Hello,

I perform Dan tong's prof. nightmare routine with a different ending. At the end of this routine you have three equel pieces of rope (from the audience' view). Dan ties two knots and vanishes one of them and slides of the other and is left with one long piece of rope.

I let two of the ropes fuse together in my hand and tie a pop-knot between the other two and let it fall of. Now I'm left with what seems one long piece of rope(I hide the two ends in my hand). I'm looking for sublety's to show this as one piece of rope.

Any help is highly appreciated!

Simon

I'd name DVD titles but I'm worried about exposing the nature of the routines. I'll pm you...

Check out my Mongolian Pop-Knot Routine. It has a nice display for the restored ropes.

http://www.whithaydn.com/video_clips.htm

I like the Mongolian Pop-knot Routine, is it available for purchase?

You betcha, it is.

Whit has it either with a video or as a booklet. (I bought the booklet. Very clearly explained.)

You can find Whit's stuff through one of the links in his signature.

The Conway rope trick "show" at the end utilizes something like the Vernon wand spin "drop" of the remaining knot. Hard to visualize here in print, but think about it.

Thanks for all the reply's. I should have made myself a bit clearer, but I was afraid that I might expose to much. At the end of this rope routine I'm not left with a piece of rope with a knot.

I'm left with what seems a long rope but in fact I'm holding the loose ends of two of the ropes in my right hand.

Simon

Then just wind it up and get on with the next item.

Simon said:


That was the position I was left in with the original rope routine I used to do that was taught to me by Ed Mishell. I was working the streets at the time.

I found that people would come up and asked to see the rope after the effect. I realized that because the knots had disappeared, everyone's attention was left on the rope.

I also found it difficult to show the "restored" rope in an effective fashion. I came up with the idea of adding a knot from my pocket so that both knots can be thrown into the audience.

The attention follows the knots. The rope is then carelessly shown using an original move of mine, and put away. The audience is no longer interested in the rope.

It doesn't really make sense to me to treat the two knots differently. The trick is not really a knot trick after all, but a restoration.

The problem that I have with most rope routines is that they are not routines at all. They are just a series of rope tricks that have no motivation or meaning other than "Here's another little trick..."

I like to see the performer have a routine that has a reason for performing each part of the routine, and an overall arc or storyline that carries the spectator from beginning to end--"I'm going to teach you a trick." "I'm going to sell you a product." "I'm going to demonstrate a scientific invention." "I'm going to contact the spirit world."

This line of thought gives the spectator something to hold onto throughout the routine that keeps him focused and attentive. This point of focus increases the anticipation of the audience as the various complications and climax are reached.

It makes the routine seem to go faster in the spectator's minds.

that's exactly what I do now, and it works fine. I was just wondering if there were any subtleties out there to show it as one one rope.

@ whit haydn

Hi whit,

I love your mongolian pop-knot routine. I must have watched it a dozen times on your website. Your presentation is hilarious, but yet you keep the routine very magical. I haven't seen many performers that are so skilled at that. Brilliant!

Dan tong's routine is very similar except for the beginning and the end. I choose for a bit different ending which I motivate with my patter. I fully agree with you about the 'exposition' element (just showing you can do some cool stuff with a rope) in many rope effects, I try to work around that and have a couple ideas which might work for me, but that need to be audience tested.

regards

Simon

You are showing it as one rope. Don't if they are not chasing you.

You don't want anyone chasing you with a rope...

There is a subtlety exactly for that in the Fiber Optics DVD. I use it at the start of a one rope routine. This isn't a move to prove that it is one rope but a subtlety that reinforces that you only have one rope without calling specific attention to it.

If you don't have this DVD, PM me. I think I have a video of my rope routine on the internet somewhere. You'll be able to figure out the move from that.

MikeDes
I love your routine, it is the same one I do, but I make those moves in a different order, and a kinda different narration. If you learn "full circle", and or "acrobatic knot" you will be able to stretch your rope routine to infinity, or change it every night. This is exactly the kind of rope magic you won't learn in an old dusty rope magic book.
GREAT STUFF
Al Angello

Thanks Al. I will definitely check those out.

I do this same routine at Birthday party shows but with a helper. The beginning is a bit different as I initially cut the rope to get the two required pieces. At the end the birthday child "magically" cuts the rope as well. It plays really well for the kids and the adults watching just love it.

Mike
I especially like the way you move the little piece from hand to hand at the beginning, very deceptive.
GREAT STUFF
Al Angello

That's the subtlety I was refering to. It's in Fiber Optics.

Mike
I'm a rope magic nut, and I have most of the rope magic books, VHS tapes, and DVD's that are worth having. We are on the same page my friend.
Al Angello

Whit - that is so interesting, thank you for sharing that history and those thoughts

Looks like I have to get both the Mongolian Pop Knots and the Fiber Optic DVDs to learn them all.