Exo.Rant-Review of "Torn Too" by Daniel Garcia

[JKDragoon]

Heya!

Exo.Rant-Review of "Torn Too" by Daniel Garcia...

Sigh... I really should stop doing reviews for T&R tricks... But this one's by Daniel Garcia, the inventor of "Torn", a trick I see as the mother of all T&R tricks that's fairly do-able in real-life situations (Guy Hollingworth's "Reformation" is a little bit more complex and requires setup... "Torn" requires less...).
On the "Torn" DVD, I noticed a very interesting restoration near the intro clip reel of his performances. I shrugged this off as something pretty cool but relented to the fact that there was no published info on it.

Now, it finally comes back to haunting me as "Torn Too" (T2), DG's new walk-around version of "Torn". It is an entirely new effect and is in no way an add-on to "Torn". Thus, for any worriers out there, you don't need to have learnt "Torn" to do "Torn Too" (Though I'm tempted to say that you do... Seeing that "Torn" was quite a good trick and quite a few forum members are in general agreement with that!)

You've prb. already seen the demo of T2 or the intro of "Torn" but I'll describe the trick anyhow...
T2 has a completely new storyline to it... A magician locates a card by means of a large 'crimp' (i.e. a torn off corner!). He/She proceeds to tell the spectator about the problem... Their signed card is... Uhh... Torn. As a finale... In a quick whip-like action, the magician restores the corner in a very visual and open manner. The corner seems to melt/jump back fully restored, with a quick flick of the thumb.

Diving in depth: "Torn Too" broken apart...
T2 requires a special gimmick. Initially, I owned the PDF of this trick and so, the gimmick was provided with the PDF. Thus, I had to put it aside and dream about performing it...
Up til now!!
On the T2 vid, quite a massive length of it is spent on how to make your own personal gimmick! The gimmick itself is not too hard to make... Quite a straight-forward process. DG takes it pretty slow, so you can follow along and pause if you ever need to. You'll probably need some stuff, but the final outcome should be quite durable. You can use it for multiple performances, and if you construct it well, should last you for quite an extended period of time.

The rest of the video is focussed on performance and handling. The trick is ingenious but when DG does it, he takes his time. For me, I'd do the trick a little faster... So I don't keep babbling too much to the audience!
T2 is best done mid-way through a routine or a finale. It doesn't seem right to open with it.
Two major problems with T2 are that the spectator has a limited area to sign their card... But don't worry, the area is quite BIG compared to the space of the torn corner. Also, lighting may be an issue (as I've read from other people's experiences)... The gimmick may be exposed if you hold it right in the face of the spectator.
Other than those 2 issues (which are easily avoided and taught about on the video), presentation is quite amazing and I'm sure you'll be able to find your own little 'niche' for performing the trick.

Bare-Bones Bottom Line...
I got this trick on the offbeat, before I ever knew about ExoMagic (and am thankful that Exo accepted me... XD). As a card magician, I was quite interested in the 'walk-around' nature of this trick and I find this more practical than doing a piece-by-piece T&R.
Basically, it suits my style of fairly fast presentations... But you can easily slow it down to a speed that you can handle, if you want to.
It's worth buying, and if you're on the fence about it, I'd push you to the side of getting it... As long as you don't have other MAJORLY important stuff to get first.


Hope you liked the review!
Feel free to comment or 'spar'...
J