Can anyone point me to a source to learn the one handed rope knot. Not like the ones Daryl teaches on volume one of his Rope videos. I am looking for the old rodeo type effect where you hold a 4 foot length of rope and by flicking the wrist a knot forms at the other end.
Thanks for any help you can give me.

PM me and I can give you a method I use

I use a method Al Schneider first published in a small booklet "Much Ado About Knotting". I don't believe the version of the one handed knot is original with him but that is where I found it.

I also believe he may have written it up in Genii magazine. I don't remember which issue but I do remember shooting pictures for it. (Genii uses photos to make the illustrations).

We had to use some pretty creative methods to simulate stop action photography.

It takes a bit of a knack to learn it but it is very pretty and quite startling.

Another reference is on page 318 of the hardback 4th edition of The Amateur Magician's Handbook.

Interestingly, the index says it's on page 209...

It's in Volume 64, number 3 (March, 2001), page 45. It's unlike my way of throwing the knot...everything that happens around the magician's hand (as per Schneider's technique), happens in 'my' technique near the top end of the rope, a bit below my first finger.



Peter

Thanks Peter and Frank. I looked up the March 2001 issue of Genii and it was indeed there. I will play with this method.

Bob Miller published a routine a few years back entitled "Relentless Ring and String". It has a nice snap knot move that occurs in the bottom half of the rope. Several years ago at a convention he showed me the technique, and I am finally able to do it about 99 percent of the time. It took a lot of work, but one day things just "clicked".

Amos McCormick

This is on Patrick Pages' 'Rope Rope Rope' video, if anyone else wants to check it out

Kevin

I do hope you'll pardon a little plug: In just a little over a week, I am video taping material for a forthcoming DVD on Knots. Instructions on Snapping a Knot into a rope (as Will Rogers used to do) will be included, of course. Also, the following variations: Snapping the Knot from the "inside." Snapping the Knot from the "outside." Snapping two knots simultaneously; with two ropes... one in each hand. And snapping a slip knot into a rope.
Also on the DVD will be Bill Spooner doing his version which he calls "Snap Knot," Mary Mowder doing Flips Slip Knot tied without releasing the ends, and quite possibly Dick Oslund doing the Eskimo Yo-Yo. I'll perform and teach some 12 to 15 other knots and knot related effects as well. Some are well know, but just have to be included on any look at Knots. (G.W. Hunter, Chefalo.) But others are not seen very often like 2 Hands, 2 Knots, Swing Knot, and the Lazy Sailor Knots. A couple of new effects and creations of my own like the slow motion Butterfly and the Flying Butterfly.
Given how long it can take to bring magic to market, I'm not going to make any predictions as to how soon it's going to be available.
But, if you happen to run into me at a magic convention, I'll be happy to teach any of the knot stuff I've collected since the 1950's. (I'll be in Vegas for the WMS.) In particular, I've taught hundreds of magicians and non-magicians how to do the Will Rogers effect which is the topic of this thread. I suspect it is one of the hardest things to learn from the printed page in all of magic.
By the way, I'm collecting possible titles for this project and would love to hear any ideas my fellow forum members have. Under consideration are "Knot Necessarily So," "The Sheriff of Knot-ingham," and the bland but descriptive: "Dennis Loomis Knot Routine."
Dennis Loomis
http://www.loomismagic.com

Dennis,

Why even consider any other titles? The "Dennis Loomis Knot Routine" is a natural and the only viable title for this DVD and should have people lining up in the aisles waiting to plunk their money down for the DVD. (grin) Alternatively, I love "Knot Necessarily So".

Please put me down for one of these DVDs. And, I'd appreciate it if you'd also autograph and date the case liner notes and the DVD itself.

Mike

P.S. I never fully realized the talent coursing through your veins. (Is there no end to this boy's talent and ability?) I am really impressed regarding your expertise in this somewhat arcane area of magic. How did you find the time and have the patience to learn these routines? My hat's off to you.

Turk,

Wow, thanks for your kind words. Since you asked, I'll tell you. I began attending Abbott Get Togethers in the late 1950's and much of what I've gleaned about Knots came from magicians I met there that shared stuff with me. Dick Oslund was probably the first. He taught me the Eskimo Yo-Yo and the way to tie a knot without letting go of the ends. Sid Lorraine and Bruce Posgate showed me the Chefalo Knot and encouraged me to buy the Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks. I mastered the Eskimo Yo Yo and taught it to the late Bob Lewis who, in turn, taught me to do the Will Rogers Snapping a Knot in a rope. I also traded knots and ideas with Karrell Fox, Gene Anderson, and Doug Henning at Abbott's over the years. I attended several of the Fechters events in the early years and traded knots with Phil Wilmarth and Bill Spooner, among others. Bill is going to share his "Snap Knot" on my video which is very different from the Will Rogers Snap. He published it in Genii, but this will be the first commercial video of him doing it and teaching it.

I watched a version of the Jackie Gleason TV show which was all magic. Milbourne Christopher was the technical advisor and also performered. He did his rope routine and that was the first time I saw the Lazy Sailor Tying the Figure Eight and two Lazy Sailor's Tying Two Figure Eights. I learned from him the idea of creating an ending to a routine of this type by doing a running gag build up of one knot which you finally do successfully. I do it with the Will Rogers Snap (and double), Christopher did it with Two Lazy Sailors. Along the way, many others have showed me stuff. I've experimented a lot with different types of ropes, and with visual effects and rope stuff. We're are hoping that my work with a Strobe Light is something that can be captured on the Video. Our preliminary efforts were mediocre, but we were unable to totally darken the studio. We're going to shoot the Strobe light sequence at night.

When I had the Magic Capades Full Evening show on the road, Bob Richardson was my stage manager, unseen M.C., and came up with lots of great stuff. The ending of the Knot routine involved some of his lines, his use of two or three different sound effects, and whistling done by him and some of the other cast members. We'll share the ending of the routine as we did it back in 1978 on the DVD.

We'll have the raw footage the end of next week, but getting it edited, authored, and to market is more time consuming than most realize. Rest assured I'll let you know when it becomes available.
Denny
http://www.loomismagic.com

Quick Update on the Knot Video Project

We completed shooting and are in the process of editing the footage. There is going to be a LOT of stuff included besides my routine of knots. Guest performers will include: Mary Mowder, Dick Oslund, James Dean (the actor), Will Rogers, and Bill Spooner.

We took great care to shoot explanations from behind to facilitate learning. Editing is a time consuming process and we can only work on it when both Joe Oliverio the videographer and I can sit down together.

After the initial editing, we still have to put in all of the graphics and create the menu. So, my goal is to have the completed DVDs by the time of the WMS in Vegas in January. It's possible that they may be ready before that.

Dennis Loomis
http://www.loomismagic.com