Tie a Knot in a Cherry Stem With Your Tongue

You might remember seeing this simple yet crowd-pleasing trick performed on the early '90s TV show Twin Peaks. It takes some practice to perfect but once you know how to do it, tying a cherry stem while it's inside your mouth can be a lot of fun at a party!

Steps

  1. Select an appropriate stem. The longer the better, and the softer the better (maraschino cherries are good because they're already very soft).
    • Show the audience that it isn't in a knot already before putting it into your mouth.
    • Move the stem around in your mouth to increase its flexibility by softening it with your saliva. You can chew and bend it if this helps to soften it.
  2. Fold the stem in half around the tip of your tongue. The easiest way to do this is lengthwise, so that the folded stem lies along the length of your tongue, one end on the top of your tongue, one end on the bottom.
  3. Take the folded stem between your front teeth. Bite down gently until the two ends cross over, forming a loop with an X-shape crossover of the stem ends.
  4. Holding one end of the stem with your teeth, use the tip of your tongue to push the other end of the stem through the loop that you've made. Try using your teeth to rotate the looped stem toward the end you are trying to push through. This might take a few minutes, but it is possible, especially with practice!
  5. Take it out and display your knotted cherry stem!

Alternate Description

  1. Hold one end with your teeth and then put the other end alongside the first end. This means that the stem folds like a hot dog.
  2. Twist one tip of the stem with your tongue poking in the middle of the stem.
  3. Bite and pull away your teeth. It should form a nice tight knot.

Magician's Method

Why try to do something hard when you can make it look hard?!

  1. Obtain cherry stem and form it into a knot. To impress your friends even more, put two knots in it.
  2. Put the stem between your cheek and your lower gum-line.
  3. Find your mark and tell them that you can tie a knot in a cherry stem.
  4. Put the second cherry stem in your mouth.
  5. While keeping your mouth closed, put the new stem along the opposite gum-line where you have your pre-knotted stem.
  6. Retrieve the pre-knotted stem and reveal it to your mark.



Tips

  • The softer the stem the better.
  • Use the longest stem you can find, especially if you intend to push the stone through the stem.
  • For an extra flourish, push the cherry stone through the knotted stem (brace the knotted stem against your front teeth and push the stone halfway through using the tip of your tongue). People invariably believe that you’ve actually tied the stem around the stone. Those poor, poor fools!
  • The cherry with stem attached can be placed in the mouth and eaten, retaining the stem and stone for the trick.

Warnings

  • Be careful not to choke on your cherry stem or pit.
  • May attract unwanted attention from people.
  • Do not let children under 7 do this, as it is a choking hazard.

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