There is much to be admired in Gene Anderson's newspaper tear and his book. That said I think it's important to realize that almost everybody knows how it's done.

Given that I'll give my vote to the No Tear Torn and Restored Newspaper. The gimmick makes the trick infallible and idiot-proof. More importantly it provides a comedy element if done right.

Manoj

There really is not a way to tell you how to make it
You really need to buy it from Gene and learn it from the video or book. If we were to tell you how to make it, it would really not be right for Gene. The book and or video are not that expensive and are well worth your investment.

I know the Gene Anderson version has a lengthy set up but how lenghty? The first time you tried making it how long did it take? And now how fast can you make them?
Nick

The 1st time it took an hour to put everything together. That does not include a trip to the hardware store. Now it take 15 minutes to make up properly, if I hurry. But usually, I am not on a time clock, so I take my time and do it right.

I don't think that should be to much of a problem then. I can make it while watching TV or something.
Nick

Hi Guys,

Just bought ($95.00), Better Newspaper Tear by Robert Baxt from Malloy Modern Magic. In the DVD, Robert constantly gives credit for the folds to the genius of Gene Anderson, and in fact he shows Gene's picture throughout the presentation. Robert has come up with a really fast and clean way to set up the presentation. His DVD is very thorough and when you're done, you can Tear and Restore the newsaper. I would strongly recommend it. The gimmick isn't new, but is cleverly adapted to this trick.

Pax Mentis

Dear PaxMentis,
Thank you for the nice words about my trick. Actually, I should have been giving credit to both Al Koran and Gene Anderson. The book, Lewis Ganson's "Routined Manipulations" published in the middle of the last century has Al Koran's version of the trick and is the source for the folds. Gene Anderson mentions him too in the manuscript for his trick. Gene's method is wonderful and very beautiful, but in reply to a previous poster:
"On 2005-04-04 16:07, walsall wrote:
I know the Gene Anderson version has a lengthy set up but how lengthty? The first time you tried making it how long did it take? And now how fast can you make them? Nick

The 1st time it took an hour to put everything together. That does not include a trip to the hardware store. Now it take 15 minutes to make up properly, if I hurry. But usually, I am not on a time clock, so I take my time and do it right."

What I want to say is the "Baxt Newspaper Tear" can be set-up in under 60 seconds. That's 14 more minutes I can spend on other stuff instead! The best analogy someone said to me about these two tricks was "Do you like your tomato sauce from a jar or from scratch?" If you don't mind the extra preparation, time, and hassle certainly use Gene's method. It's great! But for a lot less work I like my method for what seems to me to be all but identical results. The proof is in the pudding. Taste each and you can decide for yourself.

After doing Mr. Anderson's version in my stage show for years, I bought the Better Newspaper Tear to see if it was really better.

It is. All advances have gains and losses. What you lose is having a much heavier newspaper to deal with. This takes some song and dance to get around. But what you gain is a much much cleaner showing of the torn pieces just before the restoration. I think that's a trade up. I always felt somewhat guilty about that last "fold over" with the Anderson version before restoring. It's hard to cover.

I'm with Alexandermagic on this one.

Not which one you saw, but Whit Haydn won several rounds of a TV talent show doing a TnR newspaper with electrical tape in the 70s, I think (maybe 80s). Best version you'll ever see.

Robert Baxt is the man. I use his adaption of Genes'. With the other 14 minutes Robert you can always read the paper.

Bairefoot

I've done the Anderson version for several years, and always got a strong reaction from it. I recently purchased the Baxt Better Newspaper Tear and used it for the first time on 8/29/2007 . It got just as strong of an audience reaction as the Anderson method. Yet the set up on Baxt's is faster, cleaner, and easier than Mr. Anderson's.

Hmmm.....Same effect, equally entertaining, less set up time. Can anyone guess which version I'll use from now on ?

With the SAME effect as Anderson's, Baxt's version is the most practical IMHO. Much more expensive, but to a working pro it will pay for itself quickly. The weight of the gimmick has an advantage in the restoration.

Baxt's method is my favorite so far.

Sometimes "best" depends on what you do with it. The Anderson Tear was my signature piece for close to 25 years. I used to do a repeat of it at the Renaissance Festivals. I learned to perform it in the wind, and I could even do it almost totally surrounded.

Robert's idea is VERY good. If I didn't get the kind of response from what I do with the Anderson tear, I would do Robert's. I have the prop.

Regarding setup time -- when I set up for a trade show or a Renaissance Festival, I will make up 8 complete tears and 8 refills. If I am starting from scratch, it takes me an average of five minutes per completed T & R set.

I found a source of free newspapers. I'm not referring to going up to a newspaper vending machine, dropping in the price of one newspaper and ripping off the vendor. Drop me an e-mail at curator@cupsandballsmuseum.com for the information. Do not PM me for this, please.

I had a funny experience in Hollywood, Florida once. I was hired to do a trade show, and I needed 40 newspapers to have the proper number to do all the shows I was going to do. There were no newsstands open at the time. So I got a couple of rolls of quarters at the hotel I was staying in and went to every vending machine I could find and harvested the papers. I paid for all of them. I was just about to return to the hotel, when a police officer came over and asked where I got all the papers.

I said, "I'm not surprised you asked, officer. I got them from several different machines. I'm doing a trade show at the ________ hotel during the next couple of days, and I need them for one of my routines. I paid for all of them, though. If you would like to check, you can call the fellow who supplies the papers to all of the machines that I got them from and see if the correct amount of money is in each one of them."

He believed me, and there was no further problem.