These days the only types of ropes that you can find are the nylon or polyester ropes. Rope Magicians are going to either have to find a substitute for thick cotton ropes or start using knives instead of scissors to cut nylon and polyester ropes. Can Rope Magic be done with nylon and polyester ropes? I don’t know but I don’t see why not. I’ve never used those types of ropes for magic but we better start learning how to use them and we will need to find an easy method to cut them and gimmick them. Nylon and polyester ropes are common ropes.

In the old days, a Magician could just go down to their local hardware or store and pick up some rope for their magic act. Rope for magic was everywhere!!! Now you have to special order it from an online store or a brick and mortar magic shop, if you can find one. No wonder you don't see that much Rope Magic anymore.

What are we going to use for rope in 5 or 10 years down the road? Thick cotton ropes are going to be obsolete and so will Rope Magic. If we’re having trouble finding rope to use for Rope Magic now, how are future Magicians going to perform rope tricks if cotton ropes can't be found? White cotton ropes are not even common anymore and many adults and kids these days have NEVER even seen a white cotton rope. The rope looks more like a magic prop than a common household item.

I started a similar topic here.
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......9&19

Nylon, Polyester, Polypropylene (Poly) seem to be the only type commonly available anymore.
I know that there are couple of effects that will worh with one of these type but
I'd still like to know of any tricks that can be done with these types.

I use cotton clothesline wirh a nylon core, which I remove. Works fine for me, and I find it at K-mart or Wal-mart rather easily. It's usually hidden underneath the extension cords and such, but it's there. Around three bucks for fifty feet.

Gerard1973
I don't think you have been looking very hard. Go to http://www.rope.ws/ just for a start, if that isn't enough do a search this question has been answered many times here at the Café. My God don't tell Pavel, Richard Sanders, Daryl, Stewart James, Flip, Bob Sanders, Francis Tabary, Aldo Colombini, John Long, Vinny Marini, or any of the many other students of art of rope magic that it is dieing, they will disagree with you.
HAVE FUN
Al Angello

I've heard of Pavel, Richard Sanders, Daryl, Stewart James, Flip, Bob Sanders, Francis Tabary, Aldo Colombini, and even the godfather, but who is John Long?

Not to cause a ruckus, but the main problem with most rope magic is that the magician begins by pulling a long piece of rope from somewhere... and what normal person carries rope around with him like that?

(Jumping up and down from the Bizarre section of the forum): We do! We do!

Ah, yes, the Wizards always seem to tie a piece of rope around their waists to hold their robes together (they call it a cincture and because it has such a fancy sounding name, they can get away with it). So, OK, who besides Wizards?

So, although magicians have been getting away with pulling a rope from their pockets for ages, how much nicer would it be if they untied a gift box and used the ribbon instead of a rope? Or took off their neckties and used them instead?

OK, back to the discussion worrying about the demise of rope, causing the end of magic civilization as we know it.

Spellbinder

I have used the gift box idea. As part of magic that was related to family traditions(in this case Christmas), I had a piece of red rope tied in a bow around a box that was wrapped in green paper. While pattering that as a kid I was alway impatient with tightly strung ribbons around a Christmas package, I commented that I just wanted to cut the ribbon off. So I cut the rope. But since my mom liked to re-use the ribbon, she didn't want me to do that, so I restored it. I then proceded similarly with the removal of the wrapping paper from the box, and did a torn and restored of it. It all tied together very well(no pun intended).

You could also view Whit Hayden's Mongolian Pop Knot, where he does a combination of cut/restore and PN, under the premise of a magician teaching audience members how the trick is done. The moves are very well motivated, and the presentation is definitely entertaining.

John

John Long
For those of you who are not framiliar with John he is a walking talking encyclopedia of rope magic, yes an even bigger rope nut than me.

Spellbinder
You have quite a reputation at the Café, and Kidabra as an authority on magic. I am surprised to hear such a simple question from you, but to answer your question I pull every trick I do out of my magic case, weather doing a show, or walkaround I need a whole case full of stuff to get the job done.
HAVE FUN
Al Angello

I think you missed the whole point of my "tongue in cheek" post, but then I have that effect on people more and more these days. Some days I can't even get my tongue out of my cheek. I'm sure your act is wonderful, and whomever has been calling me an authority on magic had better cease and desist.

Al,

Pay attention to Spellbinder. You have to be really careful who you call an "expert". I got called as an "Expert witness". When I looked it up I learned that "Ex" means "was" and that a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.

I don't like that job. Even if it is true!


Spellbinder,

George Schindler and I were working in Ohio together earlier this month and remembering our younger days in New York City. One of our regrets was the lack of stores on 42nd Street that used to sell $1.50 neckties we cut up in our shows. Apparently 1964 is over. The World's Fair is gone. We'll have to change our acts!

Of course, you also know that I was ranch raised as a cowboy. Will Rogers was one of my favorite show business heroes. He was also a magician! The scar across my right eye is from a broken lariat. It did have a horse at one end and a cow at the other before it stretched like a rubber band and then popped. Fortunately it hit me in the head instead of a more dangerous spot. But I wish it hadn't embarrassed my horse. Rope is my life. Lots of things happened in my family at the end of a rope. It was just considered "business". We still have to use fast horses too!

I really believe that rope magic will outlast me. But I do generally do get my rope and shears from strange places like THIS (Improved), purse frames, books, brass bill tubes, etc. There's certainly nothing natural about being a magician. It's just safer with an audience to bring your own rope. Then you can make sure it isn't long enough to use.

The best deals I get on cotton rope now are from Big Lots. I haven't bought any since yesterday. There it is $3 for 100' of cotton rope from Pakistan. (They don't rope their cows over there. I don't what a man there would have to do to get a scar across the right eye. Kudabux never told me. But he wore a blindfold a lot of time. Maybe it helps!)

I haven't done my rope routine since a corporate gig Tuesday. Yep! I feel threatened.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Bob
Now you know when I compiled my list of rope magic experts I had to include your name among the experts.
LOVE
Al

Spellbinder
As a stand up comedian you would think that I would have a sense of humor, I read your post again and I have come to the conclusion that "I have got to lighten up". Where do you live in NJ?

This is an interesting topic. Thank you everyone for your replies. I think that their is some misunderstanding what I am trying to say here in this post so I'll explain it in a different way.

I know that there are several famous Magicians that still perform Rope Tricks and I know that white cotton rope in different diameters can be purchased at certain websites on the Internet. That is not what I am trying to say.

What I am saying is that a Magician should be able to go to their local hardware or some other local store (like Magicians use to do in the old days) and pick up rope for their magic act. You CAN NOT do this anymore. You have to order your rope from somewhere else.

Another point I am trying to make is that white cotton ropes are not common household items anymore. Many adults and kids these days have NEVER even seen a white cotton rope. The rope looks more like a magic prop than a common household item. Colored Nylon and polyester ropes are common ropes these days.

If something is not common anymore (like white cotton rope) it has a good chance of disappearing in the future because it is not in common use. If white cotton rope disappears, then traditional rope magic (using white cotton rope) will also be gone unless Magicians start performing it with the common ropes you find these days and that is the colored Nylon and polyester ropes that you can find locally at your hardware and other local stores.

I've always used the hard to find white cotton rope for my Rope Magic. I'm having a hard time finding the white cotton rope locally. What I do find is 1/4" in diameter and is not the thicker diameter rope that I like to use (1/2" or 5/8"). I have to either order the larger diameter rope if I want to use white cotton rope for rope magic or use the smaller 1/4" rope.

The common and easy to find colored Nylon and polyester ropes comes in a variety of different sizes: 1/4",1/2", 5/8", 7/8", 1", etc. You can not find White cotton ropes locally in the larger sizes. I have never used the common and easy to find colored Nylon and polyester ropes for Rope Magic so I don't even know if rope effects can even be performed with this type of rope. Future Magician may have to do their Rope Magic using the common and easy to find colored Nylon and polyester ropes that comes in a variety of different sizes. That's all I'm trying to say.

Gerard1973,

We understand. We are just playing with you. If you weren't accepted as one of us, we would not feel comfortable picking at you. Brotherly love can be frustrating stuff to bear! Just look at the company you keep!

There are two types of this rope still very available to hardware stores. Clothes line is not as strong as sash cord and just a little cheaper. I really do get mine from Big Lots for $3 for a 100' hank. I bought some Friday. But I live in the South. The clothes dryer is still a foul weather machine to many here. (We like what sunshine does to white cotton. We also prefer the natural clean smell to that of dryer sheets.) The rope is still available here. I'm sure Michigan is another ball game. Why would stores stock it there? You can't buy snow chains here either! The markets are very different.

I have not checked, but Lowe's or one of the other on-line hardware companies should still stock it for some parts of the country. As the magicians' silk importer, I seriously doubt that magic shops buy cotton rope at wholesale. (They can't buy enough to qualify.) If they buy cotton rope at retail and resell it, naturally the price is going to be much higher. Larger scale furniture upholstery shops and drapery shops use it for beading to cover with cloth. Those may be more available to you up there.

BTW --- For the thirty-something years I have been doing my current rope routine, I prefer 7/32" rope. It ties better, cuts better, and (if real cotton) is just as visible on stage. I won't use anything larger than 3/8". There are times when that is all that is available. The show goes on!

Don't get too locked in on "natural". Most blonds would hate you! Magicians use doves, funny boxes, silks, saws, and carry Sharpie Pens, rubber bands, sealed envelopes, cups & balls, newspapers (already in pieces!), eggs, playing cards and half-dollar coins. And then there is the totally natural magic wand! Why not rope?

My vote is to focus on entertaining them. That is really why they are there. If they are looking for "natural", they'll miss your act. When I was a performing musician, I even showed them that I had a guitar! Nobody in the audience brought one. But then I was actually the employee, not a guest. In our role, I think we are expected to be different from "natural". We are in charge of the show. That's natural for us.

Your observations have merit. Geography would solve some of the problems. I like your focus on the audience. Keep us thinking.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

I appreciate some of the other viewpoints here at the Magic Café. It's easy to get upset about all the changes taking place these days. It does sometimes makes you wonder about the future of Magic. As long as there is some kind of rope to be found, there will be Rope Magic...

Thank you Bob and everybody else for your wisdom and insights.

Bob,
The days of the $1.50 neckties are not quite over. A bout of inflation has caused them to go up to 3 for $10. Also, they've moved out of the 42nd street shops to the sidewalks of Canal St. and Chinatown. $3.33 for a tie is still a bargain.

Manoj

Thanks Manoj. Perhaps I can re-stock and put the bit back into the act. Here a cheap tie is $10. (But it looks even worse!)

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

I disagree that you "CAN NOT" go out and buy rope.
Check your local WalMart store or BigLots and any number of hardware stores
across American. Cotton rope is not that hard to find.
I agree it's not a common place as it used to be but it is all but extinct.

Last time I was in America I looked in Walmart and the rope they had certainly wasn't cotton.

I've never found it in DIY sheds in the UK either.

Don't go to the hardware or sporting goods to try to find cotton rope. Go to the housewares dept. There you will find cotton rope.

You guys must not go into the 99 cent or Dollar stores, because that is where I buy all my neckties and many of my 36 inch silks that are doomed to destruction these days.

I always buy neckties in pairs so I'll have one to cut up and one to restore.

A good source for rope is the kid's toy section- jumpropes! They are very colorful and if you cut off the handles, you get a nice length of rope. It also makes more sense to pull a jumprope out of your pocket than a piece of ordinary rope. You make the excuse that your niece or daughter must have left that in your pocket and as long as you have it out, you'll do some magic with it. You can even make cutting off the handles part of the magic, by restoring the entire jumprope, handles and all at the end, and tossing it out for some kid to test jump.