- Let's talk gaff cards.
(upbeat electronic music)
Gaff cards are basically cards
that are used for magic tricks.
The difference between a gimmick and a gaff card,
usually gimmicks are something a little bit more intricate,
something constructed, something that isn't
an actual normal playing card.
Gaff cards are playing cards
and they've just been printed on
with a different type of picture.
There are literally hundreds of different gaff cards.
There are actual cards that you can buy,
like a whole box full of them, like The Bicycle Gaff Cards,
which are basically 52 gaffs that you can use
in any which way you see fit.
It's up to you, which I think is really cool.
That's the one thing that I like about gaff cards is that
I can decide what I wanna do with them,
I don't have to do what the sort of effect
requires me to do.
And you don't get any tutorials.
It's kind of like, here you go, here's some gaff cards,
have fun, make magic.
A lot of really cool visual effects
you can do with gaff cards.
So today, I'm gonna break down a few points on A,
how to use gaff cards, B, how to store them
when you're working or you wanna perform,
and three, or C, I don't know if I was on
letters or numbers, I'm gonna show you
how to bring them in and out of a deck
in a performance environment.
Let's go.
First of all, how to use gaff cards.
Several different ways of using gaff cards.
Either A, to use it in a color change,
or to use it as a prediction,
or to simply use it to mess with someone's card
in their own hands.
Those are all different ways that you can do that.
For instance, you can use a gaff card in a color change.
You just take their card and you smudge it
so that the card is now permanently smudged,
and you can go ahead and hand that out.
You can also have this happen in the spectator's hand.
So, for instance, if I have here a little joker,
and as you notice, he's holding a little red playing card,
so could you hold your hand out for me?
I would leave that in the spectator's hand,
and then I'd have them concentrate on their card,
and when they turn it over,
he is now holding their playing card.
Just a few examples of how you can use gaff cards.
There's so many different ways.
You can plant that in their pocket,
you can do all sorts of fun and creative things,
and that's really up to you.
Let's get into how to store those gaff cards.
You can take your gaff cards and store them
in a little sleavelet like this
and carry that in your breast pocket or anywhere else,
and in between sets, you can go ahead and bring that in.
So, I like to put them in these little things.
Keeps them nice and tidy, and that goes in my pocket
and when I'm ready to, I bring that out,
I approach the table, and then I'm ready to perform.
The second way to carry gaff cards, and my favorite way,
because this doesn't take up any pocket space whatsoever,
so let's say it's this one here
and I need to bring it into performance,
I'm going to use the cellophane
that's on my deck of cards,
and I'm just gonna slip it in there.
And obviously better if the gaff card matches the box.
In this case, it doesn't, but you can bring out the cards
and actually have it set up so that
when you pull out the cards,
you're actually retracting that gaff card as well,
and that way it's on top of your deck.
One thing you never wanna do is just to have
loose gaff cards in your pocket because
it's a really easy way to get them either A, damaged,
lost, or mixed up with anything else
you might have in your pocket.
So, pocket space is definitely,
definitely very important to keep in mind,
and organization when performing as well.
I'm gonna do a trick for Mo.
He doesn't know yet, though.
All right, ready?
What's your name? - Kevin Chris.
- Mo. - Mohammed.
- Kevin, say stop.
Right there?
Okay Kevin, take that card.
Look at it, show the camera, don't show me.
Got it?
Put it back.
All right, so Kevin, I'm gonna try to find your card.
Actually, you know what's more interesting?
Mo, you're gonna find his card.
All right, so Mo, Mo, say stop whenever you like.
Right there?
And Mo, I think, I think that's his card.
All right, you got it?
You didn't get it?
Mo, that's your fault.
You're supposed to get his card.
Okay, what was your card?
What was his card, do you know?
Eight of clubs?
All right, look close, come here.
There you go.
- That's impressive.
- It's not real.
(laughing)
What happened?
- I'm still shook.
- Tony, tell him to point your finger like this.
No, towards the cards.
And take one, just take one.
Yeah, go ahead, take it.
Don't show me, show your client,
show the camera.
Okay, all right, put it back wherever you want, anywhere.
Except for the top.
All right, I don't know where your card is.
You took a card, you guys have seen it, right?
I'm gonna try to.
Look at me, think of your card Tony, think of it.
Okay, I think I got it, I think I got it.
I think I know what your card is.
Tony, hold your hand out.
Is that it? - No.
- [Chris] Put your other hand on top of it.
So, what was your card?
- [Tony] Six of spades.
- [Chris] Six of spades?
Oh, fuck, that was a four of hearts,
it wasn't even close.
Lift your hand.
(laughing)
- [Tony] That's good!
- [Chris] Is that?
- [Tony] What?
- Freaky shit!
- Sante mundi.
- So there you have it,
there's two performances using gaffs.
Basically, I had both gaff cards in the deck.
Before going to perform,
I set 'em up in a way that I can use one,
after I'm done, put that one in my pocket,
go straight into the next trick and use the second one,
and then I extract that one,
and now I'm left clean with a normal deck.
The reason I love gaff cards, I don't always use them,
but when I do use them, I like them a lot
because it opens a whole new world of possibilities
when you're performing.
So, you can grab a gaff card and honestly
combine it within another gaff card,
such as a double-backer, or a blank card,
and make your own routine using
all the little sort of slights
that I've taught in the past.
You can combo those and just come up with your own.
Something really cool about a gaff card too,
because you, at the end of the performance,
you can actually hand that out,
and they can inspect it, they can rub it,
and a lot of times, the spectator wants to
see if the ink will come off
and that type of stuff,
so it's really, really cool,
and it'll be usually super clean,
so it's not like a gimmick where you're handing out
some weird, intricate little thing that moves around
and you don't want them to touch or break it.
This you can actually hand out,
and if you're feeling generous,
you can just leave it with them.
So, to conclude, I just wanna say,
if you're gonna perform using gaff cards,
which you don't have to, but if you do,
I suggest picking up a whole deck of gaff cards,
playing around them, and finding what suits your style,
what's fun to do, and then just do that.
I see so many tutorials nowadays,
and sort of tricks that you can buy as magicians,
and we always sort of follow the same formula,
which is the formula that the creators
intended for us to perform.
So when you grab one of these gaff cards,
really let yourself go, try to come up
with your own routine, you can just have fun with it,
and if it doesn't work, you know what,
just move onto the next thing.
All right guys, hope you enjoyed this video.
If you did, hit the like button, it does help.
Subscribe if you're new here,
and we'll see you in the next video.
(upbeat electronic music)