Hi all! I saw a performer by the name of Paul Nathan perform this. He started off with the standard rope through neck trick, and then it went through his body. He said the hard part is when it gets stuck, and then the rope was passing into his body. He then took the rope and it was going in one ear and out one nostril. It looked like the rope was split in half, but I don't know the exact workings of it. Is anybody familiar with this trick?

It was on the market for a very short time. It was grabbed up by a few select performers before it was withdrawn from the market. Those that have it, Paul and also Jay Alexander, treasure it as a unique item which not every performer does. Surprisingly the magic community has respected that.

Both Jay and Paul have noted that the routine does not have a finish or end to it. Perhaps one reason it has not been pirated.

Tom

If you buy Jim Pace's Tricks From My Lecture video 1997, he shows a nice rope through body after his cut and restored rope routine. Also, Henry Evans has a card sword type of effect with his tie which passes through his body and a card is seen to penetrate the tie. Neat stuff.

Bob Sheets also has a wonderful rope through body available on the video Hang 'Em High.

I second Whit's recommendation on Bob Sheet's Rope Thru the Body. It is a killer routine.

I saw Henry Evans do "Roped" and likewise, it is a great rope penetration. It is also commercially available.

I have both the Sheets and Evans (and probably the one mentioned at the top of this thread).

I have practiced the Sheets one and have done Evans' to great reaction for audiences. The latter is goofy, but I think in the right sequence could be a great bit.

Greetings and Salutations,

I'll make the fourth vote for Bob Sheet's Rope Through Body. I've performed this trick a number of times and gotten great reactions every time.

I add a little something to the effect, with a set of boxers attached to the rope after it passes through my body. Those of you who know the method behind the effect can figure out how that is done.

Without the boxers the effect still works well, but I added the boxers to play off my pirate-in-drag character and kept the boxers afterward because it gives me the out I want to quickly gather up the ropes.

Get Bob's routine, you won't be disappointed. That's my $.02 (USD) worth. As always, YMMV.

Joe in KC
Live a great adventure, make magic happen!

P.S. If the boxer short addition is a new variation on the trick, remember where you got it!

I bought Bob Sheets' routine before his video was released. It comes with instructions and a rope. I like it a lot, but the rope doesn't match the rope I use for Mongolian Pop Knot. I just found that Denny & Lee is selling the gimmicks necessay to make my own Hang 'Em High set. I should have it soon.

MagiUlysses
I don't have the Henry Evans routine but I watched a clip of it on Hocus-Pocus' site. In it, he uses the boxer shorts gag. I just thought you might want to know. Best.

Bob

Greetings and Salutations Bob,

Thanks for the heads-up on the Henry Evans routine! I haven't seen it. Bummer, though, I thought I had finally come up with something original!

Joe in KC

Joe in KC, Professor Cheer's Comedy Rope, which is probably 50 years or more old, uses the boxer short bit.

Greetings and Salutations Pete,

Thanks!

I was sitting here unable to think of how and when I conceived the idea of attaching the boxers to the gimmick in the Sheet's routine. I've never seen the Professor Cheer's routine performed, but I have probably read about it somewhere, and that probably rolled around in my head when I was working with the Ropes Through the Body.

Have an excellent weekend!

Joe

Live a great adventure, make magic happen!

I use Bob Sheets' Hang'em High and it is a killer effect. Great for stage or platform. If you want to see mouths drop open and hands clapping this is the one!

Yes Bob Sheets trick is very good!

Sometimes I use 2 ungimmicked ropes and found my magician friends thinking I was going to use the Grandmothers necklace principal, because I've been known to use it in my show.

Boy were they fooled!

Hang 'Em High Rocks!

Johnny Mystic

Hey Johnny Mystic,

Do you get the same reaction I do......stunned silence with mouths dropping open and then thunderous applause?

It takes a sec. for it to register.
I love that trick!!!

Does anyone know where I might find Bob's rope through body? I know there are a lot of dealers out there and it would be helpful if someone could narrow the list for me. Thanks in advance!

Hang 'em High is available exclusively through Denny & Lee's, at http://www.dennymagic.com/

Another plug for Bob Sheets. Great routine and a really nice guy.

I'm sure there are lots more, but just for the record, Pavel also has a rope through body, both with and without boxers.

And somewhere in the back of my mind, I seem to remember seeing a video of Fantasio doing an easy rope through body.

U.F. Grant had a nice Rope Through Body (published in the late 40’s) that used a single length (12 or so feet) of ungimmicked rope. The effect is usually staged with three spectators, two big men and a petite woman. The rope is wrapped around the woman. The men tug and tug and the rope tightens (painfully even!). At any given point the rope can be made to pass right through the woman’s body. Everything is left in the spectator’s hands for examination. There is nothing to find! It is a killer trick.

The Fantiso easy version is more or less a gimmick less and simpler version of Bob Sheets in terms of working and effect. The big difference is that the performer pulls the rope though his/her own body and does not use spectators holding the ends. This is the same version that Henry Evans performs on one of his new DVDs. Evans makes it a card sword trick. The rope is pulled through the body and through a deck of cards ending up with two selected cards “impaled” on the center of the rope.

For a longer routine you could perform the Conradi cut and restored rope that sets you up to perform Bob Sheets “Hang Em High”.

Harry,
I checked through all my UF Grant booklets and can't seem to find the one you're talking about. Do you know off hand where I could find it? Also, can it be befored surrounded? It sounds like a great effect for the street. What do you think of using it in that way?

Best,
Jim

James, Grant published the effect in a booklet titled “Nite Club Illusions”. It was published and sold by Abbott’s Magic for a big $2.00 back in the day. The trick is the third in the booklet and is called “Cutting a woman in half”.

You might check with Abbott’s they still may have a copy laying around.

All of the tricks in the booklet were for performing with the audience sitting fairly close-up and almost surrounded (more than 180 degrees). Typical cramped nightclub venue stuff of the late 40’s and early 50’s.

The rope through body (cutting a woman in half) is a good choice for a street venue. It can be performed completely surrounded. I have played it successfully on the streets in a couple of small town festivals.