Resurrected V2, Black Playing Cards By Abraxas

"Thank you for bringing my original vision to life. These are the ultimate companion for any mentalist wanting to use playing cards in their act. Absolutely gorgeous!"
- Peter Turner

DECK OVERVIEW

• Fresh colour schemes and designs on the back and faces of the deck. Including custom court cards and beautifully hand drawn center pips featured on the Aces.
• An intuitive marking system that can be learnt in seconds that will allow you to know the exact identity of any playing card that is selected.
• OOTW (Out of this world) colour marking systems (multiple) that allow you to know the colour of any playing card with a simple glance.
• Several very, very subtle one way markings that allow you to know the orientation of cards - Even in a spread.
• A clever system that allows you to blindly (facedown) stack the deck into mneumonica even if you don't know that stack.
• 2 custom utility cards that allow you to perform a range of routines including gaining secret information about the spectator that they never know that you know. This is information that the spectator never says out loud, never writes down and you can reveal this information in fun and interesting ways - They're also marked.
• A custom printed card with a link to a pdf and video tutorial that will allow you to unlock the secrets in the deck.
• A seemingly innocent tuck case with a secret of its own.
• NEW STOCK! Printed on Cartamundi's True linen B9 finish.
• Access to Facebook 'Resurrected users group', were you can share tips, ideas and routines.
• Comes pre-stacked in mneumonica.

One of the age old debates in mentalism is whether playing cards should be used when performing mentalism. Many mentalists try to avoid the use of playing cards for fear of their act coming across as a magic show.

It's undeniable that there are many incredible mentalism routines that can be performed using playing cards and its a shame that regular looking playing might make the perception of those routines seem nothing more than a mere trick.

Imagine this scenario, someone sits down without saying a word and from a velvet draw string bag they remove a deck of Tarot cards. The audience (for the most part) instantly assume that this person is a psychic reader and most are excited by the prospect of getting a reading. They assume the reader can confirm things about their past, the audience feel comfortable consulting in the reader about their present and are thrilled at the prospect of hearing about their own future.

That is without the 'reader' ever saying a single word.

Now, imagine this scenario.

Someone sits down and removes a deck of playing cards from a colourful box. What do you think the audience instantly assume if that person never said a word?

I think it proves for the most part that to some degree the instant perception that is conjured up in the audience's mind, is a direct reflection of the makeup of the cards.

Years of thinking, designing and re-designing have gone in to creating a deck that looks esoteric in nature and when brought out in a performance ensures that any reservations or preconceived notions that might occur when bringing out a bog standard deck of cards instantly goes out of the window.

The Ouija design is instantly recognizable to an audience as being mysterious and part of a world that little is understood about. This deck enables you to perform incredible mentalism routines whilst leaving the guilt at the door and best of all its marked in many, many different ways.

HISTORY

In 2018 Peter Turner and Phill Smith created the 'Resurrected Deck'. The Resurrected Deck launched at Blackpool Magic Convention and was hugely popular, selling out almost instantly. Since then, the resurrected deck has become one of the most sort after decks for both Mentalists and Magicians alike, due to its mysterious design and deadly inbuilt secrets. Being almost impossible to get hold of now, I didn't want to see this amazing deck disappear into the abyss. So I purchased the rights to the art work and set out to create a newer version the 'Resurrected V2' which sits more in line with Peter's original vision.

THE DESIGN

The Resurrected deck resembles the look of a Ouija Board whilst retaining the overall feel of a deck of cards. This gives the design a mystical and mysterious look and allows the deck to be used by magicians and mentalists alike. Its esoteric design allows the deck to be convincingly used for giving readings or in mentalism style routines without the fear of looking like a deck used for performing magic tricks. That said, this design is perfect for magicians also as the deck design practically does most of the work for you, allowing you to focus on a smooth performance.

This is not like a regular run of the mill deck design. Leave these sitting on a table and we can guarantee that the power of thendesign alone will get people talking and is perfect as an 'in' to move into showing people some of the things that you can do.

THE FACES

After purchasing the rights to the artwork, I received several folders containing Peter Turner's hand drawn concepts and notes dating all the way back to 2013. In these notes (addressed to the graphic designer) he stated, "whilst custom face cards are interesting for magicians to look at, they're distracting and create suspicion for an audience - rendering the deck (most of the time unusable) especially in mentalism".

Trying to stay true to Turner's original vision I adapted several of the original philosophies into my re-design which resulted in amazing custom, yet subtle face designs that fit in line with the feel of the deck, but don't seem out of the ordinary to an audience.

These can be seen below. I also opted for a deeper, rich red and soulful black which really sets off the tone of the design.

THE ACES

Each Ace has a unique, custom hand drawn pip in the centre, the Ace of Spades also has a hidden playing card imbedded into the design that allows for several types of effects ranging from psychological influence to fun interesting card magic with a twist.

CUSTOM UTILITY CARDS

After extensive research I found that 90% of magicians (and mentalists) don't actually use the jokers provided with a regular deck of cards. I wanted each and every card in this deck to serve a purpose, meaning you are getting the most out of your deck. The utility cards I have designed and provided in place of the Jokers fit perfectly in line with the theme of the deck but also open up the possibility of using the cards to perform many different type of effects. These utility cards will allow you to guess randomly thought of cards or pieces of information that the spectator never writes down, says out loud or even knows that you know! The cards are also clearly marked so you can know with 100% accuracy at a glance which one of these cards the spectator is holding at any given time. If you purchase a brick or more of 'Resurrected V2' you will get special unrestricted accessto video tutorials of my uses for these utility cards. Also provided in the deck is a blank faced card, which can also be used for a number of effects or a billet (if in a pinch) and in the aforementioned video tutorials I will also share my use of this card.

THE MARKING SYSTEM

The Resurrected V2 boasts an intuitive and simple set of marking systems (multiple) that are easy to read and once you know the secrets will be impossible to miss. The real beauty of this set of marking systems is that they will be completely undetectable to your audience - Even if the deck is in their hands! This means you can perform guilt free, without the worry that is carried with other marking systems.

All New Stock

This is one of the major advancements over the original 'Resurrected' deck. The most important aspect as a magician/mentalist myself is to have cards that I can rely on in the heat of the moment. After speaking to countless other magicians and mentalists about the original Resurrected deck, each person said the design of the cards were amongst the best they had seen and the only thing that they would change about the deck is the stock. Being an owner of the original deck myself, I felt that was justified feedback. After creating a poll, it was voted that the most popular, durable and slick stock is Cartamundi's True linen B9 finish (it won by a landslide). After listening to you the people, the beautiful Ressurected design is available on that very stock.