This is a continuation of the previous two posts, so check them out if you haven’t read them.

Whenever I perform, I look for opportunities.

I try to tailor what magic I do to the situation that I am in. I think most of us do. I do the same with a marked deck. I absolutely do not use it as a direct method (e.g., they pick a card, I read the mark and reveal), I instead use it as a clean way to see which cards are where after the spectator has done something to them.

Be it shuffles, cuts, or in the midst of a trick, I occasionally glance at what cards pop up. I have a bunch of cards that are floating in my short term memory during such a performance. These cards could be ones that you have a duplicate of in your pocket, ones that are printed reveals on the box, ones tattooed on your body, whatever the case may be. Any relevant cards in the given moment that I can use to do a very clean reveal, I look out for.

The story yesterday would’ve never worked if I hadn’t known what card was on the top, but I didn’t need marked cards to do the trick I started with. That’s what’s fooling about using a marked deck in this way. I encourage you to use it as an open index, and find those possibilities whenever you can. A semi-permanent state of jazz magic, if you will.

Try to take a simple openly marked deck (yes, openly, you’re not going to decode those backs in seconds are you?) and use it repeatedly in performance. This will do a few things;

A) It’ll get you to relax about anyone finding the marks, they won’t if you aren’t obvious with your glimpses or effects. This relaxation will become unconscious, and your body language will show this after time. Any source of anxiety will become a beacon showing the way to the marks, try to stay relaxed. 

B) It will train you to look out for these “key cards” in performance as second nature. Like the story yesterday shows, this can result in better outcomes than you yourself were expecting.

C) There’s absolutely no loss to using one, if you’re going to bring a deck of cards with you and use that instead of borrowing one why not have it stacked & marked?

I’m not saying to work without a structure and not do planned tricks. Perform those tricks you always were planning on doing, but there might be a coincidence that occurs (that you only know of due to the marks) which could take those tricks to miracle status.

For example, you might be doing Shuffle Lesson by Chad Long and notice before they start dealing onto their piles at the end that, against all odds, they’ve somehow cut to a 4 of a kind. You can now reveal that before the end of the trick, and perhaps even close on that note rather than repeat the climax you’ve already had the luck to pull off. 

I hope I’ve encouraged you to use marked decks more often. They are an invaluable tool and can help you become more comfortable with jazz, or improvisational, magic. I think it is helpful to think of jazz magic as a mindset, philosophy or idea rather than a type of effect. A marked deck can be useful training wheels that can develop these intellectual muscles. Even if you are not performing anything of the equivocal nature, having a developed skill set to look for alternate routes/avenues to end effects can be a solid insurance in of itself. Should anything unexpected arise in performance, you’ll be ready to land on your feet.

Usually I carry something like a 7 of Hearts in my wallet or in my pocket and wait for it to come up naturally. It could be that it is openly named, or you see it at the top/bottom when they shuffle the cards for example. Marked cards just allow you to spot your chances to do this with the cards face down.

We all know the problems with tricks like Kolossal Killer, gimmick envelopes and many other card prediction tools. The problem is many people walk away thinking: “was that the only card in their wallet/box/pocket?” It is important to establish that there was only one ending to the story you’re giving them. Having one card on your person (yes, only one) creates this miracle moment very effectively.

Instead of ramming 16 cards in your wallet or carrying an index (or indexes) for this one effect, why not carry a single out and wait for the perfect opportunity? Now when you perform that effect for someone, they only see the “perfect” outcome. Instead of doing a cheap watered down version of the effect every chance you get, you can do it for real.

Those of you that aren’t well versed in Berglasian magic would be surprised how often 1 card out of 52 hits, especially if it’s not really a 1/52 chance. According to the 2012 study “Perceptual and cognitive characteristics of common playing cards”, after all, the 7 of Hearts is the most named card besides Aces and court cards.

And that’s science, motherfucker.