops

Overall rating: 9.5/10

In an earlier post I briefly mentioned why I think The Invisible Deck is the best quick and easy card trick you could buy.

In this magic review I will be discussing in more depth why this product is quite possibly the best and most versatile card trick ever released, as well as where to buy it from.

What is The Invisible Deck?

The Invisible Deck is a card trick, first things first. However, it can be used within most areas of magic.

A card mechanic might use it to show off his uncanny skill with card manipulation, or a mentalist may use it to display proof of their psychic abilities.

It is extremely flexible in the way it can be presented- the sky really is the limit. The most common presentation of the Invisible Deck, however, usually goes something like this.

The magician asks a spectator to think of a card (completely in their head). He then asks her to imagine she is holding an invisible deck of cards, and that she removes the card she is thinking of from the invisible deck.

He then asks her to turn over the card, so it faces the opposite way from the rest of the cards in the invisible deck. If she’s done it correctly, she should be holding an invisible deck in which the card she (and only she) is thinking of is turned face down.

The magician will then ask her to ‘hand over’ the invisible deck of cards. He then puts the invisible deck of cards inside his pocket. After a moment, and perhaps a few magical words, he puts his hand back into his pocket and pulls out a real pack of cards.

The audience may laugh at this point, wondering if the whole thing was just build up for this gag- because he obviously must have had that deck of cards in his pocket all along. There’s no way it’s the same deck as the spectator was imagining, right?

There’s only one way to check. If this deck really is the invisible deck the spectator was holding, there should be one (and ONLY one) card face down within, a card only the spectator knows. The magician asks, for the first time, what card they were thinking of, so that everyone can hear. The spectator names their card- let’s say it’s the Nine of Diamonds. The magician, very slowly and fairly, removes the cards from the deck. He spreads through the cards. One card is face down. He removes it.

Any guesses what card it is?

Yes, impossibly, it is the spectators card.

How on earth is this trick easy?

The truth is, despite how it may sound, this trick is very, very simple to perform. All it requires is a passing knowledge of maths, and the ability to create a great presentation.

I won’t go into the minute details of how this trick works; it isn’t my trick to reveal, but if you still aren’t confident it really is as easy as I say, check out what other people have said about it on Penguin Magic.

Different ways to use The Invisible Deck

My personal favorite way to use The Invisible Deck is within a ‘lie detector’ style trick. First of all, I get them to physically pick a card, and then I ask them a number of questions about the card, asking them to say ‘no’ everytime. I might ask things like ‘is your card red?’ after which I tell them whether I think they are lying or telling the truth, perhaps pointing out some facial twitches that gave it away (naturally, I know the card they have chosen already). Gradually I narrow it down to a few possible cards, and finally guess it correctly, much to their annoyance and bewilderment.

After this, I up the ante by having them just THINK of a card inside their head; this way they KNOW that if I do end up guessing right, I really must be able to tell when they are lying or telling the truth. I also tell them not to say anything this time, and that I will be relying completely on their body language. I rattle off all four suits, and say each number (including Jack, Queen, King and Ace) out loud.

At no point do I tell them what card I think it is (I genuinely don’t know at this point), instead frowning, as if this is difficult.

At this point I will tell them that I think I know what card they are thinking of, and that I am going to face away from them and turn over a single card in my deck; which will be my prediction.

I do nothing of the sort, instead taking out my Invisible Deck and pretending to turn a card over. I turn back to them, and ask them to name their card for the first time. Once they’ve done this, I spread through my Invisible Deck and reveal that there is one card face down- when I take it out, it really is their card.

This is just one way of using the Invisible Deck though, and if it doesn’t suit your style then feel free to create another presentation entirely. In fact, why don’t you check out these videos to watch how other people have used the Invisible Deck:

Here’s a video of David Blaine seriously freaking someone out using the Invisible Deck.

How much do I have to shell out for this great trick?

Here’s the good news: this trick is literally one of the cheapest on the market. Crazy, right? It goes for under £10 at most magic shops. Penguin Magic stock it for around 7 dollars, but if you’d rather go with a site like Amazon, you can find it there too! You can learn this card trick on YouTube too, although that won’t be much help without the actual deck to go along with it.

Are there any drawbacks to this effect?

I won’t lie to you here. Like any magic trick, this isn’t actually magic, and so there are always going to be drawbacks. The biggest obstacle that stops this trick being a 10/10 is that you can’t hand the deck out to the spectator afterward for inspection (although it looks completely normal).

One way of avoiding this is asking to do another trick straight after, to keep their attention away from the deck, or swap it for another deck while they are still reacting to the trick. Generally though, if you act natural and as if there is nothing special about the deck, there will be no need to do either of these.

You will also need to be able to do a bit of mental maths, though nothing difficult- just addition of single digit numbers. There is a ‘math-free’ alternative to this trick called Cardtoon that you could try instead.

Why is this one of the best tricks ever?

The ridiculously low price, combined with the incredible reactions it gets, is why I think this simple card trick is one of the best, ever. You can adapt it to any kind of performance once you know the secret, and I have had people literally run screaming thanks to the effects you can create with it. If you aren’t sure whether to buy it, just do it; the worst you can lose is about nine pounds, the best you can win is a very easy magic trick that convinces people you can read their mind! Check out what other people are saying about The Invisible Deck at Penguin Magic:

Do you agree with my review of The Invisible Deck? Do you have any questions about it? Feel free to post them in the comments below!