Bicycle Playing Cards – How to Break In Playing Cards

by Merchant of Magic Leave a Comment

For magicians, there’s nothing like cracking open a new deck of Bicycle Playing Cards. Pulling off the wrapper, breaking the seal and sliding out the untouched deck.

Have you noticed that a brand new deck of playing cards is harder to control than a deck that’s been used for some time? That’s because playing cards need to be broken in. It’s important to take the time to prepare your deck of cards before performing. Breaking in the deck of Bicycle playing cards in advance, means you have one less thing to worry about when you perform your magic tricks.

If you open a new deck of cards, you won’t find any instructions on how to prepare them. Playing cards are designed for, well… playing cards. Those thoughtless manufacturers don’t seem to care about us little old magicians!

As you use your deck of playing cards, it will become conditioned and easier to control and manipulate. However, it’s important that you change your deck regularly. A dirty or worn deck of cards can give a very bad impression to your audience. Worn out cards lose their finish and can clump together, making many techniques much harder to do.

For beginners, it’s especially important to replace the deck of Bicycle Playing Cards on a regular basis. Practicing sleight of hand with an old deck can cause you to struggle with the moves when a new deck is brought into play. As you introduce special decks of cards or gimmicks, you will need the deck to match the appearance of the newly introduced cards, so being comfortable handling a new deck whenever you need to is an important skill to master.

The Merchant of Magic has produced a free PDF Ebook that will show you an easy way to prepare and break in a new deck of playing cards. It includes a fast easy drill you can do, whenever you open up a new deck.

How are Bicycle Playing Cards Made

How to Hold a Deck of Cards Correctly

Found this useful? Leave a comment below and tell other magicians about it:

How to Hold Bicycle Playing Cards Correctly – Video Podcast for Magicians

by Merchant of Magic 20 Comments

One of the Most common problems we see beginners face involves how they hold a deck of Bicycle Playing Cards whilst performing their magic tricks.

When magicians come to the magic shop for help or tuition, we tend to do an initial assessment. We ask them to perform a magic trick, and take note of what’s working we’ll for them, and what needs more work. This is some of what we say about holding your playing cards: Dominic Reyes talks about how to improve the way you hold your Bicycle Playing Cards:

How not to hold your Bicycle Playing Cards.
If you are a beginner, you may get nervous when you show people your magic tricks. Nerves make you tense. Being tense can lead to you hold the Bicycle playing cards very close to your body, at waist level. This is not a great position for several reasons:

1) A deck position that is low and close to the body means you have to look straight down at the playing cards, instead of making eye contact.

2) The background to the action is you groin. Not as appealing as a background with your smiling face in it instead!

3) Your arms are held close to your body, so you tend to cover up and block much of the action from your spectators.

4) You look nervous and as if you are trying to hard. That transfers to the attitude of the spectators as they focus on how you are feeling, rather than the magic trick.

5) It looks as if you are hiding something. Your body language is giving off signals that danger is present. On a subconscious level, you are telling the spectators they need to watch out for ‘moves’ even more closely.

How to hold Bicycle Playing Cards correctly.

1) Hold the deck of bicycle playing cards with a light touch.

2) Make sure your arms are forward and away from your body slightly.

3) Your hands should cover the front of the deck as little as possible.

4) Any fingers that aren’t doing something should be open slightly and out of the way, so as much of the playing cards are as visible as possible.

5) The deck should be above waist level.

6) Move the playing cards around gracefully with finesse as if you regard it as a precious item that you respect and want to display. Imagine a sales person showing you an expensive watch or antique.

Do This: Take a couple of hours and watch a shopping channel. Pick a show where they are selling expensive jewelry.

Notice how the presenter handles the items and displays them.Look at how you handle your playing cards and imagine they are on show in the same way. Be aware of how your hands handle your playing cards and if they cover the deck.

Related Posts:

How Bicycle Playing Cards are made

How to make your Bicycle Playing Cards Last Longer

Found this useful? You can let us know by sharing it with your friends:

Why do Decks of Playing Cards Arrive Opened and Unsealed?

by Merchant of Magic Leave a Comment

Have you ordered a deck of cards and are wondering by the playing cards have arrived opened?

We often get calls from customers who have received a special magic trick deck of Bicycle Playing Cards, and have found the the playing cards arrive opened and unsealed. They are usually worried that the deck may not be new. We always reassure them that the magic shop only supplies brand new decks.

Ben Williams recorded this short video to explain why magic tricks come with unsealed decks of cards, and the real purpose of the USPCC seal.