talkmagic.co.uk

Hi everyone;

I highjacked a thread earlier on and drifted into a discussion about the classic effect called the Gypsy Thread.

Mandrake suggested to open a new discussion for it, so here it is! Delivered on cue and just in time!

As most of you will know, the gypsy thread is an effect where a piece of thread is unravelled from a reel, broken / cut / burned into pieces, then restored whole.

It seems there are many ways the effect can be presented - what is your story?

Here's what I'm thinking about at the moment:

Le Petit Bateleur wrote:For me the thread symbolises life rather than the universe, and the cuts, the various breaks, changes, accidents, turns and stages in life. Still in the end, if we accept change, are open and live purposefuly, we keep our integrity / remain whole. Or something like that anyway

Le Petit Bateleur wrote:I am planning to use a small pair of scisors, the kind you find in sewing kits, rather than the candle, and get the spec to cut the thread.

This way it fits the theme of a sewing routine in which I can weave Tommy Wonder's needle trick as well. (as well as a couple of other things related) Found an old engraved wooden sewing kit box in a flee market in Brussels, it's lovely and it's making the whole thing come together I think, Im totally chuffed about it It will be the story of a magical gift (the box and its contents), which is passed down generations. And my first routine that I thought up myself ... maybe not that great but it's mine and I like it a lot

One thing I don't know however is whether it's wise to get the spec to cut the thread if it's associated with accidents and bad things.

I'm very self centred - I just love quoting myself

The reference to the universe and the candle come from Eugene Burger's presentation.

I am learning the handling in Geoff Durham's Professional Secrets.

Do you know of any other sources?

Cheers
LP

The gypsy thread has been one of my favorite routines for a while now and it never fails to get great reactions. I often perform this routine in silence as the specs find what you're doing to be very intruiging and it's strong enough to stand on it's own without a story line.

There's a DVD specifically about the Gypsy Thread that's part of the World's Greatest Magic series and there are some nice ideas on the DVD. In particular I liked one of the presentations that used a small piece of flash paper to restore the thread.

I do think that your story line with the sewing kit will fit very well and it better than life and the universe etc.

I have to agree with Dat in regards to it being performed silently.

I am personally not a fan of going on about universal forces or energy as a hardened skeptic in all things paranormal and new agey it just makes me grumpy.
If however what doesn't work for one can work great for another.

I have only just started learn this effect (Learning from Dragon thread) and am having a few teething problems but am enjoying it never-the-less

Keep at it as I know that you'll eventually get there and then consider it a VERY strong addition to your repetoire.

I will be keeping at it. My thumb does get awfully tired during practice though

Geoffrey Durham's version is straightforward and, with the exception of using very strong thread which is a right b*gger to break, can be mastered very quickly. In this case, I like Eugene Berger's idea of using a small candle to burn the thread into pieces.

The candle idea is very nice - it's just his patter that doesn't suit me. The candle does work very nice with the flash paper restoration of the thread but you have to experiment to get the quantity right otherwise it will burn the thread aswell.

The Gypsy Thread DVD from the World's Greatest Magic series includes some very nice ideas on this classic and is worth getting.

I'll post a review over the weekend.

Gonna sound a bit silly here but what exactly is Gypsy Thread, is it a hookup or a type of IT. Sorry for this guys but its the only way I will learn

Chris Tennant

It's an effect where a piece of thread is un-spun from a bobbin and then snapped into half a dozen pieces, rolled up and then unravelled and it's back in one piece.

It's also somethimes known as the dragon thread

It's also known as Hindu Thread.
SEE:
1. The Hindu Thread Trick ..Lewis Ganson. Supreme Magic's teach in
booklets.
2. Greater Magic ( pages 846 to 847)
3. Sach's Sleight Of Hand pages 45/47
4. Al Bakar's Pet Secrets..
5. Kaplan's 'Fine Art of Magic'. pages 305/313
6. Later Magic by Prof Hoffmann..Explained in The Chinese Paper Tearing
Trick. pages 473/475; this via Ali Bongo. Japanese magicians
apparently used red cotton.
7. The Pentagram, Vol. 7. No. 8 April 1953..very full explanation via:
Baker, Kaplan, Warlock, Trixter.
8. Geoffrey Buckinghams' Lecture Notes. It may be in his books.
9. Shaun Yee (in his lecture notes, Stunning Effects & Ideas, 1998. had a
great version in which a red piece of thread plus a white piece were
broken up and restored as an alternating red and white length.
Someone has recently 'reinvented' ?, this and put it out.
10 Billy McComb wrote about his version but this I cannot remember in
which publication.

Finally there is Henry Evans Flash String version. Ask JB Magic.

Most 'authorities' recommend 'Chadwick Thread.' Tacking Thread.
That should keep you going.

I did see a modern young 'illusionist'!! attempt it several years ago , In Black Light-- UV. BUT the LX man forgot to turn the UV's on and it was presented in near darkeness!!!!!!!! To quote my wife, 'What on earth is he doing???'

Allen Tipton

Allen Tipton wrote:Most 'authorities' recommend 'Chadwick Thread.' Tacking Thread.

Geoffrey Durham certainly endorses Chadwick's Mending Thread which can be bought at branches of John Lewis. It's available in several colours as well as the usual white.

Allen Tipton wrote:I did see a modern young 'illusionist'!! attempt it several years ago , In Black Light-- UV. BUT the LX man forgot to turn the UV's on and it was presented in near darkeness!!!!!!!! To quote my wife, 'What on earth is he doing???'

Allen Tipton

Eugene Berger's presentation is with a Day-Glo yellow thread and uses a black light. I think I'll stick to daylight and white thread! Thanks for the list of sources Allen, superb info as usual!

The day-glo Yellow thread is a Camirand product that is designed for stage work where it is used with UV light. This allows the thread to be seen at the rear of the theatre.

If you get hold of the Camirand Gypsy thread DVD there are a number of performances which explain the set up and use of the lighting as well as some standard performances, again without explanation. You may be able to find some of these on YouTube.

From memory, the instructions for learning the routine are not actually on the DVD and are printed in a booklet.

Mike Danata stocks the day-glo yellow thread if anyone is interested.

Allen Tipton wrote:It's also known as Hindu Thread.
SEE:
1. The Hindu Thread Trick ..Lewis Ganson. Supreme Magic's teach in
booklets.
2. Greater Magic ( pages 846 to 847)
3. Sach's Sleight Of Hand pages 45/47
4. Al Bakar's Pet Secrets..
5. Kaplan's 'Fine Art of Magic'. pages 305/313
6. Later Magic by Prof Hoffmann..Explained in The Chinese Paper Tearing
Trick. pages 473/475; this via Ali Bongo. Japanese magicians
apparently used red cotton.
7. The Pentagram, Vol. 7. No. 8 April 1953..very full explanation via:
Baker, Kaplan, Warlock, Trixter.
8. Geoffrey Buckinghams' Lecture Notes. It may be in his books.
9. Shaun Yee (in his lecture notes, Stunning Effects & Ideas, 1998. had a
great version in which a red piece of thread plus a white piece were
broken up and restored as an alternating red and white length.
Someone has recently 'reinvented' ?, this and put it out.
10 Billy McComb wrote about his version but this I cannot remember in
which publication.

Finally there is Henry Evans Flash String version. Ask JB Magic.

Most 'authorities' recommend 'Chadwick Thread.' Tacking Thread.
That should keep you going.

I did see a modern young 'illusionist'!! attempt it several years ago , In Black Light-- UV. BUT the LX man forgot to turn the UV's on and it was presented in near darkeness!!!!!!!! To quote my wife, 'What on earth is he doing???'

Allen Tipton

Allen;

that is truly impressive / quasi-encyclopedic! Respect Sir!

May I ask - how do you keep track of all these references ? Is each room in your house filled with shelves with a referencing system like the National Library? Just kidding

Thank you very much for so much detail!

LP

i use the Guterman thread, i used to use sylco but its hard to find. I use the thick yellow stuff. I think its used to embodery.
You can use tacking thread and its designed to break easily so you can pull it apart. But i get the spec to cut it using scissors. As i cut i coment on thier cutting and if you pull as they cut you get split ends, so you can make the ends as bad as you like. After a while i ask another spec "they were cutting and you were counting yeah?" they will say no and i say ok we can start again?.....
why else would you want to restore a piece of cotton!?