Um, not sure if this sort of request is kosher or not, but what the heck... Apologies if I'm not following proper guidelines.

I've been trying to research a lot of rope magic lately, and with all this junk I've been ordering, I figured I might as well do reviews on it for other people in case they're interested. So anyhoo, March is Rope Magic Review month on the old blog. I've got two done so far and five more are planned. Are there any that people might be interested in reading about here that I should copy and paste in the Reviews section? The Ring and Rope and Professional Rope Routines from L&L's WGM Series are already published on other forums, but I've still got the following left to do: Flip's Truly Magical Rope Magic, Tabary's Elegant Rope Magic, Richard Sanders's Fibre Optics, Daryl's Expert Rope Magic Made Easy (Volumes 1-3), and Stewart James's Encyclopedia of Rope Magic. Any you'd like to see? I know some of this stuff has been out for a while so if you're not interested in it, I totally understand.

Also (minor request) because I'm still a relative newcomer to the genre I'm still figuring some things out, so if anybody wanted to read the two reviews I've got so far and let me know if I'm blathering like an idiot, I'd actually welcome and appreciate the criticism, especially if it helps prevent me from making a spectacle of myself here on the Café... The series main page is here.

Thanks for any feedback you guys can offer, and I hope I can be useful to you...

Don't forget the Dennis Loomis "knot routine plus", "full circle" (out of publication, but out of this world), Pavel's "super walking knot", Stevens has a few copies of Shigeo Takagi's cut and restore ("the Vishnu rope mystery"), Daryl's "acrobatic knot", Karl Fulves "self working rope magic". I can go on, but that's a start.
Al Angello

You may want include Jeremy Pei's work with the eternal rope set. His routines are very magical looking. His dvd on the subject is very good with performances and explanations on the different handlings that he uses.

Oh whoops, sorry guys, I must have been unclear. Are there any amongst the five I listed above that you'd like to see reviewed here?

I'd love to see them all reviewed, but since Richard Sanders's Fibre Optics is getting so much recent hype, I'd love to see a comprehensive review of that here, and would consider it from a knowledgable source since you seem to have incorporated some of the phases into your own routine.

By the way, I found your L&L reviews of the Ring on Rope and Finger Ring magic DVDs EXTREMELY helpful. Your reviews helped me decide. I agree with most of your observations of the Finger Ring DVD, and believe that those here looking to build their rope/ring on-off routines would benefit from those reviews here on the Café.

That's very nice of you to say. Thanks. I'm glad if what I wrote was helpful. I'll be sure to publish Fibre Optics over here.

(By the way, you said agreed with "most" of the observations. If you've got any you disagree with, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section. I appreciate getting insight from the opposite point of view... If nothing else, the balance, or even the outright correction of a potential mistake on my part, is more fair to other readers)

Well I have most of those but I'm always interested in other people's take on them, so yes please.

OK Daryl's expert rope magic made easy is very large, perhaps I missed some good stuff.
Al

Ok, just wanted to let you know that Daryl's Expert Rope Magic set has been reviewed and is up there as well. You can read it here.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......11&0

Hope that this and the Fiber Optics one were helpful. Since nobody's requested anything other than those two, I'll just leave it at that, and let you know that if you're interested in reading any of the other rope magic reviews, they'll be available at the old blog.

Dear all,

Thanks for mentioning my Eternal Ropes Set. I have been performing the routine for over 10 years and it always play well for close up and stage performances.

My first inspiration to create various rope routines were from Tabary. I highly recommend his 2 volume set from A1 Magical Media for a more comprehensive look at his creative rope magic.

Daryl and Aldo Columbini also have great routines that play well for a commercial audience too.

Shoot Ogawa also have some killer rope moves which is available from some of his private lecture notes or I believe he shows them in his lectures.

As The Eternal Ropes is a gimmicked rope set, I use bright colored ropes instead of plain white ropes. The colored ropes last longer and hides the gimmick better as well.

The set,along with other items from my company, Redefine Magic, are available at http://www.hocus-pocus.com

Cheers!

Jeremy Pei
Singapore

Quick review-

I've been performing Full Circle for about five years. Bought it used off of a guy at our local magic club - I'm just now replacing it with Jeremy Pei's Eternal Ropes - I just received Jeremy's ropes, and they're nice. The dvd is very clear. (So far, I've only learned one of the three routines) and everything is very professional...

So, I recommend either buying Jeremy's product, or trying to get a hold of full circle. (Unfortunately, the VCR demolished my full circle tape... I don't guess this was ever available on DVD... But I still have the original pink ring!).

-Mike

Mike
Do you do "fiber Optics"? Anyone that does "Full Circle" should also do "Fiber Optics" even though niether inventor knows about the other (I've asked both) they were made for each other. I have gotten so many moves from those two routines that I do it different every time, and along with some of the fabulous moves of George Sands I could stretch it out to a 15 minute routine if I wanted to.
have fun
Al

Al, Am I missing something, is Full Circle something new, that is actually purchased. It this something more than doing the PM with a ring and a set of linking ropes?
Sorry, but I just got back on the planet and I am amazed at these discussions.

I just watched someone on youtube doing it, and I also watched the eternal ropes, which was very smooth, but also something I have done for many many years.
I am thrilled that people are actually buying rope routines like this and thanks to you and Andy Hagen, I am going to publish a compilation of my effects in one DVD routine.

Ian
There is a very sloppy version of "Full Circle" up on youtube. It was a VHS tape that went no where in the 90's and John the author thought it was not worth putting on DVD so he let it die.

Then along came "Fiber Optics" which is still the most popular rope routine ever. The problem with "fiber optics" is that it is 22 eye popping moves, but has no real routine to speak of. That is where "full circle" got it's revival, because one it uses a ring, and two it has a great beginning, middle, and end. Put together they each have what the other was lacking, and there are more moves in both routines than you can shake a stick at.

So Ian you can't buy "Full Circle" even though people are still talking about it, I emailed the author and he didn't understand, or believe what the h*** I was talking about. The routine that I do using a combination of both routines is my most popular routine and John Guastaferro, and Richard Sanders are totally oblivious to each other. If you have any questions about either routines you can PM me.

The problem I have, is that full circle has been around long before it was called that (sans ring), and with the exception of 3 of the 22 moves, I see no particularly new aspect of Fiber optics as it crosses George Sands boundaries as well. Other than speed and some rope hops that were cool. It must be that good solid rope routines are just not around. As far as buying rope effects, that's not something I would do. To me, they are all a left hand version of older routines. More lecture material and technique than originality.
Now jeremy Pae's routine is smooth, but there are only 2 elements that are different than what I usually do. And,I find that that last dissolve of the knot is rather awkward.
I know I shouldn't be so critical. There's that professional jealousy coming out again.

Ian I would like to see the original source for full circle. Where can I find it??????

You are right. After looking at the George Sands DVD I realized that George started all the moves, but he was not as creative with his routines as Richard Sanders, and Daryl who used his moves and refined them giving them more entertainment value.

Even though there is nothing new in rope magic, when I did "the vishnu rope mystery" in my local magic competition several much older men than me (yes that is still possible) came up to me to find out who taught me such a great trick. I think you should dust off your old rope tricks put them on a DVD and call it "new and improved" rope magic.

There are many factors that contribute to the lure of using rope to perform magic: It's a common prop that audiences can relate to, it's cheap and it can be seen from a distance, making it ideal for stage performance.

All the great magicians of the past and present have performed, modified, created and contributed to this genre leaving a wealth of knowledge comparable only to that found in card and coin magic.

This leaves the budding rope worker two choices...and either is valid depending on the depth of your interest in the genre and desire for something that you can feel is "your own".

If you only want to add a rope routine to your repertoire you can make your choice from the fine routines available out there and there are many including Full Circle, Fiber Optics, Francis Tabary's wonderful routine, Daryl's, and a host of others. You pay your money and take your choice.

The other option, and one that Ian, Al, John Long, Scott Guinn, Bob Sanders and many others including myself on the Magic Café have taken is to immerse ourselves in the genre and study and learn everything we can get our hands on (sometimes, as in my case, to the point of obsession).

It is from these magicians that new ideas, moves and routines emerge. The rope workers of the past have left us a myriad of material to work with, and if you study as much as possible of all this material, you cannot HELP but develop routines that you can call your own.

Of course, your routine will be derivative and be "yours" only because you have used information stored in the bank of knowledge you have created, but satisfying in the extreme.

In learning Tabary's routine years ago I made some changes that worked for me. Not because I'm a rope genius, but because I had aquired a knowledge of rope magic over many years. I still don't know where I originally learned those changes but I know they came from something I had learned long ago. I made two changes in Dennis Loomis' wonderful knot routine and in that case knew that the changes came from Aldo Colombini, and Carl Fulves.

Currently I'm performing John Zander's "Loose Ends", ending with Paul Curry's "Linked Ropes". The Curry routine was tweaked just a bit to make it more natural (for me) but I changed the master move in the Zander routine totally to suit my desire for a more natural move. As far as I can tell it is original with me but I would be the last to claim it as so.

The point is that the more you delve into the genre of your choice, whether it be rope, cards, coins, etc., the more opportunity you will have to create routines that are unique, although built on the shoulders of others.

And after all, the routines mentioned were created in the same way. Only once in a great while is there something really new under the sun.

Thanks for reading this far.

Andy

P.S. Ian, I look forward to viewing your expanded rope DVD. You are the exception that proves the rule.

I worked out a full rope routine and just discussed it with Al in a PM, but I will post a video soon of the entire effect using ALL of the old and new versions of my PM combined with linking ropes and a "full circle" finale. This would be the middle of the effect.
http://bigduck.tripod.com/nurope.wmv
http://bigduck.tripod.com/nurope2.wmv