“Secrets Of Invisibility”

INVISIBLE DECK
FOR THE
21st CENTURY
By Cody S. Fisher
 Introduction
When you ask any magician to name the five most incredible card tricks, it is almost
certain that the Invisible Deck will be included.. Ironically enough, the same holds true for
laymen, as far as card tricks they most remember. I think the reason for this is the incredible
simplicity of the plot. A named card is the only one that is facing the opposite direction in the
entire deck. Seriously…it just doesn’t get any better than this.

There have been countless variations of method and presentation for this effect. I bring
to the table completely “new work” in this area. I have used these methods and presentations
professionally for more than ten years. I did not start off on some magical quest to improve
the effect. What I offer is just my own personal evolution for the Invisible Deck. It just so
happens that these variations fool magicians as well as laymen. This was not my initial in-
tent...just an added bonus!

You are about to read my three perfected routines for the Invisible Deck. The first is
called “Invisibility”. It originally appeared in my lecture notes, “Required Reading”. It was
the most talked-about effect in the notes and is always a real crowd-pleaser at magic clubs,
lectures, and conventions. The original version gave a bare bones outline; here, for the first
time, is the “real work” that made “Invisibility” a stellar show stopper.

This booklet also introduces “Totally Invisible” and “Total Invisibility”. These routines
present very special handlings for the Invisible Deck that I usually reserve for magic conven-
tion appearances. They never fail to fool even the most knowledgeable magicians. I have
shared the secret with only three other magicians in the past 10 years...and now I am sharing it
with you. Now you have to ask yourself whether or not you are willing to go through the extra
effort required.

I have taken these effects as far as they will go with me. I offer them in the hope that
they may evolve into something special for you.

Sincerely,

Cody S. Fisher
Cody S. Fisher
 Invisibility
By Cody S. Fisher
© Copyright 1996

Effect: Two volunteers from the audience are given a deck of cards and a paper bag. Both the deck and
bag are thoroughly examined. One volunteer holds the bag open while the other volunteer places both hands
in the bag and shuffles the cards. He takes one card out of the deck, turns it over so it faces the opposite direc-
tion, places it back in the deck, and shuffles again. He puts the deck back in the card box and leaves the cased
deck in the bag. The volunteer with the bag is invited on stage to participate in an experiment. A card is
freely selected by the audience. The deck is removed from the bag and is shown to have one card reversed.
Would you believe it is the same card just named by the audience? Does this sound like “old hat”? If so, keep
reading…if you choose to ignore this effect you will eventually get fooled by it when someone else does it!

Props: You will need a regular deck of cards, a matching Invisible Deck (minus the joker), a marking pen,
and a paper bag. The bag should be large enough to allow your volunteer to place both hands in the bag and
have room to shuffle the cards.

Set-up: With a black marker, sign your name on both card boxes so they look identical. Turn one card
over in the normal deck so that it faces the opposite direction; place the deck back in the box. (Make sure the
reversed card is somewhere near the face of the deck.) Place the Invisible Deck and the matching regular deck
in your right inside jacket pocket. (Keep the Invisible Deck closest to your body so that you will know which
deck is which.) Place the bag on a nearby table.

(Note: I assume you will be wearing a coat or sports jacket. In fact, it is absolutely necessary! This is a
stand-up presentation and is not intended for the close up environment.)

Presentation: With your left hand, reach into your right inside jacket pocket to retrieve the normal
deck. Before you remove the normal deck, drop the Invisible Deck down your right sleeve. This action should
be done without hesitation. Make sure your right arm is slightly bent. The deck will rest between your armpit
and elbow. DO NOT lower your right hand; keep your arm bent at the elbow so the Invisible Deck will not
fall down your sleeve prematurely. When the normal deck comes into sight, place it in your right hand as
your left hand retrieves the bag. This allows you to maintain a natural position.

Address the audience thusly: “I will now perform my ‘Signature’ Card Trick” as you point to your
signature on the card box. This appears to be a joke, but you are really setting them up for a subtle deck
switch! Hand the bag to someone on your left to make sure that it is free of trickery. (I prefer a female for
this part of the trick.)

Hand the normal deck to someone on your right. (I use a male volunteer; make sure he is near the vol-
unteer with the bag.) Have him confirm that the deck is free of trickery. Ask him to spread through the cards
to make sure they are all there. (At this point, don’t pay much attention to the volunteer with the cards; focus
on the volunteer who is examining the bag.) Inevitably, the volunteer with the deck will point out that there is
a card reversed in the deck. Act very surprised! Apologize by saying, “I’m sorry; that must have been from
my last show. Please turn it over and make sure that all the cards are facing the same way...This is very im-
portant.” This little bit of psychology, along with the signature, really reinforces the miracle and helps hide
the deck switch later on. It also foreshadows that something will happen to that deck. Practice this part of the
effect. How well you can pull this off determines the “sell” at the end.

Announce that you want to have a card selected but you do not want anyone to know what card it is.
Have the volunteer with the bag hold it open so that the volunteer with the deck can place both hands into the
bag. Once his hands are in the bag, have him give the cards a good shuffle. While he is shuffling say, “Please
make sure not to drop any cards and that all the cards remain the same direction. This is very impor-
tant.” (Once again, this reinforces the idea that this is the deck where the action will take place.) Ask him to
remove one card without looking, turn it over, and place it back into the deck. Have him shuffle the cards
again and place them back into the box and leave it in the bag. (This extra shuffle is very important, in that
now the volunteer does not know the position of the reversed card in the deck.) All of the above actions are
done sight unseen in the bag. At this point, everyone knows that there is one card reversed in the deck, but no
one knows what it is or where it is.

Thank the man and ask him to resume his seat. Ask the female volunteer to bring the bag (with normal
deck inside) and join you on stage. She should be on your right so that you can place your right hand on her
shoulder. This position looks natural and allows you to keep your right arm bent. Reiterate exactly what has
occurred and emphasize that you have not touched the cards.

Next, you will have the entire audience select one playing card out of a possible 52. I prefer to have
the card chosen in pieces by having various volunteers choose “red” or “back”, then a corresponding suit, then
“high” or “low”, then “odd” or “even”, and finally, an appropriate card. For example, “Sir, would you please
name a high even spade?” When you get down to the last person who will name the card, you will very
subtly switch decks! Just before you get to the last person, take the bag from the volunteer with your left
hand. As the card is being named, reach into the bag with your right hand and remove the deck. Ah, hah…
but it is the Invisible Deck, not the normal one! “How?” you ask. Simple! When you reach into the bag with
your right hand, straighten your right arm and the Invisible Deck that has been up your sleeve this entire time
will fall right into your hand! Do not touch the normal deck. Remove the Invisible Deck from the bag and
hand it to your volunteer as you put the bag away. This should be done very casually and without even look-
ing at the bag or your volunteer. At the moment of the switch, all your attention is on the volunteer in the au-
dience who is naming the card.

This action is extremely deceptive. It appears that you have done nothing more than remove the deck
from the bag. Your signature on the card box subtly reinforces that this is the same deck. Try this a few times
in front of a mirror and you will fool yourself. This is one slick switch!

Important Note: During the next few actions you must position yourself slightly in front of your volunteer’s
left side. She should be in a position to be peeking over your right shoulder.

Take the Invisible Deck from your volunteer as you say, “Before we began this effect, I said that we
were not going to do just any card trick...we were doing to do my ‘Signature’ Card Trick” and point to your
signature on the box. Remove the Invisible Deck. (This is another subtle way you reinforce the idea that this is
the same deck!)

Remove the cards from the box so the named card will be facing you and the onstage volunteer. (If an
odd card was named, remove the cards from the box with the odd cards facing you and the on-stage volun-
teer.) This is opposite of the way you are used to doing it!

The faces of the cards will be visible to both the onstage volunteer and the audience; however, each
will have an entirely different view! It’s OK…trust me!
 Reiterate what has happened and how fair everything has been up this point.

Look at your volunteer as you say, “You are here on stage to make sure I don’t do anything tricky. I
am going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer with a “yes” or “no”. Fan the deck and ask
her if all the cards are facing the same way. She will say “yes.” Since the audience sees the faces of the even
cards, they assume she is looking at the backs. Your on-stage volunteer assumes that the audience is looking
at the backs since she is looking at the faces ! I love this!

Slowly spread the cards and, when you come to the selected card, quickly separate the roughed pair
and push the chosen card to the right behind the roughed pair that is directly above it. Leave the deck fanned.
Ask your volunteer if one card is reversed in the deck. She will answer “yes.” Again, her perception is differ-
ent from that of the audience. The audience sees the back of the selected card; the on-stage volunteer sees the
back of an indifferent card. Both agree that there is one card reversed in the deck!

To bring this routine to its mind-boggling conclusion, cut all of the cards to the right of the reversed
indifferent card to the back of the deck. The audience sees the back of the selected card; you and the on-stage
volunteer see the back of the indifferent card. Address your volunteer by saying, “Would it not be a miracle if
the reversed card was the same card that was chosen by our audience?” When she is answering and you have
eye contact with her, several things happen at once: as you remove the card from the back of the deck you will
cross in front of her and stand on her right side. This “upstaging” of your volunteer acts as your cover for re-
moving the proper card. Once the card has been removed lower your left hand with the deck proper. Show the
card to the onstage volunteer then dramatically turn it over to show the audience.

As soon as you reveal the card and the applause begins, send your volunteer back to her seat with your
thanks. In the event she sees you remove the back card instead of the card she thinks is the selected card, the
applause has started and there is no time for her to say anything! Don’t worry!

Credits: For a complete description and history of the Invisible Pack, see The Greater Artful Dodges of
Eddie Fields (Kaufman & Company, 1997).
 Totally Invisible
By Cody S. Fisher
© Copyright 1996

Effect: A card is freely named by the audience. The deck is removed from the box and is shown to have
one card reversed. The reversed card just happens to be the one named by the audience. Oh..... did I forget to
mention that the deck can be shown freely on BOTH sides!

Props: You will need four new decks of cards, several rubber bands, and plenty of roughing spray. This
will not be easy...however, after the decks are made you will be able to use them for many years.

Making the Decks: After you prepare these four very special Invisible Decks, you will have the
ability to show any one of the 52 cards to be reversed, in an apparently normal deck — from both sides!
How you ask?? Roughed triplets, of course! The original Invisible Deck is roughed in pairs, allowing you to
hide one side of a card. Roughed triplets allow you to hide the front and the back of a card. You must prepare
one special Invisible Deck for each of the four suits. In other words, one deck will enable you to show any
heart to be reversed, one will enable you to show any club to be reversed, one will enable you to show any
spade to be reversed, and one last deck will enable you to show any diamond to be reversed.

♥The Heart Deck

Separate a deck by suits. Rough the faces and backs of all the hearts, the backs of all the spades, and
the faces of all the clubs. Make sure the cards are roughed really well. Let the roughing spray dry thoroughly.
Arrange the spades and hearts just as they would be in a normal Invisible Deck; that is, put them in back-to-
back pairs so that each pair totals thirteen. (Pair the queen of spades with the ace of hearts, the jack of spades
with the two of hearts, etc.) Complete the pairing of all thirteen hearts and spades. Place the thirteen clubs
face-to-face with the hearts. It does not matter which club is placed with which heart. You should have thir-
teen triplets, each with a face-down heart sandwiched between a face-up club and a face-up spade. The face-
up spade will indicate which heart is beneath it. Alternate these thirteen triplets, spade side up, with the thir-
teen diamonds. Now you can run through the face-up deck and see only alternating diamonds and spades.
You can also run through the deck face down and see nothing but backs.

♣The Club Deck

Separate the second deck by suits. Rough the faces and backs of all the clubs, the backs of all
the diamonds, and the faces of all the hearts. Make sure the cards are roughed really well. Let the roughing
spray dry thoroughly. Arrange the diamonds and clubs just as they would be in a normal Invisible Deck; that
is, put them in back-to-back pairs so the two cards total thirteen. Complete the pairing of all thirteen clubs and
diamonds. Place the thirteen hearts face-to-face with the clubs. It doesn’t matter which heart is placed with
which club. You should have thirteen triplets, in which there is a face-down club sandwiched between a face-
up heart and a face-up diamond. The face-up diamond will indicate which club is beneath it. Alternate these
thirteen triplets, diamond side up, with the thirteen spades. When the deck is arranged properly you can run
through it face up and all you will see is alternating diamonds and spades.
♠The Spade Deck
Separate the third deck by suits. Rough the faces and backs of all the spades, the backs of all the
hearts, and the faces of all the diamonds. Make sure the cards are roughed really well. Let the roughing spray
dry thoroughly. Arrange the spades and hearts just as they would be in a normal Invisible Deck. Place them
in back-to-back pairs so the two cards total thirteen. Complete the pairing for all thirteen spades. Place the
thirteen diamonds face-to-face with the spades. It does not matter which diamond is placed with which spade.
You should have thirteen triplets, in which there is a face-down spade sandwiched between a face-up diamond
and a face-up heart. The face-up heart will indicate which spade is beneath it. Alternate these thirteen triplets,
heart side up, with the thirteen clubs. When the deck is arranged properly, you can run through it face up and
all you will see is alternating clubs and hearts.

♦The Diamond Deck

Separate the fourth deck by suits. Rough the faces and backs of all the diamonds, the backs of all the
clubs, and the faces of all the spades. Make sure the cards are roughed really well. Let the roughing spray dry
thoroughly. Arrange the clubs and diamonds just as they would be in a normal Invisible Deck. Place them in
back-to-back pairs so the two cards total thirteen. Complete the pairing for all thirteen diamonds. Place the
thirteen spades face-to-face with the diamonds. It does not matter which spade is placed with which diamond.
You should have thirteen triplets, in which there is a face-down diamond sandwiched between a face-up spade
and a face up-club. The face-up club will indicate which diamond is beneath it. Alternate these thirteen trip-
lets, club side up, with the thirteen hearts. When the deck is arranged properly, you can run through it face up
and all you will see is alternating clubs and hearts.

Congratulations!! You now have four very special Invisible Decks. Each will allow you to show
one card reversed and the deck can be shown freely on both sides!

Set-up: Place each deck in its box and mark each box so you can properly identify it. Wrap several rub-
ber bands around each box making it look very secure. Place each deck in a separate pocket and keep track of
where each deck is so that when the suit is named you can immediately take out the correct deck.

Presentation: Now you are ready for a stunning presentation of your favorite routine. Once the card
has been named, remove the appropriate deck from your pocket. Point out that it has been wrapped up in rub-
ber bands so that there is no way in or out. Remove the deck from the box. Spread over to the correct triplet
and separate the roughed cards. Unlike the normal Invisible Deck, you will be separating three roughed cards!
The audience will see that one card is reversed in the deck. At this point, I like to up-jog the face-down card
and turn the entire fan over to reveal that it is indeed the selected card. This is a very clean display of one card
reversed in an otherwise normal deck. Magicians who are familiar with Invisible Deck always do a double
take when I turn the fan over to reveal the selected card and they see normal backs!

Credits: The inspiration for this effect came from my good friend Peter Hinrichs. He has some wonder-
ful ideas using roughed triplets.

Final Note and Blatant Commercial: You can also use this principle to create a very clean ver-
sion of the Brainwave Deck. I have reserved commercial manufacturing rights for these effects, so if
you don’t want to take the time and effort to make these incredible decks, you can purchase them “pre-
made” from Fisher Magic Productions at www.CodyFisher.com.
 Total Invisibility
By Cody S. Fisher
© Copyright 1996

Effect: Volunteers from the audience are given a deck of cards and a paper bag, both of which are thor-
oughly examined. One volunteer holds the bag open while the other places both hands in the bag and shuffles
the cards. He takes one card out of the deck, turns it over so it faces the opposite direction, places it back in
the deck, and shuffles again. He puts the deck back in the card box and leaves it in the bag. A card is freely
selected by the audience. The deck is removed from the bag and it is shown to have one card reversed.
Would you believe it is the same card just named by the audience? Oh! Did I forget to mention that the deck
can be shows freely on BOTH sides? This routine will fry any audience...

Props: You will need a regular deck of cards, a marker, and a paper bag. The bag should be large enough
to allow your volunteer to place both hands in the bag and have room to shuffle the cards. You will also need
the four special Invisible Decks described in “Totally Invisible” and some Velcro strips.

Set-up: With a black marker, sign your name on all five card boxes so they look identical. Turn one card
over in the normal deck so that it faces the opposite direction; place the deck back in the box. (Make sure the
reversed card is somewhere near the face of the deck.) Place the bag and the normal deck on a nearby table.

Velcro strips

(Note: I assume you will be wearing a coat of some kind. In fact, it is

absolutely necessary! This is a stand up presentation and is not intended ♥ ♣ ♠ ♦
for the close up environment.)

Attach the decks to your belt using the Velcro strips as indicated in Figure
1. I put the clubs and hearts on my right side and the spades and diamonds
Bottom of jacket
on my left side. You must remember the location of each deck! Figure 1
should be about
right here

The decks should hang just above the bottom of your jacket and should not be visible to your
audience. You should be able to reach under the bottom edge of your jacket with the first two fingers of either
hand and remove the proper deck. Do not worry about this being seen... the action is covered by the bag.

You can use four Murray Deck Droppers instead of the Velcro strips . I prefer the deck droppers to Velcro
and use them in my own routine.

Presentation: As you may have guessed, this routine is a combination of the previous two. The differ-
ences are that you do not get a volunteer on stage and, instead of switching the deck in the bag for the one up
your sleeve, you switch it for the appropriate one hanging from your belt.

Address the audience thusly: “I will now perform my Signature Card Trick” as you point to
your signature on the card box. This appears to be a joke to the audience; however, you are really setting them
up for a very subtle deck switch! Step into the audience and hand the bag and deck to two spectators sitting
near each other. Have your volunteer confirm that it is an ordinary deck and is free of trickery. Ask him to
spread through the cards to make sure they are all there. (At this point, don’t pay much attention to the volun-
teer with the cards; focus on the volunteer who is examining the bag.) Inevitably, the volunteer with the deck
will point out that there is a card reversed in the deck. Act very surprised! Apologize by saying, “I’m sorry;
that must have been from my last show. Please turn the card over and make sure that all the cards are fac-
ing the same way...This is very important.” This bit of psychology, along with the signature, reinforces the
miracle and helps hide the deck switch later on. It also foreshadows that something will happen to that deck.
Practice this part of the effect. How well you can pull this off determines the “sell” at the end.

Announce that you want to have a card selected but you do not want anyone to know what card it is.
Have the volunteer with the bag hold it open so that the volunteer with the deck can place both hands into the
bag. Once his hands are in the bag, have him give the cards a good shuffle. While he is shuffling say, “Please
make sure not to drop any cards and that all the cards remain the same direction. This is very impor-
tant.” (Once again, this reinforces the idea that this is the deck where the action will take place.) Ask the vol-
unteer remove one card without looking, turn it over, and place it back into the deck. Have him shuffle the
cards again and place them back into the box and leave it in the bag. (This extra shuffle is very important, in
that now the volunteer does not know the position of the reversed card in the deck.) All of the above actions
are done sight unseen in the bag. At this point, everyone knows that there is one card reversed in the deck, but
no one knows what it is or where it is.

Retrieve the bag (with the normal deck inside), thank the volunteers and have them resume their seats.
Return to your position on stage holding the bag naturally in front of your body. Reiterate exactly what has
occurred and emphasize that you have not touched the cards.

Next, you will have the entire audience select one playing card out of a possible 52. I prefer to have
the card chosen in pieces by having various volunteers choose “red” or “back”, then a corresponding suit, then
“high” or “low”, then “odd” or “even”, and finally, an appropriate card. For example, “Sir, would you please
name a high even spade?” When you get down to the last person who will name the card, you will very
subtly switch decks! Just before you get to the last person, take the bag from the volunteer with your left
hand. Immediately after the suit is named, transfer the bag to the appropriate hand to cover the actions of the
deck retrieval and switch. For instance, if the card named is a club, hold the bag in your left hand and sneak
your right hand under your jacket and retrieve the club deck. Cover this move by holding the bag in front of
the right side of your body. At this point you should be holding the appropriate deck with the bag covering
your hand. There’s no need to worry! The retrieval of the deck is completely covered by the bag.

When you get down to the last person who will name the card, you will subtly switch decks! As the
card is being named, quickly reach into the bag with deck hand and pretend to remove the deck that is in there.
You are really bringing out the deck that is already in your hand! Do this very casually and without even look-
ing at the bag. At the moment of the switch, all your attention is on the volunteer in the audience who is nam-
ing the card.

Get rid of the bag; it is no longer needed. You are now holding a “very special” Invisible Deck that the
audience believes to be completely normal. (The signature on the box helps sell that fact that it is the same
deck.) To finish the routine, remove the deck from the box and show that the card named is the one that is re-
versed! You can even show both sides! No one magician should have this much power...enjoy!
For More Information On:

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Please Visit:

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 The Most
Incredible
Card Trick
You Will Ever
Perform!

"Your presentation and handling for the Invisible Deck is the most
clever and commercial I have ever seen.”
--Johnny Thompson / "The Great Tomsoni"

"Your version of the Invisible Deck is absolutely PHENOMENAL!"

--Marc DeSouza

© Copyright 1996
Cody S. Fisher