Th umb Cuff s for Older Kidsby David Ginn

RETURNING to the Louis Tannen catalog of 1962, let’s examine a trick and prop

that I have never written about: Th umb Cuff s.

As most of you know, the majority of my kidshow writing — my long suit — has

been for the 5-12 year old age group. But back in the 1970s and 1980s, I performed

many other kinds of shows, including middle schools and high schools in my USA

State of Georgia. So at least once a week I worked for ages 12-18, which was a good

diversion and a diff erent experience.

Many of the tricks I performed worked for all audiences: the musical magic, the

appearance or vanish of live doves or a rabbit, and tricks like Vanishing Coke Bottle,

Linking Rings, Egg Bag, Tricky Bottles. I call those tricks ones that work “across the

board,” meaning for all ages, even adults.

Here is one I read about in the Tannen catalog when I was 14, but never bought

or used. Th en, sometime in the late 1970s I met and corresponded with magician, es-

capologist and author John Novak from Texas. John went on to write an eight-book

series on escapes published by Micky Hades. If you ever want to do escapes, fi nd those

Novak books and you’ll fi nd a goldmine with all the basics and most of the answers.

John introduced me to the Th umb Cuff s and probably suggested my basic routine,

which will follow. However, we must look at the catalog description of this trick fi rst.

Check out this text:

“Now you can answer those challenges your friends off er when they ask if you can

do that Houdini escape stuff .” I’ve often wondered about that. How many of YOU

have folks stop and ask you, “Let me see you do some of that Houdini escape stuff !”

Hmm, maybe not. On the other hand, maybe you do!

Th e part about carrying this trick in your vest pocket is true. All the Th umb Cuff s

I’ve owned came in little black plastic wallets, one even with belt loops! I guess you

were supposed to wear them!

Whether this item is the offi cial cuff of the FBI and other plain clothes police, I person-

ally have my doubts. I asked my friend Bruce Walstad, retired Chicago police detec-

tive, about thumb cuff s. He said they might have been used by detectives back in the

1940s, but in his 30 years on the force from 1970 - 2001 he had never seen or known

of an offi cer using them. But your audience doesn’t know that! Weave the story into

a myth!

BASIC EFFECT: Magician exhibits a pair of thumb cuff s and explains how they

work, by placing them on a spectator (usually a male) without locking them tight.

Th en, with a boy and girl on either side of him, the magician has the helpers lock his

thumbs in the cuff s and cover his hands with his coat. Th e spectators hold the per-

former’s wrists “to make sure he doesn’t try getting a key out of the coat.” Moments

later, the magician pulls the coat away and puts it on, leaving the boy and girl helpers

THUMB-CUFFED TOGETHER!

When I did those middle and high schools back

in the 70s/80s, I always liked to have something

involving a boy and girl with a little suggested “ro-

mance” in the mix. Most of the time I used two

students who did NOT know, or even LIKE, each

other; and that provided plenty of fun. I never did

anything really out of order, you understand, just Figure 1

1962 Th umb Cuff s Ad from Tannen’s Catalog

a little suggested boy/girl by-play. Th at is how this

eff ect ends up. But fi rst the method—

HOW-TO: All Th umb Cuff s I’ve owned worked

the same way. Figure 1 shows the basic cuff closed

and Figure 2 is open. When I put the boy into the

cuff s as shown in Figure 3, I do it with the keyhole

facing ME. I close the cuff onto his thumbs, but

NOT tight. I want him to be able as I talk to slip his

thumbs out because I don’t want to show the key yet.

(Note: that business in the directions about seal-

ing the keyhole—forget it! Th at would slow down

the action of the routine, just like passing things for

examination.)

Back to the method: Once I talk about the cuff s

and show how they work on the boy, either he or I

remove them. As I display them again, I point out

the “sharp teeth” and how they “dig into the fl esh” and would tear your thumbs if you

pulled out. I want the audience, as well as my helpers, to understand that the cuff s can

hurt you.

I remove my coat or jacket and hand it to the girl,

on my left. Th e boy is on my right.

Now I purposely turn the cuff s over and upside-

down, placing them on my own thumbs as in Figure

4. Turning toward the boy on my right, I ask him

to gently close the cuff s on my thumbs until they

are tight. I pretend that he has hurt me, as you will

shortly see (but he doesn’t really hurt me, I’m faking).

As he closes the cuff s onto me—and here’s the SE-

CRET—I purposely TILT MY THUMBS outward

left and right as shown in Figure 5. By pushing each

thumb outward at a SLANT, you prevent the cuff s

from being closed too tightly, thus giving you room

to get out. When the time comes, you’ll be able to

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 2

Figure 5

move your thumbs into a straight (instead of slanted) position and easily slide or

wiggle them out.

Th ese cuff s are not gimmicked. Th e secret lies in how you allow your thumbs to be

locked inside.

BUT WAIT — there’s more to the secret:

Since I have not performed the thumb cuff escape in at least 35 years, things have

changed. As many of us get older, arthritis develops in our joints, in this case my

knuckles, making them larger. Th erefore, I cannot slip out of the thumb cuff s in 2012

as I did in the 1970s. If I were to perform the eff ect now on a regular basis, I’d have

to try other ways.

From the instructions:

Method #2: “When the cuff s are put on your thumbs, they should be pushed up

to the base of the thumbs. Th en, before the cuff s are closed, BEND your thumbs at

the fi rst knuckle. Th e fi ngers of both hands then close over the thumbs covering the

nails. Th is leaves the fi st closed with the ends of the thumbs inside.

“Th is act of bending the thumbs at the fi rst knuckle causes the tendon on the under

side of the thumb to enlarge. If the thumbs are kept bent and held with the fi ngers,

the cuff s can be closed, but due to the enlarged tendon they will not be closed enough

to prevent the thumbs from being withdrawn when you straighten your thumbs.

“Another method (#3) is to have the tips of the thumbs touching each other after

the cuff s are put on. Th is will also give you slack for your escape, as the cuff s do not

encircle the thumb joints at the straight angle but rather at a slant. Th is is enough of

an angle to allow you to escape.”

Th is method #3 is sort of what I did 35 years ago, and it worked back then. You

should try each of the methods and determine what works best for you. Keep in mind

when the cuff s are put on YOU, you must decide whether

they are upright (teeth on top of your thumbs) or upside-

down (teeth under your thumbs. Whichever works better

for YOU is the best way to do it.

Now let’s continue the routine.

Now take one or both keys and hang them on a large

ribbon or key chain as in Figure 6, so you can easily hold Figure 6

them up for the audience to see. Th e truth is: they may not all see the keys, but at least

they’ll see the ribbon or keychain holding them.

With that in mind, all you need are the keys hidden in your pocket (I used a vest

or waistcoat pocket), your coat, and the cuff s, usually in the plastic or leather carrying

case.

PERFORMANCE: I invite a boy and girl from the audience to assist me on stage.

My favorite pair, when I worked high schools, consisted of a pretty cheerleader type

girl and a football player type boy. Yes, sort of Beauty and the Beast! I had the girl stand

on my left, the boy on my right. We’ll call this pair of teenagers Alan and Michele.

“So I am sure all of you by now have heard of the Great HARRY HOUDINI.

Many people consider him the greatest magician and escape artist of all time. He

became very popular in the 1920s, just as Doug Henning and David Copperfi eld did

in more recent times.” (Remember, this is 1980s patter.) “Anyway, they say Houdini

could escape from anything—handcuff s, chains, boxes sealed and tossed into a lake or

river with Houdini inside. He always got out!

“But today I want to show you something Houdini never escaped from—because

it wasn’t invented in Houdini’s lifetime. You see, he died on Halloween Day, October

31, 1926, long before the invention of — THUMB CUFFS.”

Th at is when I reveal the shiny nickel-plated steel cuff s.

“Th ese thumb cuff s do the same job as handcuff s. Th ey’re just lighter weight and

easier for a plain clothes policeman or FBI agent to carry on his person, in a back

pocket or even a vest pocket. But once they’re locked onto a prisoner, that person can-

not get out without painful injury. Let me show you what I mean.

“Michele,” I say, pausing as though I might lock her in the cuff s, “ … you watch.

Alan, may I borrow your thumbs for just a moment. I

promise to give them back, hopefully not hurt badly.”

Th e boy extends his hands, and I slide the cuff s

onto his thumbs as in Figure 7. I gently close the cuff

on him BUT NOT TIGHT. It is important that he

can slide his thumbs out so we won’t have need of the key.

“Now Alan, I won’t lock those on you tight, because

I don’t want to hurt your thumbs. But if you were Figure 7

a real criminal, the policeman would push the cuff down TIGHT so the TEETH

would DIG into the FLESH of your thumbs and cause you intense PAIN, making it

DIFFICULT if not IMPOSSIBLE to remove your thumbs.”

I deliver this long sentence slowly, somewhat on the serious order of a mad

scientist, emphasizing the words in capital letters. When I fi nish, I back out of that

attitude verbally:

“But we don’t want that to happen? DO WE? Of course not.” I slip the cuff s off

the boy’s thumbs. “On the other hand, I am sure if Houdini ever tried to escape from

such a pair of cuff s, he could have done so. Th erefore, today I will take Houdini’s place

and attempt the world’s fi rst ever escape from this regu-

lation pair of steel police THUMB CUFFS. As you see,

I will place my own thumbs into the cuff s, and I will ask

you Alan to close them GENTLY over my thumbs.

“Remember, not too tight—that’s tight ENOUGH!” I

pretend that he hurt me, grimacing my face in fake pain

as in Figure 8. Usually, I am not really hurt at all. If any-

thing, it hurts me a little to pressure my thumbs out to

the left and right, making sure I fi ll up the thumb holes.

“Now Michele, you have my coat. And in case you

didn’t know this, Houdini always kept his methods secret

by doing his escapes under cover of a cloth or behind a curtain. So we’ll use my coat

for that purpose.

“Would you hold the RIGHT shoulder of the coat with your LEFT hand. And

Alan, I would like you to hold the LEFT shoulder of the coat with your RIGHT

hand. Th at’s the idea. You know, it’s hard to direct people when your hand-cuff ed . . .

I mean, THUMB-cuff ed.” See Figure 9.

“Next I’d like you Michele to use your right hand

to grasp my left wrist. Alan, you do just the oppo-

site: hold my right wrist with your left hand. Th is is

important because I don’t want any audience mem-

ber thinking I went into my coat pocket and found

a hidden key. So remember, it is your job Alan and

Figure 8

Figure 9

Michele, not only to hold the coat but also

hold onto my wrists.” See Figure 10.

Th at said I pull the coat towards me while

they hold onto it. My hands cuff ed together

are still visible.

“Now I am going to place my hands under

the coat, while Michele and Alan hold on,

and in less that ten seconds, I plan to make

my Houdini escape. Would anyone like to

count? If you do, please count slowly from

one to ten. I’ll start the count. Ready?

“ONE, TWO, THREE—”

Now the dirty work takes place under the coat. I slide my hands, pulling theirs

along with me, well under the coat. Th e truth is: I don’t want either helper to see what

I do. And here’s what I do:

Immediately I straighten out my thumbs in the cuff and slide out my LEFT thumb.

Quickly, I take the girl’s hand off my wrist and slide HER right THUMB into the

cuff , tightening it just a LITTLE. Th en I slide my right thumb out and repeat with

the boy’s hand, putting his left thumb into the cuff .

By this time the count is at eight, nine

or ten. Quickly, I grab the center top of the

coat and pull it into the air. I turn back-

wards, away from the pair, and walk away a

step or two to rapidly put my coat back on.

Th en I turn towards the audience and right

away grab the kids arms in both my hands

as in Figure 11.

“Well, well, well,” I say laughingly. “Look

what we have here! It looks like Alan and

Michele have something in common now—a pair of thumb cuff s!” It is important

right now that I hold tightly to their arms at the wrists; if they pull away, they could

accidentally hurt themselves.

“Now don’t pull, you two. I’ll have you out in no time. All I need is the KEY.” I

Figure 10

Figure 11

pause, hesitate, act worried. “I just remembered … I left the key hanging on a nail

in my garage. But don’t worry. After the show I’ll drive right home, get the key, and

MAIL IT to the school. It should be here in three or four days. Until then, Alan and

Michele, I am sure you can get to know each other a whole lot better.”

Trust me, an audience of teenagers LOVES this sort of thing, the embarrassment of

their two peers being cuff ed together. But it’s important not to let this go on very long.

“Wait, wait a minute. I just remembered,” I say, “that I have a spare key right here

in my vest pocket. Isn’t that a coincidence!” I remove the key dangling on the ribbon

and fi rst unlock the girl, then the boy.

“Well, I am not sure that’s exactly how Houdini would do it—but at least I did have

a couple of really GOOD SPORTS helping me! So let’s all give Michele and Alan a

great round of applause as they return to their seats!”

You can add more Houdini history if you like, or a little more of the boy/girl

by-play. But whatever you do, keep it simple to make it fun!

David Ginn, October 2012