How to Break a yardstick with atmospheric pressure

This video shows you how to break a yardstick with atmospheric pressure. The instructor first lays a ruler halfway on and off of a table. He then covers half the ruler with newspaper. The instructor states that you can chop the ruler in half with your hand because the air holding down the paper will keep the ruler in place. The experiment does work correctly and he did break it in half perfectly. This instructor seems to have many similar videos on the subject.