The setup

Use an ordinary, unbroken rubber band that fits comfortably around two fingers without cutting off circulation. Loop it around the base of your first and second fingers of one hand. Show the back of that hand to your spectator.

  1. Show the position. Turn the hand palm toward them, then back again. Let them confirm the band is around the first and second fingers only.
  2. Make the secret stretch. With the back of your hand still facing them, use your other hand to pull the band out toward you, on the palm side, into a wide loop.
  3. Close into the loop. Curl all four fingers into a loose fist so that all four fingertips go inside the stretched band. Let go with the other hand. From the front, the band still looks like it sits around the first two fingers at the knuckles.
  4. Open quickly. Snap the fingers open. The band slides off the first two fingers and jumps to the third and fourth fingers.
  5. Send it back. Repeat the same move from the new position: stretch the band on the palm side, close all four fingertips into it, open. It jumps back to the first two fingers.

Why it works: Once all four fingertips are inside the loop, opening the hand releases the band from its original fingers and leaves it hooked around the other two. Your audience only sees the back of the hand, so they never see all four fingers enter the loop.

The lock

For the second phase, twist a second rubber band around the tips of all four fingers, one twist between each finger, as if you are lacing a tiny fence. It looks as though the first band cannot possibly get past. Do the same stretch-and-close move. The band still jumps, because the fingertips never needed to pass through the lock: they were already inside the first band before you opened your hand.

Angles and timing

Keep the back of your hand facing the audience during the stretch and the close. Do the stretch while talking, then pause with the closed fist so the jump feels like a separate moment. Thin, slightly loose bands jump more cleanly than thick, tight ones.

If it sticks

If the band drags instead of jumping, your fingertips are not fully inside the loop or the band is too tight. Use a larger band and open the fingers in one quick motion. Keep the elastic away from faces; a launched band is a slapstick routine you did not rehearse.

Next: The linking paper clips