Volume 1 Number 13 CHRIS CAPEHART’S 3-RING ROUTINE ‘Text by KARL FULVES Photos by JENNIFER WARD ‘The most remarkable feature of this brilliant linking ring routi people who gather at street corners and on major thoroughfares in large: but Chris Capehart draws crowds with this routine. ‘To better appreciate the accomplishment, rei environment and the most unpre s that iLis performed by a street may jes. [didn’t think it possible until Il that street magic represents the most fluid performing jan has no control over street noise or weather conditions. urrounded by the crowd, he can't do tricks which depend on angles. He must perform tricks that are clear and imple in plot, yet strong enough to hold the audience attention. Finally, he gets pai inks they've been entertained, so the tricks must be commercial. ‘There is no paid audience at the street magician’ performances. The people are usually on their way to somewhere else. If they catch a glimpse of a street magician performing a trick, they may stop to watch or they may keep going. The tricks chosen by the street magician must therefore be strong enough to stop people in their tracks, hold their attention, entertain them and cause them to make a donation when the hat is passed around. That these demanding requirements could be met by a ight at first seem impossible. only if the erowd t king ring routine (Copyright 1981 by Tnnen Magi, In, New YorkChrist Capehart has developed a routine that rivets attention. It is basically a two-ring routine that uses the third rring for the finish. There are no other props. The effects are clear and simple. The moves are uncluttered. The routine begins with a simple sequence, moves to stronger and stronger phases, and concludes with an effect that pplause getter. Although Chris Capehart does the routine on street corners, you can perform it close-up or from he platform. Tt s simple as a linking ring routine is ever going to get, but the effect is tremendous. Like all ring routines it requires practice to learn and performing experience to master. You will never regret the time spent mastering this outstanding routine, REQUIREMENTS ing ring set plus the key ring. Chris Capehart uses 10” rings, There You will need the two solid rings froma is no other apparatus. RING COUNT AND DISPLAY The routine begins with « handling of a ring count which allows you to count and display the rings in an apparently fair manner. 1. The rings can be in a cloth bag or on the table at the start. To clearly convey the starting position, turn the ight hand palm-up and place the key ring on the palm, near the base ofthe fingers. Place each of the other rings on the fingers, but closer to the fingertips. Now close the right hand and turn it palm-down to the position of Photo 1, ‘Thisis the starting position. The key ring is elosestto the body. You ean get the rings into this position as you remove them from the bag or pick them up from the table. You will then count the rings as follows: No. 1 No.2 No. 3 No.4 2. Theleft hand moves in palm-up under the rings, Photo 2, and takes them from the right hand. The right hand then turns palm-up, Photo 3. 3. Drop the key ring onto the right palm, Photo 4, then the next ring, Photo 5. The third ring is not dropped. Note that the right fingers point upward to generate cover for the opening in the key ring in Photo 5. 4. Atthis point there. 1gs in the right hand and a ring in the left hand. Twirl the solid ring between the fingers as follows. Hold this ring so that it rests on the left second finger, Photo 6. 5. Twen the left hand palm-down and let the ring drop onto the left thumb, Photo 7. With the ring resting on the thumb, rotate the hand palm-up again and repeat the action of Photos 6 and 7 two or three more times, 6. After the ring is twirled, the left hand fips it back onto the left arm, Photo 8. The solid ring on the right arm is picked up by the left hand, turned around, twirled, Photo 9, and flipped or tossed onto the lef arm, Photo 10, 7. The key ring is then displayed as in Photo 11. Bring the hands together as shown in Photo 12. The hands then move back to the position of Photo 11. The gap in the key is concealed by the right fingers. e two:8. Bring the hands to the position of Photo 12 again. In the process transfer the gap in the key tothe left hand so the gap or opening is concealed by the left fingers. kirk 9. The left hand then tosses the key ring onto the right arm, Photo 13. The gap is now concealed by the erease in the elbow. h the palm-down left hand as shown in Photo 15. Then turn the left hand palm-up, bringing the ring to the position of Photo 16. 11. Twirl the ring between the palms, Photo 17, then toss it onto the right arm, 12. Repeat Steps 10 and 11 with the third ring. This completes the count and display sequence. Each single ring has been shown and tossed from hand to hans Itis done quickly, with no hesitation as you move from step to step. At the finish all three rings will be on the right | No.9 No. 10 No. 11 No. 12‘THE FIRS’ ‘You're going to link two rings together and then unlink them, atas a simple introductory phase designed to show the basic plot idea in a st tt No.13 No. 14 No. 15 No. 16 LINK stantly. This phase of the handling ean be looked ki ly clear and visual manner. 1. The key ring is closer to the elbow at this point. Grasp the rings with the left hand as shown. bring the rings down to the position of Photo 19. To say it another way, the right hand drops to fa rings off the right arm. 2. This next is important. The palm-up right hand now turns palm-down. When the right hand is palm-down the key ring will be furthest from the body. eet No. 17 No. 18 No. 19 No. 20 Photo 18. Then tate sliding the 3. The left hand moves in front of the right hand. Drop the rings into the left hand as shown in Photo 20. The key ring is closest to the base of the left fingers at this point. The other two rings are closest to the left fingertips. This action turns the set of three rings around so that the key is now furthest from the body. 4, The left hand slides the rings up over the right arm and leaves one solid ring on the right shoulder, Photo 21.5. The left hand slides the other two rings down and off the right arm. The right hand moves in front of the rings, Photo 22. The lefi hand then releases the rings, allowing them to drop into the right hand. The key ring is closest to the base of the right fingers. The solid ring is elosest to the fingertips. 6. Immediately the right hand drops the single ring into the left palm, Photo 23. The right hand holds the key t. The hands turn palm down, Photo 24, as you display the ri No. 21 No, 22 No. 23 No. 24 in Photos 6 and 7. Then resume the position of Photo 24. ‘The right forefinger lies over the opening in the key ring, concealing it cory of linking two rings, the right forefinger can be thought of as an ile segment of the key ring that conceals the linking action from the from view. As exemplified in the S extension of the key ring, a kind of flex audience's view, No. 25 No. 26 No. 28 9. Bring the hands together, the left hand in front of the right hand. Allow the left-hand ring to pass through the opening in the key ring, then separate the hands as shown in Photo 25. 10. Inmore detail, the linking is accomplished as follows. The left-hand ring moves through the opening in the key as shown in Photo 26, by moving in front of the right-hand ring and through the gap in the key ring. The right forefinger is drawn back out of the way to expose the action of Photo 26. In practice it woutd be over the o concealing the gap from view.ing action is accomplished with a short snap of the wrists, asif Display the linked rings. Allow the effect to register by tugging on the 12. To unlink the rings, begin by holding the rings as shown in Photo 26. The left hand then shifts its grip to 7. Note in Photo 27 that the ring rests on top of the left forefinger. Ifthe left hand were to open, it ith the ring resting on the fingers. ing held in this position, you can move the left-hand ring around to the position shown in Photo 28. The right hand then rotates at the wrist to the position of Photo 29. Another view at this position is shown in Photo 30. ings just snapped intoa li ngs. No. 29 No. 30 No. 31 No. 32 14, Drop the left-hand ring, Photo 31. Then re-grasp itas shown in Photo 32. Bring the rings up to the position. of Photo 33. Then slide the left-hand ring to the position of Photo 34-as this ring slides through the opening in the key ring. Bring the rings back to the position of Photo 33 again. Slowly allow the left-hand ring to rotate away, Photo 35, to show the rings unlinked. No. 33 No. 34 No. 35 No. 36 In moving from Photo 33 to Photo 34 and then back to Photo 33 as the rings are secretly unlinked, the motior should be brisk and smooth. You then slow down the action as the left-hand ring slowly rotates away in Photo 35.THE QUICK LINK ink and unlink the rings during the course of a unlink, 1. Flip the rings up onto the backs of the hands, Photo 36. An exposed view of the si position of the key ed in Photo 37. Bring the hands together, right-hand ring above the lef sharp motion, causing the rings to link, Photo 38. the right-hand ring over, hen flip the left-hand ring over. You are in position to spin the left ick series of moves. The action combines a on showing the hand ring, ina ding, No. 38 No. 39 No. 40 3. As the left-hand ring spins, it will slowly rotate (counter-clockwise if viewed from above). When the lower ring reaches the position of Photo 40, grab the left-hand ring at the bottom as shown in Photo 40. No. 41 No. 42 No. 43 4, Bring the left-hand ring up and in the same motion unlink the two rings. Move the left hand away with its ring, Photo 41, as you hand the ring to a nearby spectator for examination.CRASH LINK impossible-seeming linking and uccession as you walk around the crowd, and it brings chopping motion with the right hand at the apparent center of the let but remember than when performed it is done quickly. 1. Take back the ring from the spectator in the erowd. Bring the rings to the position of Photo 42 with the right-hand ring on top of the left-hand ring. Place the left forefinger on top of the right-hand ring, Photo 42. 2. Then push the rings together, Photo k. Do this two or three times to emphasize the solidity of the rings, and to draw attention to the place where you intend to cause the rings to penetrate one another king of two rings. It is done two or three ti mediate applause. The action of the link hand ring. It will be described here in steps in quick a short #0 there isan audible el 3. Immediately link the two rings in the following way. Grasp the solid ring with the left hand. Bring it up against the heel of the right hand, slip it through the gap in the key, Photo 44, and then immediately bring it back to the position of Photo 45. ‘4. The right hand remains stationary throughout. Otherwise there is no illusion of an instant link. hand which moves. Stop the upward motion of the left hand at the point shown in Photo 45. ‘This link is done as fastas the hands can move. When Chris Capehart does it there is virtually no sound, despite the swifiness of the move. The left-hand ring pastes cleanly through the gap in the right-hand ring and moves soundlessly to the position of Photo 45. The move derives its name from the fact that it appears as ifthe left-hand ring is going to crash against the right-hand ring. The fact that the link is noiseless only adds to the startling nature of the sequence. tis the left CRASH UNLINK Drop the left-hand ring. Then re-graspitas shown in Photo 46. Pull it up as shown in Photo 47, up tothe heel of the right hand, through the opening and out, Photo 48. The move is done as quickly as the hands can move, yet yor should strive for a handling in whieh the unlink is virtually noiseless. Crash link and unlink the rings two or three times, walking around the periphery of the crowd, holding the rings a foot away from the spectators. INCREDIBLE UNLINK ‘You have performed a series of increasingly more impressive penetrations with the rings. You are now ready for incredible method of unlinking two rings.1. Youhave just ed two rings. The rings are in the position indicated in Photo 45. Bring the left-hand ing up to the position indicated in Photo 49. Note that the ring is clipped between the first and second fingers. s No. 51 Shift the left-hand grip so that the ring hangs on the left thumb, Photo 50. The left fingers are free att No. 48 No. 49 No. 50 point, No. 52 No. 53 No. 54 No. 35 3. The left hand turns palm-up, Photo 51, so that the left hand is under the ring. The ring is still supported by the left thumb. 4. The position of the left hand is shown in Photo 52. The key ring is then grasped by the left hand as indicated in Photos 53 and 54. The end result is shown in Photo 55. 5. The right hand moves under the key ring, Photo 56. The key is going to drop through the other ring, the opening passing through th ing should sway. The rings should be steady and the opening in the key should be directly above the solid ring. solid ring. To do this, neitheried, release the key ring. It falls through the solid ring and onto -centuate the drop and release, Photos 58 and 59. Unless you are lucky, almost cert ring. Obviously it allow the key 1a release the key ring it will not fall cleanly through the other ‘a matter of practice to get the knack, but you may find these two tips worth your attention. First, 1g to slide smoothly off the left fingers so that it falls st second, you ean look directly down at the key and line up the opening with the solid ring by sight. This should make the move almost surefi bat No. 60 No. 61 No. 62 No. 63 ht down. FINAL LINK ‘This is a flash finale to the rout 1. The right hand drops to the side, Photo 60. The left-hand ring is then used to kick the ring off the right shoulder, Photo 61. 2, This ring falls down the right arm, Just as it hits the heel of the right hand, the right hand moves away from the gap in the key, allowing the ring to fall onto the key in a linked condition, Photo 62.3. The left hand grasps the bottom ring of the linked set, Photos 63 and 64, then moves to the position of Photo 65. 4. The leftmost ring is hinged or rotated aron nd to the middle ring ax shown in the exposed view of Photo 66. No. 64 No. 65 No. 66 5. This ring moves through the opening in the key. As soon as it has moved through the opening, Photo 67. The illusion is that the ring instantly links with the other two. 6. You areat the position of Photo 68 now. You are going to get ready to hand a ring to solid ring in the left hand, push it through the opening, Photo 69, and is dropped, spectator. Take the top hoto 70. nd it to a spectat No. 67 No. 68 No. 69 No. 70 7. Once they grab the ring, Photo 71, grasp the other soli hand, Photo 72, and display the linked rings a tounlink all three rings. linked. 8. The hands now move together as you slide the left-hand ring through the opening in the key. Pause, then slowly separate the hands, Photo 74, to show all three rings unlinked. It is a strong finish and a guaranteed applause-getter. ring (the hanging ring of Photo 71) with the left Photo 73. It should be obvious to the au ifthe spectator tugs on his ring, that willBONUS SEC a flashy method of linking two rings. It ean be ineorporated individual sequence like the Quick used in place ofan No. 71 No. 1. Display two rings as shown in Photo 75. Flip them to the backs of the hands, Photo 76. The: right hand. The gap or opening is hidden by the base of the right thumb. 2, Bring the hands together so that the thumbs move toward one another. The left-hand ring moves in front of the right-hand ring and slips through the opening in the key. Fingis inthe hoto 77. No. 74 No. 75 No. 76 No. 77 3. As soon as the rings are linked, bring the right hand down, Photo 78, then the left hand. 4, Pause to show the rings linked, then unlink them by means of the Crash Unlink or by pulling the left-hand ring horizontally through the right-hand ring, Photo 79. BONUS EXTRA Since you are working for large crowds of people, it is to be expected that some in the crowd wi they bought this trick for their children. They may even remark that they know one ring has a hol heara comment like this, you can silence the onlooker with a trick that can't be explained by conve! remark that When you nal methods.1. Have one ring linked onto the suspect ahole in the ring on thi with it, Photo 82. No. 78 3. Theleft-hand ring then the first ring from bouncing out of | Ifyou compare Photo 81 wi may conelude thi how practical the method is. ine since conditio, here should convey the approach. key. The other solid ring is held in the left hand. le (pointto the near side of the ke to cause the rings to link on this side, right here.” 2. Grasp the left-hand ring as shown in Phot No. 79 No. 82 moves through the opening and down, the key ring as the link is made. hoto 83, the ring already on the key blocks the other will see that ing from becoming I itis indeed impossible to link the rings under the condilt cey where the oper ” Point to the key at the position shown 10 81. The left-hand ring moves up, he effect looks: in fact located) I'm going in Photo 80. bringing the other solid ring ing. No. 80 No. 81 Photo 83. The palm of the right hand prevents The action must be done quickly. ven to magicians, because ed onto the key ring Studying the photos you ns shown. But No. 83Perhaps the most important point regarding presentation hasto do with the third ring. Ifyou have gone through the text on the preceding pages you will have noted that the third ring does not enter into the routine until the very ‘end. But note, too, that this third ring serves as a kind of hook to maintain audience attention. "The ring is introduced early in the routine, then placed on the shoulder where itis prominently displayed. Still, n't used, and the audience is curious as to how it figures into the routine. Being curious, they arenot inclined to away during the course of the routine. If you do this tick for a living, touche: Patter is as follow: like this are the difference between suecest and failure. Ring Count and Display Walking around the periphery of the crowd, rings in hand, he says,""What I'm going to show you right now has been done on TV. It has been done throughout the world on stages. The difference is that when you see it on TV you can’t go through the TV set. If you see it on stage, you're 20 feet away. This is the first time you're going to see it done this close. I'm going to use only three rings.” ‘The rings are counted and displayed as he talks. The First Link He holds two rings. “Now comes the magic. I'm going to convince you. The rings are not really linked but they are going to look like they were linked. There's no way you can put two solid rings together.” Just as this is said, the rings are linked. "This looks good.” He walks around the crowd, sho. jon of the rings. "I realize that. Many people are fooled right now. That gentleman right there sfooled. But he's wrong. This fellow over here isn't fooled ‘The rings are then unlinked. The Quick Link “To further prove that the rings aren’t really linked, I'm going to bring the rings right up next to you.” Link hetworings Then prformshe ‘cand say,"Even though it looks likeit's on there, you and I know Crash Link Walkaround the edge of the crowd as the Crash an illusion. It takes place Si Let a spectator hold one ring. Say, “This gentleman doesn’t believe me. Here, hit it up there.” Spectator tries. Nothing happens. Take back the ring. Immediately link and unlink it as you walk away. ink and Unlink are performed, and say, "Remember thisis just, Incredible Unlink Walk back to the center of the crowd. Silently perform the Incredible Unlink. Final Link "T.don't see why you has doesn’t need any help at all.” Do the final link as the shoulder ring falls down the armand links onto the right-hand ring. As you then work to in Photo 68, say, "Look, I don't see why you're having this problem. These rings just hang such a problem. See, this ring here (point to gon shoulder) works all by itself It the situation depietes together like this.” As the three linked rings are displayed, say,"1I see this man right here doesn't believe me still. You sir, hold that ing there.” This is said as you work through the sequence of Photos 69 and 70. ‘As the spectator grasps the ring and tugs on it, say,""You see that that ring can’t come out.” Get the people to say that the ring ean't come off that way. Have them repeat it two or three times. As they say the final no, perform the unlink and walk away as the unlink oceurs. Say, “Thank you very much. Bonus Extra ‘You have two linked rings. Someone has mentioned that his child has a set of rings just like this one. You say, "Some people have a set of their own. A lot of people have rings with a hole in them. [use t only this side, As you say “this side,” you hit the left-hand ring in front of the loose ring, hitting.held by the right hand. Then do the link as you say," Putthisring here so that this ring (the left-hand ring) can’t g0 Up on this side of the other ring.” FINAL NOTES The silent version is done to tape-recorded musi ‘moves. Pantomime the actions. ‘cue. When learning the routine, flashed during any linking or untin! bus stops and train stations, whereve baffle the spectators. If crowd gath spread the hands as an applause make sure the openiny gin the key ringis never confidence, perform it on street corners, atWILD FIRE- By DEREK DINGLE Qn Bow SeMhole MacDONALD’S $100 DOLLAR FOUR ACE TRICK by FRANK GARCIA Bot uew ald OKITO BOX MAGIC JOE DE STEFANO'S CHINATOWN POKER HARVEY ROSENTHAL’S PERFECT COIN ASSEMBLY —_ Bouw Se TMAGIC TECHNICOLOR CARDS ok, NEW ZMAGIC aod bm KEN KRENZEL'S INCREDIBLE CARD TUNNEL SB IMAGIC ae THE “‘SIGNA-TARE”’ CARD ILLUSION MAX LONDONO'S ETERNAL STRING ~ 444 new Smee METALOGIC by FRED C. BAUMANN Sift NeW as SE TMAGIC BULLSEYE FATHER CYPRIAN and FRANK GARCIA ot new Mort THE ULTIMATE INVISIBLE ASSEMBLY