NONE of the principles employed in this clever combination are new, but, as the audience only sees the surface of a trick, the effect is none the worse on that account. If this surface is properly camouflaged, the closer one sticks to the time-tried methods the better.
The Effect
The performer takes one of the leaves from an advertising calendar, tears off a corner and gives it to one of the audience to hold. Then he tears the remainder of the leaf into strips, which he rolls into a ball, saying: "There's another month gone, how time flies!" Holding the ball at the tips of the fingers of the left band, he picks up a fan from the table with the right and fans the strips, at the same time working the ball open with the fingers. He then lays the fan on the table and straightens out the paper, showing the leaf restored. He passes it to the spectator who holds the piece torn from the corner, who fits it in place and reports that the fit is perfect. He then pretends that someone looks suspicious, and, turning to him says: "I see, sir, that you suspect some trickery on my part, but you wrong me, you really do. I assure you that I am as innocent as an unusually young babe. You think that I kept this original sheet and tore up another. Now just to make you regret all the rest of your life that you so wrong fully mistrusted a fellow mortal, I'm going to sacrifice another month of our all too short life by again tearing this into bits." He proceeds exactly as before, returns to his table, picks up the fan and fans his right hand while walking back toward the audience. Then he straightens it out and again has the corner fitted.
Turning to the suspicious spectator he says, "Sir, I shall expect a public apology from you. Otherwise my second will call on you in the morning."