Newspaper Magic

A Book by Gene Anderson and Francis Marshall

THE MAGIC DEALER ADS SAY: This Magic Inc. publication has become the standard textbook on newspaper magic. Everything from productions, vanishes, liquid tricks, torn and restored tricks, close-up and stage routines are available in this volume. Gene Anderson has even prepared complete and unbelievably detailed instructions for his world famous Torn and Restored Newspaper effect.

NOW, THE REST OF THE STORY. In 1964 I attended my first magic convention, the Texas Association of Magicians held in San Antonio, Texas. At the urging of my friend and mentor, Van Cleve (Cleve Haubold) I competed in the contest with the first edition of the newspaper act and won the originality trophy. Cleve was getting a PhD in playwriting at the University of Texas at Austin (mine was in chemistry) and he scripted the original newspaper act. His script and patter are still the basis of the newspaper act I perform today, although lines and gags are under constant revision to remain current.

Francis Marshall, from Magic Inc. in Chicago, heard about the newspaper act shortly after the TAOM win. She proposed that we co-author a book, and it became a wonderful collaboration: she had all the magazines, especially the English ones with a wealth of newspaper magic contributions, and I had magician card access to the McManus-Young Collection which is housed in the UT library, then reputed to be the third best collection of magic books in the U.S. "Newspaper Magic" was first published in 1968 and is now in its eleventh printing, one of the best selling books Magic Inc. ever published.

Credit Doug Henning with making the torn and restored newspaper famous. When he performed it in the Broadway musical "The Magic Show" in 1975, the show and his performance style forever changed how the world viewed magicians. Doug and I had become personal friends long before that, and for the historical record I taught the T&R newspaper to Doug in Jerry Conklin's living room at Abbott's Magic Get-Together in Colon, Michigan in 1972. It became one of Doug's two favorite effects, the other being the Metamorphosis. Doug always prepared the newspaper himself; it was a ritual for him and his time to be alone and collect his thoughts immediately before going on stage. Doug was always very generous with his credits: Dai Vernon and I each had credits in the program for "The Magic Show," and we were seated side-by-side at the opening night performance on Broadway and went to the gala opening night party which followed.

"Newspaper Magic" has now been in print for more than 35 years, but its content is timeless and, in fact, very little has been created in the newspaper magic field since that time. I have created a few new things myself which are in my act, and I plan to make these available on this website at a later date. As for the book, it is truly the encyclopedia of newspaper magic, and it contains enough material to develop a completely different newspaper act that would use none of the effects from my act. And the very best news: it's a bargain!

"Newspaper Magic," 158 pages, 8 1/2 inches x 11 inches, softbound. Autographed to you personally by the author (that's me!) on request.

Copyright © 2007 Gene Anderson