If you want to secretly discern a thought or message, there’s always the reliable center tear. Ran Pink offers his version of the center tear that works with an index or business card, allows you to precisely tear the card without looking at it and results in torn pieces that are seemingly too small to contain any useful information.
Pink says that this tear has never failed him. It’s a good one that offers advantages over the standard method. It may work for you.
On a Tear
A spectator writes a name or other fact on a business or index card and folds the card two times into quarters. Without looking at his hands, the magician takes the folded card and tears it into sixteenths. Of course, the revelation is a sneaky glance away-horizontal, right-side-up and easy to read. The tear can be performed at any time and there’s no switching, stealing, palming or preparation. All you need is a piece of paper, a pen and an index or business card.
There are several aspects that I link about Pink’s tear. The paper never leaves the audience's sight and all of the tearing occurs without you looking. Pink has come up with a specific procedure for tearing the card that you can execute without looking at the card. And if you should lose your place, the folds and tears provide some tactile clues to help you get oriented.
At the Center
Another strength, Pink offers a method to setup the card so a spectator can write on it, and unless he or she wants to try and cause trouble, will always fold the card in the correct manner. Spectators are asked to write on a line and not within a circle, which is more natural. You can also show the papers from all sides during and after the tear and still access the information.
The ten-page manual offers lots of color photographs and clear instructions. While Pink’s technique is going to require practice, it’s not difficult to execute and is ideal for one-word descriptions, names, dates and numbers. I like the fact that the technique uses a common business or index card, which I think is disarming.
If you don’t currently have a center tear technique that you already rely on and use, “Think Pink” is worth the look.
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
MSRP (US): $25
Dealers can purchase from Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.
