Variation follows variation follows variation. These days, the output of derivative magic seems unending. In a marketplace dominated by minor differences in method and supposed “fixes” that are really no more than vaguely veiled attempts at creating a secondary source of income for hobbyist-cum-professional-tricksters, variations are the name of the game. Change the color of the cards to red, the shape of the cups or the format in which a trick is taught, and suddenly, your “revolutionary” variation is worth marketing. Yeah, right.

The hoary Torn and Restored plot, performed with playing cards, has not escaped the jaws of this beast, either. Ever since Guy Hollingworth’s “Reformation” hit in the 1990’s, spurred on by Chris Kenner’s work for David Copperfield (performed with a Honus Wagner baseball card on a TV Special), card creasers by the dozen have appeared on the scene.

But sometimes, the back-and-forth, the endless noodling, yields excellent results. I’m pleased to tell you that finally, after a lot of tinkering, experimentation and less than stellar solutions, you can stop wondering what version of the Torn and Restored Card to Learn.

“Torn” is it.

Daniel Garcia has come up with what is, to my mind, one of the cleanest handlings of this trick ever devised. The pieces are merely touched together, one at a time, and seem to fuse together. There is a conspicuous lack of extraneous rubbing of the torn edges with the fingers, and a bare minimum of cover from the hands.

In short, this looks like real magic; a live, in-person camera trick.

You know the story: A card is torn into four pieces, and then, piece by piece, it’s restored to its original condition.

I hate to sound like a dealer ad for the trick, but man, I’ve got to tell you, this method has it all: minimal sleights, a complete restoration, borrowed cards can be used, and yes, the card is signed. There are no gimmicks, and no glue or sticky stuff is used. And no, you won’t have to sell your firstborn to uncover the method. It’s really not that tough a trick to learn and perform.

I suppose if I was extremely critical and a detailed, thorough reviewer, I could prattle on and on about the differences between “Torn” and the “Reformation,” “Reparation” (Jon Lovick’s version), and every other method for the piece-by-piece restoration extant. But I really don’t think that’s necessary. Trust me.

The DVD is nicely crafted and shot, if a little too rock-star like in production for my tastes. If there is one criticism I can offer, it is that more close-up shots of Garcia’s hands would be helpful. But there is really no reason to complain. In the end, the stylized look of the DVD is really more annoying than any lack of technical expertise in the instructional portion of the DVD. After all, this is a friggin’ card trick, not the latest hit spinning on TRL.

But what a card trick.