Ayling, Will: The Endless Chain
©1983 The Supreme Magic Co., Ltd., U.K.
Softcover, 44 pages

Comments: B&W Photo Illustrated. Part of the Supreme "Know-How" Series, with Rex Taylor, Will Ayling, Lewis Ganson, and Fred Lowe. "This is not a magic trick but a carnival game, a con game, where the operator can decide if you should win or not. Everything looks fair and above board, but there is simply no chance for the mark to win. It looks so innocent, a ball-chain loop, put out on the table in a figure eight. One loop in the eight catches your finger the other does not. You have to find the one that catches your finger. Only problem is that you will never find it if the operator so decides. This game is sometimes called Loopy Loop, Figure Eight, the Chain Swindle, or Pricking the Garter." Available as an e-Book from Lybrary.com

Contents:

4 Foreword
5 History of the Effect
6 Rex Taylor's Routine for the Endless Chain
12 Fast and Loose (Will Ayling)
15 Laying the Chain With One Finger (Lewis Ganson)
16 Kettle/Ganson Routine
17 The Beer Crate Eight (Anon)
21 Albert Verity Release
23 Alf Goodwin's Loop Variation
29 Bruce Posgate's Drink Can Release
33 Two Novel Moves (Lewis Ganson)
37 Triple Circle Routine (Fred Lowe)
41 Spectator's Choice Climax (Will Ayling)
43 Patter Routine for the Triple Circle Routine (Ken de Courcey)

This is not a magic trick but a carnival game, a con game, where the operator can decide if you should win or not. Everything looks fair and above board, but there is simply no chance for the mark to win. It looks so innocent, a ball-chain loop, put out on the table in a figure eight. One loop in the eight catches your finger the other does not. You have to find the one that catches your finger. Only problem is that you will never find it if the operator so decides.

This game is sometimes called Loopy Loop, Figure Eight, the Chain Swindle, or Pricking the Garter. You will find in this ebook several well honed routines with patter and moves to fully control the chain.

For the prop please see our endless nickle plated ball chain, which is the ideal loop to perform this effect.

This publication was part of the Supreme 'Know-How' Series, edited and written by Will Ayling. It was the follow up to the famous Teach-In Series written by Lewis Ganson after Ganson died.

1st edition 1983; original 44 pages.

If you are just as captivated by this swindle as we are, then you might want to seek out other information on the endless chain:
•Loopy Loop by George Blake, 1949, 23 pages.
•Chain-Trickery by P. Cinimod, 1978, 6 pages.
•Chain Station by P. Cinimod.
•The Chain Gang by Mark DeSouza, 2000, (45 min) VHS.
•Johnny Thompson does the George Blake version of the endless chain on volume 2 of his Commercial Classics of Magic released by L&L Publishing.