Editing Trick deck (section)

===Svengali deck===
[[Image:svengali_deck.svg|thumb|Operation of a Svengali deck<div style="padding:0.2em 0;">'''Upper figure:''' Riffling the deck from front (top) to back (bottom) exposes the normal cards (black)</div>'''Lower figure:''' Riffling the deck from back to front exposes the shorter cards (red)]]

The '''svengali''', or '''long-and-short''' deck, alternates between normal cards and shortened cards, with the shortened cards all of the same rank and suit. When the deck is riffled front to back, only the normal cards are visible; when it is [[Shuffle#Riffle|riffled]] back to front, only the shortened cards are visible.<ref name="LittleGiant">{{cite book |title=The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Card & Magic Tricks |author=The Diagram Group |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company |year=1996 |isbn=0-8069-9347-2}}, p. 166</ref> It was created by Burling Hull <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.conjuringcredits.com/doku.php?id=cards:svengali_deck |title=Cards {{!}} Svengali Deck (Conjuring Credits) |website=www.conjuringcredits.com |access-date=2020-03-20}}</ref> and marketed by WD LeRoy in 1909.

The deck can be dribbled or riffled to create the illusion that the deck is completely ordinary. It can even be shuffled. One basic trick involves a spectator choosing a card from the deck and returning it; the card can then appear practically anywhere in the deck, making tricks like the [[Ambitious Card]] incredibly simple. The final and most stunning trick is when all the cards are suddenly presented as being all the same as the initially chosen card.

Joe Stuthard's Trilby and Bi-Co Trilby Decks are variations on this deck. In the 1960s and 1970s, [[Marshall Brodien]] sold 17 million Svengali decks under the name [[TV Magic Cards]]. 

While the Svengali Deck allows for the easy performance of seemingly complex tricks, the conjurer cannot allow an audience member to examine the deck. The use of a Svengali Deck can also be detected by its characteristic faster riffle and sound. Finally, because the deck is widely sold in joke and novelty shops, many laypeople are familiar with it.<ref>Henry Hey (ed.), ''Cyclopedia of Magic''(1949), p. 310.</ref><ref name="LittleGiant13">Jean Hugard, Max Holden, ''Encyclopedia of Card Tricks'' (1974), Chapter XIII.</ref>

Writing pads or books using the same principle have also been created, to force the spectator to choose the content of a seemingly random page.<ref>{{cite web |author=Samuel Patrick Smith |title=Sketch-O-Magic |url=http://www.spsmagic.com/pages/sketch-o-magic |accessdate=2016-06-05}}</ref>