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Rubber Cement Tricks
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It is so very versatile and
can be used for many, many powerful illusions.
This effect is called string through neck and I love performing it! It is one of
those illusion people find hard
to watch as it looks so gross!
THE EFFECT: The performer takes a reel of thread and breaks an arms length off they take the ends of the thread in both hands and begin to saw against the surface of their neck - suddenly the thread has broken the skin and can be seen inside the performers neck!
The performer moves the thread back, forward and side to side, the audience can clearly see the skin stretching and contorting!
Spectators can clearly see see an entry and exit hole where the tread goes through! The performer begins to saw more vigorously until the thread breaks back through the surface of the skin. Everything can then be examined there is nothing to find - Disgusting!!!
• The thread can be borrowed and/or examined
• No fake skin!
• Perform anywhere with very little set up required
• Can be viewed from any angle!
YOU WILL NEED:
• A reel of black (or dark coloured) medium gauge nylon thread
• Rubber Cement. What's rubber cement? see TIP1 HERE then click back.
Please see the WARNING HERE before performing this trick.
THE SECRET: The secret to the trick is of course Rubber Cement. I find that the type you get in a bicycle puncture repair kit to be very unsatisfactory and suggest eBay as a good starting point. The rubber cement is applied to your neck before the performance and in secret. You only need to apply a very thin layer approximately three inches high and six inches wide. (pic 1). Spread it evenly.
THE METHOD: Take the reel of thread and break about an arms length off, you need about an arms length so you have enough to wind round your fingers to get a good grip.
Show the length of thread to your audience holding it in both hands. (pic 2) Place the thread on your neck (in the center of the rubber cement band) and ‘appear’ to start to saw the thread on your neck. I say 'appear' because in fact you do not need to apply pressure at all because the thread will naturally pull your skin from left to right a little, which looks disgusting and painful but if performed correctly is not painful at all.
Obviously you are going to need to pretend that it really hurts, so a bit of acting is required! When you have moved your hands back and forth a few times you need to do the secret move which the trick relies on (but which does not look out of the ordinary) this is as follows:
down towards the floor,
this sandwiches the thread
in between the rubber cement and your skin. When you lift
your head back up the thread
can be seen to be going right through your skin even with entry and exit holes!
Obviously what is actually happening is that the skin on your neck, which is naturally quite stretchy, is temporarily glued together over the thread
in a ‘pleat’ of skin, giving the impression it is inside your neck. Try it in front of a mirror it looks freaky! You can let the audience have a fairly close look but do not
let them get too close.
It’s now time to have some fun with your audience! Who at this point usually find it quite hard to watch and or scream, which is great and can be very satisfying! You can pull the thread from side to side, which stretches and contorts your skin. The thread does not move within the pleat of skin, but just stretches the skin as you move from left to right.
You can even push the thread forwards a little, which stretches the skin outwards, or backwards into your throat a bit, which again looks equally disgusting. Even try a circular motion, experiment!
For the finale of the trick you can do a couple of things. You can either use the left to right sawing motion and begin to push the thread forward out of the pleat of skin, which to your audience looks as though it is ripping right out of your throat. (pic 3). You can do this relatively slowly, so the audience has a chance to see it in all it’s gory, glory and also so it does not cause you too much discomfort in the process.
When the thread is out you can immediately give it to the spectators to examine and all you have to do is make sure you tilt your head and neck back a bit to ensure the rubber cement has totally unstuck your skin and no ‘scar line’ can bee seen. Your audience can even touch your throat briefly after the effect as the rubber cement can not be felt and will only stick to itself, not anything else.
The second way to finish the trick is to turn you neck to the side and with one hand holding your neck, to cover the ‘scar line’, use your other hand to pull the thread out of one of the holes, winding the string around your fingers as you do it.
This method can be a little uncomfortable so you may have to experiment to see which one works best for you.
TIP 1: As an impromptu method you can use dental floss as make shift thread. Although this tends to be thicker than the thread and a little harder to manage it still looks pretty cool. Make sure you carry the rubber cement around with you wherever you go and you’re always prepared. Also you might like to try glow in the dark thread and perform at night!
TIP 2: Removing rubber cement can be tricky. To totally remove the cement after the effect (with no one around) you can do a couple of things. You can simply rub it off with your hand which works fairly well. However I prefer to use a little White Spirit or Alcohol. This takes the rubber cement off really well. The Spirit will also need to be removed with soap and water to avoid irritation to the skin.
TIP 3: For another great illusion using rubber cement see the amazing
Cut & Restored Currency
trick.
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