What's the name of the Three Rope Trick where you have 3 different lengths of rope, they then all end up the same length and then go back to 3 different lengths?

Professor's Nightmare.

Doug

Thanks Doug, I was wondering about that as well. Looks like a fun one for the kids.

Do the ropes stretch or something???
i've ordered it from mission magic.

No - regular ropes. Just a little sleight of hand required. But very easy to do. More important is the meaning you give it (the patter)

What might be a good, engaging patter story to accompany it? (Other than just a straightforward narration of what happens? “Here I have three ropes, of three different lengths....”)

You ordered it?
Are you saying you bought a pack with three ropes in it and instructions?
This is why I tell people to get a general magic book and learn some basics. At the very least you'll save yourself some money and will very likely learn a lot too.
'The Amateur Magician's Handbook' is one such all-rounder type of book that I'm pretty sure contains this classic rope trick, or, if not, will show you the workings behind this and many other rope tricks.
You can browse a lot of books for free at this site, and ive linked you to a page showing how rope tricks often work:
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli......page/n77

I was wrong though, I just looked and it seems that particular trick, The Professor's Nightmare, isn't in those books. So to get it with the full instructions I'd say is worth it. You'll have to post a video of you doing the effect once you've got it practiced well mate! You can show us exactly how it's done.

So true -try(read) before you buy ( magic isn't always cheap - if your on a budget)- I've found so many effects in Books at a Public Library ( and I have my own Library of about 50, some written in the 30's) -look especially the Childrens' section. Helps??

Bob Carver's "The Professor's Nightmare" is taught on page 100 of Peter Eldin's _The Magic Handbook_ under the title "Equal, Unequal Ropes."

The Eldin book is a great book for anyone just getting into magic. In addition to teaching tricks like "The Professor's Nightmare," it also teaches some other classic tricks like Paul Curry's "Out of This World," the trick that fooled Winstone Churchill. The book also provides an introductory history of magic, reproducing a variety of classic magic posters and photographs.

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

I did it in my magic show before it so simple and cool meany magicien asked me about when they see me doing it
if you train on it good enough it will look like real magic it fool everyone

Peter Eldin's 'The Kingfisher Pocket Book of Magic' caused a bit of a stir when it first came out as I recall, magicians were up in arms against it because it was giving the real gen on several of their favourite classics and was published in large numbers for the mass market of high street book shops.

Well it didn't finish off magic, despite appearing in Public Libraries up and down the country and being re-issued under different titles, indeed it possibly helped inspire a new generation of budding wizards. The overall quality of the book is high and despite its smaller size I'd still have it up there with Mark Wilson's Course and Henry Hay's Handbook as being a really sound starting point for a newcomer into magic.

In the U.K. the rope trick in question is usually known as 'Equally Unequal Ropes', I think the term Professor's Night mare is probably North American in origin.

Richard Sanders Fiber Optics is the next step for rope routines IMO. It's next level rope illusions.

This is not a trick I would buy. It is a staple of magic. A basic trick that is in everyone's repertoire. If you're not buying some unnecessarily gimmicked ropes, all you're really getting is the instructions, and there are probably a couple dozen magic books that have that. Heck, you can probably learn it from a crappy youtube video. In fact, as I was typing this I just searched for it on YouTube and a dozen or so tutorials came up. Better yet, if you know a magician ask him/her to teach it to you.

What makes this trick, though, is the patter. It's all in what you do with it. There is basically one sleight for this trick, and it's an easy one. Once you master it, you can focus on how to make it entertaining. That's 90% of magic, anyway. So learn the sleight then look around for different presentations. If what you ordered teaches you that, then maybe it's a good purchase. My fellow Magic Castle magician who has the same last name as you, Tom Ogden, has a pretty good take on what I think of as the standard presentation for Professor's Nightmare, and you can find it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/6FcRAnhfm-0

Cody Fisher has a DVD on his version, called Three Ropes and 1000 Laughs, but it's definitely rated PG-13 and might not be appropriate for all audiences, but it is one idea on what you can do with it. I've actually performed Cody's version for kids, just removing the double entendres, and it actually worked great.

There are a gazillion other approaches, too. Don't just settle for the stupid ones that are all over the internet and are in what you probably get from buying it.

I used a hard hat and tool belt, and told the story of working in a spaghetti factory inspecting the noodles. Then one day, we had a problem with one of the machines ….

Yes! I couldn't agree more! I've seen many performances of this -on YouTube admittedly, not live performances that I was at- and there are soooo many different ways to present it and, like Dana says, to use the one sleight that is used. I'd also recommend just watching as many as you can possibly find on YouTube and seeing which approaches and patter you like. I don't mean to copy, but more to gain ideas from.
I haven't even started with practising this yet but I am going to learn an old basic version first from some old book. Just to get to grips with rope magic as a first try. Then I will choose another approach to the trick!
Good luck.

Gary Ogden, this version might be a bit advanced for a real beginner, but it's a favorite of mine because of the patter and presentation. It's the Professor's Nightmare with a little extra, but it's the same trick with the same sleight, and it's by our own Pop Haydn. He calls it the Mongolian Pop Knot. I like this because he starts with one solid rope, which you don't have to do, you can start with 3 if you're just performing the basic trick. And most importantly you'll see that what makes the trick is not the sleights but the creativity and the concept you bring to it. Here's a link to the performance:

https://youtu.be/P2mcvNWaiiI

If you like it and want to learn it, for $15 Pop will sell you downloadable instructions and video. Simply CLICK HERE. There's an even better performance at the bottom of the page of that link.

Good. IMHO, "professor's nightmare" doesn't compute with little kids. I do patter, which I borrowed from Dave Fiscus (Birthday Magician's Handbook), about 3 song birds who go to a magician to make their worms the same length. He says he will but then they must sing him a song. They get so excited that they forget the song. When they get home, the "worms" are back to different lengths. Then I remind the kids to keep their promises

It is Professors Nightmare. If performed right, the lay audience loves it! It gets as good of a reaction as any other trick out there.

Often people buy this effect from a magic shop with three ropes. These ropes are always made too short. They are just long enough to work, but not long enough to get the fool impact of the effect. You can make the ropes yourself, and make them much longer. Here in the middle of the routine you can see how much more impressive the trick can be with longer ropes: