Magic Tricks

The best part of this video (just under 12 minutes) is in working out the sudden visual change. If you've worked in cards for a long time, you've probably come across something like this before. If not, you'll enjoy practicing the slight—it's actually kind of fun to do in front of a mirror. Just be aware it's a little knacky. As Mr. Stone points out, everyone's hands are a little bit different in size, so you really have to put in some practice to make it work for you.

A strong positive here is that this is indeed an impromptu effect and can be done with a borrowed deck. (So long as no one complains about your tearing their cards up!) You may want to do just the slightest of set up to move a joker into the right place, as in the trailer video, but in fact it need not be the joker at all. (How you might do so under cover is not discussed.) This is the "wrong" card you present, and it can be any card; doesn't have to be the joker. The joker serves as a nice punch-line (as in: the magician is the joker). The joker also provides some visual cover (if the joker has a busy design) that other cards might not.

If you watch the trailer you will note Mr. Stone has an accent. Do you have difficulty understanding him? I didn't find it to be a problem at all; his English is very good. That said, he teaches as though he's in a rush. I take it to mean he is excited to share his effect, but things move very quickly here. The video appears to have been filmed on the fly behind a curtain at a magic expo. There's not the usual care and pacing you are probably used to. As I say, it all appears rushed to me.

My biggest issue is the plot and the ad copy. The true plot on offer here is that the "wrong" card is visibly torn in front of the spectator. Then there's an instant, visual transpo to the "right" card — the spectator's chosen, signed card. How does that corner tear manage to fit the selected card when the wrong card was visibly torn? And how did the "right" torn corner end up there when it was the "wrong" card that was torn? That's the effect.

The problem is we are ALL conditioned to expect a torn card be restored — both magicians and lay people. In fact, the ad copy says as much. It reads: "David Stone's walkaround opener, a startling torn an restored card with a surprise ending that destroys audiences." NO, NOT SO. The card is never restored, and that leaves the whole thing anticlimactic, in my opinion. The spectator gets to keep a torn card, probably a little confused and wondering when will the rest of the effect (the "restored" part) be done. You may or may not care about this restoration not happening, but you certainly want the ad copy to be accurate. It is not.