BTS of Angelo Carbone's Demi Deck

So I first thought of the idea of a cut and restored deck of cards around 2002, I believe. I have always loved stage illusions and liked the idea of doing similar effects on a smaller scale. I have also created two methods for a zig-zag deck.

Playing with a deck in my hand, I instantly knew what a great method would be, and I used a blue Waddington card case to make a physical mock-up. I stuck two rope magnets on the side as the catch.

The effect worked well, but of course, the thin card case was too flimsy. Sometime after, I made a prototype out of balsa wood. I loved working with balsa back then. It worked great, and I made a video of it too!

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I realised the trick would be a lovely effect for magicians to perform, so over the following years, I tried to see who could make it. I was very friendly with the late Colin Rose. What a sweet gentleman he was. He hand-made a lot of wonderful wooden props. He made me a Demi Deck out of wood. He told me that he would love to make every Demi Deck but used foresight to realise it would be popular, and he wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand, so he passed on the project.

I also have a good relationship with Tenyo, a Japanese company who have manufactured intricate fooling tricks since 1965. I presented the trick to them. They liked it and made a wooden prototype. That was their plan – to release a wooden box and not one made of plastic which is the norm for Tenyo magic tricks.

At the time, I suggested using a certain material for part of the method which they used but then passed on the project as they said the material would degrade over time. I then found an alternate material so nothing would perish.

Sometime later, at a magic convention, Tim Trono said he knew of someone to make the trick for me. He arranged a meeting with them there and then in the cafe. For the next couple of years, I was in correspondence with them. I gave them all the details and measurements and paid a lot of money for tooling. They made the box incorrectly without asking me to approve a sample before they made the tooling. It was a total waste of time and money that I lost.Eventually, I presented it to Murphy's Magic. After many samples, it looked like we were getting somewhere. Once approved, 1000s were made. Then the pandemic happened, and they were left in storage for a year or so. When later inspected, the fake leather came unstuck from all the units. All of them were trashed. Again, time and money are wasted.

Murphy's found a new manufacturer who had to make it all from scratch. This caused a huge delay. The leather peeling from the old units was probably a blessing in disguise because the version they made, which is what we have today, is much better looking and better made. Can you believe the tutorial was filmed in 2019? At The Session Convention, in fact.So going through seven prototypes and maybe 15+ samples, here we are... Demi Deck has been released. I'm very happy with it, and it has been a very overwhelming launch with little to no hype, with the exception of a private Facebook group which was voluntary to join to hear about the latest effects to come out. It's been received very well.

However, there is always a however. Of course, you can't please everyone, but some magicians started posting that it's very obvious and that it couldn't fool anyone. This is very disheartening to hear because I don't think it is obvious. Very respected and intelligent magicians have been fooled. Even a well-known magic consultant for some of the biggest theatre shows in the world, who knows all the illusion principles told me he still didn't know what was going on.

To generalise and say the method is obvious is a slap in the face to all those who have been fooled by it – like they were lying, lacking intelligence, or not allowed to be fooled. Demi Deck can be obvious if performed badly; however, if performed correctly, it is very fooling.

The reason these 'it's obvious' posts started happening is because people started rushing to post a demo of Demi Deck to social media as soon as they got it, without proper rehearsal and practice. It really bothers me that when people buy a trick, they don't watch the tutorial properly and miss all the important details.

They naively think they get the gist of the handling and don't need to watch the tutorial and thus rush to perform it. Doing so, they spoil the illusion for themselves, myself and others. I have seen demos of the trick which murder the illusion. It really hurts me as I spent years on this, and I'm very passionate about it, only to see magicians make the trick obvious through lack of practice.

This applies to any trick. Don't rush to perform. Practice, practice, practice. I also had this with my book test, 'The End' – in nearly all the online demos, something wrong is said in the scripting, which ruins the deceptiveness and misses the point of the method. I'm like (with my hands in my hair), "No, you are doing it wrong!" I wish people would read the instructions properly. Such a pet peeve of mine.So, just because a trick is performed badly, it doesn't make the trick bad. It's the performer who didn't practice it enough. Case in point - I was at an IBM convention years ago at the dealers. I saw someone was selling Chuck Leach's The Raven. I remember the online demo showing an amazing visual vanish with the wave of the hand. I asked the dealer to show me a live demo. He placed his palm over the other hand with the coin on it. Completely covering it. Gave a shoulder shrug and parted his hands. Coin gone. I thought, well, that was obvious. A bit rubbish, to be honest.

I turned around and started walking away.

Some steps later, I suddenly stopped and thought to myself, hang on a minute, I know the trick is good from what I saw in the trailer – it's just he did it badly. So I turned around and went back to him and bought it.

Such a great trick to this day and underrated.Another thing that's going around is 'the case can't be examined', so they will never do it. The thing is, it's the deck that's cut in half and restored, not the case. The deck wants to be examined, not the case. There are so many tricks out there that can't be examined. Does that mean we have to stop performing Torn and Restored Newspaper which can't be examined? Stop performing Mikame Magic, Magic Wagon tricks, Tenyo Tricks, Chinese Sticks, Brainwave Deck, etc.? It's a silly argument which can be solved with proper audience management and routining.Another phrase that pops up in comments: 'It looks like a toy, like a prop'.

As magicians, we CAN use props.

It's accepted and expected we use unusual or kooky props in magic shows. Not to say that Demi Deck looks unusual; I wanted it to look like a leather card case. If we all did tricks with everyday objects only, magic could get very stale. Imagine going to see an illusion show, and all you saw on stage were plain wooden boxes, an ordinary chair and table, brown cardboard boxes or card tubes. The act would look cheap with no perceived value or effort put into the show.

An audience wants to see colour, unusual cabinets and props. Jugglers have juggling clubs, diabolos, flat hoops, etc. They are not everyday objects. Why are jugglers allowed to use special props but not magicians? We are not ordinary people who should use only ordinary props. We are magicians. We can use whatever we like to get the trick across and entertain. The prop shouldn't matter.Finally, about angles. It's a non-issue for Demi Deck, as you are covered more than you think. There are handlings for straight-on and wider groups who watch. Magicians in the Owner's Facebook Group say they have gigged with it for a crowd with no problems. The method is a living, breathing solution which you can adjust on the fly in real time depending on who is watching and where. Again it boils down to audience management. Lots of magic is dependent on angles, but it doesn't mean they are impossible to perform in the real world.Anyhow that's the journey of Demi Deck.

It took a lot of time (20 years) and effort, but it's been worth it. I am very proud of it and so glad it's finally out. I do hope anyone who gets it really spends time practising it to do it justice. For your sake and others.