I have used Arnold Furst's method for Sympathetic Silks for more than 50 years, but have never used that name in front of an audience. Why confuse them? There are many tricks with peculiar names including 'silk' that should never be used with an audience IMHO. the closest I ever came to actually demonstrating 'sympathy' was a medieval story about a knights favors on his arm emulating the actions of his sweetheart at home.

A scond point is that at the end you have a number of scarves in hand possibly resting on the back of a chair while picking up the other scarves. What a time to steal a load! With all six 'silks bundles together I have produced a rabbit, bottle of Champaign and a slik fountain, just to name a few.

Funsway, I agree...if you are presenting traveling knots for a lay audience, by no means should anyone call them "sympathetic silks'...it will only confuse them. If you are doing the plot as a sympathetic plot (as mentioned above in my post as well as Levent's) then there is no harm in calling it a "sympathetic trick'

The biggest problem in most sympathetic silks or traveling knots routines, is coming up with a strong finale. The nature of most of these plots is not one of increasing complexity but rather the opposite: the trick starts with the apparent traveling of two knots, then one knot, and the finale is a variation on one knot. This is not the ideal 'build' for the trick, which is why most magicians tack on a production at the end.

Additionally, in a more perfect world, the climax of the trick would be a relevant or germane (and stronger!) climax that reinforces the theme and phenomenon previously demonstrated. Non sequitur endings while supplying a punch, almost never reach the level of being emotionally satisfying, because they generally fail to support the 'plot' as the audience understands it....and consequently seem to come 'out of left field'. IMHO

This is not mentioned to denigrate anyone's routine, but rather to hold the plot up to a Platonic ideal and see how close we can approach it in reality

I agree the finale of the routine is important. My friend, Bob Higa, has used it for years to get into a fountain of silks.

What about a load of knots falling out of the untied silks?

Richard

and the same resoning could apply to Cups & Balls or Chop Cups -- that the strange Final Load deminishes the artistry and apparent magic of the routine itself -- but you will be stoned in the market place for such heracy, with many beleiving that that the Final LOad is the entire purpose of the C&B Routine. Likewise, may perform silk effects only to allow for a spectacular ending -- the the dance of seven veils.

One of the things I like about Sympathetic Silks is that it can be performed without speaking. Doing magic for people learning English as a second language has made us very aware of keeping the magic visual. Sympathetic Silks fits well there.


Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander