Description
– Launched Apr 2022, 486 backers contributed CA$27,389 or approx S$26,524, out of CA$6,800 goal, to bring this project to life.
– Check out the official trailer
Take a seat in our theater and experience the Golden Age of Magic. Welcome to The Magicians show!
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 greatest 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 theaters 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 contains a lot of history in each illustration and the cards can be used in a variety of ways:
Collectible Playing Cards – Limited edition of 1999, each court and number card showcases a magician, a magical effect and a magic prop used by magicians
Puzzle – Each court contains hidden clues that hint at a famous magic themed movie
Card Game – The deck comes together with a set of instructions that teaches you how you can use the cards to battle your magician friends in an all out MAGIC WAR.
At the start of the game, a player chooses 3 court cards randomly and places them face down on the table. The other player then chooses one of the jokers at random in order to decide how the game will be played.
The deck contains 2 Jokers: ” Magical Moments ” and ” Oh, snap! “.
O Snap! = Magicians love snapping their fingers. As such, in this gameplay, each player must perform an effect while including 2 snaps in their performance. Whoever performs the best effect, wins.
Magical Moments = Every effect contains a number of ‘magical moments’. In this gameplay you will have to include a certain amount of magical moments in your performances in order to win.
The magician who wins 2/3 rounds wins the game.
The Back of the Instructional Rulebook
If you know a bit of sleight of hand and a couple of effects you’ll be able to sit down and jam together with your magician friends using this deck. This game has been created with the intent in mind to give magicians a game to play together, while also providing them with a tool they can use to create new effects as well as routines (by combining the cards and using them to focus your creativity) .
The Front of the Instructional Rulebook
The deck can be used to jam with your magicians friends. Just take the deck out, draw a random effect card and take turns performing. You can even draw two cards and try combining the effects!
Magic is filled with secrets, each magical effect built like a puzzle, piece by piece, in order to enchant it’s spectators. We felt it would be fitting to include within The Magicians playing cards small puzzles for those willing to take on a small challenge.
Which card hints at the famous magician movie in which John Malkovich plays?
One other medium where magicians have seen popularity is the cinema. Movies like “Now You See Me” or “The Prestige” have made more people interested in this artform. As such, we’ve chosen 20 magic themed movies (“The Illusionist”, “The Great Buck Howard”, “Shade” and many more) and hidden clues for these inside of each court card (each court card hides clues for 1 movie ). Can you find them all?
Can you spot the hints for the movie “Magicians” hidden in these cards?
The back of the cards features a stylish design which is divided into four symmetrical sections. Upon a closer look the viewer can spot two iconic illusions which have mystified crowds for centuries: The Levitating Woman and Sawing a Woman in Half.
The back design makes you feel like you stepped inside a theater and are about to watch a magic show. The stage, the magician, the assistant, even the bunnies are there – all waiting to take you on a magical journey.
Levitating and Sawing a Woman in Half can be seen on the back design
Photograph by Erik Bagy
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.
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.
On one of the jokers we can see the magician performing stage magic. In his hands we find some metal rings which are used for the classic magical effect of “Linking Rings”. This card is used in The Magicians Card Game. When drawing this card the players must include a certain amount of magical moments inside their performances.
On the other joker, the devil is seen manipulating playing cards. When this card is drawn during The Magicians Card Game, the player engages in a game of performing effects that include 3 finger snaps inside them (finger snaps are used by magicians regularly to announce that something magical has happened)
The Magicians Tuck Case takes inspiration from a Victorian Era painting which showcases a devil playing cards with the magician on stage. The two are surrounded by enchanted props (objects which are used by magicians) and ‘assistants’ who usually find themselves present on stage next to the performer.
We will be printing with Taiwan Playing Card Co (TWPCC) . They are one of the upcoming playing cards production companies in the world. The cards will be using their latest soft stock called the Luxury Stock . The Luxury Stock from TWPCC is very similar to the Bee Crushed Stock from USPCC. These cards are made responsibly, with sustainable forest papers, starch-based laminating, and vegetable-based inks.
My name’s Christian Bizau, but people call me Biz. I am a magician based in Bucharest, Romania. When I don’t work at the magic store (Jucarie si Magie) I create card games (such as The Cardistry Game, successfully published on Kickstarter, and this one), invent new sleight of hand moves, read magic history and study Japanese. I have been a magician for the past 13 years.
Hendi Herdianto is currently based in Malaysia. He is the illustrator of The Magicians Playing Cards (as well as The Cardistry Game) and has created “The Cardistry Game” together with me. He’s the coolest.
Credits & Thank You
I would like to thank the following people without whom The Magicians Playing Cards would not be the project that it is now: Moon (for everything), Kevin Yu (for the guidance), Bogdan si Florentina Mihai (Jucarie si Magie) for the continuous support, love and advice; Andrei Duduc (for playtesting A LOT), Harapan Ong (for helping with the gameplay), Raphael Blin (for being the kind soul that he is) and to my mom and dad for everything they do and are.
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