Torn and Restored Card

The Torn and Restored Card is a plot wherein a playing card (usually chosen by a spectator) is torn into pieces and then restored. There are many techniques to accomplish this, some even allowing for the card to be signed, and most requiring sleight-of-hand. There are also different presentational approaches. For example, David Copperfield performed it with an extremely valuable baseball card on one of his television specials. He used a version by Chris Kenner called Torn Asunder, which was advertised to the magic community but never actually released.

History

First ever published torn and restored card

According to Potter's Index, it seems to be :

• The Torn Card Restored, page 196 in Chemical, Natural and Physical Magic by G.W. Septimus Piesse (1858)

First published routine to use a signed card

In The Magic Wand, Vol. 22, N° 160, dec. 1933, page 191, A Marked Torn and Restored Card Effect by Leonard Saunders.

It's not really a signed card but the spectator writes a number on one of the index corner.

In The Cardician by Edward Marlo (1953), page 187, The Second Method, the magician puts his initials on the back of the card and the spectator does the same on the face.

See also Signature Card Restoration, page 6 of New Applause Winning Tricks by Samuel Berland (1956)

First published routine to use only one card

Ultimate Rip-off by Paul Harris (1977)?

Methods in Print using Poker- or Bridge-Size Cards

• Threshold by Gary Ouellet. Published as a separate manuscript in the Masters of Magic series (Volume 1, #5) (1981). Card is chosen and signed by both the magician (on the back) and the spectator (on the face) before being torn, then restored.
• Ultimate Rip-off by Paul Harris in Art of Astonishment, Book 2 (1996). Noteworthy in that it uses only one card, no extra pieces, and spawned a multitude of variations. First published in Supermagic (1977)
• Reformation, page 16 of Notes on Card Tricks and Other Diversions (Lecture Notes 1996) by Guy Hollingworth A seminal method in which a signed card is torn into quarters and restored piece by piece.
• A Destroyed and Reproduced Card, page 219 of Drawing Room Deceptions (1999) by Guy Hollingworth.
• Hoodwink by Ben Harris and his Wink Wink in Quarks & Quirk
• Cardboard Contortionists by Jay Sankey. Two signed cards are torn into quarters then restored. First published in Sankey Panky (Richard Kaufman, 1986).
• Signa-Tare Card Illusion by Karrell Fox. Published in the New Stars of Magic series (Volume 1, #8) (1977)
• R.I.P. by David Acer. Published in Natural Selections, Volume II (1999). Variation of Paul Harris's Ultimate Rip-Off performed with a business card and featuring a piece by piece restoration.
• Impromptu Torn and Restored Card by Paul LePaul. Published in The Card Magic of LePaul (1959) An index corner is torn from a freely selected card and retained by the spectator for future identification. The remainder of the card is torn into bits and the pieces buried in the deck. The magician holds the face-down deck by its inner end and riffles up the outer end with his free hand, causing a single card to pop out from the deck like a piece of toast from a horizontal toaster. That card is removed and proves to be the selection, comletely restored except for the corner which has been retained by the spectator.
• Not Quite Perfect Torn & Restored Card by Harry Lorayne. First published in Apocalypse. Reprinted in Genii (Volume 1, #3 - March, 2008). An outgrowth of J.C. Wagner's torn-and-restored card published in Seven Secrets.
• Piece by Piece by David Regal. Published in Star Quality (Harry Lorayne, 1987). A signed card is torn into quarters, restored piece by piece, then left as a souvenir. Harry Lorayne notes, "Aside from David's beautiful restoration handling, this is different than most in that one corner is not left unrestored."
• Torn Card by Bernard Bilis. Published in French Pasteboards (Bilis, 1980). Rather than being torn, an initialed card is sliced in half with a straight razor. Based on a very clever application of an optical illusion.

Methods in Print using Jumbo Cards

• Jumbo Torn and Restored Card by J.C. Wagner. Published in The Commercial Magic of J.C. Wagner (Mike Maxwell, 1987)
• World's Greatest Jumbo Torn and Restored Card by Harry Anderson. Published in Wise Guy (Mike Caveney, 1993). Performed by Harry Anderson on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.