Introduction
Cards. Coins. Birds. Levitating women and disappearing objects. On stage or close up. In front of your eyes and now in your hands. Inspired by the Golden Age of Magic these playing cards pay homage to some of magic's biggest performers and also some of it's most innovative creators.
Between the 1850's and the 1930's the world was transfixed by the proliferation of magic. Specialist theatres existed and huge magic shows toured the world, each promising something more exciting and special than the last one. As a by-product of the explosion of interest in that period a great number of magicians supplemented their incomes by writing and publishing books which revealed some of their secrets. Ever since then magic has become more and more widespread to the point where anyone knows at least one magic trick with a deck of cards.
Ever since I was 12 I have been enchanted by the world of magic and 2 years ago I decided that I wanted to pay tribute to this magnificent art and it's artists. This deck is the result.
The Magicians Playing Cards
- Court Cards -
The court cards offer us a rare chance to be owners of a piece of magic history. Each court card takes inspiration from magic show posters belonging to the Golden Age of magic.
Each playing card features the name of a very famous magical effect ("Transposition, "Levitation", "Mentalism") which is portrayed through various illustrations and symbols which can be discovered by exploring each card.
Each set of court cards (The Kings, The Queens, and so on), as one will end up noticing, sets itself apart from the others through it's unique style and appearance portrayed through the palette of colors, performer and elements in the background.
Behind the illustrations of the Magicians lies a great deal of history, as each playing card takes inspiration from the great performers and magic shows from the Golden Age of Magic.
Here is a list of all the magicians featured on the court cards:
| Ten of Clubs | Edward Marlo |
| Ten of Hearts | Ryan Hayashi |
| Ten of Spades | Ekaterina |
| Ten of Diamonds | Harapan Ong |
| Jack of Clubs | Pf. Hoffman |
| Jack of Hearts | Eric Chien |
| Jack of Spades | Franco Pascali |
| Jack of Diamonds | Tobias Dostal |
| Queen of Clubs | Richard Turner |
| Queen of Hearts | Jan Logemann |
| Queen of Spades | Yoann Fontyn |
| Queen of Diamonds | Jerry Sadowitz |
| King of Clubs | Alex Hansford |
| King of Hearts | Derren Brown |
| King of Spades | Andrei Duduc (behind), Chris Ramsay (front) |
| King of Diamonds | Calen Morelli |
| Ace of Clubs | Michael Ammar |
| Ace of Hearts | Paul Wilson |
| Ace of Spades | Dynamo |
| Ace of Diamonds | Mario Lopez |
The Magicians Playing Cards
-Number Cards-
Together with the rich detail of the court cards, the number cards complete the collection while focusing more on a specific magical effect and object.
Each number card is split into two sections: on one side we see a magician performing an effect known between magicians and on the other side we get a close up look of a sequence from within the effect.
While the court cards pay homage to the Golden Age of Magic, the number cards pay tribute to magicians from all periods in time.
Here is a list of all the magicians featured on the number cards:
| Two of Clubs | Al Baker |
| Two of Hearts | Okito |
| Two of Spades | Dai Vernon |
| Two of Diamonds | Eric Jones |
| Three of Clubs | The Amazing Jonathan |
| Three of Hearts | George Davenport |
| Three of Spades | Bruce Spangler |
| Three of Diamonds | Mac King / Edward Victor |
| Four of Clubs | Bev Bergeron |
| Four of Hearts | Fred Culpitt |
| Four of Spades | Persi Diaconis |
| Four of Diamonds | Buatier de Kolta |
| Five of Clubs | David Stone |
| Five of Hearts | Joshua Jay |
| Five of Spades | Mario Lopez |
| Five of Diamonds | Earl Morgan |
| Six of Clubs | Cardini |
| Six of Hearts | Russ Walsh |
| Six of Spades | Joe Karson |
| Six of Diamonds | Dan Sperry |
| Seven of Clubs | Al Wheatley |
| Seven of Hearts | Jesse J. Lybarger |
| Seven of Spades | Hofzinzer |
| Seven of Diamonds | Gazzo |
| Eight of Clubs | Richard Himber |
| Eight of Hearts | ? |
| Eight of Spades | Robert Neale |
| Eight of Diamonds | Emil Jarrow |
| Nine of Clubs | Zach King |
| Nine of Hearts | Takamiz Usui |
| Nine of Spades | Soma |
| Nine of Diamonds | ? |
The Magic Card Game
(A Battle Between Magicians)
Challenge your magician friends or play by yourself with the use of "The Magicians" Playing Cards. Each court card presents a magical effect known to magicians, such as "Matrix", "ACAAN", "Teleportation" or "Coin Trick" (don't worry, if you don't know what any of these are, all of them are explained in The Rulebook) which players have to execute when they are battling each other.
The Rulebook that comes together with the playing cards fashions 2 different card games that you and your magician friends can try out in an all out battle between each other (a friendly battle that will spark creativity and a lot of laughter, BUT a BATTLE nonetheless!)
Official and Alternative Gameplay
You can read all of the Official Rules right from the booklet provided with your purchase of the Magicians Playing Cards!
You can find the online version of the booklet here !
More Alternative Gameplays
1. Routine Havok: Each magician draws 3 effect cards and performs a routine that incorporates all 3 effects. Winner is decided the regular way.
2. Team Play: Form teams of equal players. Each turn a new member must perform an effect card. Members are removed if they fail, flash or don’t know what to do. The team with the most effect cards performed wins.
3. Number Power: Draw number cards along with effect cards to decide what objects you must use for your effects.
4. Face Off: Each magician receives 4 random effect cards and 15 playing cards which represent the number of sleights one can use. Each turn a magician challenges the other to perform an effect using a certain amount of sleights (min. one and no limit for max.). The player who successfully performs the most effects wins.
5. Last Man Standing: Can be played by more than two magicians. An effect card is selected at random. Each magician then performs an effect of that type. If you don’t know what else to perform, you’re out of the game. Last magician standing wins. The “More/Less Sleights” jokers can be used as well to make the game more challenging.
6. Blitzkrieg: A time limit is set (1-2 minutes). All effect cards are used. One player deals a card face up on the table and the other one performs an effect. This is repeated until the player fails an effect, flashes or time runs out. Your score is equal to the number of effects successfully performed. The magician with the highest score after 3 turns wins.
PUZZLE (Find The Movie)
In each playing card we've hidden clues that hint at certain magic-themed movies. Can you find out which one hides clues for The Prestige? Or The Great Buck Howard? Give the court cards a go and see how many of the 20 magic movies can you figure out!