Cut And Restored Silk by Phoa Yan Tiong

Phoa Yan Tiong performed this clever effect in his cabaret act and it never fails to produce a gasp of amazement.

Effect: A handkerchief becomes visibly restored after being cut in half and the halves held well apart to prove that no trickery is involved. Indeed there is no trickery in the cutting, for both halves are quite separate. The effect has proved a great hit also, in the act of Will Ayling who used a regular linen handkerchief for its performance.

Phoa used to demonstrate and explain a version of this trick in the lecture he gave to Magical Societies and at Conventions, but the method he now uses and describes here is much superior. The first idea came from a version by Tan Hock Chuan published in the Sphinx magazine, but this was not self-contained and needed the aid of a top hat and a wand. Another version by Giampaolo Zelli required a thumb tip. Phoa has succeeded in eliminating all outstanding aids.

An 18 inch silk and a large pair of scissors are required...and you can perform a real baffler!

1st edition 1967, 3 pages.
word count: 1043 which is equivalent to 4 standard pages of text