What are the mDeck Cards and App?
The Cards
The mDeck Cards, as the name may suggest, is a deck of cards. But this set is not similar to any other set: it is a deck designed to perform the art of magic. This deck of playing cards, can be used by magicians or people interested in it, to perform the very delicate task of the “Any Card at Any Number” magic. So, are you on deck to see the Magic of the mDeck? Read on to find more...
The App
The mDeck App, is an application with which you can perform the magic virtually. But the app is more then a mere virtualisation of a physical deck of cards, it is a tool with which you can enter the world of magic and learn how to perform the "Any Card at Any Number." It is suitable to magicians and amateurs alike, however it is preferable that one would first gain the skill of the Faro Shuffle in order to perform the magic to the highest level possible by hand with the actual cards. The app though, does allow those who are not yet completely proficient with the shuffle, to perform the magic virtually, as the magic in our app will do the shuffling for you (use the Super mDeck2 within the app).
The Combination of both and the Fruits of Working with the Cards
In our technology-saturated era, we notice how people's ability to hold attention for considerable periods of time decreasing. The increase in use of technological devices, the amount of time we spend in front of screens each day, the bombardment of our senses by too much information, rapid scenes, lights and fast occurring impression have all diminished our attention span.
Our depth of concentration is deteriorating, and in times like this, practicing our attention capabilities and our physical relationship with reality is highly beneficial not only to our brains, but also to our emotional health. We are embarking on a journey to share with our fellow human beings a playful and fun way of improving these capabilities.
The mDeck App and mDeck Cards are part of a great and magical experience usually reserved for magical entertainment. It turns out that this amazing combination of app and 52 physical items that all work in tandem, a Deck of Playing Cards, provides a rich environment for us to study our attention, our physical connections to our environment and our emotional intelligence around the feelings of wonder and pure astonishment. Whatever the mDeck experiment becomes and whatever we do with it collectively, a few professionals already use it and rely on it for their work, and a few more will certainly evolve and come forward in the 2020s. By 2049, we might have something here. The potential in therapy (due to the increase in devices and lessening of depth of concentration/attention spans), is of great interest. Magicians more famous and psychologists with time to spare have already shown the magic community and the medical world that the practicing of the presentation-art known as MAGIC is clearly and specifically THERAPEUTIC.
Words from a Magician's Soule
Please take magic seriously. Not in a mysterious way, but in a plain fashion, magic practices involve the entire being. One has to integrate thoughts with feelings and feelings with bodily actions, much like an actor does but with deep sensitivity of the physical realities of material properties. In 'the world of magic', nothing is seen the same as in the 'normal, no-magic-is-ever-possible world'.
It is because of the real possibility that the mDeck may serve us in many ways that we begin with Phase One which is like a peer review phase, but it also begins the sharing of insights into what this app can do, or what we can do with it.
Our Commitment
While we always look forward to seeing performances by original artists who choose mDeck power for their presentations, it is our wish to contribute to expansions and refinements within the Art of Presentation-Magic for Stage or Up Close. For this we are committed to maintaining this App for the benefit of the pros and for the arts. This commitment comes first and without any assurance that profitability or recoupment will be realized. We create our magic for the benefit of others. Our love of art proceeds our recognition that there is a business... They sometimes call it show-biz, but they always have to remind me about the biz part because it inevitably gets abbreviated. Though I remain thoroughly enamoured with the arts.
The Story of the mDeck
The mDeck began in 1975 when I learned card magic from Stephen Minch as a youngster. We took lessons. We lucked out. I met and learned from the greatest card experts in the World such as Dai Vernon and many others long before Youtube or the internet was invented. I worked deeply with The Professor on "The Trick That Can Not Be Explained" and I did it with him many times. So, yeah, I am all in.
In 2008, after years of developing the magic principles with playing cards employed in the mDeck, I decided to take my stack into the world of Mnemonica. After years of refining these techniques, methods and universal card magic principles, I needed one bit of info to complete ACAAN at will. I tired to do it in my head so to speak (without giving anything away or as they say exposing any secrets), and I succeeded, but I wanted to make it easier and more reliable and less stressful. So I created an app to give me the secret. I write code. I went to school with the guys who invented code, and it runs in my blood. I had the ACAAN routine down with my early versions. But, soon I realized I could use the app for an entirely different feeling experience.
In 2018 I started using the deck as a scrolling selectable line of cards, just like spreading a deck, well, almost.
Any experienced card magician in 2020 can see from the first ever mDeck that we have revolutionized using a device or an app with a deck of cards as of this point in history. This app is unique in how it treats the magic and the objects known as playing cards. Magic with apps and decks of cards will look back at this app and see a connection with a trend of integrating physical realities and objects with digital realities and experiences. Each is fun and educational, but when combined, we have a unique and magical perspective which perceives an increase of human capacities coming from simply engaging with the patterns within the cards. And what about the brain? What about the mind? What about our memory?
Further Thoughts by the Magician
I do not want to reveal the techniques we professional magicians use for our craft, so we do not yet emphasize this point about training the mental capacities through memory patterns. With the mDeck, we create new neural pathways through simple brain exercises that playing cards with the app provide. These pathways can be sharpened. They decrease in intensity over time. The renewal of the pathways – say a month after not using them – feels to be a very healthy mental activity to me. What an amazing mind we have. Our minds can re-establish the previously created pathways and this re-establishing plays a role in keeping a sharp and healthy mind. What was rote must become clear again, free from mental hesitation, and that is fun with the mDeck!
I can say after a few years of testing that the mDeck takes working with Mnemonica to an entirely new universe. It really does turn amateurs into pros. So, we are aiming to use this for the high end arts and preserve the integrity of the art of presentation-magic. We also want the scientists to use it if it can help people. All of our prices and our instructional methods and techniques put the Art of Presentation Magic and the Practise of the Art ahead of or in front of all other values. Magic comes first. Profit is not the prime aim. Breaking even is unusually nice and usually unexpected. But the Arts need to thrive. Artists need to receive large grants in order for the arts to thrive. A Touch of Magic, publisher of the mDeck, wants our customers to know that every penny of profit from the mDeck, if any, goes entirely to support the Arts and the Art of Magic including the Golden Rule Magician project, a growing interest among professional magicians world wide concerned with increasing attention span with awareness of self/other. We aim to amaze.
Thank you for your support.
WP Posts Author m.d.:
Steffan Soule,
President
A Touch of Magic, Inc.
Publisher
