Glad to hear you like it Harry, puts my mind at rest after preordering.
Cheers
Nick

I have used Tarbell gimmicks in the center of the rope for a routine (can‘t name the trick since it is marketed). I found that the Tarbell gimmick did not stand up to heavy/strong tugging. It often separated when I was on stage just doing a bit of handling and gentle tugging on the rope. So when I had the rope tugged by a spectator it was with care. That is, I held one end and a spectator the other. I compensated for the spectators strength of pull. That means that I have a tug of war with a spectator, not two spectators having a genuine tug of war with the rope as is the case with Scott’s prop.

In the “examination” that Scott allows, the rope can be tugged by the biggest, strongest people in the audience. There is nothing to fear. The focus is on the tugging and the solidity of the rope taking away one of the audience’s possible solutions to the trick. While a bit ballsy, I believe that it a move of pure genius on Scott’s part and helps sell the trick. Frankly, I would not have thought of doing it.

Being pretty knowledgeable of rope gaffs, gimmicks, and moves I actually had an “oh WOW!” moment when Scott handed out the rope during his live, comedy performance.

Walsal, I’ve included a brief rope routine in my various acts for years. One of my pet peeves about most routines is that they go on and on and on. Pat Page distilled the essence of the cut and restored routine years ago. Cut it once, knot it as a gag restoration, then restore it (and his routine was a gimmicked version of one part of George Sands’ brilliant routine). Scott adds a few more elements and still keeps it simple, magical, and fun! I like it a lot.

Harry, you are vastly more experienced than me, and I have only had my Tarbell gimmicks a few weeks, but they are glued in with epoxy as well as sewn; and I have tugged them as hard as I can and they don't come apart. There is always a slight worry though and I would prefer to let children do the tugging.

The Tarbell gimmick has only a couple of turns to release it. The sewn and glued in gimmicks should stand up to some degree of tugging. However, what you will find is that rope develops natural twists as you uncoil it. I have actually had the rope untwist the gimmicks for me.

I watched it happen to Bob Sheets once. His gimmicks came apart while he was giving his rope a gentle tug. He covered well, by simply saying "Cheap rope! Let me go get another one." He walked off stage, reconnected his gimmick and walked back on saying "This one is new and ought to be stronger." and went on with his trick.

The Tarbell gimmicks are killer for their intended use. They would not work in Scott's routine. Nor would you come even close to the routine using them. However, you can (and most likely have) come up with your own good routine that works using them. I'd say stick to what works well for you. I know that I have passed on several items simply because my old method work just fine and I saw no value added to changing what I was doing.

Thanks for the warning - interesting!

Based on the positive comments on this forum, I just ordered one. It will be here tomorrow. I can't wait!

Rjenkins....I hope you get as much out of this routine as I have..


Please let me know...

S

Hi !

I recieved the trick at the end of last week...and I watched the DVD all the week end !!! It's going to be a hit...The explanations are really easy to follow.

I am going to take some time to work the routine next week...

anybody else bought it???
regards

allan

Look forward to hearing some more reviews....anyone?

Scott, what specifically are you looking for in a review? Anyone who knows me or has read the few reviews of items I have posted knows I only will review an item that I am or have actually used under fire in front of an audience. It is not often that I will review an item before that test. This was one of those rare reviews. The reason is that I am conversant with the methodology and actually use a similar prop for a way different routine.

I tell it as I see it, totally unvarnished. If a thing is crap I say so. If a thing is over priced I say so, if a thing is good I say so. BUT it is only my opinion and I can be wrong!

To date, I have tested the routine (my modification of Scott’s routine) and prop "under fire", and for pay, at four different gigs so far. That is not a great sample and I cannot honestly say that I have my lines built in yet (that may take dozens if not hundreds of performances!). I do have the mechanics down. It is not that hard. Of course I had a head start by being familiar with the gimmicks (as I have already mentioned) and knowing how to handle them with ease (years of experience with a different routine using the same type and configuration of prop - but less well made!).

Once I have a dozen or more shows under my belt using this prop/routine I’ll post a follow-up.

I got strong/good audience reactions from the routine. This has proved to be a good investment for me.

Scott,

There is a nother thread that has a short review the the Tricks and
Effects forum.

s

This effect looks really great, and I'd love to add it to my show. I have "The Final Answer", and am therefore a BIG fan of Scott Alexander's. There is one reservation though - as most of my shows are for kids, I'm a bit worried about using a box cutter. Does anyone have any comments on this? Whereas scissors are used by kids a fair amount under supervision, I don't think these types of cutters are suitable for kids to use, and I wonder about using one myself in front of children?
Has anyone used "Slashed" with an audience of kids? How do you feel about the box cutter?

You could ask the man from above. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

In my area you would not be able to take your box cutter into a school. You could take a 12 in pair of scissors in (more deadly!) but no knives (and a box cutter is considered a knife in the local school system).

For kids parties (in the home), I suspect that you could get away with it by starting the routine with a safety message and showing (by cutting the rope) how dangerous the cutter can be.

I'd probably not use it in kids’ parties (younger than say middle school). But then, I probably would not use this routine for kids’ shows. There are other routines that I would use

Thanks Harry and Scott

Just tend to like to get several opinions on effects (how they play out before their audiences) before investing the money sight unseen. Fully trust your opinion Harry, and have had nothing but success with other effects of Scott's I've picked up (Final Answer and Shattered).

I'm sure I'll make the leap soon, just curious about others' experiences

Thanks

S

You could gaff scissors in the same way as the boxcutter for school shows. I just got mine & love it! I plane on working it into every show that I can.

There is also the possibiltiy of not even using the knife and reverting back to the "magic finger scissors" for kid audiences.

S

$200 for a rope routine. No Demo.

The rope is not easily replaceable (must return original) and there is no backup. (for a prop that is probably cheap to make.)

Rope becomes dirty quickly and must be replaced often. (More often if you work on the street.) You should also have at least one backup. Things get lost or stolen. For me, this is a dealbreaker, pure and simply.

I'm mystified as to why there is no demo. Scott, is the method so transparent that anybody watching the demo will be able to knock it off? Even though it involves expensive gimmicks?

I guess that's the beauty of magic tricks! There is something for everyone and not every trick/prop/routine fits all. One would not like that as every other performer on the face of the planet would be doing the same six tricks.

Courses for horses as the saying goes.

I don't know what value added a video demo has. I honestly don't watch them. I try to find a brick and mortar shop (Denny & Lee in my case) and talk to the owner (Denny) about a trick, its strengths and weaknesses as they pertain to me, my character, my level of skills, and the time I would need to invest in learning a new routine (being over 60 I don't take on items that take a decade of practice to learn to present well).

I believe that demo's are way over rated. Frankly, I suspect they are more for people who want to backward engineer the prop to figure the secret just to know it.

OK, the trick in question. A rope gets cut, cleanly and openly and restored three times. That's it! You don't need a demo to picture that in your minds eye.

If you have read my posts on this item you already know that the prop exists for a different trick already.

In a day of $300.00 (and up) cups for a trick that can be done with paper (Dixie) cups and $400.00 coin tricks (which can be done using $4.00 to $10.00 worth of coins from a coin shop and a little skill)and even close to $300.00 for a little wooden box for linking a couple of ropes when a hanky cover will do (as used in the book the routine was taken from) then I think that $200.00 for a rope trick seems just about right.

Let me say that this routine can be done with a length of ungimmicked rope and moves known by the rank beginner in magic (the moves can be found in the public library in the youth section) but Scott wanted a trick that was open, visual, magical, lent itself to a silent or patter act, AND did NOT consume rope.

In five decades of cutting rope I've used way more than the price of this prop in using rope. Good cotton rope gets harder and harder to find when you need it. I gave up cutting a rope "for real" some years ago in favor of a prop rope put out by Pat Page. When Pat put it out and taught me to use it, I bought 10 of the things just for the same reasons you mention for not buying this one.

I like this prop (the thickness of the rope is very visible) and as I routine it for my persona and get more comfortable with it I'll probably buy a second and maybe a third one for the shelf (to cover just those reasons you mention).

Honestly, if I were the only one performing it, I'd be way happy! (Sorry Bob and Scott) and if anyone has purchased on and it doesn't fit their style then PM me and lets make a deal!

The ad for this says:
"I absolutely HATE watching a magician cut a piece of rope with his “magic finger scissors!" Many magicians think this is convincing. I think not! It may be OK for an audience of children that are four but to me that’s the limit. Sorry, it’s just not convincing".

I've been doing a variation of David Williamson's ring on rope where you use your fingers to cut the rope for years. I've been using it for adilts and they love the routine.

Of course, it's a comedy routine. So I think that distinction needs to be made. But, using the fingers does work quite effectively.