Principles of Destruction by Ben Seidman

Build a rising card, a vanish, and an impossible card-in-pocket discovery into one escalating stage or parlor performance. In Principles of Destruction, Ben Seidman guides your audience through a sequence that ends with a participant finding the signed-off card in another spectator’s pocket, matched to the torn corner they kept.

• Escalating card magic: A selected card rises from the deck, vanishes from a participant’s hand, then reappears beneath them.
• Memorable finale: One spectator keeps a torn card corner while another discovers the matching card in their pocket.
• Stage or parlor ready: The routine is designed for audiences of 25 to 2,500 or more.
• Minimal props: Ben explains how to omit or substitute the rising-card phase and perform the routine from your pockets.
• Book and bonus video: The hardcover book includes clear explanations and illustrations, plus a video with additional handlings and insights from Ben.

Use the full sequence as a featured piece in your show, or adapt its opening phase to suit the performance you have in mind. The finale gives two audience members a shared moment of astonishment—and they can keep the card and its matching corner.