BackstageMagic.com

• Effect: A ring is threaded on a length of string. Two volunteers hold the string by each end as the magician covers the ring with a handkerchief.
  
  The magician places a wooden match through the ring to secure it and takes the handkerchief off. The performer asks the spectator to take the match out, when he does it mysteriously drops to the ground.

• Effect: A two or three-foot rope is held tightly between the performer’s hands. The performer proceeds to balance a ball on the rope and mystically the ball rolls from one end of the rope to the other.

THE STRING THAT WON'T BURN:

• Effect: The performer holds a shoestring up for everyone to see and lights the string on fire. Passing his closed fist down the string, the magician instantly restores the string to its original state. The shoestring is then handed out for examination.

• Effect: The performer takes a piece of rope and allows the spectator to cut it in two. The two ends of the rope are then tied together, and then held up. The magician slides the knot down the length of the rope, and makes it vanish.