I've done a little bit of searching and can't find much on this effect. The only things I've seen are Criminal by Menny Lindenfield and Serial Biller by Rich Ferguson. I'd like to have a nice one in my repertoire––can anyone recommend a good version?
Torn and restored bill?
- Thread starter wZEnigma
- Start date
Hey,
Firstly I would like to say, with all due respect to Menny Lindenfeld, I would not recommend Criminal. When I first saw the trailer, I was a bit misled. It showed the effect with what I thought was a borrowed bill, and I'm also pretty sure the reactions in the video are from different effects... But to me I was disappointed when I found out that there is a gimmick involved, and the bill cannot be borrowed (without a bold switch). It also cannot be examined afterwards either. Usually I could've gotten over the fact that it couldn't be borrowed, but the fact that it's not examinable is what put me off. Basically to the audience, you pull out a bill, display it in kind of a dodgey way, tear it, and restore it, and once again display it in an awkward way, and put it away without letting them check it out (unless of course you used a switch). I just don't like it. But that's certainly not to say Lindenfeld's other effects aren't great!
Serial Biller is a great resource in my opinion. Yes, it does teach the basic effect of tearing a bill, verifying the serial number, restoring it, and verifying the serial number again. But it also goes into a lot of variations on the effect. Rich Ferguson really explains a lot about the effect and even some bonus effects. I recommend this. The method is just awesome.
Now the simple route would be a Kozlowski switch (granted, this is taught on Serial Biller). This is what I do when I happen to be set up for it, and maybe I'm out with friends or have family over and someone pulls out a bill. You can tear it, do the Kozlowski switch almost exactly the way you'd do it with an untorn bill, and then reveal the restored bill. It's a simple way of doing the bare bones effect of tearing a bill and restoring it. If you don't know what the Kozlowski Bill switch is, you should get The Hundred Dollar Bill Switch by Mike Kozlowski or another great resource on the move is Jay Sankey's Hundred Dollar Miracles.
Hope this helped!
-JP
Firstly I would like to say, with all due respect to Menny Lindenfeld, I would not recommend Criminal. When I first saw the trailer, I was a bit misled. It showed the effect with what I thought was a borrowed bill, and I'm also pretty sure the reactions in the video are from different effects... But to me I was disappointed when I found out that there is a gimmick involved, and the bill cannot be borrowed (without a bold switch). It also cannot be examined afterwards either. Usually I could've gotten over the fact that it couldn't be borrowed, but the fact that it's not examinable is what put me off. Basically to the audience, you pull out a bill, display it in kind of a dodgey way, tear it, and restore it, and once again display it in an awkward way, and put it away without letting them check it out (unless of course you used a switch). I just don't like it. But that's certainly not to say Lindenfeld's other effects aren't great!
Serial Biller is a great resource in my opinion. Yes, it does teach the basic effect of tearing a bill, verifying the serial number, restoring it, and verifying the serial number again. But it also goes into a lot of variations on the effect. Rich Ferguson really explains a lot about the effect and even some bonus effects. I recommend this. The method is just awesome.
Now the simple route would be a Kozlowski switch (granted, this is taught on Serial Biller). This is what I do when I happen to be set up for it, and maybe I'm out with friends or have family over and someone pulls out a bill. You can tear it, do the Kozlowski switch almost exactly the way you'd do it with an untorn bill, and then reveal the restored bill. It's a simple way of doing the bare bones effect of tearing a bill and restoring it. If you don't know what the Kozlowski Bill switch is, you should get The Hundred Dollar Bill Switch by Mike Kozlowski or another great resource on the move is Jay Sankey's Hundred Dollar Miracles.
Hope this helped!
-JP
Thanks for the help, JP. I had no idea about Criminal. I also didn't consider a bill switch. What makes the Kozlowski switch stand out from the rest? Also, someone over at Ellusionist commented that Serial Biller costs over $100 to make. If that's true, I'd have a harder time justifying the purchase.
Hey WZEnigma,
The Kozlowski switch is what I would consider the fundamental bill switch. So that's just what I thought of first. Its an extremely versatile switch as well. I don't think it's giving away much if I say that it uses a popular utility device that you likely already have or even use. Of course there've been so many variations to switching a bill in this way, but they're all basically based upon the original Mike Kozlowski switch.
I have seen the comment you're talking about. I'm going to try to address it without exposure. If you want to be able to do it 50 times and make all your props all at once, yes you're going to need to take a trip to the bank and ask them for $100 singles, but not just any 100 singles (I'll stop there). There'll be times when you purchase something at the store, and the cashier will give you your change back in the perfect kind of singles. But I'm also sure that you could bring even just a ten dollar bill into the bank, ask the cashier for the ten singles you need, and they'll comply! Right then and there you can do it five times! I don't think it's giving away anything if i say that for every time you do the effect, you lose a dollar. So this isn't something that you'll use in walk around or table-hopping or anything like that. It's not "instant reset" so it's a piece that you'll perform when you're ready to really amaze them. So unless you're a professional who relies on quick resets and zero cleanup and etc..., that'll basically be all the time. It might sound like it's going to be difficult to get together the props to do the effect, but it's not. A quick trip to the bank, and you're set to go. Besides just the effect, Serial Biller is also a great resource in general. Rich teaches other effects and gives a lot of insight that I believe to be valuable. So I guess it's up to you with this one. I doubt the method will disappoint, nor will the small amount of work it will take to prepare the effect.
-JP
The Kozlowski switch is what I would consider the fundamental bill switch. So that's just what I thought of first. Its an extremely versatile switch as well. I don't think it's giving away much if I say that it uses a popular utility device that you likely already have or even use. Of course there've been so many variations to switching a bill in this way, but they're all basically based upon the original Mike Kozlowski switch.
I have seen the comment you're talking about. I'm going to try to address it without exposure. If you want to be able to do it 50 times and make all your props all at once, yes you're going to need to take a trip to the bank and ask them for $100 singles, but not just any 100 singles (I'll stop there). There'll be times when you purchase something at the store, and the cashier will give you your change back in the perfect kind of singles. But I'm also sure that you could bring even just a ten dollar bill into the bank, ask the cashier for the ten singles you need, and they'll comply! Right then and there you can do it five times! I don't think it's giving away anything if i say that for every time you do the effect, you lose a dollar. So this isn't something that you'll use in walk around or table-hopping or anything like that. It's not "instant reset" so it's a piece that you'll perform when you're ready to really amaze them. So unless you're a professional who relies on quick resets and zero cleanup and etc..., that'll basically be all the time. It might sound like it's going to be difficult to get together the props to do the effect, but it's not. A quick trip to the bank, and you're set to go. Besides just the effect, Serial Biller is also a great resource in general. Rich teaches other effects and gives a lot of insight that I believe to be valuable. So I guess it's up to you with this one. I doubt the method will disappoint, nor will the small amount of work it will take to prepare the effect.
-JP
The classic bill switch works because you don't really need anything super specific besides two different bills and a TT. Also it resets instantly, thus making it really easy to practice.
Serial Biller was a good idea gone a bit too far. People don't pay attention to the serial numbers on their money. So doing a torn and restored bill that way is trying to over prove something. If you really want to do a decent version that doesn't over prove it. I know there are a few good ones in the book Switch and I think David Regal teaches a handling for his clarity box. Which just has the spectator sign their name on the bill.
Serial Biller was a good idea gone a bit too far. People don't pay attention to the serial numbers on their money. So doing a torn and restored bill that way is trying to over prove something. If you really want to do a decent version that doesn't over prove it. I know there are a few good ones in the book Switch and I think David Regal teaches a handling for his clarity box. Which just has the spectator sign their name on the bill.
JP, thanks for the info! It helped a lot. I don't think SB is for me––I agree with Randy that it seems a bit over the top. Where is a good source from which to learn the classic switch?
That exact bill switch is in the Jon Lovick book "Switch". Along with a thousand other bill switches too.