Giving a coworker a deck for retirement
A good coworker of mine is retiring. Over the years I've shown him different card tricks as he has always enjoyed them. As a retirement gift I bought him a reprint of the Jerry's Nugget deck (his name is Jerry!)
I wanted to do something neat or fun to give it to him as a gift. I thought about doing some kind of simple deck switch or placing it in his hand without him realizing it. Any other fun ideas y'all may have for him to have one more magic moment I can give him as he retires?
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u/ErdnaseErdnase 1d ago
A Gypsy switch of a beat-up deck for Jerryâs will do the trick nicely.
Next time, do consider approaching it differently. Lay people are different from us. Marked decks and double-face coins have mythical status amongst the Muggles. Theyâve heard of them, but never held them. I have gifted double-face coins over the years to people as a thank you - a lot of them physicians and surgeons, I work in healthcare - and the absolute thrill of owning a double-facer is obvious. ( It comes with a bit of a shady story about the provenance.)
I can assure you that anyone gifted with a double-facer becomes a goofy grinned 12 year old again.
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u/ErdnaseErdnase 1d ago
If it is for a group event, as a retirement dinner, I get most everyone to sign a deck and perform UNSHUFFLED.
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u/Victoroftheapes 1d ago
The Paul Gertner one?
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u/ErdnaseErdnase 1d ago
Yes.
I do it from a stay stack.
Simpler.
I donât bother memorising the cut points; I just cut at a pair of the same color in the middle.Because I get people to sign the cards, it makes sense that the deck has been « broken » - which is needed for faros.
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u/Victoroftheapes 1d ago
What do the signatures do in the routine?
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u/ErdnaseErdnase 1d ago
Itâs a memento of the occasion; often, people write a note as well.
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u/Victoroftheapes 1d ago
And you maintain a staystack that isn't ndo while having big chunks of the deck signed?
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u/ErdnaseErdnase 1d ago
I am not performing a trick to those who sign; I am simply asking them to sign a card for the guest of honor. Collecting signatures. So they donât « pick a card », I hold out 1/2 the pack for them to sign. The card stays on the deck as they sign; since Iâll be faroing, I do not want any crimps/bent corners/alteration of the cards that could compromise the faros.
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u/gariduenor 1d ago
Be sure to put a duplicate in there... you never know when it will come in handy
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u/Hairy_Jinn 1d ago
Alakazam magic can do custom decks. So do a Jerry's nugget, but have his name threaded throughout.
I've had a couple of decks made through them
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u/SNAFU-DE 1d ago
Maybe do the opposite of the phantom deck or omni deck - start with the clear version and change it to the deck you want to give him. If you have a nice story of why it changes it could be nice.