20 of 50 Greatest Magic Tricks - Indian Rope Trick (Amazing)

[SyNtzz16]

Is this the original Indian rope trick?

[blockhart]

seems simple to me,

hollowed out rope with a stick being pushed through it at the end of the trick the stick is quickly pulled out and the rope becomes limp...

[FAON1886]

But here are the facts: The basket is always needed to conceal the bottom of the rope. When the rope rises, it does so slowly and in short bursts rather than a quick and smooth ascent. Also the rope is always very thick - but there are a lot of reasons to use a thicker rope. Also the rope does have a lot of sway in it when it is fully risen. In some videos the rope is down right wobbly.

Difficult to say, if the rod theory is true though, they would need to dig one hell of a hole.

[FAON1886]

I've seen this rope reach 15ft in height, so that would only mean that if the "rod" theory is true, they needed to dig a 15ft hole. I find this to be a little elaborate, but still possible.

Some people think it could be driven skyward by air/water/gas induction - but this seems very unlikely since it would require a pump (very loud), electricity, and of course a reserve of the resource which propels the rope upwards. I also don't think it would support the weight of the child assistant.

[OtagoMark]

Hidden room under sand with a couple of RopeWallahs in it.....

[clone347]

Snakes ?

[meloanthony661]

this is the greatest most hard to determine trick of all time by far becuz u dont have the slightest idea how its done

[nitewars]

hmmmm..... it would seem that the rope is actually more of a sheath, and that a stick is pushed through it to make it rigid. when the rope falls back into the basket at the end of the trick, it looks like this stick is quickly pulled from it. of course, then you'd need to dig a hole beneath the basket, so the trick wouldn't be too portable.

[BlindJuztice]

Why are they filming my boner?

[fellXhouseXranger]

what is a "gora" as that maharaj guy said?

[aaqucnaona94]

@fellXhouseXranger Er - you have just rediscoverd racism - it means white but not like black in black, more like black in nig,,,

[TheViciousEnt]

uncontrollable boner

[vincevega0]

There is someone underground and the rope is hallow....a thin wooden stick is placed through.

[FreeeeS]

jesus was a magician lol

[mongolenpup]

my guess is...steel rod into the rope from below...than pulled out quickly so the rope falls normally like it does

[LeonhardEuler1]

This isn't even close to the complete Indian rope trick....

[SuperWernher]

When I saw the title I thought it said "INDIAN RAPE TRICK" but it was rope and I was like OH!

[mohammedalialhadi]

@SuperWernher you must be fuckin daft

[evilferris]

@funnyrodent I think the mechanics of the trick is summarized by saying it's always performed over sand or where a hidden crew is working from below. @ 1:48, it's very easy imagine the swaying motion of the rope being caused by a pipe supported in the sand. The rope collapses when the hidden crew suddenly sink the pipe.

[jimu57]

@0:44 to about 0:46, you can see a thin filament pulling the rope up.

[timedstroyer]

@jimu57 that must be some heavy duty fishing line to lift a kid..?

[jimu57]

@timedstroyer no, the line is to lift the rope. the rope musy be anchored above on some frame or mechanism. You dont see the top of the rope when the boy climbs. that is on purpose.

[MrMegamixdj]

@jimu57 it is out in the open in front of a huge audience so the top would be see able

[jimu57]

@MrMegamixdj Is it? You dont see the whole video. Kind of like watching Copperfield and the Statue of Liberty. They only let you see what they want you to see.

[mtillberg]

Easy.

Just dig a big ass hole in the ground below and have a guy in the hole put a metal rod through a hollowed out piece of rope. Balancing the rod while the kid is climbing shouldn't be very hard.

The guy in the hole, btw, is not at the bottom - there is an extra few meters below him for the rod.

That's my guess anyways.

[Ronnie9P]

@mtillberg i don't believe that could be it.. think about it... at the end the rope just goes soft in front of your eyes..

how would they do that if it were metal inside ? 

[mtillberg]

@Ronnie9P

Well, see, the metal rod inside the hollowed out rope can slide in and out.

So if Mr. Man in the hole just lets go of the metal rod the rope should seem to soften and plunge down to the ground.

[Ronnie9P]

@mtillberg still, imagine the size of the metal, and the speed they would have to use to withdraw it in order to obtain the desired effect..

[mtillberg]

@Ronnie9P

@Ronnie9P

Rope is quite thick.

It is not hard to get a half meter of rope to "stand up"

So if the rod fell through the rope at 9.8 m/s/s it would be gone In about one second.

This is more than fast enough considering the rope would not fall instantly.

[cardlover]

@mtillberg

yeh it would be easy if there was a hole... there is none. look at the penn and teller indian rope trick, the basket is moved around.

[mtillberg]

@cardlover

I believe that in that version, they used two different rods.

One short and one long.

The first, short one, was handed through the basket to the magician, letting him lift the basket around.

Since no-one is climbing it, it doesn't have to be a heavy metal rod, but maybe a lighter PVC or plastic rod.

That would let them still use a hole.

The rest of the trick I have already explained a few times.

[cardlover]

@mtillberg yeh ur probably right. I think for this (and most illusions), the audience thinks "he wouldn't go through all that for this trick", but in most cases the magician does.

check out this video/movie falled "fool us" by penn and teller. you can find it on stagevu.com

[mtillberg]

@cardlover

Exactly!

See, logic never fails. If you saw him do it, he fucking did and even if the only possible explanation seems straight off, you'll have to go with it.

Btw, Fool Us was absolutely great :)

[cardlover]

@mtillberg @mtillberg

yeh it would be easy if there was a hole... there is none. look at the penn and teller indian rope trick, the basket is moved around.

[nugg3ttoprock]

Easy dig a hole put a elephant in it and give it some elephant porn

[AfRoMaNiAcPRODUCTION]

indian dildo?

[sauroman1]

Why nobody filmed from behind? Maybe because there was crane.

[devil556]

There is a guy under the stage puling a iron bar up whit a rope outside of it.

And when he want the rope to fall togheter he just remove the ironbar inside.

[BarneveldDarts]

easy again

[rosesaler]

I Am From Qatar... I M Not Sure But I Think In Year 2007/08 An Indian Magician Performed This Rop Magic On Stage & It Was Incredible But The Additional Part Was His Assistance Boy Climb On The Rop, At The End He Stop Then Indian Magician Clap & Then Some Blast Smoke Came From Basket & In 2/3 Secs His Assistance Suddenly Disapeared... That Was The End Of The Show...

[AbsintheInChains]

@rosesaler im from England

[JayOhEnEnWhyEx]

I vote they put this on mythbusters =D

[Yusrezal]

best amazing i ever see..

[NekoD3m0n]

The rope is hollow like a straw. A poll is shoved up the rope on one side to give it to stand im guessing?

[evilpenguindavid]

@NekoD3m0n I think maybe instead of the rope being hollow, it is simply around a metal rod that stiffens on cue (probably an electric mechanism that causes links to go straight as the rope moves back up), then they cut the electric current at the very end which causes the rope to go limp again.

[TheMexChipmunk]

how come they always have a kid go up the rope.... they should put a KFC-Eating fatass and see if their "magical" stiffening rope can stay up :)

thumbs up if you agree

[greg5566]

@TheMexChipmunk Thumbs down for anyone who says "thumbs up if you agree."

Thumbs up if you agree.

[CaveRavier]

lots of explanations, not a single one plausible. if only one man on earth can do this trick its likley only one man on earth knows how to do this trick.

[oldschoolsituationz]

so in all the videos on youtube there is not one person magician or not who knows how this trick is done? c'mon i know there is some one out there. it aint (sic) smoke and mirrors. an underground pole doesnt make sense for an out door trick unless it is mechanized, air dont quite explain it. we all assume the rope is hollow. so where do we go from there?

[CharlesDelCampoTV]

If you look closely you will see that the initial rope is not the same as the one ejecting stright up. The visual is fantastic and the trick is performed similarly to the same smaller version that is sold on Magic Shops. Great effect!

[LiMaoTang]

there is a particular chemical which stiffens material (e.g. rope), when heated. there was def use of it here....

[oldschoolsituationz]

@LiMaoTang whats the chemical?

[LiMaoTang]

@oldschoolsituationz... viagra

[uzare]

@LiMaoTang - dude ur rite, that viagra is fuckin awesome

[TimskELads]

ITs not a rope, its a horse's penis.

[mujahidinshallah]

its a pipe in pipe there is a gas producer and on the bottom its heavey reaction part ready!

[vikanug]

maybe metal tubeing with a rope surface carried up by electric?

[razzlefrazzle123]

Easy. The rope is the barrel's penis and he gives it a turn on by playing music. Then the boy climbs up on it.

[GetTiefBlauAndDie]

@razzlefrazzle123 Genius!

[flapdrol102]

so its real :o

[robertlewisvazquez]

I have a way to complete the trick but I don't have the time to do this trick.

[shabutie1337]

3000 people or 25000 people...what a bunch of suckers! Maybe they just went to the show to entertain their kids.

At 1:52 it is obvious the central pole is removed.

Of course, walking on water is believable for those who have "faith." Have faith in the pole!

[mridulad]

I saw him perform today in Delhi and whatever it is it is great to watch. Had a chat with him afterward and he never claims it is magic but then not too many people can repeat it, so there is something to it.

[pguptaemail]

This magician asks for 50000 rupees to perform and 4 days to prepare. Guess what that money and 4 days are for...? To dig a hole :-) which is then covered with a decorative mat or quilt. Ask such a magician to move the basket to a location of your choosing. There *may be* a supernatural type of mastery in some persons (we need to keep our minds open), but rest rely on tricks, just like someone who can't see clearly with his own eyes, wears glasses or lenses, which are tricks in their own right.

[toejammer08]

maybe if every indian child climbs the rope and disappears we would get more chinese curry this may be a good thing

[Fuliginosus]

If a boy climbs up and disappears that's something special; making a floppy rope temporarily stiff isn't even noteworthy.

[susp1]

@Fuliginosus I agree. I don't understand why everyone seems to be fascinated by this trick! I love magic but "making a floppy rope temporarily stiff isn't even noteworthy."

[oldschoolsituationz]

@susp1 its a phallic thing an ancient preoccupation with the errect lingam.

[susp1]

@oldschoolsituationz oh, ty

[Funkytripz]

Loved how he told the boy to go down again because they were out of time hehe. The boy couldn't climb any higher because the rope couldn't support his weight. Cheap cop out. Good trick though.

[samisyosam]

This is deceptively simple.

You ever see those toys where you push the bottom and this little toy figurine or a giraffe or something falls over? It's nothing but strings hidden inside little plastic linking parts. When the string goes taut, the figurine reassembles itself and becomes rigid. That's basically how it works in this trick too, but the links are hidden inside a very thick rope. Nonetheless, it was probably a rather impressive engineering feat to pull off well.

[abattoirflux]

Except the rope didn't behave in the same manner and those forms of joints are notoriously weak. Also, that kind of mechanism wouldn't explain the rise of the rope from the basket.

Good try, though. A rather impressive feat of self-delusion to make yourself think you figured it out.

[samisyosam]

@abattoirflux Well, you could either offer us a better theory or you could just sit there, do nothing and tell people they're morons while you play with your genitals. Just out of curiosity, do you work in a management position?

[abattoirflux]

It doesn't take a working theory to invalidate one postulated by an ape like yourself. Do you disagree with my counterarguments? Do you have an explanation that would explain them?

[samisyosam]

@abattoirflux My theory still makes sense. I wouldn't know the nuance of how he manages to get the rope to go straight up, but I see the general concept of it working. That's a really thick rope. It could be full of really thick disks with a strong wire running down the middle. If it got taught enough it would be pretty strong.

What's your theory? Or maybe you'd just like to sit there like before and look for insults to pass off as counterarguments.

[abattoirflux]

Your disk theory is as implausible as anything else you've postulated. Look at how the rope ascends. Barring a twenty foot pit and some form of jack under that basket, it doesn't explain anything.

I'm not familiar with any engineering trick that would allow for that effect. Suffice to say I'm unable to explain the trick itself, but I am able to look for holes and flaws in other explanations and point them out.

Are you going to come up with a revised theory or just sulk?

[samisyosam]

@abattoirflux I'm still trying to figure out what "holes" you think you see in this. You're just saying "WELP, I HAVE NO IMAGINATION. IT CAN'T POSSIBLY WORK." Again, it's the same thing that I mentioned from before. When the wire in the middle is slack, the rope looks loose. When the wire is pulled tight, the rope stiffens. I don't know how he is guiding it to go upright. I could imagine a couple ways that the basket is engineered, but the basic concept around the rope itself is plausible.

[ssanders6]

Based on the rocking/swaying of the rope, it would appear that whatever is making it rigid is coming up from the ground.

My theory: They picked the location ahead of time and made an underground bunker, guy rolls up rope and puts it in basket, the rope itself is like a hose (with a hollow center), when it goes down into the basket, the next person slips the pipe into the rope and feeds it back up through. At the end when it goes limp, that's the pipe being retracted.

[desmoog]

bollocks

[JimboWoodo]

I was kinda thinking it had something to do with air being pumped into the rope. Like there was an air bladder inside. It'd have to be an awful lot of pressure to support that kid though.

[TheSyedhassan]

@JimboWoodo in india there was no such scientific experience when this video was recorded

[partha4084]

@JimboWoodo - No your explanation is wrong. I am from India, and I have a close magician friend who do it. And this trick he revealed to me. Because he trust me. So your logic didn't match with the real trick. Try again.

No magician in the world have able to reproduce it. This show how advanced the ancient Indian civilization was.

[rosesaler]

I M From Pakistan... & This Is Magic Is Normal In Our Festivals...... Its So Easy ....Need A Basket & Rop (Special Made Of Strings) & Special Gimmick (Electricity Which Let The Strings Hard & Its Raise When Ya Hidely Turn On The Switch)......

You Can See The Magician Stopped The Boy From Climbing On Rop Not Because Of No Time... Because Of The Balance..

Please People Don't Fight Now....

Any Question... PM Me...

[PGReviews]

rosesaler, this trick has been around for a VERY long time... They didn't have electricity back them...

[MaharajadeMagia]

I am from India and this trick is not common at all. No wonder it is in the list of 50 Greatest Magic Tricks. Its secret was lost and magician in the west started saying that it was a myth. They even put a price money for anywone who could do it. Ishammuddin, a madari from Delhi (India) did some research and can now do the first part of the trick. The goras still keep calling it a myth. The fact is that no one ever got the prize money.

[derbyhits]

when u put a metal through the rope.. how can the tip stand first? the end where the metal is being pushed from should become stiff and before the metal rod gets to the other end of the rope, you should see a solid rope up in the air pushing its way up as excess rope is falling down. the solution everyone is discussing does not work.. is what im trying to say..

[DrDagger2007]

it does, there are 2 ropes, when he puts the first in the basket it is not used, the other rope is pushed from below the floor with the rod alread inside

[officermahoney1182]

Below the floor? But he's outside no?

[DrDagger2007]

underground then, in a pit, it's a really old trick

[abdultom]

you could do it with a segmented rod like plumbers use

[rish000]

Ive seen it done several times as I know an Indian magician who does it in his shows when I got to India. However this version is much easier to perform but riskier to inspect. Im not sure how it was done in the olden the days. But way it was done on this video can easily be done on a smaller scale rope. And you can buy the smaller version too.

[stevieRay3211]

Show up a day before and dig a trench in the sand to bury the mechanism. Cover with sand to hide. The rope has a hallow core and a solid rod is slipped into it and raised. Once the kid gets off the rod is pulled out from the rope and the rope drops. Actually pretty simple to figure out.

[derbyhits]

try it with a small rope and rod, it doesnt work as you said.

[rosieavfc82]

1.50-1.52 how can that be explained then as poles? after it collapsed to the floor

[acr08807]

p0120144 explained it about two posts below.

[p0120144]

it is a a metal pole inside that rope

When they played the noise, there was a man under the ground pushing the metal bar.

To make that rope fall, the hidden man quickly pulled the metal bar to make the rope fall natural

It is just a trick ---> i cant believe those ppl believed them

[spastichorse]

So there is a guy buried under the ground with a 15ft metal pole? unlikely.

[MarkP0rter]

i agree. how should the whole under earth / digging thing work

[p0120144]

yes

[ivormarlow]

Bullshit, Berglas did it before this chump.

[p0120144]

they used a man underground to push the metal rope ---> and quickly pulled back to make the rope fall

[p0120144]

there was a underground tunnel ---> trust me --> it is just trick

[rocksith]

just a trick...all of theme are tricks ...that is clear ...but how did thei do it...??

[BPMagic300]

What the..!!??

[majesticmaniac]

arrite..it aint no rocket science..look at the thickness of the rope..so that a good old iron rod or a wooden stick would go in from the bottom..but it was performed well..

[mikeleifskramstad]

if the boy kept going up the rope, the rope would bend over and collapse.

[sweeper1977]

In the full version of this trick, according to some old text, the kid should disappear at the highest point (into heaven), and throw some objects he obtained there. Then the kid's dissected body will be thrown down (supposedly by angry God) and the magician would put them into a box. Finally the kid will come out of the box alive.

[fortuitousnisa]

thats the chinese version. the indian version is when the boy climbs up, disappears, the magician gets angry, arms himself with a sword or machete, then climb up and disappear himself, the crowd would see limbs of the boy fall, then the magician climbs back down and puts the limbs in a basket or under a cloak and then the boy reappears. no one has ever performed this full version ever since the old days

[DLPBurke]

thats because  it is impossible to.

[SPAG22]

Have they got the trick where the guy eats his own head?

[Freek740]

this isnt south park:P

[SPAG22]

Ah damn.

[Mindux518]

this is something with underground and long stick in rope or smth

[Theboxer500]

I do believe that spiritual things and Jins exist this could be one.

[cuckingfuntshit]

I guess the rope is hollow and a long rod is pushed into it from under the ground while it's in the basket. The rod is pulled out and the rope falls back to the ground.

[OriginalKamehameha]

this is black magic!

[coolbeens21]

LMAO if it was black magic, the kid would have climbed to the top and god would have chopped his limbs off :O lol

[MaterTaenebre]

I think it too!..why he stopped the boy from going on top? and what is the meaning of the phrase: "..stop there, because the battle in the Heavens has ended"?

I thin there is some sort of dangerous employment of "elemental" and subtile forces in it.

[raikensin]

hmm seem like this guy can;t perform the full indian rope trick either.

originial rope trick; magican make rope go up pass the cloud and ask for the boy apprentice to climb up, boy go up dissapear in cloud, magican call to make him go down, no repsond, magician arm with knife, went up the rope, next thing you know body part fall off the sky, magican climb down all bloody, pick up the body parts put in basket and cover with blanket and BAM!! boy come appear restore under the blanket

[Rafterman123]

Now... the rope is hollow and relatively stiff. Bury your grandma in the ground, along with a pole burried below her, place the set on top. "Charm" the rope up thanks to granny pushing up the pole. when the pole is fully up, put a plate down to stop the pole from falling down. kid climbs, kid climbs down. granny removes the plate, pole falls, rope falls, everyone claps. That is how I would do it anyway and im sure thats how he does it. unless Jedi knights are actually from India

[yticegoat]

zomg so simple, a solid pole slides up the center. thats why it cascades down at the end instead of going limp all at once

[otachurn]

every magician knows there isn't magic trick in the world. That we haven't explained it doesn't mean it's magic and we will never be able to reveal it

[s3xypoobum]

i think james randi explained this trick, there is another person inside the basket, the basket isnt actually sitting directly on the floor if u watch again, its rested on top of another peice of tarp? i think, and big enough for someone and alot of small hollowed metal pieces, which can be joined together to form a bigger pole, hence raising the THICK rope

as for when the rope goes limp, i dont really know... =[ but the joint pices explain why the boy onli gets to climb 1m off the ground

[GerrardoGerrard]

EXPLAIN THE TRICK!!!??

Not fucking speculative theories ..

As long as no one can explain it - it's real and paranormal.

[toan33162]

we cant its unexplainable

[Rafterman123]

can you explain the general theory of relativity (without using wikipedia children) - OH YOU CANT!? - its paranormal.

Oviously this was rhetorical, intended to highlight how friggin stupid gerrard sounds.

[smvaswani]

Its a great performance. I dont know why the utube viewers want to underrate such a good performance.

The performers deserve to be appreciated and not criticised without a drawback or any shortcoming.

Suresh M. Vaswani, Muscat.

[franzpolak]

just remember it is still a trick

[edscars]

In these Indian rope tricks on youtube I haven't seen anyone setting up the base pot thing. For all we know a deep hole big enough for a guy to be underground, feeding (and later quickly withdrawing) a long metal pipe up through the center of the rope to allow someone to climb it. Sure it's unlikely, but a possibility since we don't see the set up beforehand. The guy in this vid said there was no support from the top, but what about from the bottom?

[KurtLewisProductions]

yer thats a smililar conclusion that i came up with.

Either way its a fucking good trick!

[Proletariat12]

It's obvious the support is from the bottom. any layman can see that. Notice how it wobbles and sways from the base. It's either a bamboo rod stuck up there or air pressure or something.

[SwiftyBlue22]

I know how it is done. I saw it in a book, and it was revealed. The limbs are monkey parts, and the boy hides in the shirt of the guy that comes up there. Then the magisions gather around blocking the view of the boy and takes the monkey limbs. With the view blocked the boy hops out of the shirt, and he acts dead then when the "magic" guy gives him a little kick. I am such a genious!!! lol

[ChaosKnight572]

Hahahaha Nice joke there. xD

[kikaswv1]

HOW??

[puncru]

there's lots of tricks done in india that are wierd , this is just a sample. British and american magicians tried copying it but they could'nt do it like the orignal indian who invented it.

[LaRoza77]

The original version was a myth. The best example of it was a camera trick (reversed).

[videogameruler75]

the original ones performed many many years ago went down like this. rope goes up assinstant climbs it dissapering into the sky either magician climbs after him or the assinstant body parts fall to the ground in pieces. if he goes after him he comes down with his peices. either way the assistant ends up in peices in a bag and the magician puts him back together cool ey?

[hckrkd]

There's no such thing as "the original one".. This IS the original one because the stories about boys climbing up the rope is just a myth. No one ever really did anything like that.

[videogameruler75]

what i mean by tht is the first recorded or the first tht were said to have been done.

[bigboy9153]

thats definately not a roap.

[will955000]

lmao. my mouse wass moving up when this trick was showed.!! creepy..

[terrorTan]

Cool!But i always wanted to see the full version of the trick.

[ZombieJesusBrainz]

the one with the person climbing and disappearing? yeah i wanna see that!

[haobio]

It thought this video was going to explain the trick.

[awimagic]

thanks for the wonderful upload... love to see more of indian magic

[gamemeister27]

It's not actually Indian actually, that was made up to attract audiences.

[awimagic]

thats Ishamuddin performing a version of INDIAN rope trick and that video was shot in india too...

i don't fully understand your point here, sorry

[gamemeister27]

The original trick is british in origin, no one was ever able to get his far though. This is one of the first indians actually doing the "indian" rope trick.

[samicxi]

this can be easily explained.

U can notice that the "rope" is 1) very thick 2) when it is hanging it is more like a pole.

It swings from the top while the bottom is stationary. Some sticks r made up of very short sticks jointed together just like some blind ppl's sticks that if they got pulled from the bottom would lock and stay stiff.

The rope is filled with strong jointed metal sticks.

There is a basement or a big covered hole under the guy in it there is another

[samicxi]

in it there is another person who

1) fills the rope with the jointed sticks slowly

2) makes sure the stiff rope is well balanced in its base to support the weight of the climber.

This explanation solves both points that cover this trick. these points being:

1)the rop gets stiff like a pole all of the sudden

2) it supports and balance the weight

[samicxi]

a good way to refute this trick is to ask for the other end of the rope to be visible.

A main tool that "magicians" use is to divert ppls sight from point where the actual trick is being pulled out.

While all ppl r concentrating on the hanging end of the rope and then the boy who climbs it, no one gives any attention to the real trick which is the bottom.

[thegreatestchallenge]

there's actually a version whereby no basket was used, and the rope was on a piece of mat, and the fucking rope just turned stiff and went up without any external help at all, it was also done in broad day light Remember even the magician claimed that he does not know how it works, the basket was actually inspected and there's no hole under the basket, this isn't on a stage

[cmora2]

Do not be so stupid this magic if you know so much do it your self...just let be what it is magic...

[samicxi]

well give me a good sum of cash for me to get the proper tools and i'll do it.

[dmari2083]

stuped that trick has been aroud for hundreds of years, and it how is the ropr being pulled up, why dont you make one and become rich,

[iashish2]

Had it been THAT simple...

I am sure one of these great magicians would have been able to perform it...!!!

[tomroutledge1]

how did this not come first? this is the only magic trick that is unexplainable.

[abhijit92111]

lmao - ur crazy man! lmao

[saleall]

amazing