I like the effect. It's probably more for trade show papers, but it seems to work well with the tabloid style that I'm using.

I haven't performed it for anyone yet but have been letting my critic- the little woman- watch me practice it. She says it looks good. Now I just need to practice it about 100 more times.

Pros: Gimmick is easy to make and can be reused.
Supposedly works for all papers. Haven't tried it on full size. Easy to do, just need to practice until it becomes one smooth motion in the restore. Basically a "flash" restore.

Cons: There are some aspects of the gimmick that look obvious to me for performing it in a parlor setting which is where I'll be doing it, but I've already got some ideas to work around this. Lots of ink on the hands from practicing. :) Cannot appear to show the whole paper, but this can be acted through. Gimmick must be reused with that specific edition- not much of a problem really.

All in all I really like it. 4 stars because I've heard there are better versions, but I like this and will use it.

I had the great pleasure of being a partner with Joel in a business for over three years. During that time we conducted over 50 2-day training events. Joel always performed some magic. When he presented his Torn & Restored Newspaper the audiences went wild. It is so visual, so clean, so unbelievable - plus Joel's incomparable patter always won the day. Up to that point I personally had been performing the Anderson T&R Newspaper and I loved it. That changed. What I like about Joel's version is that it is much easier to set up and can be reset reasonably quickly. For a trade show performer or someone who does multiple show this is a killer effect.

This is an interesting DVD. Joel Bauer has an abundance of energy and it is interesting just watching and hearing him. The effect itself looks pretty good but it seems specifically geared to smaller newletter type papers. He says it can simply be modified to any size newspaper but my attempts have not worked for me. It would be nice if the DVD discussed preparation and demonstration of other size newspapers and not just newsletter type papers.