I think I may have asked this once before a couple of years ago, but I am about to get back into the workshop and thought I would have another go at it.

I need a system in which a spectator is holding a rope, the rope goes up from them to a mechanism. They have to believe they are holding up a weight. The the rope should release in their hands when I want, letting them believe the rope either broke or came loose. The real release is somewhere else under my control.

any thoughts?

Electro magnetic with remote control?

Hidden assistant holding the rope and letting go of it on que?

What are the restrictions on this? Could you adapt a camera-trigger (flexible cord with plunger) to hold the rope down, or does it need to be wireless?

What I am hoping for is that a spectator will honestly believe he is holding up something by hanging onto a rope. He is not, but doesn't know it. The rope then brakes allowing him to hold the broken end of a rope drooping from his hand to the floor. Then the weight falls. He knows the rope has failed, but others may think he is at fault.