St. John Trick by Alessandro Criscione

An effect inspired by the ancient Neapolitan tradition.

Every 24th of June, a propitiatory rite is to roll up pieces of paper around blessed matches, make a wish, and the wish might come true if the matches escape from the pieces of paper without any explanation... Alessandro discovered the old trick behind this ancient tradition and wants to share it with you explaining an original routine.

The magician shows a long piece of paper and a match. He folds the paper in half and puts the match in the middle.

He rolls up the paper and puts it in the spectator's hand. Shortly afterwards, the match has escaped from the piece of paper! Then the magician tears the paper into many pieces, rolls them up and puts them in the spectator's hand. The magician snaps his fingers and the pieces of paper have now magically been restored - they have joined into a long piece of paper as before.