Robert Neale's Bill Braid

[Ian Kendall]

Hi all,

I notice that Robert Neale has finally produced a separate lesson and DVD on his Baffling Bill Braid from Folding Money Fooling with H&R Books. I have a slight bittersweet feeling about this - on one hand I'm likely to lose a goodly amount of exclusivity on this marvelous creation, and on the other it means that more people may finally see just how amazing the Braid is.

Far from being the impossibly hard finger knot it is rumoured to be, the Braid is the perfect giveaway - something that can be (and is) kept and displayed for years. I've given out so many of these over the years I think I've lost count, but foreign exchange offices in Edinburgh are getting used to me asking for 'as many clean dollar bills as you have...'

I have not seen the booklet or DVD (I'll be ordering from Dick Hatch this evening!) but for 20 dollars it's a complete steal. Although not self working, it is worth the effort to learn, and I know that the DVD will be a great help - a lot easier than hacking away at it on your own. This is one of those occasions where being shown is definitely better than otherwise...

Available from H&R, or so I'm led to believe.

Take care, Ian

[Richard Hatch]

Ian, thanks for the advance plug! The booklet/dvd combination is not yet available, slated for mid-June publication (and advertised in the June issues of some magazines). I'll try to get a link up on our website for pre-ordering. The braid is described in Bob's wonderful FOLDING MONEY FOOLING from Kaufman & Company, but I believe Richard admits in the introduction that it was the only fold in the book he was unable to master. I and others have learned the braid from personal instruction from Bob and this has allowed him to eliminate some ambiguities in the original instructions (which are correct, just not as clear as they could have been) and the combination of his new instructions with the video of him braiding a bill seems the ideal combination for learning this feat. I agree with you that it is a wonderful give-away. We predict a "run on the banks" for $1 bills when it comes out in June, so you might want to stock up while you can!

[James Kernen]

Great news....I can't wait... I love Bob's work and got into origami a few years ago because I had so much fun from his earlier book..... I was never able to master this fold....

I will be watching for your newsletter...

James

[Richard Hatch]

We've just added a link about this on our website to help us track pre-orders. Expected to be in stock the first week of June. Here's the link, which shows one of the bills:
http://www.magicbookshop.com/product_in ... s_id=14724

[Ian Kendall]

If anyone is interested, a few years ago I taped myself braiding a bill, but the clip is at 5x speed. It's at www.virtualmagicshow.com

I would add a caveat; I worked out the fold from the book, without the benefit if Bob's input so there's a section where I get a tad lost. The end result is the same, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what Bob has to say on the subject.

Take care, Ian

[Richard Hatch]

That's it! Very cool. The braid is actually not restricted to US Currency though it was obviously developed with those dimensions in mind. I was able to do it with different denominations of Japanese Yen by making some small additional tears to compensate for the different sizes. However, I don't recommend this (at least in Japan) as I believe they take currency mutilation more seriously than we do in the US (not to mention the higher cost of performance!).

[Ian Kendall]

I found you need to have a greater than 2:1 size ratio, which rules out UK notes. Not that I can afford the R&D in that department...

Ian

[Ian Kendall]

Since I'm not allowed to post in the Light from the Lamp section, I'll put this here.

Impossibill Braid by Robert Neale - a review

I've finally managed to look at the new Braided Bill booklet and DVD from Bob Neale and Dick Hatch. Before I get into the new stuff, perhaps a short history would help.

In August 1997 Kaufman and Co published a book that was to become one of my favourites; Bob Neale's Folding Money Fooling. FMF contained a large number of origami models made from dollar bills designed by Bob that were used to perform magic effects, tell stories or just look cool. Over the years I have folded everything in the book, and it was always a pleasure to go back, find a new model and sit with Bob's prose and Earle Oakes' illustrations for a couple of hours.

One summer's day in 2000 I had a couple of hours free, so I took down the book and started to read. There was one statement in the introduction that caught my eye - Richard Kaufman was unable to braid a bill. This kind of challenge is all but irrisistable to me, and I turned to the relevent page. At first read it seemed simple enough, so I got a clean bill and started to fold.

Now, Bob has admitted that the instructions in the book are not as clear as they could have been, but are still workable. That's sort of true. The initial folding and tearing of the bill is easy - there's nothing there to challenge an average origamist, but halfway through the braiding I ground to a halt. I read through the step again, reading things like 'this makes a mess' and 'sort out the mess'. Also, the lack of a clear picture of the final product made things harder - figure 10 does show the completed braid, but in the end I abandoned the book and hacked out the second and third braids for myself.

The first attempt took one hour to complete. The second one took two hours. Over the years I whittled this time down to a few minutes and I've folded and given out a frightening number of braids. A few years ago I had a short correspondence with Bob about the Braid, and he told me that he could make the fold in about two minutes. Since this was less than half my best time, I was intrigued as to what time saving steps I was missing. He mentioned that he was going to make a video lesson one day, and happily, that day has come.

The new instructions come in two parts; first there is a large format booklet, with 22 pages of instuctions and snippets of presentation ideas. The illustrations are more detailed than the original Oakes ones - the details of the bill are shown, which makes things a lot easier to follow. The crucial second and third braids, which caused me the headaches a decade ago, have been rewritten with one very useful extra step that makes the whole thing much easier. There is a very real 'Ah-Ha' moment for anyone who has used the original handling.

For their part, these written instructions would have been sufficient to learn the braid, and the presentational ideas have some merit (although, to be honest, not really my cup of tea). It's worth noting also that the setup folds and tears are done in a slightly different way to the book. It won't hamper the learning at all, and does make the final model slightly more even as well as shaving a minute off the build time. However, I think the original folds make for a more aesthetic end. YMMV.

Having said all that, it is the second part of the package that makes this a no brainer - Bob has detailed the fold on a DVD. It's a minimalist production, for nothing else is needed. There is an over the shoulder shot of Bob's hands, and he explains what he is doing as he does it. For those that care about such things there is a menu system to allows you to jump to the relevent section, but at 20 minutes long I doubt you'll need it. Bob goes through the folding and tearing of the bill with his familiarly soothing voice guiding you along, and then tells you to take a break. Which is a good idea at this point.

When we come back it is time to tackle the second and third braids. Now I can see where I went wrong in the first place, and how those lucky enough to learn directly from Bob could pick things up easily. Bob explains and shows what needs to happen, and there are no ambiguities in the steps - everything is easy to follow. The extra step is brought into use, and I found myself smiling at how much easier final step becomes. I guarantee that the first time you braid a bill you will turn it over and over, smiling to yourself.

There are a couple of things that are in the package that will further aid your learning - in the front of the booklet, behind the errata sheet (a couple of diagrams are inverted, big deal) is a large, full sized photo of the finished braid. This will help you to visualise where you are going. For a few dollars more, Dick Hatch will send you a real braided bill with the booklet. This is the best extra you can get - a photo will help, but there is no substitute to having the final model to examine.

As you can probably tell, I really like this package. On one hand, as I've said, I'm a wee bit sad to be losing a bit of exclusivity of this - I've never met anyone else who can braid a bill, and I know of only three other people (aside from Bob) who can, although I realise this number is far too small and there will be others who have been braiding bills for a long time. On the other hand, it means that the model will become more accessable to a wider audience.

If you get this DVD and book, will you be able to braid a bill right away? No. It's going to take some work to learn the folds and the braiding action, and a lot more work to get smooth. Is the work worth it? Absolutely. Be happy that the amount of work is a fraction of that required to learn from the book.

I cannot stress enough how good this fold is. I always give one to a bride and groom at weddings, to symbolise the intertwining of two lives (or something - Brides go for that sort of thing...), I give them as gifts to people who have helped me along the way and even to people who I've never met. Impossible objects are kept for years and talked about, and this is the grand daddy of impossible objects that can be made in real time (I'm sure Jamie Grant's bottles are cooler, but I bet I can braid a bill faster...). For those of you with John Lovick's book on the bill switch, there is a routine where a braid is used as a mismade bill. They make neat bookmarks, too.

At 20 dollars this is amazing value - you will learn a skill that will last you for ever. You should, however, pay a few dollars more to get a prebraided bill. If you like this sort of thing you should also pick up a copy of Folding Money Fooling, and you can thank me later. I still feel the original folding method is better.

I think this is where is say Highly Recommended. But that's probably redundant.

Ian

[Jim Martin]

GREAT review, thanks Ian. I concur.

On the basis of your original post at the top of this thread, I asked to have it added to an order that I was putting together with H & R Books (an outstanding seller of magic books --- none better).

It is simply stunning - clearly printed instructions with video one-on-one tutoring by Bob Neale (.... and yes, order the folded bill -- it does make things more tangible).

I'm working on getting it up to speed for a permanent, impromptu self-contained item - and it 's perfect.

Compliments to Messr. Neale and Hatch!

[Richard Hatch]

Thanks, Ian, thanks, Jim. Charlie Randall should get the publishing credit, as he handles that aspect of H & R's business, I'm pretty much just the bookseller half... We're currently at the IBM convention in Nashville. Any GENII Forum readers wanting a braided bill can come by the booth an have one braided for free as long as they provide the currency!

[Dave Mithaca]

Thanks for the indepth review! I saw the booklet at a local magic shop recently and was intrigued. I didn't realize that a DVD was available to supplement the written instructions; but now that I know, I'll probably pick this item up the next time I make a trip to the big city.

I've always liked Neale's bunny bill. I purchased "Folging Money Fooling" just for that item. Now I'll have two great orgiami pieces in my repetoire.

Thanks!

[Ian Kendall]

Dave, if you already have FMF and want some impromptu folds have a look at the Heart Homily and Pyramid of Immortality for starters. Stretch-a-bill (I think it's called) is also a great one to carry with you.

Take care, Ian

[Dave Mithaca]

I'll take a look at those. Thanks!