Magic Tricks

From Vanish Magic Magazine November 2024

It is rare that I find something I can put into my professional act that I've been doing for over 30 years. Big Headline is one of those rare routines that fits perfectly and has gone in! I first saw the original 'gag' done by Buster Keaton then again by Lucy Ball and Keaton and always thought it would make a great addition to my act, but never came up with how to incorporate it.

David Kaplan has found the perfect combination by incorporating a restored newspaper routine and then having the newspaper grow to ten times it size. It grows so much that you can produce a person from it.
This comes in a solid box which is great to transport the props, the gimmick and newspaper itself, all made from Tyvek so built to last, plus a holder and a 30 minute-tutorial.

Big Headline blends visual comedy with magical surprise, designed for performers aiming to impress large audiences. The effect begins with the magician pulling torn newspaper scraps from their pocket, which then transform into a fully restored newspaper that continuously unfolds to enormous size. The climax is a surprising, on-stage transformation in which the performer "disappears" behind the giant newspaper, only for a new person to appear in their place.

The tutorial is in-depth, and David does a great job teaching how to fold it, how to care for it and how to perform. While he does it as an opener and has another performer do it to switch them and himself you can do this solo no problem. You could use it to produce a person, switch yourself for somebody else, do a costume change or produce anything that can fit behind it. There is so much cover and the audience will never see it coming.

My own presentation will have me produce my son from the newspaper, making a great appearance.

David has taken all the hard work out of this by making it easy to do, and easy to reset. The restored paper, also made from Tyvek, uses the method by Tony Steven's called the 'No Tear version' because it uses the flash restoration and is so easy to set up and perform.

There are so many ways you can present this, as a comedy routine where you read off gags from a paper to a full silent-visual routine. The hardest part is deciding how you are going to present it because of the options. You can have the pieces of paper in your pocket, and you are supplied with a special pouch to keep everything in, or you can have it in your performing case and find the pieces on the floor.

This is well within the reach of most performers, but like all good routines do give it practice. David has made it easy to do by doing a few little things to the paper so you can almost do it once you watch the tutorial. I wouldn't suggest it though, make sure you really give this the time it needs to perfect it and get the routine right for you.
I want to thank David for doing all the work and to Penguin for producing one of the best tricks I've seen in the past decade. No matter what type of show you do, from parlor to stage this is an ideal routine. It packs small and plays HUGE. Everything is supplied, easy to do, fun to perform and the audiences LOVE IT!

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS - Very highly recommended.