The “Altoid” Card

Effect: A card is selected and a corner of the card is torn off and signed, and given to the spectator to hold. The card with the missing corner vanishes and reappears in a previously shown empty mint container. The signed torn corner matches the tear in the chosen card.

Notes: The idea for this trick comes from a trick published years ago in the Linking Ring, in which a torn card reappears in a thin Listerine Pocket Pack of mint strips. In that version the Pocket Pack containing strips of mint has to be switched for a Packet that contains the duplicate folded card.
My version is clean and direct: One container is used throughout the trick. It is shown to contain only mints and is given to the spectator to hold until the conclusion of the effect when the spectator opens the container to reveal a folded card, which matches the previously signed torn corner.

Needed:

• A container of small sugar-free “Altoid” mints. The Altoid container is made of metal and measures 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches (see Fig.1).
• A deck of cards. 
• A duplicate card from another deck and a marking pen.
  

Set-up: Open the container and remove all but a few mints. Continue to slide the lid off the container until it separates from the container bottom, Fig. 2. Grip two duplicate cards (say two 6 of spades) very tightly together with your right hand and grip the upper left pip corner tightly with your left hand and very slowly tear the corners of the two cards as one but do not complete the tear. Separate the two cards and complete the tear only on one card, as shown in Fig. 3. When tearing the two cards as one, try to tear unevenly so as to give a more convincing fit at the conclusion of the trick.

Place the incomplete torn card about 3/4 of the way face down in a deck of cards (same colored backs) with the almost torn corner facing the bottom left of the pack and place the deck in the card box and in your pocket. Fold the torn card lengthwise and then in half as in Fig. 4. Place it in the top of the container’s lid as shown in Fig. 5. The folded edge of the card needs to be towards the center of the lid. Slide the cover back onto the container bottom as shown in Fig. 6 and close the cover but not all the way shut as shown in Fig.7 (the card will be released when the lid is completely closed). You will need to hold the folded card tightly against the cover with your thumb and forefinger to keep the card in place while closing. Put 4 or 5 of the small mints into the container as you close it. Place the container in your pocket.

       Fig. 1                             Fig. 2                                     Fig. 3                            Fig. 4                      Fig. 5 

Method

Part 1: Remove the mint container from your pocket with your thumb over the small opening and shake the container to rattle the mints. Open the container halfway, (Fig. 8) and offer the spectator a mint. Rattling the mints and opening the lid halfway is very convincing. Other than mints, the container is apparently empty. Take a mint, telling the spectator your mouth is a little dry (which is the reason to bring out the mints). Close the lid completely to release the folded card. There will be a slight snap sound as the lid is shut tight. Rattle the mints once more and give the container to the spectator, telling him he can keep the mints for helping you with a trick. Ask the spectator to put the container in his pocket.

         Fig.6                  Fig. 7                      Fig. 8               Fig. 9                      Fig. 10                      Fig. 11

Part 2: Remove the cards from your pocket. Riffle force the incomplete torn 6 of spades, handling the card to hide the tear. Pretend to tear the already torn corner, stopping just before you actually complete the tear. Give the spectator the marking pen and have him sign the corner and complete the tear. Give the signed torn corner piece to the spectator to hold. The spectator now has the mint case in his pocket and the signed corner of his selected card, the 6 of spades.

Part 3: Tell the spectator that you will cause the chosen card, the 6 of spades, to vanish and re-appear in your pocket. At this point you have two options: You could either vanish the card or tear it into several pieces and vanish the pieces. I have done both effectively. To vanish the card, I have two duplicate cards, one on top of the deck and one on the bottom of the deck. Hold the deck as if you were going to do a color change and place the 6 of spaces on the bottom of the deck. With your thumb and forefinger, pull the top card off the deck and place it over the 6 of spades (ala color changing card move). The illusion is perfect because the spectator still sees the same card.

Part 4: Look in your pocket and act surprised that there is no card. Ask the spectator if the card is in his pocket. Look puzzled and ask the spectator to bring out the mint container. Have the spectator open the container to reveal a card inside,(Fig. 9) Take the mint container from the spectator and completely remove the cover, (Fig. 10) and ask the spectator to remove the folded card and unfold it to reveal the 6 of spades with a missing corner. The spectator is then asked to verify that the signed corner he is holding matches perfectly with the torn corner of the 6 of spades.