Michael, I have to say that I don’t really like this version of a Torn and Restored. I especially don’t like having to post about two T&Rs in a row. All a spectator is going to think is “he never tore the card”, and he will not be able to rewind his brain to a point where he saw two pieces of card (which is what actually fries the brain). But I’m not going to give this effect a rating. I’m going to give the video a rating however. I’m impressed at the nerve you show by posting the video even with your mom yelling in the background, and you yelling back. Nice!

Rating: Two Big Balls

Ratings are completely arbitrary depending upon the amount of leftover stuffing in my fridge, and whether or not it’s still good. And whether or not I ate it anyways.

What can I say? This was incredibly elegant, and a pleasure to watch. Maybe because it’s the holiday season, or the beautiful song, or the fact that it’s dedicated to “Mom” – for whatever reason, when I watched this video it moved me.

That being said, there were a few things in there that could be improved upon. The first ditch had no theatrical reasoning, which means it stands out as something that doesn’t make sense, thereby raising suspicion. This shouldn’t have happened- since you were going to get the marker anyways, you should have just had the marker closer to the edge of the table. This would have given you PERFECT cover for the ditch, with no extra odd-looking motion. I have an even better solution, but bear with me for a minute.

In such a beautiful handling, it seems oddly rustic to put the torn pieces in your mouth. It doesn’t seem to fit the ambiance of the effect. I have a suggestion that would take care of the first ditch and the “card in mouth” issue. Instead of writing “love” on the paper, simply have it written there already. Keep the paper near the edge of the table. Make the first ditch as you grab the paper to pick up and show everyone what is written on it. This way, you also don’t have to put the card in your mouth.

I really like your take on Torched and Restored, although folding the card signature out leaves you with another problem that the original doesn’t have, and that is that you have an extra piece stuck to the part of the card you need to show. Which means you have to ditch that extra piece before the trick is over, when heat is still on it. (In the original, as you know, you can wait until the effect is over and the suspicion is off entirely before you remove the extra piece.) In your video, this removal looks clumsy, and should be cleaned up so as not to look suspicious.

(If you’re going to keep putting the card in your mouth, you don’t really need to gaff a card at all. Just tear a card, ditch all but one piece, put the piece in your mouth, have an extra folded card with YOU and ME written on it hidden with the slip of paper you burn. Then as you reach to your mouth to take out the card, hide the extra piece inside your mouth as you hold up the new card. This would also eliminate having to ditch that last piece.)

Anyway, a really good job. I enjoyed it immensely.

Rating: Three Light Bulbs and a Crying Smiley (It’s a good teardrop!)

(Rating are completely arbitrary. Sniff. Sniff. I gotta go call my mom…)

The 24 page booklet contains detailed instructions on how to perform the effect, a plethora of pics, the history of the effect, and a section called “the work behind it all” which really gets into the down and dirty details of why the effect works so well, and how to make it better. All in all it’s a worthy project that I believe adds value to the magic community as a whole.

The effect is on sale for $20 at Decks, Lies, and Videotape, and it comes with three bonus items that I will discuss in future posts. They are all valuable items. I believe that in this case, twenty dollars buys you thousands worth in knowledge.

Incredible! Like real magic. Even when you know exactly what he’s doing, it still fools your eye.

For those of you who need to know

Sic is a Latin word meaning “thus”, “so”, “as such”, or “in such a manner”. In writing, it is placed within the quoted material, in square brackets–or outside it, in regular parentheses–and usually italicized – [sic] – to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced verbatim from the quoted original and is not a transcription error.^[1]

A true master of the art. This video would probably have made it into my top ten if it were a presentation sans music. I don’t know if the music was added later, but I don’t like it. I’d have rather heard the speaking! It’s Fred Kaps!

You have a really strong voice and a very good presence when you are performing. This is all the more reason to clean up your script. Right now, it’s pretty bad and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

This “Color Monte” look alike is pretty good – I’ve always liked it, but you have some movement issues. A double lift from a three card packet is easily achievable. You should look through your books or videos and find out how to do it right! Email me if you want to and I’ll help you out.

I see potential if you put in the time.

Rating: One Milk

(Still arbitrary)

Nice, and short! I liked this one!

Rating: One Light Bulb

(Arbitrary…)

Why in the name of magic did you start off the effect calling the cup a “chop cup”? Why even bring up the cup? It’s going to have enough heat on it already without adding suspicion by calling it by a name that the spectators have never heard.

Hint to all magicians: When you are using a gimmick – do not call the gimmick by name. This only works for me

(example: In my show, I say “you may think that the dollar vanishes into thin air. It actually vanishes into my thumb tip” – It’s a joke for magicians that is completely lost on the spectators. I digress. And I lied. I don’t really say that. Although, it’s funny so I may start doing so.)

Anyway, don’t name the gimmick.

Your movements look unrealistic and suspicious when you “dump” the ball into your hands. It needs to be done more casually. Remember, if you believe it, they will.

Your “ball penetration” at :49 seconds is not helping the effect. It looks clumsy and heavy. There is a point at :54 seconds that I see both balls. And I don’t think it’s just because of the video. I think that your high ball bounced out of the cup.

I see a lot of unnatural movements – when you take the ball away before the final production, you leave your hand in your lap when you say the words ‘put the ball away and it comes back’  This looks very scripted and odd. I’d find a better way to get a hold of the final load, if I were you.

Another mistake that I’ve been seeing in a lot of videos lately is the nonsensical use of the wand. Either you need it to do the magic, or you don’t.

The first two times magic happens, you wave the wand. The third and fourth time (cup penetration) you tell me that the wand was all B.S., and that it works because of a trap door in the cup. Then seconds later, you use the wand again. Then you tell me the secret is that you’re using two balls. You proceed to reveal the billiard ball without using the wand. It’s all just confusing, really.

Other than those five things and your apparent uncertainty about what comes next, this was okay. I guess.

Rating: One Milk and a swirl of confusion.

(Ratings are completely arbitrary, depending on how recently I’ve used my wand properly.)

What is it with doing magic tricks to music on YouTube videos?  When you all perform these things, do you say, “hang on while I open iTunes, so the trick looks really good”? What happened to talking through a trick, using vocal inflections to make it more amazing? I think it my be laziness. Okay, I’m off my soapbox. For now.

This effect has the potential to look amazing. But you need to work on the moves. A novice or layman would be able to tell you exactly how you did that, based on that performance. It’ll take work to get the moves down so well that it doesn’t look like you are doing anything. But it will be worth it. You need to have a reason for every move your hands make, and here – you don’t. This makes it obvious what you are doing.

The work put in will be the difference between your spectators saying “wow, that looks really neat”, and them saying, “what the *$%^#”

Rating: Two Milks, and and iPod.

(Ratings are completely &!%$, based on %!&@$#)

I’m going to be nice, because you said that this wasn’t ready for performance yet! There is a lot of tension in your arms when you are classic palming. None of your moves seem relaxed and natural. You obviously understand the “routine” part of the effect, so your next step is to make everything smoother. Get rid of the tension.

Let me put it this way: You are making all these strange movements, and they take away from the effect. It SHOULD look like you are doing NOTHING, and magic is still happening. Also, a script would be nice. Keep working on it, and thanks for posting it!

Rating: One Milk. But it’s empty, so that’s a good thing.

(Ratings are arbitrary, based on nothing, which is what arbitrary means…)