The Gang of Four by Harry Anderson

Wise Guy, from the street to the screen by Mike Caveney
Page 86 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is NOT The Gang of Four, it is a variation. But the main effect remains the same. A card is torn into four pieces and revealed as the four corners of four other cards. The original effect goes like this. Four cards are peeked at, the magician then removes a card and says, that it would be great if all had picked the same card. A quick look through the deck and all four spectators agree that their card is missing. When asked for the name of the card it turns out that all had different cards. Then the magician would tear up the card removed earlier and the turn out would be the same as in the version that I recorded. Here is what I never liked about it: The setup and that most of the effect is not seen in a strange way. What if the spectators forgot the card... all am saying is, that there are a few things that could go wrong.
I changed the effect slightly. A prediction is introduced and four cards are picked. Basic motivation: The spectator gets four tries to get the matching card. But he utterly fails. (The slow reveal of the wrong cards also has some nice built in drama)
Then it is the magician's turn to find a "magic" solution to the problem. And I have been doing this effect for a few years now. To borrow a term most often used by Harry Lorayne a Reputation Maker.... or a Show Stopper. My version is practical, just get out the card from a different deck, and all you need is a cull and a force, making the routine a piece of cake.

Difficulty 2/5