talkmagic.co.uk

Hello!

I don't really do card magic, but I wanted to add something cardlike to my repertoire, and I found a link to an effect marketed as REF4M (which I think is pronounced re-form) which is a torn-restored trick that would fit my routine a little better.

The effect looks to be a card is signed and then torn into 4 pieces. These are then restored one at a time. Looks good on the trailer but I wondered if anyone had used this and had any feedback on it. I checked the reviews section but the search turned up nothing.

Is it good? Is it bad? Is it too hard for someone without years of experience?

-Stacy

Saw the trailer for this. I wasn't too impressed. Its obviously difficult to look at it through a lay person's eyes since mine own have been stained with the mechanics of magic, but to me the method - or, at least, some of the secret behind the effect - is a bit obvious.

Whether or not this will be obvious to a spectator is another matter of course.

Ahhhh torn n restored effects. There's plenty out there and for my money, there's better ones than REF4M. Which, though I believe it should be pronounced reform, to me actually says Ref Form. They should have done away with the F. Although Bich's T N R, from the same web site, is visually stunning and fiendish in its workings, its so angle sensitive its a pain in the botty. My personal favourite t n r is Ripped and Fryed.

I think the best torn and restored card on the market is Rewind. It very clean and visual.

http://themagicwarehouse.com/TA5169/Rew ... elain.html

I know what you mean about the secret seeming obvious, when I saw the trailer I thought I knew how it worked straight away and wasted a business card trying out what I thought was the technique, but getting them to stay lined up for the restore proved that there was a little more going on than I could figure out on the spot.

I was just wondering if it was really £15 more going on than was immediately visible...

-Stacy

magicollie wrote:I think the best torn and restored card on the market is Rewind. It very clean and visual.

http://themagicwarehouse.com/TA5169/Rew ... elain.html

Just watched the trailer for this. If it wasn't for the almost ridiculous method of tearing, I'd say its awesome. The reformation is very, very good, especially the last piece. I always thought tearing the card is best done slowly as its a convincer. People can see it clearly, and they can hear it. I may look into this one myself though, thanks for the pointer.

Grimshaw wrote:

magicollie wrote:I think the best torn and restored card on the market is Rewind. It very clean and visual.

http://themagicwarehouse.com/TA5169/Rew ... elain.html

Just watched the trailer for this. If it wasn't for the almost ridiculous method of tearing, I'd say its awesome. The reformation is very, very good, especially the last piece. I always thought tearing the card is best done slowly as its a convincer. People can see it clearly, and they can hear it. I may look into this one myself though, thanks for the pointer.

No worries. But to a lay person the tearing process just flies by and in my opinion, as long as they see four pieces by the end of it it doesn't really matter.

What I personally don't like about Ref4m is the fact of having to rip the card up at the end in order to hand it out to someone. I feel that a good Torn and Restored gives the spectator great souvenir to take away with them; the ending of Ref4m seems to be a massive anti-climax.

The best Torn and Restored I have come across is Torn 2 Pieces, by Shawn Farquhar. It's performed with a photo and leaves the spectator with an impossible souvenir. I've been performing it for months now, and it slays the spectator every time. I've stopped looking at other Torn and Restoreds now, as I've honestly never seen one to match T2P.

Webhed just beat me to it with his reccomendation of Torn to Pieces, it's a lovely little routine and with it being done with a photo give you the chance to really make it something personal. I've done this a few times now at parties or anniversaries where I've got hold of photos of the guest of honour beforehand and used these. Using photos also gives you the chance to weave some good, fun stories into the routine.

I think that the tear is a bit weird ... but it could well be me having my magicians hat on ... as far as a method goes, I really like it, easily adaptable with a photo and can allow you to weave your own story line into the trick to totally fit your style of performance and your show

Let us know how it all goes if you buy it - wouldn't mind a review of it, as I have several Theory11 products, they differ GREATLY in my opinion on the trick / explanation quality ... be good to see if this is a hit or a miss

Dan

My word that looked horrible.

"I'm going to tear this card up and put it back together again in my hands, then I am going to tear it up again and give you a torn up card to take away."

Webhead has it right on one point, there is no point in restoring a destruction if you are just going to destroy it again. Imagine doing a sword box routine like that. Sure, halfway through it looks really magical, but when you open the front at the end and she is laying there in a pool of her own blood, it loses it's "magic" somewhat.

Whenever anybody asks me to reccommend a torn and restored card, I alway say Torn by Daniel Garcia. I love Guy Hollingsworth's Reformation, and it is indeed a fantastic little piece for a formal parlour type setting, but is less practical for your average walking around doing tricks kind of scenario than Garcia, and that's why Torn gets my vote. Simpler, more direct, and unlike ref4m, they get to keep the impossible object. I know people that still have the card I restored for them 5 years ago in their wallet.

If you're just looking for something simple, give Mark Wilson's one a go. It's in his Encyclopedia somewhere in the card section.