Max Londono put out an interesting variation on Anderson's tear. Without revealing anything, it added a special something to make the flash restoration at the end even more sure-fire.
Not sure if it's still available, but it was put out by Tannens some years ago.
L. Zaslow

Doesn't the clipping of the torn peices together lessen the effect? I have the DVD, and this wasn't my favorite version. I am using the Signed Torn and Restored from the Magic Makers DVD but I do it silently to music, and cut out the signed part. I only use and practice it because the reset is simple and requires no glue etc. The only downfall is that you have the pieces to ditch, but later on I plan to train my dove for production from it so the torn pieces don't matter much. Lately though I have found that a few torn pieces have fallen to the floor....

Chaz

I have tried the Anderson, No-Tear, and Bauer. Anderson is best for effect. No-Tear is easy and I used it with the Anderson setup. However, I had this gimmick fail once during performance and I am now gunshy. The Bauer is a nice, easy, quick method but I have had problem witht he pocket fully opening and as a result seldom used it in actual performance.

I think the Anderson is most reliable.

IO will always continue to do the gene anderson version. He sepnt enough time with me to teahc me how to make it and perform it and never once asked for anything in return. he is a very generous man and I love performing that illusion. The set up may take a lot longer, but it is worth it for me.

Kyle

I like axel hecklau Newsflash T & R Newspaper. nobody mentioned it here

does this dvd Torn and Restored Newspaper (9 Amazing Methods) - DVD
include this method?

I am using Axel's method and it's fantastic. The DVD is well produced and entertaining and the restoration is beautiful. I've gotten "wows" and gasps from it...and when watching my rehearsal videos frame-by-frame I still can't see how the change occurs, and I KNOW how it occurs.
I doubt Ben teaches this method - it's only available from Axel himself through his web site, and it's also a fairly recent product, so I'm guessing it came out after Ben's DVD, though I could be mistaken.
I haven't seen the Magic Makers product but I've been less than thrilled with most of what they come out with, so I'm sticking with Axel's method for now. His customer service is great (all of my emails were with him directly) which is especially helpful since he is based in Germany...and though he speaks with a German accent, you have no problem understand him on the DVD.
Can't say enough good things about it. Newsflash is a wonderful product.

I'm curious to hear what people think of Axel's vs. Andersons. I've seen the Anderson version on video but never in person...is there anyone who is familiar with both methods that could weigh in?

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......m=109&89

This link has some discussion of the various tears on the market as well as Anderson vs. Hecklau. I've performed Anderson's for years and decided to order Axel's version. Have to wait a bit for delivery because he is on a lecture tour here in the states for another week or so.

Yeah I read those threads thoroughly before purchasing Axel's since it's not the cheapest one on the market, and for good reason. You absolutely get what you pay for (about $95 in the U.S. which includes shipping.) I was impressed at how quickly it arrived from Germany.
I may just have to learn Anderson's tear as well to really know the difference...asking too much will certainly expose the method which I obviously don't want to do.

When I developed NEWSFLASH I started with the view to the effect not on the preparation time.
I have the feeling for many magicians is the preparation time more important than the effect.
Do they tell their audiance "hey- it costs me 2 minutes only to set it up" ??

Let me tell here some facts were Newsflash is different to other Versions.

- you have no angel problems
- you can perform close-up (less than 1 meter)
- no "fight" with the newspaper - the tearing process is as easy and natural as it could be.
- The restauration takes place in breast hight in a "reading" posture in full size
- In the moment just before the restauration, you do not have to put the fingers behind the package in order to take some "corners"
This movement distroys the surprise to the audiance, because this motion tells the audiance - there is "something" importand behind the pieces and in a moment something will happen.
I have eliminated this move in NEWSFLASH. (this is one of the main advantages of NEWSFLASH and makes it so surprising to the audiance)
...

- the preparation time is similar to Gene Anderson´s (this is a statement from people who performed both methods)


I met Gene Anderson on monday for the first time in my life. He is one of the most pleasant people I know. He was sitting in the front row in my lecture - it was quite exciting to me.

But - Newsflash is not a variation of the "Anderson Version". It is different. Because the starting point of my development was the Toni Stevens Method (No Tear).
In fact - I saw the Anderson Version in technical detail two month ago for the first time.

I never tried the Anderson tear - I watched the performance of several magicans performing Genes and other Version and I looked for weak points of these methods from the spectators point of view (No tear, Patrick Page, Anderson).
One of the best versions in my opinion is beside the Gene Anderson Newspaper, the Version of Robert Harbin. (the disadvantage here is, he has to sit down on a chair)

I have performed NEWSFLASH at my booth in Nashville over 50 times since the last three days. (and I was not to lazy to prepare them by myself ;-)


Hope that helps in the discussion.

Axel Hecklau

Hi axel,

this is the deaf guy who helped you at Marcs house the other night.
loved the lecture and wanted to comment on the news flash

I have performed Genes method for years and do love it BUT when I saw yours I msut admit the instant restoration wasa breathtaking. I agree with you that set up becomes a concern to many magicians but I think that is their problem not yours.

it takes me and my team 8 hours to set up my illusion show for a 90 minute show but the point is the set up is not the show it is just he prep work that MUST be done in order to present this and other spectacular works of magic.

again I will say that after seeing the lecture and actually holding it in my hands and having it pop open and change with such ease it was wild.

so to any one I would say if you like your gene anderson version great but if you want to take it up a notch then you need to buy this from Axel.

have fun

sam

ps hope I get to meet you again Axel it was a joy to do so.

It confuses me a little when I hear people discussing the reset time for this...I would think for working professionals who are being paid to do multiple shows, it would be wise (at least for a T&R Newspaper effect) to have multiples made up and ready to go. This would be simple and very cheap to do with Axel's version. I can't speak to the other versions but I would think that even if it's time consuming, if you can make one, you can make a few that will last you throughout the evening.

My experience comes primarily in comedy clubs where there are two shows a night, and I typically have a good 45 minutes between sets where I can go back stage and do what I need to do to get ready for the second show. To me the newspaper doesn't seem much like a walk around effect that you would do from table to table in a restaurant...just my personal thought on that matter.

If Axel can make up over 50 of these to perform in Nashville, I'm sure it's possible for anyone! It may take time but Rome wasn't built in a day

I think I've been doing Gene Anderson's T&R since sometime in the early 70's and it has always been a winner.

However, at the IBM Convention last week, I met Axel and actually saw him perform his News Flash over 30 times. I was working the door to the Dealer Room and had a straight line of sight to Axel's booth. Let me tell you, his News Flash is so good that I had to buy it even though I'm not currently using a T&R effect. He includes a DVD with a very complete explanation and some additional variations including a method for a flash (fire) restoration, a mismade in color, a method with an audience volunteer and you can show all pages before and after! I could not ask for any more or a better method.

The set up is only about four to six minutes and goes very smoothly after trying it 3 or 4 times.

Too bad he didn't make the price higher. Maybe that would have kept it more in the hands of those that will appreciate Axel's developement and protect it from exposure. Having seen this, I'd gladly pay $200 for it, because it is a well developed professional prop that will make me a lot of money. Thanks, Axel!

Bottom line is that it is worth every bit of the price and effort to order it from him.

Igam - I didn't see the fire restoration on the DVD and was hoping to since I'd seen it in the demo video, but perhaps I somehow missed it? Was it near the end of the disc?

No disrespect to the creator of NewsFlash but I have to ask this... Almost $100 shipped?
What they see
Anderson Tear - Magician shows each page of 2 full sheets (8 pages). Paper is torn many times into small squares. In a flash the paper restores. Pages are shown again.
What the magician knows: $10 to learn or $25 for a larger book on newspaper magic or $30 if you must have it on DVD.
Not hard to learn and while takes a little time and gluing to set up, once you know what you are doing it does not take all that long. You make your own gimmick very cheaply.

Newsflash: Magician shows each page of 2 full sheets of newspaper (8 pages) Paper is torn many times into small squares. In a flash the paper restores. Some pages are shown.

What the magician knows- It costs nearly $95 to have it shipped to US for DVD and one gimmick. While there are some handling improvements, (I do not have this..yet?) from the ad you tube video there is still prep time folding and gluing.


So basically to a lay audience, it is the same effect.

I have to ask, are the changes really that significant to justify the price difference? I have performed a few different ones including the Anderson and I am just trying to justify why I would want to buy this if the end effect will look the same to the audience.

What benefit do I have by using this method that I can not get via the Anderson Tear? What can Newsflash do that Anderson can not?

If you read this thread in its entirety INCLUDING the links within, then you would have an answer to your question. The end effect looks similar but not the same.

Is it worth the price? Depends as always. Some say yes, some say no. Sure, you could argue that at 10 times the cost of the Anderson version, it should be 10 times as good. But things are rarely that simple. To a working pro it is worth a hundred bucks just to be familiar with Hecklau's variation even if you never perform it. What is "worth it" to one person may not be worth it to another. It was worth it to me, I bought it and have no regrets.

Bill

I guarantee you...put money on it... you show both torn and restored to a lay person, with a day or two in between, and they will think it was the "same trick"

Sorry but they will not pick up on that the paper was chest level or not.

Thus, if the effect to a lay person is THE SAME, I was asking what makes NewsFlash BETTER and worth the 88% price difference.
Please do NOT misinterprent my questions. I am not some kid who does not have the funds to buy this. I am adult that does not want to part with money that it would prove the effect is not what it seems.
I am happy to support if the effect have the value for the price charged.

Sorry but at my level. I am done paying extra for the "new and improved" which turns out to be a paper clip on a rubber band. So forgive me if I have been burnt too many times and am asking questions.

I still am seeking the answers to what makes it better and if it truly can be done surrounded. I am not swayed by the cool restoration as the only reason to buy this.

It needs to be said that when you already have 'mastered' one handling for a standard or classic effect, it is highly unlikely that some 'new' version that appears on the market is going to revolutionize your understanding of what the effect could be.

More likely, any great improvement will come from you 'internally'. That is, in the form of finding a better why to express our personality or point of view via the existing trick. Changing the perspective or approach, music, attitude etc;

There is a bit 'magical thinking' in all of us that actually believes that with this 'new method, or next month's magazine will come some great revelation that will lift us up to the next level. Most often that kind of growth comes from dogged persistence, rehearsal, and a collection of small improvements that have cumulative value. Hope I didn't rain on anyone's parade.

I'm from Seattle. I can take the precipitation

Powermagic, I understand what you are saying. There is always a question of when or if an improvement is really necessary? To the audience you are restoring a newspaper so the Anderson method will work just fine. Axel's variation I find to be simpler and easier to do, with the added bonus of having a slight bit more "wow factor" on the restoration. Also, just before the flash restoration there is no get ready "tell" that the restoration is about to happen, where I believe there is with the Anderson version. Most spectators see this but I think aren't aware of it on a conscious level. But is has always bothered me.

In addition to the restoration there are a couple other things I like about Newsflash. One is that he does have a pretty cool and practical method of doing it surrounded, or at least being able to flip the opened paper around to show the back side immediately after the restoration. I like that a LOT. Does it make it any more amazing? Hard to tell, sometimes you just have to do what you prefer and assume the audience agrees. It's like comparing a classic card force to the cross cut force, assuming they both fool you, does one fool you more? It can be hard to really quantify that but I've never heard a magician say that he used to always use the classic force but now he thinks the cross cut force is better. So you could say that I think of Axel's as a classic force and Anderson's as a cross cut force although obviously this analogy is just used as an example and not to make a direct comparison.

The second difference is that the pages are folded in a slightly different way than the Anderson tear which overall just makes the newspaper less bulky and appear more natural, and easier to handle. This is especially true with the restored paper. With Anderson's the torn pieces are pretty bulky (as least with me they were) and it is difficult to fold the restored paper even back into quarters without it looking like it contains something. But with Axel's you can pretty much fold it into a small bundle if you like, or basically roll it up as you might a newspaper. The whole routine from beginning to end just looks more innocent and natural to me. Which I think is what Axel was trying to do when he started working on new methods. He wasn't trying to create a new effect, just make the existing one easier and more natural looking, in that I think he succeeded. Is that worth a hundred US dollars? We each have to answer that for ourselves. But given the R&D that Axel has obviously put into this, then I would say yes, for sure. You have to remember you're not just paying for the materials supplied but the time spent developing it.

The variations are not huge, most are subtle, one or two could be debated whether the average spectator would even notice. So I wouldn't call it a revolutionary new handling. For me it's worth it because I love the effect, but the Anderson tear (which is the only other newspaper tear I've actually performed so all I have to compare it to, plus the two look very similar) never really felt quite right to me. I always felt like I was struggling a little bit with it and that never seemed to go away completely like it has with everything else I perform. Maybe you could say I had a bit of a mental block with it. I think Newsflash will get me over that hump. To get over that hump that I've dealt with for 30 years with this particular effect, well I'd pay a hundred bucks for that easy. But none of those issues probably apply to you so you may not feel it's worth anywhere near that much.

Best,
Bill
PS- it does help also that the Axel's gimmick is way cooler than a paperclip or rubberband!!!

Andrew, the fire restoration is on the DVD. But it is very brief and he only says a couple sentences about it. It is in the Variations chapter. This is similar in appearance to the flash restoration Lance Burton has done for decades. Probably best done to music but patter would work too. It does not really require much explanation as it is rather self-explanatory.

Bill