Price$29.95
Media TypeDVD
CategoryGeneral
Date AddedOct 15, 2003
Incredible Rope Magic of Tabary - Volume 1 DVD
Tabary
A-1 Multimedia
(Based on 1 review)
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Volume I: The Rope Act
Monsieur Tabary has gathered many of the best ideas in rope magic from the past five decades, melded and refined them, added his own touches, and produced one of the smoothest, slickest rope routines available.
Tabary begins by displaying a length of plain white rope. Suddenly, the rope sprouts an extra end. Then another. When the two pairs of ends are placed in the proper positions, the rope is seen to have divided itself into two separate ropes of equal length. These ropes are knotted to form two small loops. The two loops are made to magically coalesce into one huge loop. The remaining knot is untied, leaving the rope in the same condition it was at the start.
Next, Tabary ties a knot in the middle of the rope. When grasped in his right hand, the knot vanishes. An instant later, the knot reappears -- but at the ends of the rope, so it once again forms a giant loop! (You'll want to rewind and watch that sequence again.)
Tabary unties the knot, and takes the ends of the rope in one hand, the middle in the other. Somehow, the ends and the middle invisibly switch places. He offers to show us this again, but this time the ends are tied in a knot, and they visibly slide down the rope to the other hand, where they are untied.
In an effort to simplify the situation, Tabary tucks the ends of the rope in his pocket. "With the ends in my pocket like this," he explains, "I would not be able to make a knot here, like this." In defiance of this utterance, he openly ties a genuine knot in the middle of the rope, then, just as casually, undoes the knot.
When Tabary pulls the rope from his pocket, the ends seem to have disappeared. He now holds a continuous loop of rope in his hands. Eventually, the errant ends are discovered in his pocket, and he restores them to their proper places.
The routine concludes with the Cut & Restored Rope. Tabary produces a pair of scissors, which he uses to sever the rope in two. When the end of one half is pulled, it grows longer, while the other half becomes shorter. The short piece is then slowly and visibly "pushed into" the long piece, where it is absorbed and reincorporated to form one long piece of rope.
Once the routine is finished, we move on to the explanation section of the DVD, which is quite impressive. I've seen DVDs of performers who were speaking in their native tongues and they weren't this clear. Tabary explains all the moves at a pace that's relaxed and easy to follow. He repeats each sequence at least three or four times, turning this way and that to allow us different points of view. And he uses a clever teaching aid: the ends of the rope are dyed bright red, making it much easier to follow its twists and turns.
I remember, as a kid, trying to follow some of the more abstruse illustrations in Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks for Magicians. They seemed to resemble instructions for tying, or untying, the Gordian Knot. In print, Tabary's rope routine would fill a massive, profusely illustrated volume. And even then, I'm not sure how clear it would be. The explanation section of this DVD serves as a perfect illustration of the advantages of video: a complex tangle of directions is sorted out in a matter of minutes.
The grand finale is a live performance of the rope routine, taped at a magic convention, which incorporates some touches not explained on this DVD.
Volume II: Magic with Knots & More
This DVD is devoted to four shorter rope routines, each of which employs ideas used in the full-length routine on Volume I.
Tabary begins by performing and explaining two routines in which knots seem to appear, vanish, and travel from one end of a rope to the other. If you've mastered the basic moves from Volume I, much of this will be familiar territory.
Next we are taught the Three-Rope Routine, a hybrid of the previous two routines and the Professor's Nightmare.
And finally, the Ring & Rope, in which a small metal ring is repeatedly linked and removed from a rope in an impossible manner. Close-up magicians may want to pay particular attention to this one.
As on the previous volume, the explanations are crystal-clear, and Francis Tabary proves to be a patient and resourceful teacher. The video concludes, once again, with a live performance -- this time of the Three Rope Routine. Très bien!
Bear in mind that many of the principles at work in these routines are not startlingly new. And these videos are not new either: They were originally released in the mid-1990s. But if you are interested in following -- or catching up with -- the ongoing development of rope magic, Monsieur Tabary's contributions are significant: The work of many years and many creative minds are here coalesced into a graceful totality.
Four stars
Monsieur Tabary has gathered many of the best ideas in rope magic from the past five decades, melded and refined them, added his own touches, and produced one of the smoothest, slickest rope routines available.
Tabary begins by displaying a length of plain white rope. Suddenly, the rope sprouts an extra end. Then another. When the two pairs of ends are placed in the proper positions, the rope is seen to have divided itself into two separate ropes of equal length. These ropes are knotted to form two small loops. The two loops are made to magically coalesce into one huge loop. The remaining knot is untied, leaving the rope in the same condition it was at the start.
Next, Tabary ties a knot in the middle of the rope. When grasped in his right hand, the knot vanishes. An instant later, the knot reappears -- but at the ends of the rope, so it once again forms a giant loop! (You'll want to rewind and watch that sequence again.)
Tabary unties the knot, and takes the ends of the rope in one hand, the middle in the other. Somehow, the ends and the middle invisibly switch places. He offers to show us this again, but this time the ends are tied in a knot, and they visibly slide down the rope to the other hand, where they are untied.
In an effort to simplify the situation, Tabary tucks the ends of the rope in his pocket. "With the ends in my pocket like this," he explains, "I would not be able to make a knot here, like this." In defiance of this utterance, he openly ties a genuine knot in the middle of the rope, then, just as casually, undoes the knot.
When Tabary pulls the rope from his pocket, the ends seem to have disappeared. He now holds a continuous loop of rope in his hands. Eventually, the errant ends are discovered in his pocket, and he restores them to their proper places.
The routine concludes with the Cut & Restored Rope. Tabary produces a pair of scissors, which he uses to sever the rope in two. When the end of one half is pulled, it grows longer, while the other half becomes shorter. The short piece is then slowly and visibly "pushed into" the long piece, where it is absorbed and reincorporated to form one long piece of rope.
Once the routine is finished, we move on to the explanation section of the DVD, which is quite impressive. I've seen DVDs of performers who were speaking in their native tongues and they weren't this clear. Tabary explains all the moves at a pace that's relaxed and easy to follow. He repeats each sequence at least three or four times, turning this way and that to allow us different points of view. And he uses a clever teaching aid: the ends of the rope are dyed bright red, making it much easier to follow its twists and turns.
I remember, as a kid, trying to follow some of the more abstruse illustrations in Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks for Magicians. They seemed to resemble instructions for tying, or untying, the Gordian Knot. In print, Tabary's rope routine would fill a massive, profusely illustrated volume. And even then, I'm not sure how clear it would be. The explanation section of this DVD serves as a perfect illustration of the advantages of video: a complex tangle of directions is sorted out in a matter of minutes.
The grand finale is a live performance of the rope routine, taped at a magic convention, which incorporates some touches not explained on this DVD.
Volume II: Magic with Knots & More
This DVD is devoted to four shorter rope routines, each of which employs ideas used in the full-length routine on Volume I.
Tabary begins by performing and explaining two routines in which knots seem to appear, vanish, and travel from one end of a rope to the other. If you've mastered the basic moves from Volume I, much of this will be familiar territory.
Next we are taught the Three-Rope Routine, a hybrid of the previous two routines and the Professor's Nightmare.
And finally, the Ring & Rope, in which a small metal ring is repeatedly linked and removed from a rope in an impossible manner. Close-up magicians may want to pay particular attention to this one.
As on the previous volume, the explanations are crystal-clear, and Francis Tabary proves to be a patient and resourceful teacher. The video concludes, once again, with a live performance -- this time of the Three Rope Routine. Très bien!
Bear in mind that many of the principles at work in these routines are not startlingly new. And these videos are not new either: They were originally released in the mid-1990s. But if you are interested in following -- or catching up with -- the ongoing development of rope magic, Monsieur Tabary's contributions are significant: The work of many years and many creative minds are here coalesced into a graceful totality.
Four stars