Price$49.95
Media TypeDVD
CategoryMentalism
Date AddedJul 02, 2014
The Social Deck
Soma
Soma Show
(Based on 4 reviews)
- Joshua Jay
?Soma, the ultra-creative stage magician, has given us an ultra-creative tool for close-up performance. This deck defines NOW."
- David Regal
"There is truly no filler on the DVD: every routine is practical, and tested. The tricks are even arranged in sets so there is no need of setting up between the tricks. I love the concept! This is going straight into my show."
- David Stone
Card magic meets Facebook. Take you card magic to the 21st century! Social Deck is a custom made deck that contains artwork inspired by various social media sites.
Finally card magic that makes sense. Aces finding Jacks? Number and picture cards changing places? Who cares? Here you have plots about friend requests, relationships and much-much more. These tricks feel personal and they are immediately interesting to anyone who uses social networks. And if you think about it, that is practically everyone.
You can use almost any of your favorite card routines with this deck from ambitious card to oil and water. And you will see how much better reactions you will receive even from someone who does not like card tricks at all.
FISM Grand Prix winner Soma truly understands what captures the attention of today's audiences. He has perfected The Social Deck over hundreds of performances it has been part of his close-up working repertoire for years.
No extraordinary skill required. If you can do a double lift you can do this.
The DVD includes 19 different routines explained in detail, a lot of bonus cards are included, bonus online content, and this is only the beginning. With a little bit of creativity you can create you own routines with the Social Deck in no time.
It's time to give meaning to your card magic!
Great artwork, handles like your Bicycle deck: cards printed by the USPCC.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Overview
The Social Deck by Soma is a “modern” version of a playing card deck. Instead of numbers, court cards and suits, the faces of the cards depict male and female profile silhouettes, thumbs up signs, chat boxes and various other signs one would find on a social media site. As an attempt to make card magic more relatable to a modern audience, it is so far off from what a deck of cards actually is, it falls short on what its purpose is. That being said, there may be some who are so obsessed with social media that they make think is a great idea.Effect
With the Social Deck, you can perform several card tricks that have been staples in card magic for decades but with social media icons instead of the traditional card faces. For example, one can perform Out of This World, Eight Card Brainwave, A Clock routine, Oil and Water and other tried and true card tricks with this deck of cards. The concept is that the icons would be more relevant and recognizable to a modern audience than a traditional deck of cards.Method
Of course the method would be the same for the tricks as their traditional brethren. The main method is to have the deck set up prior for the intended trick and proceed as the original trick was done. For most of these tricks very little sleight of hand is needed.Product Quality
The cards a very nicely printed and the instructional video is of decent quality. On the DVD there are 10 tricks provided plus, you can enter a URL in the search bar of your computer and watch the same video in a better quality with bonus content.Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is accurate and provides all that is advertised if you think you have an audience that would appreciate this type of presentation. The creator makes an assumption that people are so distant nowadays from a deck of cards that the social media icons are more relatable. I personally do not share that opinion.(Top ▲)
This package comes with a deck of USPCC playing cards, a DVD, a cheat sheet and a code to get on the online website. If you weren't already aware, the social deck is a new idea of using social media to create card magic.
Let's start with the cards. They are great quality as you would expect from the USPCC, and come in a blue social deck box. There are 54 cards in the deck, and these include a variety of designs for the various effects. 26 of these cards are the generic male profile picture, 4 of them are generic female profile pictures, and the rest of the deck are other social media related cards such as a gallery of pictures, a share card, and a loading card. I like the design of all of these cards, and I agree that you can do a lot of magic from these cards. The only question I asked when I first got this product was why can't you just use a normal deck of cards, but now I see that Soma has attempted to put a modern twist on classic card tricks, and with the patter the tricks seem more logical to the spectator and make sense. I now understand and like this product a lot.
The DVD is good quality and very easy to navigate. The tricks are clearly explained and are all broken down into a performance and an explanation. He performs the trick to the woman who sits next to him throughout the DVD, and therefore appears on all of the performances being performed to. My only problem is that the ad copy claims to fully explain 16 routines, but on the DVD there are only 12 explained, however I will forgive them because on the online section there are an extra 5 tricks, making the total amount of fully explained routines 17, which is good. It also includes Soma's setup of the deck, in which he goes through the whole deck and where he places all of the cards. This is included on the cheat sheet.
The package also comes with a cheat sheet, which I really like the idea of and I think should be used more in magic products these days. It is basically just a sheet telling you the set up for the various routines taught on the DVD, and is really useful to carry around with you if you are performing it.
The online section includes the 5 extra tricks which I mentioned earlier, along with a pdf for the cheat sheet, templates of cards, and the trailer for it, along with a link to his website. It also includes all of the videos in HD, if you want to view them online. It also promises more magic to be uploaded by many other owners of the social deck, which they have come up with and posted on the site.
Overall, I think that the DVD is really good, and so is the deck, cheat sheet and online section. A very good product and does what it says on the tin. Well done Soma.
Let's start with the cards. They are great quality as you would expect from the USPCC, and come in a blue social deck box. There are 54 cards in the deck, and these include a variety of designs for the various effects. 26 of these cards are the generic male profile picture, 4 of them are generic female profile pictures, and the rest of the deck are other social media related cards such as a gallery of pictures, a share card, and a loading card. I like the design of all of these cards, and I agree that you can do a lot of magic from these cards. The only question I asked when I first got this product was why can't you just use a normal deck of cards, but now I see that Soma has attempted to put a modern twist on classic card tricks, and with the patter the tricks seem more logical to the spectator and make sense. I now understand and like this product a lot.
The DVD is good quality and very easy to navigate. The tricks are clearly explained and are all broken down into a performance and an explanation. He performs the trick to the woman who sits next to him throughout the DVD, and therefore appears on all of the performances being performed to. My only problem is that the ad copy claims to fully explain 16 routines, but on the DVD there are only 12 explained, however I will forgive them because on the online section there are an extra 5 tricks, making the total amount of fully explained routines 17, which is good. It also includes Soma's setup of the deck, in which he goes through the whole deck and where he places all of the cards. This is included on the cheat sheet.
The package also comes with a cheat sheet, which I really like the idea of and I think should be used more in magic products these days. It is basically just a sheet telling you the set up for the various routines taught on the DVD, and is really useful to carry around with you if you are performing it.
The online section includes the 5 extra tricks which I mentioned earlier, along with a pdf for the cheat sheet, templates of cards, and the trailer for it, along with a link to his website. It also includes all of the videos in HD, if you want to view them online. It also promises more magic to be uploaded by many other owners of the social deck, which they have come up with and posted on the site.
Overall, I think that the DVD is really good, and so is the deck, cheat sheet and online section. A very good product and does what it says on the tin. Well done Soma.
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: One Day Too Late by Skillet
The Social Deck by Soma Review:
One DVD, One "new concept" for a Deck of cards, a whole bunch of routines and $50 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect/Method
This is another one of those products that doesn't have an effect per se. What you're getting is a new idea. Basically, imagine a deck of cards that doesn't have numbers or royalty on it. Rather, it has common social media icons and images. For example, a generic FaceBook profile looking icon, or an image gallery, or a "like" button icon, etc.
The idea that Soma has come up with is to use these icons combined with relatively standard card moves to create more "modern" "card tricks." As far as the methods are concerned, it's pretty standard stuff: DL's, Card Changes, etc.
What's clever about this is that if you already are a decent card handler, you'll have no problem transitioning to doing effects with this deck. Tons of ideas, effects and routines are taught on the accompanying DVD; plus you'll create your own once you've spent some time with the deck.
I have no complaints about method. It's all pretty straight-forward and pretty standard stuff.
Ad Copy Integrity
Unfortunately there were a couple issues in the ad copy. The main one is the fact that the DVD only contains 12 effects (which is a lot) but the ad copy claims that the DVD contains "19 different routines explained in detail. I'm not upset that there are "only" 12 effects on the DVD. I'm upset that the ad copy claimed there were 16 plus the bonus material which would be a total of 21 effects. Instead, you get 17 total, including the bonus effects.
The other (minor) issue I had was the claim that card tricks don't make sense, but finally, your card magic will make sense. I think it's a bit over the top to claim that essentially all card tricks are senseless. Further to claim that though "Aces finding Jacks" is senseless but that a picture of social icons is the solution to all is a bit dramatic.
I don't think they're wrong about how relate-able these icons are. But I do think they're wrong about how relate-able the playing cards supposedly aren't.
Product Quality
The DVD is well produced, well lit, well shot, well mic'd, detailed and in depth. No complaints here. Further, you get access to an incredible website with tons of content: cheat sheets for the effects requiring a set up, printable templates for making your own cards, 5 bonus effects, the entire contents of the DVD, a mini documentary-ish section about the "making of the deck" and more.
Combining the deck, DVD and site, and you're definitely getting your money's worth.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this is a solid product, and the price is reasonable considering what you're getting. Putting aside the fact that they're all but saying this will replace your playing cards, all the other claims are pretty realistic. Had this come with the 16 effects on the DVD plus the bonus as claimed, It would easily be a 5 star product, but . . .
Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
(Top ▲)
My good friend George Parker says that playing cards are the ultimate Survival Version® for all sorts of conceptual ideas. I couldn’t agree more. But sometimes magicians go overboard in trying to force-fit meaning symbolism on playing cards. There’s a fine line between clever and contrived.
Soma has done us all a favor by creating this deck that naturally makes sense in a world filled with social networking. We’ve all seen people sitting at a table together, not talking, but messaging people on their phones. For many, this is the primary way in which they communicate.
I knew these cards were going into my repertoire the minute I saw them. There’s one piece I’ve been doing for decades that just jumped to a new level with the introduction of these cards.
Even if you don’t have an application in mind, the DVD contains 40 effects and 16 complete routines with various combinations of the cards. Many are classics that you may already know, but with interesting presentations. Others are uniquely created for the deck. In addition, all of the material, including bonus content, can be found online.
I won’t go into great detail, but for those of you with creative minds, here’s a quick breakdown of the cards included:
If you’ve been looking for some way to integrate the ubiquitous presence of Social Networking in our lives, I believe this product is the best place to get started.
Soma has done us all a favor by creating this deck that naturally makes sense in a world filled with social networking. We’ve all seen people sitting at a table together, not talking, but messaging people on their phones. For many, this is the primary way in which they communicate.
I knew these cards were going into my repertoire the minute I saw them. There’s one piece I’ve been doing for decades that just jumped to a new level with the introduction of these cards.
Even if you don’t have an application in mind, the DVD contains 40 effects and 16 complete routines with various combinations of the cards. Many are classics that you may already know, but with interesting presentations. Others are uniquely created for the deck. In addition, all of the material, including bonus content, can be found online.
I won’t go into great detail, but for those of you with creative minds, here’s a quick breakdown of the cards included:
- 26 generic avatars
- 4 female avatars
- 3 blank faced cards
- 1 double-backed card
- 21 special cards with various pictures and symbols for specific routines
If you’ve been looking for some way to integrate the ubiquitous presence of Social Networking in our lives, I believe this product is the best place to get started.