SAVANT DECK
I’ve been writing a post titled Magpie Syndrome, it’s about magicians
and mentalists buying every shiny new trick/book that gets released.
This came about after I told myself that I wasn’t going to buy anymore tricks
or books as I have tonnes of stuff so I definitely don’t need anymore.
Then like a fool I opened an email from VanishingInc.
There it was, my holy grail: The Savant Deck.
Within 3 minutes, I’d broken my own rule and I clicked
BUY IT NOW!
After the initial dopamine rush wore off I was full of buyers remorse and it hadn’t even arrived yet! I’d just bought into Craig Petty’s hype train, what was I thinking?
I’ve seen all the smack talk over on that green place… I should’ve known better!
Surely the men in the yellow van were on their way to cart me off to the funny farm now?
Anyway no yellow van and no funny farm heavies turned up at my door.
Just a package with my Savant deck, once I’d had a chance to watch the tutorial and have a little play with it, I soon discovered that this is 52 pieces of portable sorcery that can easily go toe to toe with the impossible.
What is the Savant deck?
In the realm of modern gaffed decks, the Savant Deck is an absolute powerhouse. It’s fair, clean, versatile and insanely impactful.
From super fast sums to mental predictions.
Craig Petty and Lloyd Barnes have delivered a mind melting bit of kit,
packed with weird and wonderful presentational power.
There’s 12 routines included in the 3 hour download and the kicker?
They inspect the deck, they shuffle the deck, they cut the deck.
They can do whatever they want, except stick a deckchair up their nose!
Meanwhile you look like a psychic overlord sent from the 4th sock vortex!
Let’s think about this for a minute: You hand over a deck of cards and with your back turned the spectator shuffles like there’s no tomorrow.
They then cut the cards as many times as they want, cut off a packet of cards from the deck and spread them on the table face up.
You, the mind reader guy can turn around and get a split second glimpse.
You then add all the cards values together in something like 1.2 seconds.
BOOM! You now look like a super weird maths nutter…
Still time for the yellow van to get you!
Or try this on for size:
Spectator shuffles the cards with your back turned, they cut the deck and put the top card in their pocket. You instantly know the card and this can be repeated over and over. I honestly think Craig and Lloyd have only just scratched the surface with what’s possible with the Savant deck.
Why mentalists are freaking out
No sleights required, you don’t need to be a card sensei or plugged into the matrix, there’s no funky lifts, no fancy pivots and no chicken to hold.
Spectator controls everything. They shuffle, they cut and the work is already done. The deck resets instantly after most routines.
Versatility. You get 12 unique effects which all seem completely fair and they’re repeatable. It’s like a Swiss army super power in your pocket.
From mental sums to mind reads and pocket revelations.
You’re basically Dr. Strange with a deck of cards.
So how does it work?
No spoilers here I’m afraid, Craig and Lloyd are deliberately vague about the method (rightly so)
What I will say is: This is a classic principle with a twist, actually scratch that.
Savant deck is a turbo charged gaffed deck that’s been layered in creativity and boomed it’s way into the future.
It looks and feels like a standard rider back deck of cards printed by USPCC. There are no markings and you can encourage your spectators to inspect the deck. They wont find anything unusual or out of the ordinary.
What you need to know
A riffle shuffle is required, an overhand shuffle just won’t cut it.
This shouldn’t be a problem for most of you but if you’re like me and not very adept at cards, just ask your spectator to cut the deck as many times as they like.
Instant reset, as long as you don’t drop them but even then it’s a very short recovery period.
Zero mental gymnastics. You don’t need to memorise anything, leaving you completely free to concentrate on your performance.
You don’t need to be a move monkey and you don’t need a degree in mathematics but your audiences will swear you’re a genius or an alien.
Who’s it for?
Beginners who want to perform jaw dropping miracles without having to master a bunch of difficult sleights.
Professionals that need an EDC trick to annihilate tables.
This one goes deep!
Mentalists who want fair, repeatable, visual routines without having to carry 100 gimmicks… This is the one.
Street magicians / walk around performers: It’s small, portable and repeatable. just riffle and fire away.
Fragmented Thoughts
If you want mind blowing, repeatable mentalism with zero sleights, then Savant Deck is your psychic side kick.
Fair and square, it’s designed to repeatedly shock.
If you’re ready to leave them slack jawed, speechless and thinking you’re some sort of supernatural professor then this is the deck for you.
Head over to your favourite dealer, get the Savant deck and give your mind reading a serious upgrade.
Stay Weird
ЯYΛП MΣПƬIƧ
International Man of Mischief
Amazing review, fun to read, concise and straight to the point. thanks for sharing !
Great review! Entertaining. Concise. Fun. Informative. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to learn the multiple routines using the Servant Deck and for your next review.
Nice review Ryan! As mentioned already, concise, informative, and entertaining. Cheers bud.
Nice review
A YouTuber claimed you can’t riffle shuffle the deck and that you have to reset it after alevery routine. Is there a big risk with riffle shuffles and do you ah e to reset the decka lot. Can you do a 15 or 20 minute edc for friends