Whether you’re doing a reveal after a center tear, or Acidus Novus, or nail-nicking cards for some quick pseudo-psychometry, you need blank cards. For many of those things I use a type of business card (mine has my web URL and then some things I can use for effects, such as ESP symbols, etc.), but in some cases what you want is an actual blank card. (Many people feel it’s a “bad look” to fold or mutilate your business card.)
Of course you can grab any bit of paper and use it for a billet (like a barbarian), but I'd rather have something that my "muscle memory" can get a grip on as well as something that has known properties.
After watching the billet section of Marc Paul's Masterclass at Vanishing Inc and wanting to be as cool as he, I decided to try and find something better suited than my business cards. Something with more versatility. No matter how many different cards I had to buy, I’d keep going until I found exactly what I wanted. It was my new quest!
Fortunately for my wallet I got lucky on the first try. Well, first try this time -- I've tried different types of billets here and there in the past. In fact, I'd actually settled on 3x5 index cards cut in half, or 2.5x3 as the size of the billet, but I was having trouble finding index cards that were thick enough so Sharpie ink wouldn't bleed through. After watching Marc Paul I just decided to look for something ready-made that would hit everything on my wish list (so no more sitting in front of the TV and chopping a pack of index cards in half)._
Here is what I found — blank white cards a little bigger than a typical US-sized business card at 3 7/16″ x 2 1/8″ (almost 3.5 x 2.2, which I think is about 87mm x 54mm), thinner than many typical business cards, but thick enough that not even a Sharpie bleeds through.
It’s a little on the small size for doing Osterlind’s Perfected Center Tear (especially if you’re used to using his magical special papers) but still workable for that. (Plus, if I have a choice I’ll do 50 Acidus’ over a single center tear. Yes, call me coward.)
They also fit well in both the SUC (Sight Unseen Case) and the Orphic Wallet (the only two wallets I carry every day).
These cards have a slight gloss on one side and are rough/matte on the other, which is really handy for when I’m using a swami gimmick…
When I’m using the pencil lead version I write on the matte side of the card.
When I use the Listo lead version, I write on the glossy side and it writes smoothly and looks just like a Sharpie wrote it (which is what I use to do the pretend writing).
Here in the US I bought 300 of the cards for about $9 — and they also have a multicolor pack if you want something other than white.
Primbeeks 300pcs Blank Business Cards
Premium Blank White Cards, 3.5″ x 2.2″
https://a.co/d/7bTdgRt
These cards are almost the same dimensions as bridge-sized playing cards, but because one side is unfinished (not slick/polished) you can’t really use them as a pack of blank playing cards; they don’t spread very easily, but for billet work I find them very nice.
These are my new “go to” cards when I’m doing mentalism these days. If you’ve found something that works well for you, feel free to leave a comment below.