Thus far, my favourite signed torn and restored card trick is the card doctor found in the encyclopedia of card tricks by Jean huguard.I feel that in ripping the card, it's apparent that the signature is not there (to an observant Spectator at least). I was wondering if you guys had a way to conceal that and also I could use ideas for the vanish of the pieces done at the end. I just do a !@#$er pa*m vanish but I feel like there's a better option out there that I haven't considered.

In the original write-up, Ted Annemann instructs that the spectator should initial the card, not sign it. I believe he makes this suggestion to keep the mark small, so its later absence isn't noticed. I wouldn't worry about this issue too much. If the card is ripped up fairly quickly it's unlikely that anyone would notice the missing initials. Additionally, if you instruct your participant to place his or her initials on a white portion of the card, this will keep the mark from getting too large and conspicuous.

In terms of the vanish, I'd use a special handkerchief as Annemann did because it matches the hospital presentation. I guess you could burn the pieces in an ashtray, or use a switching device to vanish them.

Although clever, I've always thought that the suggested presentation for this trick was more interesting than the method. I particularly like how the story of the unfortunate man who loses a leg justifies the last quarter of the card not being restored. However, I'd prefer to use a court card to help strengthen this story for obvious reasons (which would necessitate a change to the method used).

Also, there are now many better methods out there for this plot, such as J.C. Wagner's, but this approach still works well if you don't want to use a dupe.