Rope Routine #3

This really has been my emergency routine for years. Sometimes my little bit of extra rope got lost and suddenly I was pressed to do something. Flip's DVD really helped me. He has a bit where he does all sorts of costumes with rope. And a bit with knots. So I worked out my own little version which is all about knots. Not only has this routine turned out to be a pretty practical routine onto itself. It's whimsical nature also makes it a good encore piece.

let's go into the detail a little. First knot: regular, Second knot: "scientific knot" by Flip from the "Flip's Truly Magical Rope Magic" DVD. Third knot: It's the one handed knot taken from Daryl's "Expert Rope Magic Made Easy" DVD set. Fourth knot: "The Instant Knot" also from Daryl's set. Fifth knot: Tenkai Rope Through Neck. Sixth knot: A fake untying, again Flip. Seventh knot: The female knot using the horizontal loop principle by Flip. And finally the eight knot: The off beat knot also by Flip.

And there you have it. I really urge you guys to create an emergency rope routine yourself. It's good to have, if it happens.

Ring and Rope #2

This routine is not final yet. It has been getting changes over the years. But I think it is a solid routine and it can be done anywhere. All the phases leading up to the part with the extra little bit are taken vom various sources. Willi Wessel, Flip, Daryl and Tabary. The phase right after the steal in which the middle visibly links with the ring is my own. The main bulk following that is almost directly taken from David Williamsons fantastic ring and rope routine. Letting the spectator hold the ring really elevates the trick for some weird reason. And taking off the ends from the rope in the context of a ring and rope routine is something that I have seen Richard Sanders doing.

The routine directly leads into my Rope Routine #1, which leads to solid 7 minutes of magic. That combination is my main opener in my theater show. I've played it so often that I lost count, but I assure you. Packs flat plays big really applies here.

Ring and Rope routines in general are not seen very often these days. I cannot tell you why, but it is a classic and a good one. Unlike the sucker die box.

False Knot Concept

This was made with my web cam and just for a friend of mine, showing him what I came up with. So technically we have a false knot, but with the addition of two tiny magnets stuck in the rope you can have the picture that looks pretty similar to a knot. It will not withstand scrutiny, but at a quick glance it is fine. If you are far away (stage) this would even be more deceptive.

The magnets are arranged in such a way that if the rope is folded in half they do not come in contact with one another. That means that you can use the rope for all sorts of other rope tricks as well. You can even hand out the rope. The chance of the audience finding a little bump inside the rope are minute. Try this, it's fun.

Shoelaces

So the main idea is by Alexander de Cova. The Hunter Bow Knot was originally published as "The Magical Bow Knot" by G.W. Hunter in the first volume of the Tarbell Course in Magic on page 374. The de Cova Routine has no good solution for getting the knot in position. (as I recall) This is my solution and it is practical as hell. This routine as you see it, is part of my children's act. That is why the patter is more on the light side.

It really looks like the knot is falling off the rope in real life. The timing of the knot disappearing and appearing couldn't be better. And it's automatic, as both will happen automatically when you extend your arm.

This is also a perfect interlude in almost any rope act. It really changes thigns from the usual "ends off, ends on"-structure that curses rope magic nowadays.

The Five Knots in Magic

Knotology, the science of knots.... Boring. However as a filler this is a nice trick. Takes away almost no space in your bag, everything is set up and you are ready to go. It can be done on stage, close up and even in medieval busking settings.

So let's talk about the actual setup. Well a TT, the piece of silk and the rope. The TT keeps the silk in place on the rope. The setup can be moved along the rope so it won't hinder the first two knots.

The appearance of the silk on the rope is a variation of "Flash Silk on Rope" by
Doug Edwards "Apocalypse Vol.15, No.12" p. 2149.

The last phase actually makes no sense at all. But you have the TT and the piece of silk... it just feels right to do it. Also you getting rid of the piece of silk is a necessary step in order to not fill up space in your pocket. Ever tried to reach into your pocket for a prop that you need and a piece of cloth is in the way. You need to get rid of the piece of silk.

Ring and Rope #1

Rope magic is one of those fields that is hard to credit. So many moves are just so darn similar. It is refreshing to us the old "loop through the neck" in a new way. "Cord Through" is the name of the first part of the routine. It's by Shigeo Takagi and was published in the Apocalypse (Vol. 11 No. 10 p.1552). He uses a shoe lace and a bottle opener. But I needed a ring for the second phase, so I used that.

The first part of the second phase is reminiscent of David Williamsons great Ring and Rope routine, making use of a familiar rope gimmick. It doesn't hinder the first phase at all. The second part of the second phase is by me. I found this by accident. If you do what I did in the video and hold your right hand the way I was holding it in the video, you'll end up wit the same result. First the ring will move towards your thumb ten hit it and stop. Pulling some more will pivot the ring around the thumb releasing the rope, while the ring hangs on the thumb automatically.

Rope Routine #1

I've been doing ropes when it was still uncool. That means before the common Richard Sanders. So I can say with certain pride: "He has nothing to do with this routine". However the guys that Richard Sanders stole his stuff from are all present here. George Sands and Francis Tabary.

I owe so much to those guys. There is the book "The Award Winning Rope Magic of Francis Tabary" which is also a video lecture, that is worth checking out. The main routine has no real cuts, so you can use the same rope over and over again. So this is great for street work and any charity work that pays little. For real paid gigs I would do real cuts. There is nothing more "real" that scissors going the fibers. Something about that picture says "real", so the following restoration is much stronger.

Here is my preparation so you can see how darn practical this routine is. At home I take a long piece of rope and tie knots in the ends, so they don't fray. Prior to the performance I cut off the knots and put them in my right pocket. That's it. The gimmick is created during the first part of the routine.

The first restoration (wrapping the longer piece of rope around the shorter piece) is something I have seen David Stone doing. I don't know if that is original with him, but I liked the aesthetics of the move.

The next bit is the travelling ends. After both ends have traveled you are in a pretty dirty position. And you might feel very guilty. That leads to horrible creations. Daryl and Richard Sanders both have a weird handling when it comes to regripping the rope, just to makes sure that the hand palming the gimmick looks natural. Just palm the damn thing and move on. Tabary does it right!

Now putting the middle back on the rope is my own creation. And I'm not humble to claim this as my own.

Placing the ends in the pocket and then have a switch between ends and middle has been in my repertoire for a while now, but it got 10x the reactions as soon as I added the real cut through the supposed middle. Try it. It will leave you in a position with a tiny little piece. So the gag of no using the scissors to cut the rope becomes a no brainer.

In the video I failed to put the imaginary scissors away right away, so going to my pocket becomes awkward. But it is a nice motivation to get the next item you need. The fake knot bit.... well Tarbell, what else. The jumping knot bit Daryl.

The second knot could be a spare in your pocket, so don't have to search for long, or it can be another effect.

Elusive Silk and Ropes Through Neck

I can't find my copy of Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks for Magicians (compiled by Steward James) and Self-Working Rope Magic (by Karl Fulves). So I cannot give you the exact sources. But it's in these books. The last bit of the ropes through the neck is a technical variation on the grandmother's necklace principle. You will find that in Tarbell Vol.1 page 321. (Rehashed many times after that and ever since.)

You can see me in the video wearing part of my medieval costume, because it is during those renaissance fairs when I do this. Seems to fit perfectly into that scenario. I have seen other magicians (Bizzaro) doing a similar thing dressed up as a pirate. So I guess this sort of effect lends itself well to costumes... The ropes through neck has the advantage of having no extra loop around the neck, which could be a dead give away of the method. Also it allows for a 360 degree view, making the entire routine angleproof.

Bonus: If you are familiar with the standard penetration of a piece of silk through a cane (reel method) you can turn this little bitty into a full fledged routine.

Bachelor's Needle

This is my little update to the old classic published in the Tarbell Course in Magic - Volume 3 at page 102. You can also find it in "Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks for Magicians" if you own that. A few years ago, Penguin Magic ripped off the effect calling it "Eye of the Tiger". Fuckers!

I made a few changes. First I added phases. Even though no actual increase of difficulty or drama happens, it sure feels like it. The first phase introduces the idea, nothing happens. The second time the actual effect happens with minimum conditions. On the third time the conditions seem increased with the addition of the knot. I didn't find it mentioned anywhere, but I think that the "pull back" right after the effect is necessary to underline the impossibility of the action. Nobody seems to do it. And the last phase is my little addition. Including a spectator helps so much elevating this little trick from gem to jewel.

This is one of the "warm up" tricks I do whenever I busk.

Additional idea: If you color just one end of the rope, it will help a lot to make the effect more visible to the masses. Basically the "needle and eye" could be white while the "thread" is red.

One more thing. A constant problem seems to be the fact that the loop seem bigger after the penetration. This is solved, by giving the loop a half turn counter clockwise twist right before pinching it. The literature I read on this is often very unclear about this. They say "turn it to the right", which depending on the viewing the whole assembly could mean either direction. Counter clockwise is the way to go!

Coin And String

This is a routine I strung together using the best methods I could find for this type of magic. Let's mention the basics first: There are two ways of doing this. One is using just one object, like most ring and string routines and the second way of doing this is using a dupe. The drawback to the first one is, that you have to go through rather goofy phases of linking and unlinking, while the later version has the drawback of being to obvious. The second problem can be solved by attacking the issue with "cleanliness". And what better way to hide the second coin, by not using a second coin, but a familiar and common coin gimmick.

So going from there I went through my pile of books and read. The basic routines that I took "phases" from are by Sol Stone, Troy Hooser and Jay Sankey.

If you check out Vol.1 No.3 of the Apocalypse at page 30 you'll find the routine called "Stung Coin" by Sol Stone. Which is a nice prototype but gets needlessly lost in methods in my humble opinion. But there is a nice way to use the Downs Palm to hide the second coin. This routine was my starting point to get to the routine you see in the video. The next influence and I'd say the major influence is the "Charming Chinese Challenge" by Troy Hooser. You can find the routine in the wonderful book Destroyers by Joshua Jay. It starts at page 21. My little video doesn't do it justice, but the "Spell Bound Unlink" looks a lot better if you use a felt ribbon instead of the big string I used in the video. The ribbon seems to fall right through the coin. Another phase I took from Hooser's routine is the "Mid-Air Link" which is hard to do on camera but is so great in real life. It seems like there is no way trickery could take place. Especially if you do it with a certain level of nonchalance. And finally Jay Sankey has a wonderful routine called Leaving Home. It is published on his "The Very Best of Jay Sankey" DVD (Volume 3) He uses the Strinking Vanish by David Williamson ("Williamson Wonder" by Richard Kaufman) in a nice offbeat way to create the illusion of a link. That is the last phase I did in the video. It is the most challenging move in my routine, but worth the effort of learning it. The very first link is mine, I have not found that in any books I own, but I like it.