Tricks of the Trade

Henry Hays Upset Knot

This knot is not a fake knot. Its a real knot tied in a special way so its in the upset position that Slydini
shows after he pulls the ends. Its a good knot if you are doing the knotting yourself.
(In the pictures I am using ropes because I dont 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. Dont 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. Its 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 doesnt hang this way, then the upset knot wont 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. Dont 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