The Mene Tekel Deck Project (Liam Montier)

Showing some love to an overlooked classic gaff deck

Overview

When it comes to gaff decks, most magicians will almost certainly be familiar with the popular Invisible Deck, as well as classics like the Svengali Deck and the Stripper Deck.  Other popular favourites include the Mental Photography Deck, the Marked Deck, and the ever reliable Forcing Deck.

If trick decks had an annual family gathering, these are the kinds of gaff decks that would be considered the heavyweights in the family, and are likely to be the first relatives of the tribe that we would meet and notice. But meanwhile, there's old uncle Bob standing quietly off to the side, who has real experience and versatility, including a ready bag of tricks up his sleeve.  This somewhat under-appreciated and overlooked uncle is the Mene Tekel Deck.  He's been around for a long time and offers a lot, so we really should take the time to meet him, and find out something about his remarkable repertoire and potential.



The ad copy for The Mene Tekel Deck Project certainly doesn't hold back punches when extolling the virtues of this deck: "The Mene Tekel Deck truly is a hidden gem in the world of card magic and might just be the most underrated gaff deck in existence!"  Liam Montier seems to be on a quest to revive interest in this old chestnut, and in the last year or so has already produced a couple of videos that put the spotlight on the Mene Tekel Deck, to introduce this "underused weapon" to a new generation of magicians. 

With this newest project from Big Blind Media, he not only sets out to teach us how to appreciate and use the Mene Tekel Deck, but buyers also get an actual deck along with their purchase of the hour-long video download.  Let's find more about what is self-described as "the definitive guide to this essential gaffed deck".  To whet your appetite, see the official trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Z-MkM6Izg



What you get

First of all, the playing cards.  You get a pre-built Mene Tekel deck, freshly put together with standard Bicycle rider-back playing cards, in either red or blue.  There certainly are ways to build one yourself, but you'll need some cards from a short deck to do this.  I welcome the fact that BBM has done this work for us, and that we get a deck that is ready to go straight from the box.

Also included is a convenient reference card, which includes a link to a password protected video around 50 minutes in length, which you can watch online via streaming video.  Alternatively you can access the videos by downloading them as a series of separate files from your personal download area on Big Blind Media's website.

If you're familiar with Big Blind Media, you'll know that they're good at superlatives, and there certainly are plenty of them in the description here: "What's more powerful than a Stripper Deck? More versatile than a Svengali Deck? Less known than an Invisible Deck? The Mene Tekel Deck that's what! This ingenious gaffed pack can truly be a cardhandler's greatest ally. It makes outrageously powerful magic possible with absolutely NO sleight of hand. But unlike so many other gaffed decks, it's not a one-trick pony. It can be your secret weapon in a huge array of routines."



Contents

The video covers four main areas:

Introduction: "Liam Montier takes you for a deep dive with this ingenious construction, teaching you how to handle it naturally, how to hide it in plain sight and how to wring every last drop of deceptiveness from its devious mechanics."
In this first ten minutes of the video, we get  introduced to what the Mene Tekel deck is, and Liam covers basic techniques for handling and shuffling it, and how have your spectator make a selection from it.

Quick Tricks: "Once you've mastered natural displays, shuffling and selection procedures, Liam will arm you with some simple (but powerful) routines to test out your new skills."
Here we learn how to do five quick tricks, which takes up another ten minutes: Ambitious, Mindreading, Card to Pocket, Self-Shifting Pack, and Rising Card.

Showpieces: "Then you can step it up with three absolute barnstorming `showpiece' tricks that will slay ANY audience."
This section also runs for about ten minutes, and contains the three main feature routines: Pocket Pick, Card at Number, and Coincidence.

Sleights: "And beyond that Liam will also look at ways of incorporating the world's most underrated gaffed deck with simple sleight of hand to REALLY elevate things into the stratosphere."
The final ten minutes of the video cover four sleights that can be used with the deck: Sandwish, Faro Display, Collectors, and Twins.



My Impressions
 
An under-loved deck:  It's fair to say that the Mene Tekel Deck is somewhat under-appreciated and overshadowed by other more popular and well known tricks decks.  I've got a number of different gaff decks, but one was missing from my own collection.  So I'm grateful for this contribution by Liam Montier and Big Blind Media to bring it back into the limelight, and deliver a product that includes both the deck itself as well as instructions on how to use it, along with multiple routines.

A classic deck: The Mene Tekel Deck has been around for over a hundred years.  If you have a copy of Hugard's Encyclopedia of Card Tricks on your shelf, you'll only need to turn to chapter XIV ("Magic with a Mene-Tekel Pack of Cards") to learn more about how this deck is constructed, and several fun routines you can do with it.  This is a time-tested gaff deck that magicians have been using for a long time already.

A versatile deck: I'm a big fan of trick decks, especially ones that aren't just a one-trick pony, but have versatility, and can be used for a variety of different routines.  The Mene Tekel Deck certainly meets that criteria.  The tricks taught in the video don't feel like variations on the same theme, but offer a genuine variety of different kinds of effects.

A solid video: If you own any other instructional videos from Big Blind Media, you'll already know that these guys set the benchmark in the filming and production of magic videos.  As we've come to expect given their outstanding track record in this area, everything is top notch.  Unlike some previous entries in the series, this isn't available on DVD, however, but only as downloadable or streaming video.

A solid teacher: Liam Montier is certainly the right man for this job.  If you're familiar with his other work in card magic, you'll know that he's got some creative ideas, and is good at teaching as well, and this video is no exception.  There's no performances with spectators, but I didn't find myself missing this either, because the real focus is on becoming comfortable with using this deck, and applying your own presentation style.

A solid set of routines: The instructional video gives you five quick-and-easy tricks, but more importantly Liam teaches three feature routines that are very strong.  I also highly recommend some related BBM videos that teach two other outstanding routines you can perform with this deck.

A solid series: BBM's "Project" series is a popular one, and with good reason.  It already includes a number of other releases, like The Forces Project, The Controls Project, The Double Lift Project, The Elmsley Count Project, and more.  This treatment of the Mene Tekel Deck makes a welcome addition to this strong series.



Related Products

It's worth mentioning that Liam has put out a couple of other videos that each teach a mind-blowing routine with the Mene Tekel deck, namely the MRD Deck and Memo.

The first of these teaches a routine in which you do multiple selections for 3 to as many as 15 spectators.  The second teaches a routine that enables you to perform an astonishing feat of memory as you identify multiple cards removed from the pack.

This means that once you have the deck, there's even more material you can use if you want. Just take a look at the video trailers for those products to get some idea of the power of this deck.  The demo videos speak for themselves, and many magicians were blown away by the power of the effects.  But those products are each geared mostly towards a single routine.  So the Mene Tekel Deck Project the best introduction to this deck, especially in view of how many different routines this teaches you.



Recommendation

The Mene Tekel Deck is somewhat of a secret that is hiding in plain sight, kind of like the quiet and unassuming uncle Bob, who actually knows a thing or two about entertaining, if only you give him half a chance.  I can only applaud this effort to bring it back into the limelight, and give it some welcome attention, especially to a new audience of magicians that may be unfamiliar with it.

Purchasing the The Mene Tekel Deck Project gives you everything you need to get started: the gaff deck itself, an hour's worth of solid video instructions, that includes eight different routines, along with tips on handling and sleights.  And the level of difficulty is well within the reach of most people who have some basic skills in card magic.

Magicians don't have to be embarrassed about using a gaffed deck, because it allows you to accomplish miracles that you simply can't do with a regular deck, and that doesn't require complex sleight of hand.  Certainly this is a versatile deck that can produce mind-blowing magic that is easy to perform, so I'm all for it.  There are other good resources on the Mene Tekel, such as one by Nathan Kranzo which I haven't seen.  But I know that Big Blind Media sets the bar very high with their releases, and I can recommend this highly as a great place to get to know and love this under-appreciated classic.

Want to learn more?
Product links: Mene Tekel Deck Project, MRD Deck, Memo
Big Blind Media: Official website, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube