I am pretty good in coming up with patter ideas, but I don’t have too many good ideas for the Crazy Man’s Handcuffs. I like the trick, but it seems like when you do it once or twice, it’s over. Not much of a routine. Any ideas?

Dear mtpascoe

Have you read Mike Ammars version , he does it four times!

Myself, I do it the way that Ammar does it, but I only do it three times, and each phase seems more impossible than the last!

Just a thought.

Warm regards

Martin King

Forgot to mention,

Patter could be along the lines of using the rubberbands that Houdini used to carry his bundles of dollar bills because he didn' trust banks (true story I think?)

More warm regards

Martin King

Thanks, I'll give that a try and see if the muses responds to it.

Honestly I can't stand the funny patter about crazy criminals.
Perhaps because I have had relatives that suffered from mental deceases - and also one criminal!

I prefer to talk about Perfect Love:
You have twoo independent people, they are attracted to each other, they feel connected. To other people the look inseparable (show linked). But because they respect each other and are flexible (strong pull), they experience complete freedom and independence at the same time.
In Danish I could play with the names Ella and Stig, which together sounds like the danish word "elastik" (= rubber band).

Troels Holm

Just do the trick already.

- Stress how impossible it is and then do it.

Storytelling has it's place (see Burger), but IMO not with such a simple, visual trick as this one.

I sometimes say:

I'm going to let you in on one of the great secrets of magic, you can't believe your eyes. It turns out that limited amounts of mass hypnosis can be accomplished even by folks like me, for a short amount of time. For instance, I've already hypnotized you into believing that I am taking these two rubber bands and using them so that it appears that they are intertwined. Doesn't it look like I can't separate my hands without removing at least one end of a rubber band from my fingertips? Yes, it's a really good illusion, but it's only an illusion. How else could I separate my hands like this without it being an illusion. Wait, I'll do it again...

Good idea. Then I can use the Slydini method to bring it back and say, "See, it was all an illusion."

I don't even call it by it's name. Just say that magic is changing your perception of reality. The reality is you just gave me (if they did) 2 rubber bands. The reality is, they are totally linked, can't pull em apart. Or can you? Here... Let's do this together.. And phase 2, and so on...

I've never heard of the phases in this trick? Unless you mean like phase 1 is linking them, phase 2 is showing they can't penetrate (up, down etc) phase 3 penetrating them?

:-S

?

I never knew the name for this trick was Crazy Man's Handcuffs.
I always do this trick quite upfront, showing them linked, talking about how they can't penetrate each other until you blow, and I get the spectator to blow on the rubber bands, as they penetrate. It gets a good reaction because they're not sure what they're about to see, and it gets them involved.

But, the main problem is it just ends. Or you can repeat it, but it has no ending. Slydini has a good routine, but I can't see me doing his storyline. A magic effect should have a beginning, middle, and end. Just doing a trick like a dog is fine if you are just showing off. But, I want something I can use for a close-up act.

So end it with the spectator holding the band - that's a great ending. Or end it by saying "One more time, I'll do it as slowly as I possibly can" - that's a great ending. Or go into "Up the Ladder", or "The Broken and Restored Rubber Band". Both are great endings.

Woof woof!

Personally, I use the patter about how everything we see is an illusion, etc..

I talk about how rubber bands are composed of unstable molecules, which is what allows them to do such amazing things. I ask for confirmation that no other object can do the things that RB's can and mention how sometimes they just disappear and we can't find them. Usually, one or two people nod in agreement. I then go into how we can destabilize the molecules even more by stretching them out and heating them up. I stretch the RBs out back and forth a few times and then go into the trick. I start by making one band into two. I next go into the standard link. I then link them back together and do a band by band de-linking. Next, I give one of the bands to the spectator and pass it through their stretched band. While they are removing the band from their fingers, I ditch mine and perform it one more time, making the "second" band disappear. With a short setup, there isn't much patter needed during the actual performance. It is all a demonstration of the unique nature of RB's.

I usually say "Have you heard of Houdini? This was his favourite trick: it's the World's Smallest Escape...."

Perhaps it's meant to be a "quickie"?

My patter is "Watch!"

Jim

I use a couple of story lines. One of which will mean nothing to anyone under 30 or living outside the UK.
I liken the bands to "George & Mildred, a middle aged couple, trapped in a loveless marriage.. This one's George, and this one's Mildred, (etc) showing the bands to be well and truly trapped... "but if they;d gone to a marriage counsellor, or even come to see me, we could have brought things to a happy, convivial ending, (separation of the bands)

(Perhaps there's a similar US sitcom featuring a bickering middle aged couple.. - there MUST be!)

For Kids I use the Tom and Jerry story.. "always fighting, always scratching, always arguing, always dropping huge weights on each other.. (display the bands linked and stretched against each other.)just like you and your brother, I suspect...it beats me how they instantly repair themselves..week.. after... week.. (separate)
Third time I do it using the spec to stretch one of the bands, which, if I recall, is how Ammar does it.
I then finish with Stargazer, (I've been using the Stargazer band all along), giving it away.. "Sleep with this under your pillow, make a wish, etc...)"

The Stargazer bit on the end is presented as an intelligence test for some high powered job (burger flipper, pin monkey, check out assistant, road sweeper) ending with the really difficult question.. "how many triangles can you count here?"..which very few get..so there are plenty opportunities for byplay.

The Stargazer effect really multiplies the entire routine out of all proportion to the work involved.

CMH can also be used for those casual, impromptu situations where you just want to have pleasant conversation, so, a-la Ammar's routine, you do it. Do it again. The n string one rubber band between a spectator's fingers, then after they've now seen it 3x, they get the idea they can do it. So give them the bands and let them have at it, and have fun with it, and just hang and chat.

Not sure I'd ever use it in a real performance setting. Not to diss anyone who does; it just does not fit my style for a performance...

I perform CMH to a patter about confession, sin, stretching the law, being freed in the cross of Christ, and then repeating it once using the spectator consideration of how the cross also sets us free from sinful codependence.