Magic tricks where something broken comes back

What a restoration is

A restoration breaks something and makes it whole again: a torn napkin, a cut string, a snapped toothpick. The broken bits are real, and so is the whole one at the end, which is why the audience checks so carefully.

Most restorations are Wizard tricks, because the secret is a switch done in plain sight, and a switch takes days of practice. Scissors cut paper, card and string only, and a cutting step always says to ask a grown-up. Let the audience check the broken pieces before the magic word, and the whole one after.

By level, 1 Apprentice (works the first try), 1 Conjurer (a little practice) and 2 Wizard (days of practice). They come off 2 shelves of the shop, most from The Everyday Shelf (2) and The Paper and String Drawer (2). What you need most often: string (1), and 1 trick needs nothing at all. 2 tricks have a step a grown-up does (something hot or a bright light), and 1 trick carries the choking note for brothers and sisters under 4. The quickest to learn is Thumb Off (5 minutes); the longest is The Cut and Restored String (2 to 4 days).

Every trick there is falls into one of eight kinds. How magicians do a restoration is in our post on the eight secrets behind every magic trick.