Herrmann Article From Magic Monthly

Tricks of the Trade

Henry Hay’s Upset Knot This knot is not a fake knot. It’s a real knot tied in a special way so it’s in the upset position that Slydini shows after he pulls the ends. It’s a good knot if you are doing the knotting yourself. (In the pictures I am using ropes because I don’t have any silks handy) Hold the two ends of the silks in each hand by the ends. Make sure the hands are face downward, so you look at the back of both of your hands. The fingers are in an “okay” position. See figure 1. The right hand travels to the left. The arrow in figure 1 shows the direction. In figures 2 and 3 the arrows shows the direction the right hand moves, to up and wraps around the left index finger. After it wraps around the left index finger, pull the end straight down as in figure 4. Let go of the end in the right hand so it hangs down.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

In figure 5 the arrow shows where the right index finger and thumb pinches the end that hangs down. In figure 6 the arrow shows how to reach into the loop and pull this end through it. See figure 7. The arrows are in opposite direction to show the knot being formed. Don’t tighten the ends yet. Pull enough through so you have enough ends so you can repeat this as in figure 7. What you should have is the ends of the silks in each hand and a single knot.

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 7



Turn both hands facedown again as in the starting position, but still hold on to the ends. It’s important that before you start the second tying, that the knot hangs as in figure 8. As you can see by the arrow that the single knot is already in upset position. If it doesn’t hang this way, then the upset knot won’t work. It would just be a regular knot. If you fail anywhere, that would be the spot. Practice will get you the feel you need to achieve this. Repeat the same movement. In figure 9, the arrow shows where you need to reach in to grab the end. Figure 10 is after the ends are pinched. The other fingers of each hand should be holding the silks while the index and thumbs are holding on to the ends.

Fig. 8

Fig. 9

Fig. 10

Now pull tight as in figure 11. In the photo, the knot looks kind of like a figure eight. What you should have is an upset knot. Figure 12 shows the sliding position of the knot.

Fig. 11

Fig. 12

I have done this so many times, that I can do this again even after of not doing it. I have practiced it that much. After awhile, you will get the hang of it.

burglar on top called and told the others to come up and join him,” tap the top of the deck three times. Turn each top card over face up and reveal the four Jacks, “And they all came up to the top.” To finish up, spread the cards face up on the table as in figure 3. This way you can show that you do not have any duplicate Jacks with out saying so. Don’t say that there is a possibility of duplicates. If they are interested they will look.

Fig. 3

How To Do a Magic Show by Michael Pascoe

A Guide to Learning to Perform the Ancient Art of Magic