Torn and Restored Napkin

With a little bit of magic, you can make a torn napkin look good as new. Join Ryan Oakes as he teaches you a Dinner Table Magic trick that'll have your crowd begging for seconds!

Two napkins

SOMETIMES WE USE MATERIALS THAT REQUIRE ADULT SUPERVISION…LIKE SCISSORS SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY AROUND WHENEVER YOU DO MAGIC TRICKS!

1. To prepare, open up one of your napkins and crumple it into a small ball, the smaller the better. Just open the napkin up fully, and then roll it from one corner into a ball. This will enable it to be opened quickly later on.
2. Hide the balled up napkin in your left hand using a finger palm. Just lightly grip the ball against your palm with your middle and ring fingers and with the back of your hand facing the audience, it will look naturally empty.
3. Open up the second napkin and hold it out in your left hand for your audience to see. This will help to further hide the one secretly hidden in you palm because when you turn your hand to show the opened napkin to your audience, it will conceal the hidden one.
4. To perform the trick, casually show the opened napkin on both sides.
5. Tear the napkin in two using your right hand. You can continue to tear it as much as you like so long as you don’t create too many pieces.
6. Once you have torn napkin pieces in your left hand, pull them in towards your palm to help conceal the secret napkin ball even further.
7. Put all of your torn pieces together in your left hand, using your fingertips to crumple them into a tight ball of their own. Be sure to keep this ball close to but separate from your hidden ball.
8. Squeeze the two balls together with your right index finger and thumb so that they appear to be one. Show them as one to your audience, with the hidden ball up against your thumb beneath the torn ball.
9. Place the balls back in your left hand. When you do this, place them in such a way that the torn ball will now be beneath the secret ball. This way, the torn ball will now be finger palmed and the secret one will be held under your index finger. This may take some practice beforehand to pull off smoothly.
10. Time for some misdirection. Tell the audience that you need to get some magic dust out of your pocket. Take your secret ball out of your left hand with your right, leaving the torn ball still finger palmed. Then, reach into your pocket for your imaginary dust with your left hand, leaving the torn ball in your pocket as you do.
11. Pretend to sprinkle your magic dust over the remaining ball wit your left hand. Be sure to reveal that your left hand is empty as you do this.
12. Snap your fingers, wave your hand, and open up your ball. Your audience will think that all of the pieces of the torn ball have magically put themselves back together!