I think Guy Hollingworth's routine is great. But I also found out that it was a bit difficult to do. Daniel Garcia did a great job on his "Torn" without sacrificing certain things to make the routine easier.

Let me tell you this: None of the T&R card effects are simple or easy.
They are difficult to perform beautifully and smoothly.

"Torn" is that visual and that strong, and it uses no dup. signature or a forced card.

FOR ME this is the "Ultimate" T&R card routine. JMO though.

Peter Eggink

What about "Ripped and Restored" from Yves Doumergue? For me, "Torn" looks a lot like Yves version. Can someone tell me if there's a difference?

Fabio

Take a look at the restorations. They are
much cleaner and with fewer moves (IMO).

However, the folding of the card is the same.

Peter

One of the MAJOR problems with Torn and Restored, One-Piece-At-A-Time tricks is that the angles aren't good.

What I mean is, most of the time the card is folded up and you have to somehow conceal the thickness of the card. Because, come on people, the FIRST thing a spectator will suspect is that the card is folded in some way.

When the pieces are restored VISUALLY, the angles are even worse. Take "Torn" for example. If the spectator is looking just a little bit too high, or a little bit too low, they will see how the trick is done.

Covering the restorations with your hands helps the angle problem TREMENDOUSLY.

Another thing: covering the restorations also adds mystery to the trick. I have a hunch that Copperfield could have restored the baseball card visually had he wanted to. He chose to cover each piece with his hand to add mystery and suspense to the trick.

If you restore the pieces visually you leave only a few possible explanations:

1) It is real magic -> but nobody believes in magic.

2) You are using glue -> let's hope not.

3) You are using camera effects -> let's hope not.

4) The pieces weren't actually restored -> the "correct" answer most of the time.

Anyway...back to my original point about angles.

Hollingworth's Reformation is the best on angles. For all intents and purposes, the pieces are clearly shown to be only one layer thick.

The first two pieces that are fused together are only one layer thick.

They leave, shall we say, a 1/2 restored card that is 1.5 layers thick.

Restoring the third piece leaves a 3/4 restored card that is still ONLY ONE LAYER THICK! The FRONT AND BACK of the 3/4 restored card is shown.

These are very strong points in my book, not only because they fool those people who try to figure out the methods, but also because the angles are good.

In Hollingworth's Routine, if the spectators are looking too high, or too low, or to the left or to the right, it doesn't matter very much. It doesn't matter because, for all intents and purposes, there IS NO OTHER FOLDED LAYER that the spectators might see.

Of course, the "extra layer" DOES exist in the Hollingworth routine, but it is VERY well hidden.

Also, the torn edges of the partially restored card are unmistakably torn, rather than simply folded. The torn edge of the fourth and final piece actually matches the torn edge of the 3/4 restored card. And the 3/4 restored card has the spectator's signature on it!

Also, there are no "fake" restorations in the Hollingworth Routine. Each piece is actually restored. This allows for a nice and open handling of the partially restored pieces. You don't have to worry about a supposedly "restored" piece falling off if you move your hands.

Also, only four pieces are shown during the whole routine and they remain in view the entire time. You start with four pieces. Then you put two together and are left with a 1/2 card and two more pieces. You restore another piece are are left with a 3/4 card and one extra piece. You fully restore the card and are left with 1 card and no pieces.

You never have to put any pieces in your pocket.

To sum it all up...

All the points that I made are indeed minor points. However, all these small points add up and I think they leave Hollingworth's Reformation a head above the othe methods.

Just my two cents =P

Stedwick

Thoughtful words, Stedwick. I agree with everything you've said. The details are what make "The Reformation" such a powerful effect. Showing the back of the card mid-way is a very important and largely over-looked detail. I think an intelligent or skeptical spectator might become suspicious of some sort of 'folding' process. Flashing the back after the third restoration destroys those illusions and throws the spectator completely off the scent.

Guy Hollingworth...Guy Hollingworth...Guy Hollingworth...Reformation...Reformation...Reformation...

Keep on repeating it and then you'll entice yourself to put in the work required, that is after buying the book Drawing room Deceptions and watching a performance on his video...

Vernon

David Eldridge's Quarterly Returns is also a good torn and restored card effect.

By the way S.Segal, have you checked out Vinny's Warped and Restored card? It's great and it doesn't use a force, duplicates, or extra cards.

-Max

I emailed Daniel a long time ago and asked the following question:

Can "Torn" be performed with the face of the card outward?

He never got back to me. Anyone care to give me a simple yes or no? No methods, please. There's far too much exposure going on here, in my opinion.

I currently peform "Reformation" and do believe it to be the best--work notwithstanding.

Ron,

The anser of your question is no
(But why should you...)

I hope it helps,



Peter Eggink
Sleightmaster

Actually, yes, "Torn" can be done with the face outward. But this requires that the card be f****d. One of the advertised strengths of both "Torn" and "Ripped and Restored" in their original conceptions is that the card can be a free selection. But you can't have it both ways -- either the card is f****d or its face is hidden until the end.

I seriously doubt once you've torn and restored the card the person has signed, piece by piece, right in front of their eyes, that they'll remember or even care how it was chosen. Heck, I think you could just hand them the card and tell them to sign it and they wouldn't even remember by the end. The effect itself is that strong.

Chris Kenworthy's Free Formation is similar to Reformation, but uses a "freely" named selection.