Sly News Tear
Clark, Tony
Tony Clark
Easy To Perform
- Show both sides of newspaper cleanly before and after routine
- Flash restoration ending
- Quick and easy to make
- Reusable gimmick
- No Magnets
- No Wire
- Live performance demo of Tony Clark performing on stage for his Masters of Magic show in Lake Tahoe
- A second killer routine
- Ideas and variations presentation and handling
- Never before revealed secrets on how to insure the paper tears properly
This is one of the most thoroughly explained and simplified newspaper tears on the market today.
Running Time Approximately: 35min
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Overview
This is one of many great newspaper tears out there and this one is another great one. You casually open and show the newspaper on all sides and then slowly and deliberately tear it a few times. In a very free and open manner you instantly restore the newspaper and again open it up to show it has been completely restored. Now take your well deserved applause and bow.Effect
Sly News Tear has the slickness of the Slydini Tear and the climax power of the Gene Anderson Tear! You casually open and show the newspaper on all sides and then slowly and deliberately tear it a few times. In a very free and open manner you instantly restore the newspaper and again open it up to show it has been completely restored.You will learn some never before revealed secrets on how to insure the paper tears properly. Sly Tear is easy to perform and there are no magnets or wires involved in this paper tear version.Method
There is obviously some DIY preparations that you will have to do involving just scissors, glue and a sharp knife, things you already have at home. The gimmick is easy to make with Tony’s step by step instructions and preparation time is not that long. Making multiple gimmicks at the same time is a great idea. Once done Tony will teach you his great method of performing this very visual tearing and flash restoration of the newspaper.Product Quality
You will receive a DVD (also available as a download) in which Tony gives detailed step by step easy to follow explanations from selecting the right size of newspaper to the making of the gimmick to performing this powerful tear and restore routine. This 35 minute DVD is broken down into 6 Chapters which includes everything you need along with a bonus routine and alternate presentations and handlings. There are lots of great over the shoulder and behind the hands shots making it easier to learn.Ad Copy Integrity
The ad and the trailer you watch are accurate, what you see is what you will be able to perform. Just one minor thing, the ad says the gimmick is reusable which I think should say ‘may reusable’ (if you want to make everything match for future performances). This is not a big deal unless you stop to clearly show your audience what each page says and looks like which is not necessary … just saying. Not all newspaper sizes can be used so you will either have to find the right sized one (lots around) and if not you will have to cut it shorter. Depending on how close you are to your audience, they may notice that the bottom of the paper has been cut.Final Thoughts
This is a great paper tear however Tony Stevens - No Tear (I did a review for the one on MLA in August ‘22) is much easier BUT you start the effect with the pieces already being torn. Different strokes for different folks. Read both this and that one and see what is good for you. Let it also be known that the price for Sly News Tear on Penguin is as follows: DVD = $30 and the download = $45 - can't figure that one out. I feel $5 is way overpriced, $30 acceptable for what you will learn but still a little high. Taking all the above into consideration, I am rating this as 4.(Top ▲)
I've never performed a T&R newspaper. I've only looked at one or two in the past. The main one I'm familiar with uses magnets. So my experience with this effect is limited.
Let's take a look at a couple of things
- The DVD
- The Method
The DVD
The production quality was just fine. The menu was clear and easy to navigate. Thank you Mr. Clark. That's a big problem these days, so it was nice to see a simple un-fancy and easy to use/read menu. The DVD is broken down into several sections:
- The Paper
- The Gimmick
- Preparing the Paper
- Explanation
- Bonus Material
- Live Performance
The first three sections cover in good detail what kind of paper (The Paper) to use, how to make The Gimmick and how to properly prepare the paper for the performance. I found this third section very useful. It gave several tips, pointers and ideas on how to make sure that the paper will cooperate with you and properly tear during the performance.
This kind of information is invaluable to a working pro, and it evidence that Mr. Clark is "of the trenches" as they say.
Following the explanation of the effect, we have a couple of bonus ideas that add a little extra something here or there. One is a modification of the method that makes it a little easier, but a little more risky. However, I think I would prefer that method. It's less bulky.
Then a second bonus idea that allows for a small kind of "kicker" ending that's pretty clever. This kicker is more suited for smaller venues. The Live Performance section is what you saw in the trailer.
When all is said and done, I found the DVD well organized, and the effect well taught and easy to follow. No complaints here.
The Method
The method taught is very easy, and does not require any magnets, wires, etc. as the ad copy points out. You have to modify the paper to create the gimmick, but all you need for that is some one time prep that requires some glue and scissors.
The method is pretty straightforward and easy to do. I think anyone interested in performing this effect would be able to quickly learn this method.
There is, however, one part that kind of bugs me a little bit. There's a moment where you can clearly see the gimmick separate from the torn pieces. It looked pretty obvious to me, and remember, I'm not all that familiar with newspaper tears so if I saw it, I'm assuming that a lay person would also notice it.
I wasn't looking for it nor was I expecting it. It just jumped out at me even before I knew the method.
Unfortunately you can't quite see what I'm talking about in the public trailer of the live event due to the camera angles.
However, I think a little bit of timing and choreography could clean this up pretty easily. Last but not least, the method matches up with the ad copy 100%. However, the claim that the gimmick is reusable needs a caveat. The gimmick must match the newspaper that you're tearing up, so if you're going to reuse the gimmick, you'll need to have multiple copies of the paper that you're going to tear.
In other words, you'll prepare the gimmick to work with today's paper. You wouldn't be able to use that same gimmick tomorrow with tomorrow's paper. You'd have to have a bunch of copies of today's paper. Once you run out of copies of today's paper, your gimmick no longer is usable.
However, I'll add a caveat to my caveat. The effect is only one sheet of paper being torn and restored. So if you pick a sheet that's just generic looking print, then you can use it with any future issue of the paper as long as the page had generic enough looking print such that it would appear the same as the gimmick. The paper is never looked at with any scrutiny.
Final Thoughts
From what I can tell, this is a solid method to a classic effect. If you're looking for a method to perform a T&R paper, this is a good method. The only thing I would "challenge" relates to the ad copy pointing out that there are no wires or magnets. That is true with this method. However, why does that matter?
If a wire or a magnet gets the job done and it makes things somehow easier, why not use those methods? This method does not make the paper any more examinable than any other method, so I just found that claim, though true, a bit superfluous. Finally, $30 is a bit steep for one effect, but if you like what you saw in the demo, you'll be happy with your purchase if you don't mind spending $30 bucks to learn the method.
Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
(Top ▲)
Now, Tony Clark has taken the traditional Slydini Newspaper Tear to the next level. The explanations are very clear and very good - he teaches every little nuance that he has found about this effect over his years of performing it.
It is very easy to set up (not really any different than the Slydini tear set-up, just streamlined), very easy to perform and the routine can be done silently to music, or with a story. It also allows you to choose between the slow restoration reveal, or the flash restoration as in the Gene Anderson Newspaper Tear.
The DVD menu is well laid out and very easy to navigate, and if you are new to this, it makes learning everything even easier.
(Top ▲)
1) Tony provides clear and detailed instructions.
2) You don’t go crazy from sniffing rubber cement while putting the thing together.
3) If you like the smell of rubber cement, you can use it here as well. Or you can use glue stick. Or in a pinch you can use tape.
4) You don’t run the risk of injuring spectators with flying projectiles during the “flash” restoration.
5) Forget what Tony says, it takes less than two minutes to put the trick together. (Last night I prepared enough papers for over 50 performances in less than 30 minutes.) Once prepared, setup takes a second, literally. That means…
6) It is easy to practice/rehearse because you don’t have a lot of down time between attempts.
7) It is *very* easy to do.
8) It plays *extremely* well.
9) You can end with a flash restore or (my preference) a slower reveal.
10) It fooled my wife… very close up… three times. (She’s not easily fooled.)
11) Because it is so easy to make up you can crumple the paper after restoration without losing anything. Or…
12) You can keep reusing the gimmick as long as you like.