Cups & Balls - All Of It.pdf

The Complete Cups and Balls Written by

Michael Arnmar Photographs by Hannah Ammar

Design by Barbara Palmer

L & L Publishing Quality Magical Literature P.O. Box 100 Tahoma, California 96142 U.S.A.

FIRST EDITION O Copyright 1998 - Michael Arnmar and L&L Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in ;ally form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without the permission of the publishers. Printed in Canada

Dedicated with love to my parents, Betty and A.S. "Buddy" Arnmar.

Thank you for demonstrating, throughout my fun-filled childhood, the joy of work and the virtues of teaching. and Respectfully dedicated to: Conus-died 1836 Giovanni Bartolomeo Bosco-Jan. 3, 17'93 - March 7, 1863 Louis "Pop" Kreiger- Sept. 15, 1851 -June 26, 1934 Max Malini (Max Katz Breit)-18'73 - Oct. 3, 1942 Dai Vernon (David Frederick Wingfield Verner)-June 11, 1894 - August 21, 1992 Like Olympian torch bearers, these performers, each in his own way, passed to future generations insights and inspirations which kept brightly alive this icon of magic we call the Cups and Balls. Who can say how long their flame will last, and when-if ever-their influence might fade.

The Complete Cups and Balls Table of Contents

Introduction .Michael Ammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Foreword .Tommy Wonder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi . Fundamentals Cups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1. Balls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Final Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Wands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2. Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 Basicstacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 The Super Simple Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Fundamental Skill No . 1 .Acting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Methods of Holding Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. Beginning Sleights The Fake Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 TheFrenchDrop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 ClassicPass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Simple Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Misdirecting with the Wand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Secretly Loading a Small Ball into a Cup From Finger Palm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Thumbpalm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Direct from Palm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 TheTipOverLoad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Loading a Nested or Stacked Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Stealing from a Tabled Cup Two Finger Steal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Simply Holding Inside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 . Two Finger Steal and Spin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Stealing from Between Cups Little Finger Retention/Steal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Nesting Rolling Steal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Fundamental Skill No . 2 .Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

:

Faking the Load The Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 . TheScoopClip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Fake Transfer to Fake Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 . . ThePinchMethod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 TheFakeRollOut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 . Cool Cup Moves Passing One Through Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 WandThroughCup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Showing Inside Deeper than Outside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Showing a Ball Inside an Empty Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 RollingaCup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 . Pulling a Ball Up Through a Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 The Charlie Miller Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 The Mendoza Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Click Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 The Flushtration Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 The Tip-off or "Fako" Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Galloping Post Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 The Centrifugal Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Fundamental Skill No . 3 - Routining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 2ndLevelRoutine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Fundamental Skill No . 4 .Misdirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 3rdLevelRoutine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 . Final Loading Actions View from Front, Performed Sitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Close-up View from Side, while Sitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Close-up View from Side, Simplified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Close-up from Front, while Standing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 An Impromptu Cups and Balls Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 PART TWO

AdvancedWandMoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Advanced Wand Vanishes ThroughtheFist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Through the Hand No . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 The Mora/Vernon Wand Spin Vanish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Williamson's Striking Vanish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 . The Drummer's Spin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Opening the Routine Opening Positions . One Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 TwoAhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Three Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 FourAhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 . Other Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Opening Sequences . One Ahead Return Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 One Ahead Penetration Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Three Ahead Production Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Ammar's Opening Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Body Sequences . Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Miller - Sequence No . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Miller - Sequence No . 2 . . . . . . . . .: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Classic Gathering in Middle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 . All Gather One at a Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Three Gather on Tops of Cups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 . Shower of Balls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Click Move Sequence 65 Two-None-Two Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Reappearing Inside a Stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Mastering the Final Load Directions for Misdirecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 . Sitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Standing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 When Standing, Where Do the Final Loads Go? . Natural Pockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 . Special Pockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Pouches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 Edge of the Coat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 Sleeves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 Coordinated Timing of Both Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 The Loading Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Holding the Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Ending Sequences . Classic Elimination Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Vernon's Sophisticated Elimination Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

Ending Rhythms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 . Malini/Garcia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 . 1-2-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 . The Engaged Spectator Ending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Creative Loading Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 . Li\lestock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 The Dai Vernon Cups and Balls Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 What Might Vernon Have Done Differently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 Now, Here's What You Need To Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 Michael Arnmar's Stand-up Cups and Balls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Producing the Balls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 . Threevanishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 EliminationPhaseOne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Elimination Phase Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 . THE BONUS CHAPTER Dominique Duvivier .France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Mike Rogers .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 Kate Medvedeva .Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Eric Decamps .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Shankar Junior .India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120 Joachim Solberg .Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123 Bob Sheets .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Gazzo-GreatBritain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128 Tom Mullica .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135 Paul Gertner .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137 Johnny Ace Palmer .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139 Tommy Wonder .The Netherlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141 Michael Skinner .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143 Johnny Thompson .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147 Bruce Cervon .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151 David Williamson .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Aldo Colombini .United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158 . JonathanPendragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161 The Delaporte Cups and Balls Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169

Almost every year during the early Eighties, I would announce plans for a "soon to be released" project on the Cups and Balls. I loved the effect, and would often think about the best possible approach to the topic. Unfortunately the Eighties was a busy decade, and before I knew it, those years were gone. Enter the Nineties, and a video revolution was under way. Discussions of video titles worth working on made a revival of the Cups and Balls project seem possible, but once again, Louis Falanga of L & L Publishing became my catalyst for progress. Louis had just purchased the rights to Dai Vernon's Cups and Balls routine from Supreme Magic Company, and we were discussing what might be the best possible way for future students to learn this genuine classic. Before I knew what was happening, as sometimes happens with Louis, not only was the Cups and Balls project back on the front burner, but it was already starting to boil! So thank you, Louis, for providing the final push. Those familiar with other L & L projects I've done will notice a distinction between the approach here and the one used on cards or currency, as well as differing from the approach I used on the Classic Renditions video series. In this case, the basic props-the cups, balls, and final loadspresent the performer with so much latitude, that both the package and the learning process could be modified. In regard to the use of video, I'm amused to hear some people continue to question video as a learning medium. I'm reminded of how Vernon would say, "It's a poor artist who blames his brushes!" If you've had trouble learning from video, that doesn't mean the entire medium of video is flawed as a learning tool, any more than reading a bad book reflects poorly on the printing press. If you read a bad book, you don't assume books in general are ineffective. By the same token, if you couldn't learn something on video, it stands to reason that the approach, and not the medium itself, was at fault. Both books and videos have certain qualities and serve certain purposes and neither, in and of themselves, is the "ultimate" way to learn. When it comes to magical timing, rhythm, routining, movement and flow, there is no better way to understand what is being communicated than to watch it being done. Further, the ability to slow it down as you watch the techniques again gives video an advantage that even private lessons don't have. Accessing the information through print, on the other hand, allows us to learn almost any time, any place. One can open to any page and skip whatever doesn't apply. But in a subtle yet more important way, reading seems to require a deeper level of intellectual engagement, which in turn, produces a more personal attachment to the understanding. In an ideal world, the student would have access to both. This meshing of the cerebral with the visual would surely be more effective than either by itself. But the printed page isn't limited to theoretical information alone. It, too, can "show" us how something is done. Combining illustrations with the written description certainly communicates sleight-of-hand techniques more effectively than pure text alone. Illustrations, for a while anyway, seemed even better than photos. With illustrations, one could show things concealed inside the hand, and with the addition of graphical icons, one could even convey movement and action.

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But at last, technology is giving a boost to print which is tapped from the same "show me" vein as video. To begin, we can now provide more photos to communicate a sequence than ever would have been affordable in the past. Plus, the computer can enhance photos to show items hidden inside of hands and cups, while connecting those images to the operative text more strongly than ever. These highlights and arrows make it virtually impossible to lose one's place or misunderstand something. Elements of design, such as clustering photos to show complete movements, and entire thoughts being expressed on a single page, both simplify and speed up the communication. If you've recently watched the videos, you'll be amazed at how quickly a scan of the photos can convey the complete sequence. In fact, I can now review any sequence in the book more quickly and directly than if that portion were already lined up on the video. In the past, I've tried hard to give credit not only to full routines, but to individual moves, concepts and applications. But when it comes to the classic sequences for the Cups and Balls featured here, it wasn't quite that simple. Having a ball travel from one cup to another, or up, down, through, or across-well, those things have been done a long time. Each individual move in the Vernon routine, for example, can be found in older texts in English, and many older English books reference older French or German books. I'll give you an example. In reviewing the book with Johnny Thompson, he mentioned the Tip Over Load was called the Guyot Move, after a French performer. Going back to my books to track this down, I discovered that Edme-Gilles Guyot did indeed write about the Cups and Balls back in 1769. Although this chapter was in a book about physics and math, Guyot was a passionate amateur magician. However, even in this 230-year-old source, Guyot points out that most of the material comes from his magical mentor, Ozanam. Of course, new moves and ideas have been invented by modern performers. But I've tried to feature classic sequences, while referring you to the work of modern performers in the appendix which contains the bibliography. As opposed to collecting an encyclopedia of moves and routines, this project was about building blocks, foundational knowledge, the tools to put it all together, and a personal process of thinking and involvement. In closing the second video, I borrowed a metaphor from graphic novelist James Robinson and applied it to magic. "Magicians often find the Gordian knot of developing a repertoire easier to hack apart than to solve the untying of." Simple memorization might seem like a short cut to the lifelong process of meshing who you are with what you perform, but I feel the approach we're taking here emphasizes quality over quantity. As you work your way through this information, I hope you'll feel your passion grow; that you will share the eager anticipation to learn and the challenge to perform that countless magicians , through the years have felt as they brought their hands, hearts and minds to the task of mastering the Cups and Balls. As you learn and as you perform, I hope you have fun. Fun is a transcending element, and magic can create an abundance of it! I Finally, I'd like to thank several people who contributed to this book beyond the call of duty. , My wife, Hannah, contributed many hours working on the hundreds of photos included in this book, as well as on the hundreds of photos which were never used. Mac Palmer, the graphic designer of the book, is also its co-creator. The functional layout of the information plays an important role all the way through. I can't even guess at how many drafts-each with a small mountain of changes-it I took to ultimately integrate the text and photos, but Mac was a joy to work with at all times. Ray i Goulet, from the Mini Museum of Magic in Watertown, Massachusetts provided the cup photos on page 15, and Alan Wassilak illustrated the Delaporte table in the Bonus Chapter. Max Abrams pulled i together our bibliography, and both he andJim Sisti provided a final edit of the book. Heartfelt I thanks to one and all! - Michael Ammar 1

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Ah . . . the Cups and Balls! What a beautiful premise. Ever since I started magic I have been intrigued and fascinated by this classic trick. A trick which truly represents the roots of our art, and is capable of infinite variation. Because one can vary almost every aspect of the effect, it presents a great opportunity for you as a performer to adapt it to your own ideas, your own vision of what magic should be, it will allow you to have your own personality shine through. In the book you are holding now, many basic sleights and procedures are described, as well as several routines. The sleights and procedures form what one could call a ''vocabulary" of the Cups and Balls. This vocabulary gives you most of the basics, and a proper understanding of that is certainly needed.

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You need such a vocabulary so that you can form sentences, and in that way write your own poem. Writing your own poem may seem daunting at first. That is why it is a good idea to study what others have done before you. Examples of such poems are given through the routines of Dai Vernon and Michael Ammar. These are certainly worthy of careful study. They will give you many insights.

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However, once studied and absorbed, the best thing to do is of course not to slavishly follow these sleights, procedures and routines, but to simply forget them. Yes, forget it all. Because once learned they have served their purpose, and are no longer needed. They will have taught you to think in terms of "Cups and Balls." You will understand the language. Now the time has come to express yourself with the help of this language.

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Afterall, what sense is there in reciting another man's poem? Especially because you understand the language? Since you can think in this "Cups and Ballsn language, why not write your own poem? Of course you probably will have to invent a word or two yourself, but that is okay. The world is eagerly waiting to hear your poem.

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The world wants to experience you, your vision, your ideas. Sure, it is sort of alright to give the world a re-creation of another man's ideas, but it is not what the world truly wants. What they really want is you! So give them you, your vision, your ideas. Do not be shy!

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With this book you have the basic vocabulary to realize your vision, so . . . invest the energy to create it! Do it, and you will find your effort will be more than amply repaid. Good luck in the creation of your version of the Cups and Balls, I can hardly wait to see you perform it! - Tommy Wonder

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In theory, any cup can be considered a potential prop. I once saw Dai Vernon perform the Cups and Balls with three simple paper cups. On one hand, this sort of versatility is considered great. But in practice the difficulties he faced, because the cups were so light and flimsy, made me think that if you don't have the cups you are accustomed to using, or if you haven't practiced and prepared for such conditions, it's probably better to perform some other effect at that time. But if you've rehearsed in advance, then you might do as Michael Skinner did back in the mid-Seventies, when he performed on The Tonight Show using three coffee cups; or you might do as some printed impromptu routines suggest: roll paper around clear glasses. The least-expensive cups dedicated to this effect are the small plastic cups which often come with magic sets. These allow room between the cups that make basic nesting sequences possible, but depending on where you perform, you may need to rationalize the use of such inexpensive pieces of plastic as props. The basic construction of a good set ()f cups and balls a110IWS for a ball to be secretly nested in-between ' $ the cups without being detected. This is usually the result of the second rim, as well as the reason for the slight recess on top of the cup. The Paul Fox cups I use were designed to appear smaller than the load which would actually fit inside the cup. In fact, Francis Carlyle apparently made a bar bet on whether he could completely cover a lacrosse ball with a Paul Fox cup. The subtle design of the cup was such that he often won drinks simply by covering the ball with the cup. Personally, I prefer fairly heavy cups. My set weighs about a full pound, but there are other sets even heavier.

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Balls Probably the most common set of balls used by magicians are round pieces of cork that have been crocheted over. I use tiny baseballs which were hand sewn by Mike Rogers, because the threads prevent the balls from rolling around too much. Other possibilities include rolled-up currency, rubber balls, sponges, olives, grapes, or crumpled paper. Max Malini often cut a piece off the cork from a bottle, and then cut that cork disk into quarters. This would provide him the three balls that were visible, while also giving him an identical extra ball.

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Final Loads

There is a great deal of latitude when it comes to what you end up with as a final load for your routine. The most fundamental consideration-beyond whether it fits inside the cup-is whether you want the final load to be congruent, or incongruent, to the little balls used in the opening sequence. For example, if you use the crocheted balls, a congruent load would be a larger crocheted ball. If you use the Mike Rogers sewn baseballs, a congruent final load would be larger baseballs-which, by the way, Mike is also able to provide. The classic example of an incongruent load would have to be fruit. I prefer fruit because Dai Vernon always spoke highly of the extra surprise factor behind such final loads. Bob Read, speaking from 30 years' experience says an incongruent, surprising final load will generate at least 50 percent more reaction than a final load which seems coordinated or congruent with the articles used in the preceding sequences. Don Alan, when discussing final loads, has reason to speak in terms of 'hard' loads versus 'soft' loads. When Don performed his famous bowl routine, he would end with a large steel nut underneath his metal bowl. Max Malini, i when performing a similar routine under a hat, was known to produce a block of ice. These types of hard loads carry I an extra degree of impact and a greater perception of impossibility, both of which are deserved, as they synthesize all the considerations which surround them. One method you might consider for help if you choose to perform with a hard load is to line the inside of your cups with felt. With this, you might reduce the sound problems that could accompany such loads. Finally, other options for final loads might be small chickens, sand, and even water. As long as it is surprising and has a positive impact, you are literally limited only by your imagination.

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Wands

To an audience, the wand is both a symbol and a source of power, whose touch or wave is catalytic to the effect taking place. To a magician, it's the perfect way to cover the concealment of another object in the same hand, a justification , for the timely transfer of objects from one hand to another, and a psychological "red herring," which misdirects viewers away from what is actually taking place. The reason it's so effective at providing concealment is because people normally perceive the human hand as a one: function appendage. So if they see it doing one thing-such as holding, waving or tapping something with the wandthey rarely consider that hand might be doing something else at the same time, such as holding a concealed ball. But it also helps rationalize certain flows of traffic from hand to hand, as you pick it up, set it down, or place it away. 1 If you are performing a routine in some social situation or after dinner, you obviously don't have to use a wand. You could also use a knife, straw, or you could even pick up one of the other cups to provide the misdirection or cover at the appropriate time.

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Since we'll all be using some of the same language, here's a quick list of terms.... This is the mouth of the cup. When we say put the cup's mouth up, this is what we mean, and when we say mouth down, this is what we mean.

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This is the top of the cup, a fact which is obvious only to magicians, because to most people, THIS is the BOTTOM of the cup. Primarily, magicians know these cups are designed to be mouthdown, so we refer to this as the top.

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When the cups are put together mouth up, with the top of each upper cup going into the mouth of the lower cup.

Stacking When the cups go together mouth down, with the mouth of each upper cup going over the top of the lower cup.

Holding Out When a ball or load is concealed in the hand, this is known as "holding out." Whether you use the Classic Palm, the Thumb Palm, or the Finger Palm, it's known as Holding Out.

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Fake Transfer

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If I put a ball into the opposite hand, that's a transfer.

If I take a ball, that's a transfer.

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But if I only seem to put a ball into my hand, that's known as a I i FAKE transfer, and of course, if I just seem to take a ball, that's known as , a fake transfer as well. Fake transfers are sometimes referred to as passes, or as making a pass. There is a card move which is also referred to as a pass, but that is a different thing. In the Cups and Balls world, the terms "pass" and "fake transfer" are considered interchangeable. The Steal - This is a secret move to obtain something. You can steal a ball from a cup, or you can steal a load from your pocket. Loading - Secret / Actual / Fake - The act of loading something can take three forms-a secret load, an actual load, and a fake load. You might secretly load a ball into a cup, or you might secretly load a final load into a cup. Then there is the actual, visible loading of a cup, just as there is the act of only seeming to load a cup-which is a fake load. The Dirty Hand - When a hand is Holding Out an object, it is referred to as the Dirty Hand. You might also have a Dirty pocket or cup, depending on the actions taking place. The Clean Hand - If a hand, pocket or cup is empty, it is referred to as being "clean." Secretly getting rid of something which is being Held Out is known as "Cleaning Up."

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The Inertia Move One of the basic maneuvers we'll use repeatedly is that of setting a cup on a table without revealing that something is still contained in the cup. Inertia being what it is, even without rushing, it's easy to set down a cup while concealing an object without revealing it.

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The most basic technique a routine can be developed around takes advantage of the possibilities provided by the stacking ability i I of the cups. The space between stacked cups provides a perfect spot for hiding one, two, or even three balls. By combining the concepts of Stacking an object between the cups along with the Inertia Move, many effects are possible. For example, if you wanted to be two balls ahead, you could begin with 1 I , a ball in the bottom and middle cups. Begin by pouring out three 1 balls, and set the cups mouth-down on the table, one cup at a time. Because the Inertia Move kept the ball inside the cups until I ' they were mouth-down, you would now be two ahead. I That shows how the use of Stacking and the Inertia Move,cin 1 put you ahead. But now let's look at how those same ideas can be used to create the effect that a ball has penetrated the J6p of one 1 of the cups. Begin with an extra ball secretly nested in,t&e center cup. Using the Inertia move, place the cups moua-down onto the table. The extra ball is&&r the middle cup. Place one of th visible balls on the middle cup, stack the other two cups on top this, then pick up the stack to show a ball has apparently penetrated the top of the cup. Once again, place the cups on the table. Use the Inertia Move on the center cup, and you will have secretly added the previously hidden ball to the one which is visible on the table. You could now, if you wanted, repeat the effect.

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Although we've just scratched the surface of our topic, we can use that information to create a simple routine. Use three cups and four balls, and the audience will only be aware of three of those balls. The fourth ball is hidden inside the middle cup. Use the Inertia Move to place the cups mouthdown on the table. Place one of the balls on top of the middle cup, and stack the other two cups on top of that. Give some indication of what is taking place, and make the magic happen. Lift the stack as one unit, to show the ball has penetrated to the table. Again, place the cups onto the table. This time the Inertia Move loads the second ball with the first. Place another ball on top of the middle cup, and repeat the effect, showing two balls.

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Repeat everBfhiig-wn ta0wa'lf-t)lree %a719 have, penetrated the cup. Now you'll change your procedures, in order 16 allow I for a bit of a surprise ending. This time, place*rhe first c'*, which has no ball inside, onto the table. "I'll makcit easier by eliminating one cup," then ud'the Ineptia Move as I you set the middlFcup io one side. Now use one ball and the other two cupi to act as if you are going to penetrate the final ball.

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ask the spectator to lift the other cup, and he then finds the ballthere.

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Of course, this first layer of information, along with this opening application, doesn't make someone a magician. That's because the actual mechanical secrets constitute only a small part of what magic is all about. A piece of glass cut with one smooth surface has nothing inside itself to reflect against, so it becomes transparent. Magic could suffer the same fate if you depend only on the mechanical secret. However, if that surface is only one facet of many, they reflect and synergize off each other, creating an entirely different result. The resourceful magician also understands principles of human psychology and applies the elements of theater to maximize the overall impact on the viewer. By studying the Cups and Balls, we have an excellent vehicle for putting into context several vital, and highly transferable, principles of magic. One at a time, we'll focus closely on the four most important fundamental magical skills you should think about as we go along.

'3magician is an actor playing the role of a magcian. " -Robert-Houdin Someone once said that Robert-Houdin should have said a magician is an actor playing the role of a GREAT magician. I've also heard it said that if Hollywood had a part calling for a magician, an actor would play that role better than a magician would. The ability to non-verbally communicate the effect which seems to be taking place requires you to disconnect yourself from the method which is actually taking place. That's what actors do, and that's what magic is all about. Clear concepts, convincingly acted out, in a particular sequence, will maximize the impact of your magic. So be aware of how your face, your eyes and your body can say things that are, in many ways, more convincing than words. This doesn't mean OVERact. Good acting typically boils down to natural and appropriate REacting. So disconnect from your personal awareness of the ball actually palmed in your hand, and REact naturally to the magic taking place. A Cups and Balls routine is a carefully choreographed sequence punctuated by acting and reacting on your part. The more clear and convincing your acting is, the more deceptive your magic will be. Thus, mastering a Cups and Balls routine should also teach you how to act and react effectively. Now transfer that knowledge to other effects in your repertoire. Just as each sequence in a Cups and Balls effect has to be clear and convincingly acted out, so does each phase, for example, of an illusion. Don't just race to pull the sawn person apart. Be sure to ACT as if you cut them apart first.

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Moving a little deeper into our topic, the true introduction to the application of sleight-of-handbegins with understanding the different methods we use to Hold Out, or to Palm objects. I Finger Palm The Finger Palm is an easy, basic method of holding out, yet many experts still 1 consider this to be the most effective method because it leaves the hand in such a natural position. All you have to do is ~ g F f i ? 7 Q = n Tw r i r a t w e r x s % 7 ~ $ " TlFEii@i%;and then forget that you're doing anything deceptive. By handling a % wand, a cup, or another ball, you add further to the deceptive appearance of an otherwise empty hand.

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Thumb Palm To Thumb Palm,' BjPT This also allows you to keep the handin a natural position while doing '\other things. To place the ball into a Thumb Palm, simply roll it there with the index and middle fingers, as you then execute some sort of fake transfer action.

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Classic Palm The Classic Palm is, just as the name says, David Roth says the ability to secretly palm an because you get to hold something in your hand, while still being able to use your I fingers. \ This is a fundamental technique in magic, and yet, personally, I don't use it in I my Cups and Balls routine because I find the technique more effective with coins and cards than with balls. I consider it more effective to use the Finger Palm in most Cups and Balls applications. If you should choose to use the Classic Palm yourself, always try to keep the ,1 dirty hand occupied with either a wand, or a wand substitute. There are two classic palming mistakes you'll want to watch out for. The first is ' sometimes seen during finger palming, and it looks as if you are having tea. It's ~ ~ ~ ' ~ ~ nleaving the ~ little and w index h i l fingers extended. Ideally, the hand has a soft, natural taper to all the fingers. I The other t h i ~ gto avoid is the Starfish appearance during Classic Palming, or what might also look lide f,TThe objective is for the hands to appear 1

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The Fake Transfer Now let's look at the fake transfer of an object from one hand to the other. We'll examine a version of the fake Put and a version of the fake ; Take. Finally, we'll look at ways of going into and comzng out of the fake.. transfer.

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The French Drop

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In the French Drop, you will be duplicating the actiBn of takinga bau I from the opposite hand. This Fake Take can be execyted with eithp hand, 1 -- ------Hold the barc
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The classic method of passing a ball from one hand to another duplicates a method of putting a ball into the hand-as opposed to taking the ball. This is one of the basic building blocks of magic, so let's look at this action closely. If I want to successfully duplicate the action of putting fhe , ball into my hand, I've first got to understand the true action of putting the , ball into my left hand. To begin, rest your hands naturally on the table or in your I probably got your fingers lightly curled into a very loose fist. Ne extended, nor truly bunched up-but casual. Since that's how ypur hands naturally come to rest, that's how they should look when they afe holding II out. In order to minimize all movements, your hands should I begin and end in this casual, natural position. In fact, my right hand is already in finger palm position when I first pick up the ball to transfer it. -The opposite hand is timed to turn palm up just as the ball arrives. The ball just touches the opposite hand, and those fingel begin to curl up;as if closing over the ball. However, the baU k . rolled back into the fingerpalm bv the right thumb, as the right hand turns down and moves away, and -the..hand apparently holding the ball simulates the shape of that ball with the fingers. I

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The Simple Transfer Another way of "putting" a ball is to drop it from one , palm-up hand into the opposite hand. I Of course, it's just as easy to i-etainEil3all in the originalKanil%~r I curling the fingers in just as G p p o s i t e fingers curl up enough to conceal I

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Misdirecting with the Wand

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The wand serves double duty in most routines by providing a continuing action following the transfer, as well as cover during the act of concealment. You can take advantage of this by placing the wand under the arm prior to the transfer. As the fake transfer takes place, as soon as the opposite fingers curl up enough to provide cover, E O f i @ i n a E h T m o s s towards the wand in order to make the magic , happen. The wand helps '$1 rationalize the transfer of the ball from one hand to the other, and also provides natural cover for holding out the ball.

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To secretly load a ball into a cup is one I of the most fundamental of the ' fundamentals. Beginning with a ball in finger palm position, all you have to do is pick the cup up, and set it back down, releasing the ball as you do. I Keep the cup as flat to the table as possible, and avoid flicking your wrist in order to propel the ball into the cup. All you have to do is set the I , cup down, and the ball goes right into it. The pick up of the cup can be motivated by simply showing what's under the cup, or as I typically do, you can toss a visible I ball from the top of the cup to the opposite hand to cover the I loading action.

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The thumb palm can be used to drop something into a mouth-up cup as you reach over it, or as you turn over a cup.

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If you are standing up, you can use the classic palm, allowing the ball to drop directly into a cup before again using the little finger to hold the ball in as you turn the cup mouth down onto the table.

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The Tip-Over Load The classic cover for secretly loading a cup begins with one visible ball resting on top of the cup and a second ball hidden inside of either hand. The clean hand opens palm up in front of the cup, as the dirty hand tips the cup forward, tipping the ball into the palm-up hand. The front edge of the cup remains on the table, as the back lifts up just enough to sneak the palmed ball inside the cup. This is a classic move, but personally, I think it feels and looks more natural when used while sitting down. That's because both hands just move forward to their position. But when you are standing up, things are a little different. Think about it. If I want the ball in my left hand, the easiest, and I therefore most natural thing I would be to simply pick it up I with the left hand. So it doesn't feel right for me to pass the ball , with the left hand, as I open my hand on the table. Then I lean my whole body forward, and use bath hands just to get possession of that ball. Instead, as I mentioned earlier, I prefer to keep the focus of my attention up and forward, as I pick the cup up, gently tossing the ball into the opposite hand as I load from the finger palm.

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Here's a close-up view of what the loading hand does.

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Loading a nested or stacked cup Again using the finger palm, balls can be secretly loaded into cups which are either nested or stacked. This is a minor, natural extension of the table loading method previously described. It can easily be done with either hand or both hands at the same time.

These cups were commissioned b~Harry Stan191 honoring Dai V a o n when he went to England to do his lecture therefor thefirst time.

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Lined on the inside with cloth also. Maker

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Protaptype chop cup with a loud t@for a coil

This .set of cups made oftin, c. 1890, cume ruith fota cups-one gimmicked on the bottom with a sa'es ofpins (needlepoint) to hold a cloth ball. This was the way it was before the ch@-cup. Custom-made leather cups. Maker unknown. .

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Two Finger Steal You begin by lifting the cup between your thumb, first and middle fingers at the base. This leaves the third and little fingers j free to go under the cup as soon as it clears the table.

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pulling it into finger palm. Attention should be misdirected at the actual moment this sleight takes place.

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This is actually more of a method for showing the cup empty without actually stealing the ball out. As the cup is picked up by the base, the little finger goes into the cup, and presses the ball against the inside edge of the cup.

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Picking up the cup partlculadp near fiF base allows you to do something interesting. As before, the EirdXn-cl little fingers are use% finger palm position, at which point you allow mouth outward between the thumb and first finger. This way, you not only show there is nothing on the table, but that there is nothing in the cup as well. -1-

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Timing is everything. Silence. Space. Strategic pauses. These uses of time become theatrical punctuation marks that maximize the impact of the communication. In music, they say silence and the space between notes are responsible for as much of the beauty of music as the notes themselves. So, as you learn and later apply some of the ideas we'll cover, notice how the use of time contributes to the impact of your performance. I used to perform much more quickly than I do now, because I thought speed contributed to deception. In a certain way, it does. But it's not the speed-it's the timing, which I'll explain more completely in a moment. Also, I thought quickness somehow made the magic more visual, and so many people had told me that magic had to be visual to be good, that I had embraced that false premise. Now I realize magic doesn't have to be visual in order to engage the imagnation of the viewex Engaging the imagination has more to do with concept, construction, and courage-with enough of each to trust yourself to slow down, pause, and actually encourage them to think about what is taking place. Because if you do everything else right, it's during these moments that the imagination of each audience member goes to work creating possible methods and scenarios that are generally much more interesting and impossible than what's actually happening. Proper timing can also give momentum to what you are doing, which can ultimately help cover past maneuvers, and make accurate reconstruction impossible. Vernon used to say, "How do you go into it, and how do you come out of it?"In other words, what are the continuing movements? He asked this because pausing at the wrong time destroys momentum, and allows them to engage their imagination at the wrong time. People frequently say something which will illustrate what I mean: "Ilost my car k q s yesterday. I looked all over the place, but didn'tfind them until the very last place I looked!" Of course, the last part of the statement will always be true, because once you find what you're looking for, you quit looking! Conversely, you keep looking until you find what you are looking for. This trait of human nature should be kept in mind when constructing magic. For example, if I make a ball vanish-only to reappear inside a cup-the proper use of timing creates momentum which conceals the techniques I've used. Here's what I mean: making a ball disappear from your hand creates a question in the viewing mind: "Where did it go?" If your presentation has generated interest in your routine, the unresolved issue of this disappearance creates a bit of stress. Pause too long, and they begin to look for and think about where that ball might be. Let's say you execute a Fake Transfer to make the ball vanish. If the ball is held secretly in the Finger Palm of the opposite hand, how long will it take for them to want to see that hand? However, if you make the ball vanish only to 'reappear' inside of a cup on the table, the answer to where the ball is seems resolved. As impossible as that resolution might actually be, an audience will quit looking for where the ball actually is because it seems as if they've already 'found' it. Another maneuver at this point, under cover of a logical continuing action, will help to cover your previous technique. As you show where the ball traveled, you can secretly load the held-out ball into the cup as you replace it. Both hands will then be empty, confirming in retrospect that the ball under the cup must be the one previously held in the hand. So neither speed nor slowness, in and of themselves, creates or answers questions. It's timing.

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=EM The Scoop The classic method of simulating" the placement of a ball into the cup involves tiltinRthe cup back with one hand, opposite scoops the ball under the cup. After executing the actual movement a couple of times, you'll know exactly what action j you'll want to duplicate. To finger palm the ball, all you have - to do is roll it back with your fhurnb. Actually scooping a ball under a cup just takes an instant, so the palming action has to be done quickly. Then just set the cup back down, and continue with the routine. This move can be done with either hand. p

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The Scoop Clip This is the same action, only you don't roll the ball back into finger paIm. Instead, clip the ball -between the ring and middle fingers as you simulate the scooping action.

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Fake Transfer to Fake Load

Executing a fake transfer before faking the r load into the cup requires two moves to accomplish what the Scoop actions accomplish in one. But the additional move brings with itself the potential for a subtle benefit, because the hand which appears to load the cup is ultimately seen to be empty. This might help convince skeptics that the ball must therefore really be inside the cup. I Begin by GKng a - t i aK f a haIl'
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The Pinch This move can be done with either hand executing the pinch. In these photos, you'll see my right hand tilting the cup forward, with -the ihumb a n d d i n X & F i ; f f S F c i E ~ i 7 pat tfie lower nm.-.. This leaves the right finger palm available for the incoming ball?\\ T h z o n t Cdgh-of tGcudprevents the ball from exposing itself to t h k I audience, so always cover this angle - with either the cup or your hand. The left haqd p i n ~ ~ t h ~~ e e~ ~" ~? e ~n e ~ n ~ ~ ; " causing it to roll underneath the cup and into the right finger palm. The right hand r e t u l - t h e cup to the table and moves away. [Finding this move in om-Aun~~script with no name 1 credited to it was an interesting e x p e r i e n c e h c In the late I Seventies, I thought I invented this move! This r e m i n d s - i - ,_ ' that when working on classic effects or routines, there are I always key problems which everyone will have to solve. It ' might be getting the card to the top of the deck, or it might I be stealing a ball from a cup. i [So my advice is this: if you need to figure out your own way of doing thingethen do it! But if you ever find out that someone else 1 solved the same problem in the same way, don't assume they must j have ripped you off! The reality is that people frequently produce, in independent ways, the same solutions to fairly basic problems. The positive side of reality, however, is that if you throw yourself into your research with passion, you may very well discover that the wheel you needed so badly has already been invented!] ! -7.

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The Fake Roll Out This somewhat unusual move will give you one more option at faking both a transfer and a load, depending on how you want to proceed following the Fake Roll Out. -----. ---One hand picks up the cup at th&hGe, and trlrns palm up, which also turns the cup mouth up. The opposite hand picks the ball up and drops it into the cup. As you sirnulate pourFng the Ij-iR-badinto the opposite=: .- actuallv finger palm it in the original hand. Now you can make the balldisappear,ior you could fike the bad h o ' a cup:

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The classically constructed set of cups allows for a variety of different maneuvers that add to the enjoyment as well as the deception of a good Cups and Balls routine. So here are a variety of cool cup moves you can sprinkle through your 1 routine to spice things up.

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Passing One through Another A cup can apparently pass through one cup, or through two cups.*if that's what you want to do. ,- - = Holding the cups' mouths up in both hands, drop &eG-inb8; mouth of the other, Since you are holding right at the lip of the cup, -,---. the top cup knocks the bottom cup from the opposite haid, a n d e n --- stops i n h place. The dropping hand continues downward, ; ~ ~ T y i nthe g I continual movement of the originally held cup. Use the same actions if you are penetrating two cups with one. I once sawJay Marshall use an interesting bit of business. After failing to penetrate the second cup, he tapped ' the center, then acted as if he unscrewed the rim from the cup for a half turn, before successfully completing the penetration. I

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The late S. Leo Horowitz added another piece of business to the penetration by adding a coin to the picture. He drops a coin into one cup, then pours it back and forth from cup to cup. Then he does the penetration, saying "Not only does the cup penetrate, but so does the coin."

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Wand through Cup To pass your wand through the solid bottom of your cup, hold the cup with the mouth pointing towards the opposite hand, which is holding the wand. Your index finger should be extended along the wand, which is poked against the inside top of the cup. After two or three taps, pull the wand back enough to ~ Oit t~S ~Y7 i - p % " h - p ~ ~ ~ r o i i ~ ~ ~ i f l 6 r W a , r~~ This time,,just the index finger goes inside the cup, while th wand goes behind the cup, extending beyond it. The illusion that the wand has penetrated the cup is perfect, if only for a second or two. Immediately pull the wand -> out, and continue the routine. Of course, the same illusion could be created with one, two or three cups.

Showing Inside Deeper Than Outside Again holding the cup mouth towards the hand holding the wand, this time the thumb is uppermost on top of the wand. Marking the wand with the thumb, you measure the inside depth of the cup. Now the left hand moves the cup up and off of the wand, and as you do, the figh. I ~ ~ o " ~ - t h e e - ~ f i f l ? i " a 3 Z ^ eposition. per As you measure again, it seems as if the inside is impossibly deeper than the outside of the cup.

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Showing a Ball Inside an Empty Cup A very simple technique will make it possible to lac, - * ,show a ball as having appeared inside a cup which is fx,;<- "C'I * i -A @L$ I actually empty. LA Holding the ball in finger palm, pick up the mouth-down cup in that same hand, as close to the , mouth of the cup as possible. As soon as the cup clean the table, release the ball, and*#RT7Ee l i T d m $ B sight flii%inj: I action. 1 This causes the ball to roll away from the hand and from under/ the cup. The illusion is that tapping the ball with the inside rim of the cup is what caused it to roll out. I This illusion is even more effective if you use it to secretly add

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Rolling a Cup

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The Paul Fox design of a cup makes it possible to show what is inside the cup by flicking it backwards, so that it rolls all the way over. Nothing extravagant, just an interesting way of showing a certain familiarity with your props.

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Pulling a Ball Up through the Cup

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After performing one of the fake loading ' ' ..,."~ , j sequences, you can seem to pull the ball up through 3'-..

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the cup, leaving it on top of the cup. Beginning with the ball in finger palm position, approach the top of the cup, and allow the ball to rest on top of the cup as you simulate the action of pulling something upward through the cup. -

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The Charlie Miller Move The late Charlie Miller developed one of the most popular of the cool cup moves. Beginning with a ball secretly inside a cup, you place a ball on top of your fist, which goes on top of the cup. There is a coordinated movement of both hands, as the top hand into thc fist, at the same moment the cup is

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The effect is that of a visible penetration of the

: ball through the cup. If the cup is on the table, you , can give the lower ball a slight flick, giving the

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impression it's still moving from its passage through the cup. By setting down the cup with the dirty hand, you 1 can clean up the ball you are holding out by loading it into the cup. I

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The Mendoza Move John Mendoza achieves the same result in a different way. Beginning with a secretly loaded cup which also has a ball on top, smash the top ball with your fist, allowing the ball to go up into the hand as you immediately show the ball inside the cup.

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Click Move

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The late Frank Garcia probably did the most to popularize this striking vanish of a ball from between two cups, created by Horace Goldin and first published bv Karl Fulves in The Pallbearers &view. With a ball between two cups, all you do is raise ' one of the cups just enough for the ball to go inside as you crash them together. One way you could use this would be to have one cup loaded to one side, as you perform the Click Move with the other two cups. Then use one of the techniques we covered show those cups empty, as the ball seems to have traveled to the isolated cup.

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The Flushtration Count

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This method for seeming to show the cups empty simulates a wellknown move with cards which is known as the Flushtration Count. If you have something w<.iloaded into the bottom or middle cups, you can use the Flushtration concept along with the Inertia Move to seem to show all three cups

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What you actually do is tilt the mouth of the j I three-cup nest toward the viewers, showing that the first cup is empty. Then in one fluid motion, you tilt the nest back toward yourself as fie-opp*' ; -i2 Gkes fie bttm E i pfrom the stack to the table. If there had been a ball in that cup, the Inertia Move would keep it from falling out. Continuing, the two nested cups are again tilted toward the viewers, a n d " a m G E Z 3 Z Z i m as t5ifiuvn cup is'$jfe;tfon'5eetaHe~ Repea,pwith the final cup to create the impression each cup is shown empty as it is setzdown, while only the cup at the mouth of the nest was shown empty.

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The Tip-Off or 'Fako' Move If you have a ball hidden in a stack, you can seem to show that stack empty using the Tip-Off move. As you tip the top cup over to show the ball gone, 1 allow the mouth of the cup to drag the ball over 1 into the tipped cup. This move has been credited I to Herb Morrissey, and is also known as the Fako

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This mor~ecan easily be done with the upper two II I cups of a three-cup stack-one cup in each hand. You can also add the Pinky Hold, allowing you to ps from a stack-then separate your hands before returning them to their original position.

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Galloping Post Move

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A natural extension of the Fako move is to drag the ball straight off the top of the lower cup as you move the upper cup to the table. When you drag the ball away by moving the cup laterally across, that's known as the Galloping Post Move.

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The Centrifugal Move If you have a ball inside a tabled cup, you can pick both the ball and the cup up in two ways for stacking. You can modify one of the cup steals we learned earlier to pick the ball up, or -r-- - - you can use a-flick of the wrist to create e"nTu~KcFntrifuga1 force to draw the ball into the cup long enough for the cup to be quickly stacked. This move can be done with one, two or three balls, because the scooping action causes all the balls to ride up the inside rim of the lifted cup.

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A good Cups and Balls routine requires an interesting opening, a valid body section, and a p r o p erly set-up ending. If you successfully go through the process of putting your own routine together, you will be exercising skills you can transfer to other branches of magic. The type of routining you can learn from the Cups and Balls could also be called structure or construction. Routining isn't just a matter of putting together a series of different moves that end in a surprise. To maximize the impact of your ending, not only does your routine have to be carefully choreographed, but you also have to consider how your opening logic, your personal character, presentation and delivery all work together to create a total impact which is greater than the sum of its parts. Also, the sequences you select for the body of your routine should be constructed so that methods cancel out each other, making reconstruction virtually impossible. As one simple example of how the construction of your routine contributes to the overall effect, I let's assume your routine ends with the surprising production of final loads inside the cups. It seems logical that the best way to surprise people with such an ending would be to make certain your earlier sequences absolutely convince your audience those cups were empty to begin with. Otherwise there is no effect. For the experience of magic to register inside a viewer's mind, the viewer must believe something which just isn't so. For example, he must BELIEVE the ball is in your hand in order to be surprised when it's gone. And he has to BELIEVE the cups are empty in order to be surprised when they are ultimately full. That's what successful routining does, and that's another fundamental skill which can be exercised as you develop an understanding of the Cups and Balls. So make a habit of asking yourself the following questions, in this, as well as other, magic effects: Exactly what is the desired effect? How do you establish interest? Exactly what should an audience believe in order to maximize the overall impact? How can you directly or subtly create that belief in the most effective way? Have you properly choreographed the approach you'll take to any technical move? Did you structure proper motivations during your routine that will direct attention away during I the moment magic techniques are taking place? In other words, predetermine exactly what misdirection you'll count on as you execute the moves. The continuing action which follows a move provides retroactive cover for the technique just completed. A smooth segue into what happens next occupies the mind, denying it opportune time for reconstruction. Is the 'front porch' bigger than the 'meeting room'? (A Will Rogers analogy.) That is to say, have you properly balanced each portion of your routine? Always remember, impact is not a function of what you are ABLE to do. Impact is directly related to what an audience CARES about. So routine your sequences in such a way that the effect is definite and the process is direct. Master your technique, make your presentation interesting and dynamic, and you'll have a routine that should truly impact an audience. I

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With the building blocks we've already covered, it'll be easy to construct a simple routine with a beginning, middle and end, yet which uses only the most basic sleight of hand. "Beginning with only the most simple elements, three cups, two hands and one ball. All I have to do is blow, and the ball disappears, traveling invisibly into the cup. I71 do it again, just a blow, and it travels. One more time, remember that if1don't blow, nothing happens, but with just a tiny Puff; again it vanishes only to reappear inside the cup. Even more amazing is that i f 1 don't blow, but instead if I p s t touch, the ball doesn't just vanish-it multiplies! But now to make it three times as difficult, Iput each ball inside my pocket, only to tap my pocket, then a cup, my pocket, a cup, and once more for a third time, all three balls return."

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In this simple sequence, you begin three ahead, by holding out one in the right hand, and nesting a ball between the bottom and middle cup, and one between the middle and top cup. Place the final, visible ball inside the top cup. Begin by pouring the visible ball out, and execute the Flushtration count and the Inertia Move as you place the three cups in a row. Gad tEe find71;'Ip%&-aKe'm
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You will now create the effect that this one visible ball can disappear, only to reappear inside one of the cups, and you will repeat this effect for each of the three cups. Each 1 j time, you will execute a fake transfer, only to show the ball has now traveled to the intended cup. As you pick up the cup to . ) show the arrival of the ball, you secretly load the ball being held out as a result of the fake transfer. After rhFb%lTGems to travel a thFd b%T, you are ready to cause three balls to appear--one under each cup. All three cups have a ball secretly loaded beneath them, andm;is7ble. Execute a fake transfer as you tap each oC (he three ' pm-cups wth-the hand apparently holding / the ball. Show the hand empty, then show a ban inside each of the three cups. Placing the balls on top of each cup, begin the elimination sequence which uses the TipOver Load. That is, as you tip the visible ball into the opposite hand, load the hidden ball inside the cup you are tipping over. Seem to place the visible ball into your pocket, while actually doing a fake transfer. Repeat the Tip-Over Load with the other two cups until you actually place the final ball. To condude,- -away - ---show alf three balls have returned to their cups.

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The word misdirection, as it applies to magic, sounds like drawing attention away from the true action at a sharp angle. But transparent diversionary tactics usually become obvious for what they were when thought about later. And while knowing when something happened isn't the same thing as knowing how it happened, it is, nevertheless, a powerful clue. An interesting story told about General Eisenhower might help illustrate the difference between natural and unnatural misdirection, or between 'directing' attention-as we'll discuss later-and the sometimes misunderstood application of misdirection. In a meeting with his officers, Eisenhower laid a piece of string across a table, and said, "An army is like this piece of string. If you get behind it and try to push, it just bunches up and doubles back on itself. But if led from the front, it follows perfectly behind." Misdirection just won't work if you try to push people's attention from behind, but it occurs naturally when people feel compelled, of their own accord, to look in the wrong place. Successful misdirection is such that, as Erdnase would say, an audience won't even suspect that their diverted attention was a primary part of the method. Proper routining, timing and construction create misdirection when viewers feel as if they were always looking in the right place at the right time. We'll talk more about how to create misdirection later, but for now, understand that a magician is somewhat obligated to milk any moment of misdirection for all the surprise and impact possible. The good news is that during the performance of a Cups and Balls routine, inherent curiosity creates a powerful form of misdirection. Almost every time a cup is lifted, something surprising happens or is revealed. So nothing seems as important as looking at what might be beneath the cup being lifted. Now-if you know 99% of the people are going to be looking under the cup as you lift it-just imagine all the things you might do someplace else, at that moment, that would go unnoticed! The following routine shows how you might take advantage of misdirection to end this and other cups routines with a genuine surprise.

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The Effect "I'll begn with three balls, and three cups. If1 place each ball into my pocket, all I have to do is snap my fingers, and all three balls return to their cups. But even the cups are amazing, because watch as-one at a time-these two balls melt right through the tops of the cups. Now with those two balls protected by all three cups, the third ball travelsfrom my pocket to join them inside. But even more amazing is that if1 put all three into my pocket and snap-they go together to form one @ant ball!"

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The Method Place one ball into a mouth-up cup, then nest the other two cups on top of that. Place the three visible balls into the top nested cup, and hide your final load in one of your front coat pockets. Pour the three balls onto the table, then set the cups mouth-down in a row. The Inertia Move keeps the ball hidden beneath the cup on one end. Put each ball on top of a cup. . -.-Simulating the Tip-Over load with the-cu hidiiingeeitra ball, - ----. do a fake transfer as you seem to place that balI into your pocket:, With the hand holding out, do the Tip-Cker Load 14th the iniddlFi~lFTwo cups now contain hidden balls, one ball is visible,

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and one ball remains atop an end . .- - -. . a fake transfer as you appear inplace the second ban away, and then load that balkas you Tip-Over with the final m p . Again kf;e putting the ball into your pocket, keeping it held out. As you show all three balls have returned to their cups, s F t 1 ~ ' l b ; i dihe kubaTal1 =-lea% f i e Gen ter cilp.

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Place one ball on top of the center cup, anMwith

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Quickly tilt all three back to show one ball has passed rn through. Unstacking the cups, cover the first ball with the middle cup so that the hidden ball joins it. Fi?~n'o"ihG-.- - - -. -,-bail on top of the center cup, and repeat the penetrationser(uence. As you unstack the cups, allow the hidden ball to join the two which h a k , penetrated. Stack the end cups on to^ of the center, as vou bTi;eet'f;ii&&~hx

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load as you snap your fingers. Pick up the stack of three and pass the entire stack to the hand holding the final load, just as it exits the pocket. (The following section on Final Loading Actions will give more complete details on this.) Be careful to time the transfer of the stack so'bat the hand with the final load doesn't have to pause on its trip$o and from the pocket. You will need to practice the act of taking~he stack with the loading hand until you can take the stack withd~t hesitation. The load will go right into the mout cup, where it will be held in place by the little finger of the loading hand. Keep the back of the loading hand towards the audience until the last second, only pivoting it as the cups are about to touch the hand. The audience will be conditioned to look beneath the cupsjust as they are picked up. They want to see if the final ball has actually arrived. You can be so confident of the construction, and the natural curiosity it creates, that you don't need to rush the movements of either hand. In fact, you may be surprised by how much a slow, smooth transfer of the cups from one hand to the other helps conceal the loading action. Place all three balls away, snap your fingers, and reveal the final load to conclude.

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V i mfrom thepont (perfwmed while sitting):

The act of secretly loading a cup e t h something has to be carefully choreographed so that it goes unnoticed during otherwise fully observed actions. This 6rst series of photos show how the focus and energy oPyhe body draw attention to what is under the stack of cups as the right band picks them up. The timing is such that the left hana has just placed away its ball, as the right hand lifts the $ack of cups to reveal what is beneath them. The eyes, as well as the body energy, draw focus to the balls shown beneath theyup. Fs6ii ih l3mp5-g , he. back of the left hand remains towards the audience until the very moment it pivots to accept the cups. The little finger holF&e 10d ?mid
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Close-up viewtom the side (perfmmed while sitting):

This is a side view of the loading action:The back of the hand is just below the edge of the table. Having just placed a ball away, the left hand is returning to the W o n , as the right reveals what is beneath the cups. The left fingers curl - . -_ - -.-.. _._-,* -------. loosely around the final load. As the hand pivots counter-clochise, the little finger p u s h ~ o a all d the way into the cup.With the cups held naturally in the left hand, the right hand picks up the balls to place them away. ------w

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Close-up view.fi.omthe side, simplified:

This technique is considered easier to perform &cause it doesn't require the actions of both hands to be as closely , and carefully synchronized. But you do pay a price for this simp=% For example, the precise way of handling the cups i doesn't exactly duplicate the way you would handle things if you wer&7e9xecuting the final load, ~ r ~ i % Z ~ c h T ~ ~ ~as a ~learning a t tool, ~ it ~might ~ help u build t 1 I your confidence in the misdirection generated during that moment, because even this less sophisticated technique can I easily go unnoticed. -Since you aren't hiding the final load with the back of your ha -gi ih;'pretio
Close-up view fiom the fiont (fierformedwhile standing):

Timing plays a major role if you are executi% your final loads while standing. The process of putting the ball away has to be choreographed with what you are saying, i s well as with the actions of the hand picking up the cups. The back of the loading hand is towards h e audience as the hand leaves the pocket. The opposite hand moves the *--.7s-v cups towards the crotch of the loading hand, bemeen the thumb and index finger. Just as come together, the loadiG -hand p6oh f o ~ ~ ~ e f i slips~ in'tootheaGK6Ftiii-ec~ip. a d Again, hold the load inside with the little finger as the opposite hand picks up the balls. Set the cups down, draw focus towards what is happening, and then reveal the final load to conclude. ---.--

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Begin with your three final loads in your coat pocket, back pocket, or your lap, if you are going to be seated. As you consider the possibility of doing a Cups and Balls routine impromptu, be aware of ho~7the location of the cup handle might affect your handling of things. The idea1 direction to point the cup handle is toward the 11 o'clock position. Also, having something to use as a wand will always help cover your vanishes, even in the less formal social situations where people might feel fre inteject or ask questions.

finger palm, pick up the three grapes with the right hand and, holding one b a d in the right hand, drop two into the left. These two, added to the one concealed create the impression you and two empty hands.

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v-&*r-.!, >. Photos 7-10 show We s e c o n m r w h i l e 11-14 show thkihirc~ vanls??, along with the return of all tEe-to their cups.

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the middle cup. TGth the grapes in front of each 'ST cup, do the Scoop to *wTain h c first grape: +--@ which is loaded i n t o m middle cup along with ig ~isiblegrape (Photos 17 & 18). Then do another --dY*r

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irrivrd in the middle.: ,

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Visibly take the fhifititFape to "ihhipo2ef

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' % X w 2ErSt final load as the right hand lifts one of the cups.This provides the misdirection you need to steal and &en load the firG'larE load into the cup.

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With one large load beneath the cup,

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Z c X grape to the pocket.

Tap the center cup with your wand, as the left hand steals the second large load.

Lifting the center cup to show the return of the grape, EZTthe'secona lGie load.

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Taking that grape to the pocket, tap the end cup as the left hand steals the last large load.

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Remove two grapes from your pocket, to add them to the one just shown. Give all three grapes to the spectator. TO conclude, E a 9 - 5 I f three %Si-ToX

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"The Cups and Balls is literally the groundwork of all legerdemain." - Professor Hoffman We're going to build on the basic Cups and Balls principles by examining: 1. Different opening positions and sequences. 2. Sequences for the body of your routine. 3. A complete section on ending sequences and mastering the final load. We'll focus on the classic three-cup approach, although some performersnotably the late John Ramsey and currently Tommy Wonder and David Williamson-all created routines using only two cups. But if our analysis is successful, and if you engage yourself in this learning process, you'll understand the effect well enough to be able to start from here and go anywhere you want to go.

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Advanced Wand Moves

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If you've learned some of the sleight of hand vanishes which are so important to any advanced routine, you've probably seen how helpful the wand is in covering the hand Holding Out. The term 'Functional Fixedness' refers to the tendency of people to see things used in only one obvious way. This partly explains why people think fingers are the only functional part, and that the hand can only do one thing at a time. So when we visibly hold or do something with the hand, people don't suspect we might be doing something else at the same time. So, it stands to reason that the more complex the visible action is, the less likely they'll suspect a second action might also be taking place. For example, it's one thing to hold a pencil, but since writing is a more complex action, it might be considered a more effective cover. Similarly, it's one thing to hold a wand, but using or spinning the wand might be considered better for covering secret maneuvers. So let's look at some advanced uses of the wand as a tool for covering and accomplishing some of the techniques we'll be using.

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Advanced Wand Vanishes Classic sequences for secretly loading a cup usually end up

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a visible ball. From that point, it's common to see performers who set-up for their fake transfer by putting that ball back into the right hand, just so the right hand can fake a transfer back into the left, where it ultimately "disappears" from. So instead of doing a hand-to-hand transfer, they're actuhand-to-hand-to-hand transfer. If you end up doing that for each of the three balls, that turns into a lot of extra moves! I like the wand vanishes, because they are very direct. The ball is clearly seen to b in the hand it ultimately vanishes fi-om, with no extra hand-to-hand transfers necessary.

Through the Fist j 1

and I still use it in my own routine. The ball begins on the palm of the left hand,fwhich slowly and clearly

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an shows t K = ~ n d e r cover of this misdirected moment, ithe left fingers work the ball down to the base of the pah-down fist. In order to minimize any movements ofrthe hand during the actual I transfer of the ball, the right hand is held b finger palm position all during this technique. The right palm 1 faces the left fist, which is still palm down,'The EfZoTthC"wand @eS througTi the o p e n i n i i i between the thumb and index finger, until it comes out the opposite side. Now both hands move at the same time. meleft hand furns paTin up, as tPie^ii@Elf i G T r n r n o ? i e ~ ~ t ~ Z Z h S f i i ~ t ' t i ~ - ~ f a SnTof E K e t h e ~ t a n dfirst pushed through the fist. Pull the wand from the left hand, and tap the hand to indicate the disappearance of the ball. - -- -- - - . -- - I

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Through the Hand #2 Audience View -

This is a variation on From Below the previous vanish. Here, the right hand follows a different path, moving over the left hand as it steals the ball. As before, the left -'hand c l i ~ the s ball; but notice that the right h s *;--. . a on the Gposite side of L ~ 7 x ~ - , ~ ~ ~. , .~ ..<. ....
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curled rigm@r. i o beneath the hand, where

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(6%-endY'of h e wand, and pulls it 01 ound the left hand so it can create

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,,+hand doesn't turn palm up until the wand has passed completely through it.

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The Moraflernon Wand Spin Vanish Silent Mora was a billiard-ball manipulator from the Boston area who, during the Thirties and Forties, featured a particularly beautiful vanish of a billiard ball. The ball was clearly shown in the left hand, which closed around it. The right hand makes a magical wave around the left, and as it does, the ball drops secretly into the right hand with perfect timing. It was Dai Vernon who added the wand spin to cover the action, and his use of this vanish in his cups routine probably did the most to spread awareness of the move. In fact, it is often referred to as the Vernon Wand Spin. But it's safe to say that this is one move where being aware of what's going on and being able to do it are completely different things! First, you have to completely understand this spin, because the spin takes place at the exact moment the ball drops from one hand into the other.

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if-

This is one of the most popular of the wand spins for magic because it can be done even as the hand is holding out an object. You begin by holding the wand exactly as shown in the first photo. The wand is parallel to the floor, and the thumb is just to right of center. It is off-center because it has to spin around the thumb, and starting off-center is what gives it the right balance when the wand is in the positions shown in the fourth and fifth photos. The wand begins and ends in the same grip -. Them f w a n The key is to give the wand an even, gentle, flat spin which is W

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in order to perform this spin, so it's a practical, valuable thing to learn for anyone using a wand during any sleight-of-hand routine. At first, this probably won't work for you, and will feel strangely impossible. But with minimal persistence, it will become virtually automatic.

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It's never too early to start considering what sort of presentation you will bring to your routine. What you say as you introduce your routine should accomplish several things. It should create a compelling frame around your routine, and it should provide some form of context: rationale that explains why, out of all the possible things in the world, you decided THIS is the best thing to do NOW. If you're an amateur with a built-in audience of family and friends, it's possible you might get away with just saying, "For my next trick, I'm going to do the Cups and Balls...", but you'd have to be pretty special to even consider trying that as a professional! But even if you could get away with that, an interesting, compelling opening is too valuable a thing to just blow off. How you go into your routine will impact the overall reception of the entire effect. So create a reason, a presentation, a storyline, patter, a line of rap-however you want to say it-but give the Cups and Balls the deserving benefit of a presentational frame.

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Opening Positions As you develop your routine, you have the option of starting out one ball ahead, two, three, four, and even further ahead, depending on what you want to do. Dedicated cups which nest or stack allow you to hide one to three balls inside each cup. If your cups don't nest, you might be limited to what you can comfortably hold out, or to what you could conveniently steal from your pocket, lap or someplace else. One Ahead - If you only need to be one ahead, you could begin by having the cups examined, as you take the four balls from your pocket. Taking back the cups, hold out one of the balls as you hand out three, and you can clean up by loading the extra ball as you arrange the cups. Another approach is to have one ball nested, as you dump three out and use the Inertia Move to set the cups onto the table. TWO Ahead - Start by showing three balls while concealing one inside each lower cup, or you could have two inside either cup as you use the Inertia Move to set the cups down. Three Ahead - Hide one in each lower cup, hold out one in your finger palm, and place one in the top cup. Roll out the visible ball, execute the Flushtration Count and the Inertia Move twice, then load the third cup as you set it down. You could also hide three inside the center cup and execute the Inertia Move into a stack before setting the cups in a row and bringing out the single ball. Four Ahead -When you are four ahead, you can produce the three balls you are going to use, one at a time if you want, and yet you'll still have the one-ahead advantage. People typically think one of two things after seeing you produce three balls, which you should be aware of. Some think that if you've just produced three balls, it's unlikely you could have yet another one which you haven't shown. Others think if you produce three, you must be able to produce thirty. Go figure. But, a simple way to start out four ahead would be to have one set aside along with your wand, one in your right finger palm, and one nested in each lower cup. Set the cups down, loading the third cup with the finger-palmed ball, and steal the fourth ball as you take out the wand. Other options -As you can see, there are many variations even among these options. Still others have developed interesting options beyond these. For example, there was Alex Elmsley with his salt load, and Scotty York with his X-rated Cups and Balls. Both developed opening positions that put them ahead not just in opening phases, but also a final load ahead. Such ideas may seem specifically suited for other magicians, but again it illustrates the broad versatility of the effect.

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Grab your props, because we're going to walk through three classic opening sequences. For brevity, I'll use simple fake transfers for each vanish, but you'll probably want to customize a set of vanishes for yourself. Finally, I'll show you the opening sequence I developed for myself. You'll see how I've tried to choreograph things so that everything is accomplished with natural, direct, and economic movements.

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One Ahead Return Opening c

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With three balls visible, three empty cups, and one finger-palmed ball, ... eac11 cup. The balls seem to disappear one at a time, only to reappear inside each cup. You.could also begin with the balls already inside the cups. Just load each cup as you lift it to pick up the ball. Agai~,each ball vanishes only to reappear inside each of the cups.

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One Ahead Penetration Sequence Using the stacking principle, you can start out one ahead under the center cup and with no sleight of handbut hopefully with clear, convincing communication-

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Three Ahead Production Sequence [Photographsfor this sequence can be found on pages 32 and 33 i n the Second Level Routine.] They think you have only one ball and three empty cups. With one ball secretly loaded inside each cup, the visible ball vanishes and reappears inside one cup. Reload each cup as you take the ball and repeat the vanish twice more. Finally, execute a fourth fake transfer, but before you show the vanish, tap each cup, then show a ball has now appeared inside each cup. You're now one ball ahead, which you can hold out, load, or nest.

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As my left hand casually rubs against the wand, I secretly lower ball into it. Then I seem to p m a m dm the ei .wand. Placing the wand under my arm, I do a French Urop, showing the ball

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To produce a third ball, I need access to one of those hidden in the cups. Mimicking the technique of the just used ~ r e n c h - ~ ~ f i ~ % e the ~ % r o m

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down forward from the two end cups. The"leFhand j5ER" --and again I switch it for the held-out 7 .

up &e \$sib-

dle cup, as the left hand continues up to take the wand.

./I' again move p y head and body to the upper right, as the left hand moves

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This gives me time to slowly deposit the ball while drawing focus further and furtger from the act of deception. Pausing just an instant, I then show the thirb ball has Cppeared right where it belongs-on top of the third

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(1 developed this surprise appearance of the third ball after being

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inspbed by the exgellent use of misdirection Tommy Wonder displayed in his Two Cup routjne. While constructed and applied differently, this use of misdirection wbs inspired by Tommy Wonder.) So two balls ape produced at the tip of the wand, while the third appears on top 06 the cup-right where it belongs. This leaves me one ball ahead, under the end cup to my right.

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After introducing your props through a simple opening sequence, your options expand geometrically. We'll look at ten of the best classic sequences. While your own routine might ultimately contain three or less such phases, it's always good to study a broader range of options, as that type of foundational knowledge forms a launching pad for creating original ideas and applications.

Assembly You can use any type of cup for this one-at-a-time gathering, because you never have tu nest the cups. With one ball already inside the fiist cup, - ---add the tisible ball to the first cup. Then load the middle cup, and finally, execute the scoop to fake the load d t o the

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and load the hidden bill as the alp. one ball - CUP, an(

YOU replace

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as you do so. Picking up the single visible ball, &eetr'feii5T'ak~

seems to disappear.' ----

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returned from your pockets, reappearing on top of the inner

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nce to his Cups and Balls routine in a purely sleight-ofhand way. After he faked putting the ball into his pocket, he would roll his hand across the table to reproduce it, as these three pEntnc chn~nr

Place the visible ball between the left and middle cup. As you do the Click Move, it's the middle cup which lifts up, putting a second i - ball inside itself. Now you will mislead them as to where that ball actually traveled. Lift the far left cup with the right hand, and as you do so, :a1 the ball hidden in your finger palm as if that ball was beneath the cup.

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the three red in tht

Put the visible ball between the two cups, and again 'Click' it inti the middle cup.

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1 Two-None-TwoSequence

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Here I begin with a ball held out in the right hand, but of course, the ------' ball could also beg-in hidden under an end cup.

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fakc the load into the center cup, and % a p h U o m into the cup on the opposXe end. That sets you up with M, none, and two.

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~ f t ~ e r i E a ? c u To p continue,replace . one into that end cup, and , fake the load into the middle. Point out that I if they had picked the opposite cup, the ball 1 I could have traveled there, as well. I

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, only fo reappear in the opposite e n 3 cup. H o w q frhq don 7 begzn pick.i?zzthr middle cup, you proceed in a different way. If they pick either end cup

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first, they can't go on tp choose a second cup. Go directly to the a magic by sayingsomgthing like, 'This is the cup ydu choose? Perfect. Watch the ball travel 1 invisibly fr,m the center cup I into the cup you selected!" Show h e r e is nothing under i the kenter cup, and two in , tke selected cup. Return one j to the selected cup, and fake load the center. Then again show the center 1);111 could have traveled to the opposite end if they had so chosen. 1

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Reappearing Inside a Stack of Cups

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Start out by loading your extra ball on top of the middle cup, stacked under one cup. bdm$sh&s. Show its arrival inside the stack as you load the second ball. KieZZhand again, load that h~ld-outball, as you show two on top of the center cup. Finish with another fake trans'fer, as you show three balls togtther inside the nested cups.

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A Cups and Balls routine that doesn't end with final loads is somewhat like performing the Balloon to Dove without the Dove. It just seems natural for all that process to be leading up to something Given the existence of certain conditions, the final loading sequence-when compared to the opening and body sequences-generates a substantially greater response. Most frequently, in fact, it seems like the whole point! When performed correctly, elements of theater and methods of magic beautifully coalesce in a good Cups and Balls routine to produce interest, surprise and astonishment. Theatrical elements such as construction, routining, timing and rhythm combine with magical elements of misdirection, psychology, and sleight of hand to convince people that cups which were previously empty and under constant observation are now FILLED with surprising objects.

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Directions for Misdirecting It may be called MISdirection but it's really about constantly DIRECTING .-

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the focus of their attention through the controlled use of your body energy, face, eyes, and the inherent structure of the routine. Secretly loading the cups is first an issue of construction, which creates the second requirement, attention directed awayfrom the secret actions, i I and made possible through naturally timed-but completely choreographedmovements and behaviors. Dai Vernon told me that John Ramsey, the master sleight-of-hand magician from Scotland, gave him the secret formula for misdirection. Vernon went on to say he believed not five people in the world fully understood the importance and value of the formula Ramsey shared. Realizing I was about to hear a valuable and little-known secret for something incredibly important to my work, I put myself into an aggressive listening mode.

Here's the formula: First-You must loc

Second-Look

at the audience.

Third-As you look at the audience, make a meaningful comment. Vernon often asked, "How do you go into it? How do you come out of it?"This refers to the proper positioning of your body and the construction of the routine which gathers their attention. Going into it properly means directing their eyes up towards your own, as you occupy their eyes and ears with something of current interest. The result is a reflexive shift of attention, which is as hard-wired into our systems as the jerk of a knee hit by a mallet. When given this series of actions, people all over the world seem to respond in the same way. If this shift of body, eyes, and energy is accompanied by a meaningful comment, their focus will naturally and justifiably follow your direction. They won't even suspect they've been psychologically influenced and visually manipulated because they feel they looked where they 'wanted' and 'needed' to look; whereas mzsdirection might seem like, 'Hey-you tricked me into looking there!' When considering how you will direct attention away from your final loading actions, a fundamental factor is whether you will be sitting or standing as you perform your routine. This one decision will impact the structure of your routine, the objects you'll choose to finally load, the place or places you'll hide those loads, and the choreography of your loading sequence. So, let's look at each of these options more closely.

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Deciding to sit as you perform this effect will influence virtually every other decision you'll make in regards to your routine. For example, the chair itself will determine your range of arm movement and potential for turning your body to provide cover. As you face this choice, you need to consider that very few professional performing arenas will naturally feature you in a sitting position. Of course, a non-profes sional performing socially might be able to insist on certain conditions, and a business person might always have a desk or counter, but few professional magicians have the possibility of performing while seated at a table. Having said that, let's look at the considerable advantages of sitting down. If your table has a cloth, or some other cover, you can pull that over your lap and start out with your final loads resting on this drape. You won't need to wear a coat to carry or conceal your final loads, and even more important, it's easier to construct a natural reason to drop your hand into your lap than it is to create natural reasons for going back and forth to your pockets as you steal your loads. Leaning forward, either to catch a rolling ball, set down a wand, hand out a cup, or to pick something up might naturally cause your hand to drop into your lap. Even a relaxed lean backwards during a theatrical pause could give you access to a final load while sitting. On the other hand, motivating a trip to a loaded pocket while standing doesn't come with nearly so many options. A final advantage of sitting is that working out of your lap also gives you a broader range of possible final loads, because you can put a wider variety of things on your chair or in your lap than you can in your coat or pants pockets.

Standing

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A standing performance requires that a painstakingly choreographed flow of traffic to and from your pockets at just the right moment be effectively covered by misdirection. One good way for misdirection to be inherent is to motivate trips to your loads just before something is revealed underneath a cup. Construct things so at that moment, the position of your body makes it natural for one hand to pick the cup up and pass it to the loaded hand-an action which completes the final load. From the very start of the routine, an audience is surprised almost every time a cup is lifted, so they're quickly conditioned to look under the cups every time they're lifted. In fact, a well-constructed Cups and Balls routine has built into its very fabric some of the most predictably effective examples of misdirection you'll ever see in magic. But, if you are going to perform while standing, your final loads will have to be hidden in an accessible location. So let's look at some of the options readily available to US.

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WHEN STANDING, WHERE ARE THE FINAL LOADS GOING TO GO?

Let's look at some possible places to hide your final loads. In this section we'll review natural pockets, secret pockets, clips, sleeves, and holders. Other, more esoteric systems will be discussed later.

Natural Pockets

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Possibly the most practical place to hide final loads would be the front jacket pockets. Front pockets on a jacket are so ubiquitous that an audience should never even register their presence, and with naturally large openings, a loaded hand can go in and out pretty quickly. After trying several alternatives, I now consistently use my jacket pockets to hold my final loads. While the front pants pockets are also natural, large, and in a convenient location, most professionals I know don't hide their final loads there. Pants pockets tend to conform to the body while visually echoing their contents. So, final loads typically produce a bulge that betrays their location. Vernon, along with many past and present professionals, used his back pants pockets. This was particularly effective when wearing a coat, as the bottom of the coat provided extra cover. Max Malini is typically given credit for making this hiding place popular among magicians and possibly for having been the first to have done so. It's difficult to say with certainty who was truly the first to have begun stealing final loads from the back pockets, but for the modern stand-up performer, this was an important step in the evolution of this effect. At one time, I combined both back pants pockets into one large pocket for containing my final loads. I wasn't surprised when I later discovered others had independently tried this same idea, because after all, certain solutions to common problems seem inevitable. The initial problem when loading from a single back pocket is that of too little room. Consider that the most common motivation for a trip to a pocket is to put something away-usually a small ball. Doing this three and perhaps four times, means a lot of stuff ends up rolling around in your pocket. Ultimately, stealing final loads from a small, crowded pocket can affect your timing. For example, let's say you want an audience to believe all you are doing is placinga ball into your pocket. Typically, dropping something into your pocket takes a lot less time than it does to pick something up in a specific 'final loading' type of grip. So the successful steal of a final load not only requires the trip to acquire those loads to be naturally motivated, but you will also need crisp, economic actions as your hand moves away with its booty. By doubling the size of the back pocket, I had plenty of room to drop one ball and scoop up a final load pretty quickly. Unfortunately, this double pocket made my pants look strange when I wasn't wearing my coat, and sometimes the loads would roll to the center of the pocket. This meant I had to reach a little too far back and behind myself when stealing the final loads, so once again I found myself using my front coat pockets.

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A European magician, whose name unfortunately I can't recall, experienced similar problems retrieving loads from his back pockets. He showed me a bag with a cardboard flap attached to its back, which he used to solve the problem of proper placement of the final loads. He tucked the cardboard flap into his pants at the small of his back. In this way, the bag which contained the final loads hung in the ideal position for accessibility. He said this was a slightly modified 'waiter's pouch.' Interestingly enough, magicians used a similar sort of hanging bag to contain their final loads centuries ago, only those pouches didn't hang secretly at the small of the back. Instead, their pouches hung at their waists, as can be seen in classic prints depicting the performance of the Cups and Balls. This device is known as a g~becihe,and more recently, its use was popularized by Bob Sheets during his street performances during the mid-1970s. The idea has since caught on, and has become a favorite method of many top street magicians to access their final loads.

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Edge of the Coat The edge of the coat has always been a favorite place for magicians to hide things. Going back and forth to a pocket is sometimes hard to motivate, and might be obvious if someone tries to reconstruct where something came from. However, a motivated turn of the body or lean to pick something up can cause one hand to drop naturally to the edge of the coat. Properly choreographed and adequately rehearsed, this type of movement might never even be considered when an audience reviews their memory of the performance. But, holders at the edge of the coat have their drawbacks. If I conclude a show with the Cups and Balls, I wouldn't like my final loads swinging at the bottom of my coat throughout the part of performance which leads to the end, and setting up for such steals would be difficult during the course of a typical show.

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Sleeves Alex Elmsley used a method for loading his sleeves that many coin workers use to access an extra coin. By motivating a trip into the coat, he takes the load and drops it down his sleeve. This way, the hand which did the 'dirty work' gets to exit the coat completely empty, yet lowering the loaded arm will cause the load to fall into the cupped hand. The typical sleeve might be a little tight for this to work smoothly. But, if you decide this is the best method for you to incorporate into your routine, there are ways to enlarge the sleeve, or to otherwise modify the path taken by the final load, so that the trip will be smooth and easy.

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The Coordinated Timing of Both Hands When people operate in the real world, there's a natural synchronization of movements that take place. Once you decide where your loads are going to come from and how you are going to construct the cover for your steals into your routine, you will then have to work on duplicating this naturally coordinated movement of both hands. If you were going to place something from the right hand into the left, under normal conditions you'd never see one hand or the other hanging back, or out of step. So,just like a dancer, you have to choreograph your final loading movements in a special way. The hand holding out must be timed to approach the hand holding the cup so they meet in just the right place atjust the right time. When sitting, this is just as the hand holding the final load approaches the edge of the table. When standing, they should meet just near the curve of the body, if the loading hand is coming from behind your body. If your steal is coming from a front pants or coat pocket, the hands should meet near the edge of the coat.

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The Loading Hand Keep in mind that once nlasrel- the I

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process of secretly putting , an object under a cup, it's relatively easy to load with either hand. To prevent the final load from flashing, Vernon gives this advice on how to time the , pivoting of the wrist: Whichever hand you use to steal your load, it's immrtant to keep the back @,fthat hand facing the audience as long as possible. The load isn't palmed. ~ u s t " n a 6 r ~ c ~ W w e r s around it. The hands should have a soft, hpered IOU%.Only at the last moment does the loading hand pivot at the wrist at the precise moment it takes the cup from the opposite hand. e base of :er and thumb of the tn.>A:*n lunuulg hand. As the hand pivots, the load goes directly into the ?il-whgre it will be held in p l a c e - b f ~ e ' m +-ding hand:

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For hundreds of years, the little finger has been a valuable tool to en a cup is loaded, it's while the hand merely seems to just be holding the cup. But, how you hold and ultimately how you set the cup down is an important thing to consider allot\*thc loact to roll into the cup.

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way is when there is something inside it.

Whe a cup is empty, you always hold its mouth parallel to the flbor. And when you set an empty cup down, you alwaysiket it down flat. Therefore, when you are setting a cup #own which you have secretly loaded, you must duplic a d these actions as closely as possible.

f

Use the little finger to hold the load in the cup, so you can hold its mouth parallel to the floor. When you set it down, do so with

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Whether you look at prior topics as "building blocks and blueprints," "tools for your tool box," or "weapons for your arsenal," you should now be equipped to move on to the ending phase of your classic Cups and Balls routine. Of course, this won't be the end of your learning, but the sequences we'll look at now are those classic examples that naturally set up access to our final loads at the same moments they create the misdirection we'll need to conceal those final loads.

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Classic Elimination Sequence

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Starting one ahead, you can have the extra ball hidden in either hand, and the final loads in either pocket. But the loads need to be in the pocket opposite to the hand which executes the fake transfer, and therefore holds out the small ball. The visible balls can be either on top of the cups, or inside the cups. %;if h a a th=~t as you take the visible ball, and me the 65nsfer %TOT - --seem to put each hall away, ' one at a time.

i

So, it will seernjas if you I I have placed all threk balls, I one at a time, into yobr : pockets. The actual plz$e1 ment of your large load& iI into the cups will take p l q e as the small balls return tot the cups.

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Vernon's Sophisticated Elimination Sequence

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This sequence begins with one ball inside each cup and one ball held out in the right hand. These photos begin after the right hand has picked up the right cup and the left hand

ball into the coat pocket.

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Continuing, the right hand repeats this

in the left pocket, as

'SIIOM~only one ball. As the cup is replaced, load th~~l(t-88?--putting two balls inside the center cup.

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If, at this point, you've secretly placed those final loads, don't think that's all there is to it. You're closing in on the goal line but you haven't crossed it, so don't drop the ball yet. In fact, if you've come this far, and you're stzll thznkzng about how to maximize your final impact, then you're demonstrating one of the best magic habits possible. The timing, rhythm and set-up of your final revelations will determine more than anything else the impact of your routine. For example, the verbal set-up I currently use was suggested to me by John Carney during an early '80s practice session. To conclude my routine, I ask the audience if they would be surprised if the final ball disappeared and reappeared inside any cup they name. They typically say "non because so much magic has already happened. So, at that moment, I act as if I just thought of the idea of trying something different. John's thought, which I obviously agreed with, was that the incongruent nature of my final loads would be even more surprising if it seemed I just decided to try this new idea based on their response to my question. To help you decide what approach would work best for you, let's look at several different rhythms for revealing the final loads.

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The Nalini/ Garcia Rhythm Frank Garcia used a closing rhythm which he said was very reminiscent of Max Malini's final sequence. .. .. .. .. With three final loads placed, he would hold out the fourth final load. After showing the fir&ioad, he Ioaded the fourth final load, and set it down. Picking up the end cups to gesture with them, he held ea&"final load in with his pinky. Setting them back down, he touched all three cups with the load just prodvced, and then revealed the final three loads, one at a time. ?

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The 1-2-3-4 Method thm I use. Having loaded three final loads, and while holding out one, Setting that cup down, I immediately build upon that response by showing 2, 3 and 4.

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The objective is to compound surprise upon surprise, timed so that the , I I applause builds as well. So you show one-let it sink 1 in-then, in a relatively I quick fashion, two-threeand then I tip back the entire stack to show four.

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I then leave the four pieces of fruit in a row in front of the stacked cups. I leave the cups stacked and on their sides, while the fruit remains spread out, because that contributes to the impression that a lot came out of a small space.

The Engaged Spectator Ending Bob Read has evolved an ending rhythm over the past thirty years which has doubled the applause he receives when performing the Cups and Balls. Having loaded the three cups, he picks up the three visible balls, and asks a spectator to put his fistas opposed to a palm, which could lead prematurely to picking up the cup-on any one of the three cups. In other words, he engages them personally in the final discovery! Then Bob places all three balls into his pocket, which leaves both his hands free. Then he has the spectator lift the cup. The response is terrific, and then, just at its peak, Bob lifts both remaining cups at the same time, which ultimately doubles the overall reaction!

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One of the few places you can perform this effect professionally while sitting down is on television. Yet even when I've done the Cups and Balls on television, I continued to load out of my pockets because that's what I've trained myself to do. In any case, this next section will be most useful to those finding themselves regularly under controlled conditions, or specific situations such as behind the bar. A century ago, performers would use a shelf built into the back of their tables to hold the final loads. So even when standing, they could load the cups with one hand, just by lowering it behind the table for a moment. The little finger would then hold the load in the cup as it was returned to the table. An extension of that idea is to find load cups which would stack invisibly inside your primary cups. You could then place miscellaneous loads inside the bottom cup while placing a final load on top of that bottom cup. You could then load the primary cup with the load which rested on top of that hidden cup, and I as that is revealed, you could then go back to add the load cup. This brings to mind the possibility of using trick cups in the first place, as some have done in the past. Inserts containing fluids, ball bearings, sand, or whatever, can be sealed with bottoms that conform to the mat you're using. Once the contents are released, they conceal the cover which held them inside the cup. , Glasses which contain liquids can be loaded into the cups in much the same way a piece of fruit is, but , it does complicate the process of getting access to the glasses, and to preventing any sound during the loading process. A liner inside the cup or a "glass" actually made out of plastic might help. I Another creative idea for providing final loads is to tie a threaded needle to a thumb tack. This thumb * tack goes into the edge of the table, and the final load is hung from the needle. When you want to steal that load, just lower the cup over the load until it pulls free from the needle. Hold the load in the cup with the little finger as you place it onto the table. This same idea can be used to hide loads in large, non-metal cups. The needle goes through the top of the cup until it hangs inside. The final load is pushed into the needle, where it hangs during the first portion of your routine. To dislodge that load, just firmly tap the cup onto the table and the load will pull i free from the needle.

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Livestock Gali Gali, Fawcett Ross, Ross Bertram, John Booth, and others in the past featured small chicks as final loads for their Cups and Balls routines. Today, it's featured by Mark Raffles and Johnny Ace Palmer. If you should consider developing a routine of your own which features the use of small chicks, here's a few quick thoughts: if you don't want your cups waltzing around the table, be sure to use heavy cups. Guinea chicks are supposed to grow slowly, and farmer's trade journals advertise dealers who can express mail day-old chicks within 24 hours. When I was younger, I tried both mice and guinea pigs, and I found the guinea pigs easier to load because the tail of the mouse was tough to control. So, if you are willing to deal with the much higher maintenance level that using livestock would require, you start to open another series of possibilities for your routine. Maybe you could produce three eggs, which you put back inside the cups. Put a piece of flash paper on top of each cup, and after igniting it, lift the cups to show three chicks. But, whatever direction you do go in, if you choose to use livestock in your Cups and Balls routine, treat them with kindness and respect both publicly and privately. That's not just your obligation, that's also common sense.

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It's safe to call Dai Vernon's Cups and Balls routine the most influential of the Twentieth Century. The beginning, middle and end loading sequences are solid and specific, but probably the main reason for its widespread influence was the Professor's typically brilliant performances which spanned several generations. Having been born at the right time, I was fortunate to study this routine personally with the Professor, so let's i : take a close look at this classic. Vernon would begin by establishing the cups as empty and innocent. On one television performance, the Professor handed out two cups saying, "Make sure these are empty and free of guile." As he handed out the third : cup, he glanced into it saying, "Oops.... this one still has a little guile left in it!" Then he acted as if he took a swig ' from the cup before handing it out. Since Vernon typically loaded with his left hand, he began with three pieces of fruit in his left back pocket. After setting the cups in a row, the left hand took out four balls. Finger palming one, he dropped three into the right hand, < ~ again showing three. which displayed them before finger palming one as F s m d - @ s ~ tdu . o % " a ~th&lift,

Place one of these on top of each -.-- cup, and me the 'I"lp Cher Load on p.. -each cup as each ha11 ~anishes. C9-+P-

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To vanish the third ball, use the wand spin we learned earlier, and show

Zc'h-^6aIIxtiaS returned to iti cup.

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With the ball hidden in the right hand, scoop-load both balls i

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Then reload one ball into the have gone to the opposite end

If, however, once you enter into the Two-None-Two situation, the spectator begins by selecting the center cup, they could go on to select which cup they would like the ball to travel to. Whichever end cup they select, make the

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To conclude this sequence, 'the ball it holds out as it covers the t ~ r oballs just shown, then slides that cup to the center position. Picking up the initial end cup, P c T t F p of the /tabled cup. With a cup in each hand, quickly stack /

It will seem as if the visible ball penetrates the top of the cup to join the two bready on the table. I

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Duplicating the actions of the previous two cups, again tip over the final ball into the left hand. You will fake loading that into the end cup, so the right hand fakes the transfer into the left,

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(Another way to end up in this same situation would be to put the three balls in front of the cups to begin instead of on top of them. The right hand could fake loading the first end cup with the Scoop, eliminating one of the hand-tohand-to-hand fakc transfers. Then load the hidden ball as it %oops the center ball into its cup. These join the hidden ball for a total of ;three. Then the right hand fakes the load into b e final cup with the Scoop.)

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As Vernon covered each ball with a cup, he would

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By covering the balls with the cups, you have a reason to pick each cup up as you begin your final load! ing sequence. This helps jus* some of the traffic , flow from hand-to-hand, as well as some of the backand-forth transfers for trips to the pockets. Another technique which would justify some of the handling is the Tip-Over Load, but since he already used that, Vernon used this approach in order to vary his technique.

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the left hand seems to place that ball into the pocket.

, again loading its finger palmed ball as the left picks up the visible ball. WSsa'%erszgKito fefz This time, however, the left hand goes to the pocket more slowly for reasons I'll explain in a moment.

%w%:zpw A .

the middle cup to =7

'confirm' it stiIl contains "only one ball, and secretly aitdsi%e h T G i ball to the one already ;linside the cup.

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The d moves to m a r right cup it) show ' that !>allhas returned. _ Only now, the left hand, which has sfoEn % '= -2%~ to exit the .-+pocket. YQ:Fydh see the reason why the left hand moved so slowly towards i the pocket. Its movement has to be timed with the right hand, which had to load the middle cup before ' it could pick up the end cup and transfer it to the i I left hand.

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" i a e f t hand, which sets it back down as the right picks up the ball.

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Here you go into the French Drop throw-off. Explaining that you actually

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While in the pocket,

7TFGmErm second final load.

assume'; that clip to hav ated by apparently revealing a secret is

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The right picks up the middle cup, adding the ball it finger palmed to the two already there. The reappearance of all three balls provides perfect misdirection for the loading of the third cup.

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Then pick up all three balls as you ask, 'Which cup do you think they'll reappear in?" Without waiting for an answer, tip the cups back one at a time to reveal the final loads.

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The late Lewis Ganson, when writing the Dai Vernon Book of Magic, concluded his explanation of this routine with these words:

"This is not a routine that can be learned in an hour; but with the knowledge that it is one of thefinest Cups and Balls routines ever originated, the reader will have the incentive to persmere until it is mastered."

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/ Phase One 1 One ball starts on top of each cup;

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each ball disappears, reappearing inside the cups.

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The Two-None-Two sequence, ending with three balls beneath the middle cup.

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One ball goes into each cup, only to have all three gather in the center cup.

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Vernon's Elimination sequence, with the fake explanation setting up the final loads.

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What might Vernon have done differently?

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This isn't an attempt to edit or "pencil in corrections" to the Professor's work. But I always tried to listen closely to what he said, to watch closely when he showed me something, and to think carefully so I could learn as much as possible. In doing so, there are two points regarding the Professor's routine that makes me wonder whether his approach might have been different if he had developed this routine in his later years-let's say during his seventies-as opposed to when he was much younger. For example, I often heard him say, "I spend most of my time trying to eliminate moves." This particular advice, given in his later years, seems to conflict with some of the procedures he used in this routine. Since he eventually preached the gospel of minimal movement, I wonder if, given a second chance, he might have constructed a handling that eliminated the back-andforth transfers from his vanish sequences. Techniques such as the Thru the Hand Wand vanish, for example, use one-third the handling to accomplish the same results.

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Of course, it's one thing to theorize about how magic should be done, but when it comes to certain procedures, what is truly "right" or "wrong" depends on the individual performer and the dynamics of the situations they perform in. If you dissect and analyze back-andforth hand movements, they might seem like too much, but in performance they might seem natural and fair. So after you've developed your routine, videotape yourself, and review your own routining and choreography. See if you've integrated your techniques seamlessly into your delivery and communication of the effect. If you have, great. If you haven't, modify your approach, or work on a presentation which justifies or rationalizes the approach you're going to use. The second thing I'd like you to think about concerns the misdirection provided by the explanation of the French Drop. At times, this has been referred to as the "Fake French Drop Explanation," but while it's a fake explanation of what's actually happening, it's a true explanation of the French Drop. Some people aren't completely comfortable with the idea of revealing any sort of fake transfer, and, at times, even Mr. Vernon expressed mixed feelings about it. Ultimately though, he felt reverse psychology actually made people think no such technique was actually used. So, while not casting any setjudgment on how the Professor handled this, I do ask you to think about this issue. As an exercise, you might want to think of a way to work around that point, while still creating the necessary misdirection you'll need to accomplish that final load.

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Now.. here's what you need to do

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As a teacher, I felt I needed to distinguish between being efficient and being effective. It might have seemed more efficient if I just taught Vernon's routine along with the routines developed by several others for you to memorize. But I felt it would be more effective if you learned why this classic works the way it does, because that's the sort of knowledge and understanding you can transfer to other times, places and situations. With the depth of knowledge you now have about beginnings, middles, and endings, you can feel confident about the options you'll select for your own use. In this way, that which is most effective ultimately becomes that which is most efficient. Now it's your turn to engage yourself in the learning process. By bringing part of yourself-your own passion, your own identity and personality-and mixing it with this information, you'll create synergy. Like an alchemist, you'll end up with something greater and more valuable than the sum of its parts.

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Specifically, here's what you'll need to do ... Decide what sort of arena you'll be performing the Cups and Balls in. Where you're going to actually perform will influence your routining criteria. Will you be sitting down or standing up? Will you be surrounded, mostly surrounded, or mostly working with controlled angles? Knowing your working conditions will influence the nature and number of your final loads. Also, it will ultimately influence your decision toward congruent or incongruent final loads. What will be your opening presentational hook? What are you going to say? Why are you going to be doing this effect for this particular audience? What sort of opening sequence do you want, what and how many body sequences do you want, and how do you want to construct the misdirection for your final loading? Finally, what sort of theatrical rhythm will you use to maximize the impact of revealing the final loads?

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In The Magzc of Michael Ammar, I give a detailed account of my Cups and Balls routine which goes into the thinking and theory behind its construction. While the following explanation might seem condensed in comparison to the one in that book, I hope to accomplish something different as I preserve it here for the convenience of the student. Through the use of sequential photos, specific layouts, and concise text, I hope for each phase to be understood as a unit, as opposed to individual moves and thoughts. When a routine such as this is carefully choreographed, the traffic between the cups, balls, hands and wand should flow in a very specific way. When describing this flow with words alone, the mind fails to close the gaps in a way that allows the sequences to move. If I'm successful with this technique, you might be able to understand what is happening even better than you would if you were watching the routine performed on video!

Set-Up

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I begin with one ball hidden i&$e each of the two lower cups, and two balls inside t h > t ~ .cup ~ of the =, nest. There are three pieces of fruit in my ;@at coat pocket, and one inside the left coat pocket. The mps, ' along with the wand, are behind me during the first, , " part of my show. When ready to perform the routine, I turn around to pick dp,the cups and the wand. The left hand picks up the nested cups and turns them mouth --,- -catches the k o balls in right hand finger palm,' as it continues on to pick up the wand. '\

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Producing The Balls

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Turning to face the audience, set the cups down and place the wand under the left arm. Using the Flushtration count and Inertia Move, set the cups down, concealing the balls inside the first two cups. As the right hand takes the wand, grip it so that one of the concealed balls is held at the tips of the fingers.

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with the concealed ball. with the left hand. The right plac cup on the performer's right. As it passes the showing the ball previously hidden in the right

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The second ball is concealed in the left

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The right hand again places the wand under the arm, only this time, it actu-

middle cup, showing the previously hidden ball. The left hand picks the ball up, m g T i E i a a a a ' 8 6 ~ ~ ~ ~ the ~ ball l itaconcealed c i onn top ~ of the middle cup as the left hand conceals the ball from

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The center cup, however, is now positioned slightly forward of the other two cups, as the right hand retakes the wand as if to produce a third ball. (These photos show me standing rather close to the cups as I teach this, but in performance, I move as far as I can from the ball about to be produced.)

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e left hand close to the cup with nu hall on it. The right hand initiates the move to the upper right, beginning the first of two

&% on top of the left cup. p

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I continue;to move to the right as I spin the wand a secon4 time. Concluding the spin with a tap of the le$ hand, I then show the third ball has appeared right where it belongson top of the cup.

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Three Vanishes # 1-Three

balls are visible on top of the cups, and one is concealed under the cup on my right. The left hand takes the ball from the first cup, and slowly makes a fist around it.

wt tosses the ball on top of the center cup into the /lefi. hand.

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the wand under the left arm, the

-right 'hand loads the final cup with i~ concealed-

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bdl as it tosses the visible ball onto the Ieft palm. Striking Vanish (page 50).

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Then, as if it were the just-vanished ball, ball beneath the far left cup. 'Then show the balls beneath the other two cups.

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I Take the end cups, one in each hand, and nest them together.

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As you do, the ball hidden in the right hand is loaded inbetween those cups, which are set down to the left.

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Elimination Phase One The light hand pi6K1ip-tIie balT
Cover the two visible balls, one inside each cup.

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Snapping my fingers, I roll both cups back, stating that the balls havc:"changed places!" Under cover of this small joke, ~ t T i F i i ~ K t T a Z d ~ ~ t6p ~pOn d€tke IGE-ejaR:loadink its hiaden ball as it does.

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Stack the second cup on top of this as you 30aTr"enTfi-BiOp-id. _ _ .\&is'h7thed~zble %all:Tip the stack back to show both balls.

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Elimination Phase Two The right hand secretly loads the balr'it conceals A9 fheEij3'aF stacked on the table. Taking a second ball to the pocket, the right hand steals the second load. - - -. - ---_ _ ---

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The left hand passes one cup to the right, -.-which loads, then eliminates it.

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visible ball to the left hand. The left hand shows itself ehpty, then tilts back the visible cup show the ball.

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Now I do a David Roth move. ---The right hand, con&aliAg a ball, approaches the balI on the table.

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$ ~ s t as mght hand seems to pick the ban up, the left lowers the cup over the ball on the table, as the right shows the ball it held all along.

This ball is taken visibly ; i ? l ~ $ E k " s - ~the ~ cup to show the has 'rcttlrned,' then passes the cup to the left hand, which loads it.

Place that cup onto the table mouth down, then place the visible ball on top of it. ~ n 3 % i < f K ebthkr -"tivb"iiip-i'nZti hK$ Keeping their mouths flat to the table with the little fingers, I set them on either side of the middle cup.

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The right hand takes the visible ball to the right pocket, where it steals the fourth final load.

."Ffin-ZhTnFpTcupXtGGGG@ kS 'i?!%ealing the fint load, and passes the cup to the right hand, which inserts the fourth final load into the cup. K t % &htKand m e X i F Z n i ' b T e tabIe to the far right, the left hand moves to the far left cup to reveal the second load.

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Just as the left hand lifts to its highest point, the right hand moves to lift the cup just to its left. revealing the third load.

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Phase One: Producing the balls one at a time. Y

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Phase TWO:Vanishing the balls, one at a time.

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Phase Four:

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Eliminating the first cup.

Eliminating the second cup.

The two cups return, and the final production sequence.

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Imagine the advantage one student might have if he or she were able to consider advice from a wide range of top international artists, all commenting on the same effect. It almost sounds like a fantasy! This section isn't about learning the specific moves or sequences these performers feature in their personal routines. But if, as some people say, one good idea is worth the price of the book, then what follows must seem like a gold mine! The Cups and Balls have such universal appeal that professionals all over the world feature it as either a prominent signature piece, or as their closer. Each of the following performers brings a special dimension to his or her rendition of the effect, and I'm proud to include their tips, insights, and observations for the benefit of the current generation as well as future generations. Each performer is so accomplished, that to provide a full list of each of their awards and achievements might be overwhelming. For the sake of fairness, 1'11 try to introduce each with the same approximate number of words.

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DOMINIQUE DUVIVIER FRANCE Creator; $

mcrgic ma$ and own47 of the P6 rris magic . .

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!hehost ~ro q9e of his Dmina'peuses the PmlFox cups, an1zilnbk thn J$f B~wbyMagic. I

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Please describe the working conditions best for your routine. I always perform my Cups and Balls routine (which I call "Gr'ear "' ~ ~ '~ u"' )s In '~ o one-man n show conditions. Wasting this routine in table-hopping conditions, for example, is out of the question. The routine works best if one is seated-no spectators on the sides, with the audience line of vision in an arc. '

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At what position in your show do you perform the cups, and why? I always perform the Cups and Balls for either ending a one-man show or as a curtain call for the show. As I was saying before, I sincerely think that it has lived as a great illusion. So I conclude, as a crowning piece, with this routine. If I know my show is well balanced, I schedule the Cups and Balls as a curtain call. This way, the audience won't ask for more after. The table is full of cups and balls, which tells the audience it is impossible to perform something else.

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Describe the presentational frame you put around your routine. I always perform the routine with music (such as the theme from Rocky), which allows a more dramatic and comic atmosphere. I do grimaces, I play with the audience with pantomime, with the help of the music. All these shifts evoke from the audience a mix of laughs and astonishment which leads to a good formula.

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What performance or presentational qualities do you bring to this effect? I give rhythm to my visual effects with the tempo of the music. I care very much about the scenery on the mat and of my body which is in harmony with the effects and the displacements of the objects. That trick was conceived like a martial art kata. The "soft" martial side induces an explosive alchemy. Are there any technical attributes you try to emphasize or focus on? I gave part of the answer in the preceding one. I like very much to stereotype gestures which appear out of date, at the same time being very precise. I repeat that the mix of the technical skill with the entertainment create a little synthesis of perfection which is essential for a stage trick (the Cups and Balls is a stage trick for me). ---

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Compare the general reactions this effect generates compared to others in your show. Do you have any thoughts as to why the reactions might be what they are? My opinion is that a close-up show must be very elaborated as much in the point of view of a crescendo of effects and of situations as in the choice of the magic families which are represented. It is essential to schedule the order of the tricks in a way that each builds and contributes to the others in a useful way. The global feel of every trick must be in harmony with the general show. The Cups and Balls become the "cherry on top." Then, the show will become the never-to-be-forgotten in the memory of the public.

I think we must prohibit the strength of a trick for the audience. We must provide them with entertainment and laughs. If we are skillful, the audience doesn't care somewhere. He knows that we have to be skillful. It's the minimum. I prefer to make him forget that I can fool him in order to make him rather laugh. In making him laugh, he will live with the effect inside of him, and will be fooled by it anyhow but he will not have the aftertaste of being caught. Are there any additional thoughts you would like to add? We have to perform in order to please the audience, not to please ourselves. That rule is ABSOLUTE. It seems obvious but, nevertheless, I see only a few magicians who perform magic for the others. I prefer to take some effects that I don't like at the start in order to serve them the best I can, instead of choosing tricks I love. When we love a trick at the start, we don't know how to make it progress, to share it with the others. What it represents for ourselves is abstract. As we say, tastes and colors are not to be debated! So what? How could we make people like a trick if we love it so much?

"Undeceive in order to mystify" is a slogan in magic. Most of the magicians want to mystify. It is a mistake. A magician performs tricks. The viewer knows that you are not a magician, but he will pretend to believe you and he will believe it . . . without believing it. If we show him that we are not magicians . . . because he knows it inside of him, he will be reassured. Then, we can astonish him even deeper because he will experience a big surprise when he will understand that you are a real magician. Do you follow me?

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MIKE ROGERS ; U N I T E D STATES I

re ofthf?ea mhining magic with , .. m 1 mmcnng, w t 1s one OJ rnme lli-ade Show kpd.s wh "thpori'es" ah lg the muney " have trn a~tdimc Wen.r f n i ne with th#e Cup.$and Balls did7 rvd, it wotr l d w m I h e found stqp-md hl kolme as Mik v @iyipiece!

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Please describe the working conditions best for your routine. Most all of my professional work is in a trade show venue. Hence, my routine is designed for the aisle of a trade show. I use the Jumbo Paul Fox cups made by Jeff Busby Magic, Inc. 'hese cups will accept a regulation baseball for final loads. The small balls I use are 1'14-inch miniature baseballs like the ones I market. (I should mention, the miniature baseballs I market are in two sizes, 7/8 inch and one inch. The balls I personally use are l"4-inch in size.) My reason for using the larger cups and the larger balls, including the regulation baseballs, is simply for added visibility. Learning to use these larger props takes a bit of "doing" as they tend to seem a bit clubby at first. Over the years I have acquired the knack that's needed, and as a result, I now prefer the larger sizes. At what position in your show do you perform the cups, and why? I always open with the Cups and Balls. Many performers favor the effect as a closer, but for me, it's the perfect opener. It's the perfect effect for crowd-building, something required in my performance. Spectators can start watching at any point in the routine and immediately be with you. Also, the viewers don't have to be told they are watching a magic performance. They know this immediately once they see the cups. Strangely, this is true even if the viewer has never seen a performance of the effect. (The same could be said of the Linking Rings, and for this reason many trade show performers open with the Rings.) Describe the presentational frame you put around your routine. My presentation frame is quite simple. I talk briefly about the cups, give a bit of history, and then flake the various magical happenings throughout the routine with commercials related to the product or service I'm selling at the show.

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What performance or presentational qualities do you bring to this effect? Throughout the routine, I try and emphasize that watching an artistic presentation of I conjuring can be delightful. I do not play it for laughs, nor do I ham it up. My signaI

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-- -- -- - - - --- - --- ----ture effect in trade shows has always been Three Card Monte; however, Cups and Balls I might be my most requested effect.

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Are there any technical attributes you try to emphasize or focus on? Regarding the miniature baseballs made by me, I'm frequently asked by other magicians how I tie in the use of baseballs; that is, what patter line do I use? The fact is, I don't tie in a baseball theme at all. In the eyes of the viewer, balls are balls, and they are not concerned what type ball is used. No one has ever questioned the use of baseballs, either small or large. Incidentally, I always use four final loads. I produce first one, act as if it's all over, then produce the other three. Some magicians do it the other way around by first producing three, then the fourth as a final last ball. I favor doing it the other way.

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I'm not locked into using only the large cups and working the aisle of a trade show. For hospitality rooms, I'll normally use the standard Paul Fox Cups, and for the bar, I have an even smaller set ideal for that venue.

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Are there any additional thoughts you would like to add? I'll close with this amusing short story. I once had a major client ask me if I would do an effect in my act with lights. They were playing on the slogan, W e Have Bright ldeas . . . ." I seldom create an effectjust for one client. When something special is needed I try to adapt an existing effect that I'm already using. I decided to use light bulbs for the final loads. I figured it might be neat if the bulbs actually lit up. Though not a miracle, it still might be appreciated by some. I purchased a dozen Atomic Lights figuring many would be broken in the course of the fourday show. To prevent them from breaking so easily, I sprayed each with several coats of clear acrylic, hoping to give the ' glass added strength. It seemed to work because when they did break, they didn't shat- I ter, only cracked. Also, since the things are not vacuum-sealed, they still worked even when cracked. My idea was I could touch the bulb to the cup, causing it to light, which l it did, but not bright enough to be seen in a brightly-lighted exhibit hall. However, I discovered if I placed the bulb inside the cup making contact on the bottom, the bulb would burn brightly from within the cup, and this could be seen. Showing the burning bulb in the cup became a throw-away bit at the end of the routine. Following the cli,I max with the final loads, I could show that, 'We really did have bright ideas . . . ." i It was great, the client loved it, and I only broke one bulb. 1

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chart& k audi~ncesw'th a ~ f yok f macric which cornhim s@#istimted~Ltight-ofhhandwith ekgant femininity. H P tecltnical[y ~. demanding yet somavhat autobiographical, Cups and Balls mtiw is both a testimmy to htr country, m u thejufictzrrtr of won PC.

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Please describe the working conditions best for your routine. I won't be original if I say that the best condi, tions for the Cups and Balls (and for other -tricks as well) are when there is an angle of & @ $fz* 45 degrees from both sides of you and when people sit close enough to see all small things you do, while at the same time at a distance from you. In that case, you can invite people to come out and help you in your trick or you can come in front of a table and make everyone feel as if they are all part of a show (P.S. and I prefer an audience with a good sense of humor).

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Of course the working conditions are always different and that is why it is good if you can play through all the possible variations at home. For example: I do loads from my lap so if angles are more than 45 degrees, I put chairs from both sides of a table. i When people sit too close, the loads can be seen. That is why I have a special chair ,I (which changes its height) so I simply make the chair smaller. That small slyness makes i I me feel safe and secure in all situations.

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At what position in your show do you perform the cups, and why? The Cups and Balls is the last trick in my show and there are several reasons for that. First of all, I was looking for a good finale. As I see it, the Cups and Balls is a 99% finale trick. On the other hand, my Cups and Balls is very dear to me. It is a little bit different style from what I do, I should say more serious, and it has to be that way because this is my paying tribute to the country where I was born and where I live.

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Describe the presentational frame you put around your routine. I am from Moscow, Russia and I am very proud of it. That is why I wanted to create a trick which would glorify our traditions and culture. Moscow is the capital of Russia and the Red Square is the heart of Moscow, The music of Russian Bells and Russian Churches are famous all over the world. So what could be better than to make a production of the Red Square with the Tzar Bell, Saint Basil's cathedral, the Towers of Kremlin and the Tzar Cannon together with a music of Russian Bells?

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What performance or presentational qualities do you bring to this effect? To my way of thinking, to carry on an intrigue is half of the success in this trick. The second half is to be one step ahead of people's expectations from the very beginning to the very end. That is why I start with following words: "And now I would like to show you a trick that has become the National Trick of Russia. Why? Because you can see it everywhere in airports, train stations, even near the Kremlin at the Red Square." And after these words I take out three cups. In the beginning, I determine rules of a trick: three cups, one symbol, and spectators have to guess under which cup is a symbol. Magicians determine rules are for breaking. I am not an exceptionunder each cup a bell appears.

,I Are there any technical attributes you try to emphasize or focus on? To my opinion these technical qualities are very important for all tricks and especially I for the Cups and Balls: I natural and confident moves relaxed hands the full control of your face and your gestures

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This is an outward side-on the inside: misdirection masking beat and off-beat dynamics and a picture of action P.S. Video camera rehearsals.

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Compare the general reactions this effect generates compared to others in your show. Do you have any thoughts i as to why the reactions might be what they are? I If we compare the general reaction this effect generates compared to others in my show, I should admit that it is stronger. Why? It is the last trick and of course that matI ters, but the major difference is hidden inside the nature of the tricks. The reaction from the Cups and Balls comes mostly from an unexpected surprise; for my other I tricks, mostly from playfid situations and jokes.

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Are there any additional thoughts you would like to add? I believe that in the long run it is no matter what you do-that will be always for the i second time. What is more important is how you do it. It seems to me the following qualities can serve as the criteria for 'how.' a gift of concentrating people's attention (and what you do with it) your own style I a sense of humor original thinking from the technical point of view (a creation of something absoluteI ly new or a talent of combining well-known things with well-forgotten things) I I To my mind, if you are one who has all those qualities, then success is only a matter of I I time and practice. '

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A multipEe mard w i n w which include.$ The S o c d ~OjAmertmertcan Magiciaw meted Cold Medal of Excelhce, E ~ i scWnmmfw s m t h sleight ofltant6, $me, g o d looks and p m a &cham as a p m f m His good nutm and p&'tivc at film2 has &him a role mrlel to many new c o r n to ma@.

alike anxi is a fine ex~mplrrof n@li~dcrtative thinking. Stack 'em If You Got 'em!

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"So you want to do the Cups and Balls, eh kiddy?" That's what Al Flosso said to me one afternoon in the mid 1970s. m y do you want to do that routine, kid?" Al asked. "I just saw Dai Vernon perform it on TV. When he lifted those cups and produced those large balls, I was stunned. I want to be able to do that!" "So you want to be another Vernon? Then you're gonna need this..." Al rummaged through a pile of stuff and produced a copy of Supreme Magic's publication, Dai Vernon's Cups and Balls Routine. I purchased it and left the store. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I would find out soon enough. After three or four months of practicing, I was ready. I performed the Cups and Balls whenever I could. To my surprise, it didn't get anywhere near the reaction Vernon did on that TV show. I was missing the impact that Vernon got out of the effect. It took quite a bit of thought and time, but I figured in order to fully comprehend all of the dynamics involved with the performance of the Cups and Balls, I would have to break down the routine to what I perceived were its basic elements. Let's look at that breakdown.

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The elements that make up the Cups and Balls routine as I see them: Three Metal Cups

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Three Small Balls (a secret fourth one) Final Loads (large balls, fruit, etc.) A Magic Wand A Working Surface A Performer

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A Half-Dozen or so Magical Effects If you add all these things up, you'll see the audience has over a dozen items to follow at the same time. Let's face it, that's a lot for anyone to follow. Add a fast-talking, slightly nervous performer, and we arrive at what I feel is the big problem we all take

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on when we decide to do this routine. Actually, it's the same problem that we face in most of our magical routines: clarity. In my opinion, it's the magician's responsibility to make sure that all of the magical effects performed are done in a concise, uncluttered and comprehensible manner with a pleasant flow from one effect to the other. The average spectator, seeking escape at a magic show, shouldn't be required to take notes to figure out what the magician was doing.

Clarity

I can't tell you how many times I've been guilty of attempting to add more bang for the buck to one of my routines and winding up adding only confusion to what I was going to perform. The key here is to learn when to add and when to strip away. How do we achieve clarity? Each particular routine that we choose to perform has unique, intrinsic problems. The Cups and Balls is no exception. Let's look at the areas where clarity can be achieved in this routine. The physical elements that constitute a performance of the Cups and Balls (as discussed earlier). The performing situation. Standing or sitting, spectators in front or on your sides, etc. The order and quantity of the effects that you wish to perform during your routine. Device/pocket management. Choreography Presentation When I realized that my skills at the time could not pull off a complicated three-cup routine, I decided to reduce the effect to its lowest common denominator. I worked on a one-cup routine. This was the best decision I could have made. The one Cup and Ball let me analyze and formulate my thoughts and actions. After years of working this routine, I finally reached a point to where I could move up one step and add a second cup. After spending some more time with a two-cup routine, I begin to feel capable of a three-cup routine-although it was an on-and-off effort for eight years to get the routine to where, in my opinion, it was acceptable to present in front of an audience.

Performing Situation

A very serious decision that needs to be made before you begin constructing your routine is the performing situation/environment that you intend to do the Cups and Balls in. Are you going to choose to work standing or sitting? Is the situation like a formal close-up show with the audience in front of you, or more like a cocktail party with spectators standing around you? Are you going to work on a table or the floor? Each one of these answers brings up a whole list of new concerns that need to be addressed. I knew I wanted to perform standing in a formal close-up setting. This would put me in an authoritative and theatrical position. In addition, it did not limit me to being

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Next you have to decide what effects you wish to demonstrate and the order in which they should be performed. Most importantly, you must consider how one effect can, both logically and practically, lead into the other.

The Order

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For example, you may want to do the penetration of one cup through another followed by the appearance of the small balls which could lead to the balls passing through the cups. Another approach might be to bring out the magic wand, produce the small balls from the wand, place them on the table, make a wand spin, look down and discover the cups have appeared on the table with the small balls perched on top of the cups. Whatever you decide to do, the one thing that you must keep in mind is that each sequence should flow as smoothly as possible into the next.

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I can not stress enough that it is the economy of motion from one sequence to the other that's crucial. All your movements and transitions should flow evenly and smoothly. Try to structure your sequences without the need of readjustments to the props, visible or hidden. Device/Pocket Management Device management is not the handling of your visible props (that comes under what I feel is choreography) but includes the props and devices that are unknown and hidden to the audience. These devices/props include extra balls, trick wands, secret clips, magnets, final loads, holders, etc. They should always be within easy reach and invisible from every angle to the audience.

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Pocket management is the process of deciding where to physically steal the final loads; I I where to store and obtain the extra ball or balls for the one (or more)-ahead princii I ple; where the magic wand is to be picked up from; and so on.

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When Max Malini decided to steal the final loads from his back trouser pocket, it was considered to be radical for the time. Until then, most Cup and Ball workers were either still stealing their final loads from a table servante or from a pouch/bag around their waist.

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This is what separates the experienced professional from the beginner. The actual mapping out and effective use of your working surface area is extremely important. I can not stress this enough. This is where the audience will be able to see the results of your efforts-the operative word being SEE! If the audience can't see it, they can't experience it. For example, if you're at a point in your routine where only one cup is used, you need to . draw the audience's attention to it. Move that cup forward or better yet pick it up. You must find a way to visually isolate the cup so as to draw focus to what you are doing. Perhaps a wand which you are currently holding is not needed for the moment but will be needed shortly. Instead of putting it away in your pocket or placing it down carelessly on the table, put it on the table located so as to not obscure the view of the other props, but from where you can easily retrieve it when you need it again. Many times I've seen a performer go in and out of his/her pockets just to get the wand between phases. This, to me, is extremely unnerving. Try to minimize your trips back and forth from your pockets. Economy of motion plays a big part in your choreography. Try to position all your props on your close-up "stage" so they do not screen one another. Keep from putting one cup in front of the other. Display them side by side as much as possible. When producing your final loads, this should be done in a rhythmic and symmetrical manner, As each one is produced, keep them from clustering together. This will make the loads look larger in quantity and seem even more amazing. I know this all sounds like common sense, but sometimes it's the simple things in life that are elusive. As a college professor of mine used to say, "Sometimes you have to tell yourself, 'Come on, Sense.'"

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"The words, the words . . . they just seem to escape me." We all go through this with every single one of our routines. The Cups is one of the truly difficult routines to apply a storyline to. A lot of stuff happens in a very short period of time. If we are too clever with the presentation, we may lose the impact of the impossible effects that we are presenting. If we go too slow, our audiences lose interest. If we just do a "play by play" and emcee our actions, we are sure to lose our audiences to boredom.

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Write a script for the routine-an outline of the high points combined with only a few "lines" of dialogue. In my opinion, the Cups and Balls should be presented in a light and uncomplicated manner so people can easily follow the impossibilities that are occurring. A balance must be attained between the verbal and the visual presentation.

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One of the most difficult things for any performer to do is to give himself the chance to fail. The first few times you do your routine in public, the odds are you will not get the response hoped for. Put that aside for now. We are looking at the big picture. If I

you have done all of your homework correctly up until now, the rest will come in time. What you have to do at this point is concentrate and listen to your audience. That's right, LISTEN TO YOUR AUDIENCE. They'll tell you what lines work and what sequences are confusing. Some of my own best lines have come from ad libsnot just from me but often from some audience member. It's up to you to listen to and heed his direction.

Final Thoughts

Everything I've said is, of course, a personal overview and not by any means a steadfast blueprint. A complex piece of work like the cups and balls can't be summed up in a few pages.

I consider myself lucky, because when I worked on my three cup routine I had my very good and trustworthy friend, David Regal, as a consultant and director. I could trust him not to tell anyone what I was working on and utilize his honesty and experience. David's experience as an actor, comic, writer and director was priceless. I can not tell you the countless times I did the same things in front of him and he would tirelessly dissect it for me and discuss where he felt I was lacking clarity. As a last piece of advice I offer you this, take all the information that Michael Arnmar has compiled for you here, make your choices and get to work on your routine. Study your routine and get as close to perfection as you can. Then and only then find a couple of friends whom you trust and just as important have the proper qualifications. If there is no one in your immediate magic circle that you can go to, hire professionals. In the end, it will pay for itself tenfold in dividends.

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SHANKAR J U N I O R INDIA

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Where I started, I don't actually remember completely, but my parents, they tell me how I began. From a very young age, I was going to shows with my parents. My father started performing magic at a very young age. So after his marriage, he used to go and perform, and after I was born, they used to take me to their performances. So I used to sleep sideways-as the shows were going on, I would watch the shows, and that's how I grew up. The magic props were my toys. When the shows were over, they would bring the props to the Green Room, and I would sneak into the Green Room and practice there and play there with the tricks. I would perform it exactly as my father would perform. I used to imitate him, to say the same dialogues, the same presentation. Though I could not perform perfectly as my father, I used to imitate him. The same way, after the show was over, I used to perform each and every illusion for my satisfaction. So, that used to give me a lot of satisfaction. That's how I grew up in this magical environment.

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Then I started increasing the tricks I would play with. At the age of three, I gave my first solo performance. And, that was how I took my first step. I began performing more and more, and then I became "magic crazy"-magic became my life. And whatever I used to see, I used to think of magic. !

After performing with my father in all his shows, I used to start doing magic and think- , ing about magic by myself. So he used to give me guidance in this respect, and then, of I course, magicians from other countries started giving training to me, including magi- i cian Doug Henning-he was my first guru after my father. So, that's how he taught me his style, and the way you should perform a trick and other aspects of magic. That's how I grew up, and I increased my knowledge of magic. I used to practice, and my main interest in magic was sleight-of-hand, or close-up magic. Even now, I'm more interested in close-up magic than the grand illusions. And then, of course, I started practicing more and more on close-up magic. And it so happened that we had the idea of attending the FISM convention in 1991,

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which was held in Lausanne, Switzerland. So what we decided was that I should perform traditional Indian magic. What we did, we started listing what we call traditional Indian magic which was being performed by the street magicians-and was being performed by the ancient street magicians. We listed all these tricks, and we found out sources from where I could learn these tricks. In India, we don't have a college or a school of magic where you can go and learn magic. We have to learn it from either magicians who have knowledge about a particular aspect, or by ourselves. Then we started looking for a magician who had good 1 knowledge of the Cups and Balls. We found one person who was living in a village in I southern India. We found him. He was a student of a very great man, who was actually the master of the Cups and Balls in India. He is no more now. But his student taught me a routine of the Cups and Balls. I

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But then I thought that it will not be likely if I perform the same routine that he performs, because it was his routine. So I thought of making some changes in this routine. I put on my own ideas-and I thought that this routine the people will like, and I practiced more and more on this routine. Initially this routine was just the Cups and the Balls routine and nothing else, then I added a coin trick also. I performed with four coins, the Coins Across, and then changed one of the coins into a ball-and continued with the Cups and Balls routine. This was how I came into this Cups and Balls trick. Now of course, I'm making more and more changes on that-bringing in more sleights and more difficult techniques and making this routine very elegant. And you may have heard, in Leeuwarden, Holland I performed this routine along with the Dancing Duck.

As I started the routine, I brought in the duck and just left it in the water-and as I used to perform the routine, this duck would dance according to my patter. In the end, the duck would just disappear and I had to look for the duck and it was not there. Then the same duck would appear in one of the cups. I again disappear the duck, and it appeared back in the vessel that had the water in it. And the reason it returned was, it came back for its family! That's how I produced the family of that wooden duck: its wife, and some small children. So this was a change that I made again.

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What are the ideal performing conditions for your routine? I have to be seated on the floor, on a mat. And I may be surrounded by the audience. This was performed by street magicians, so similar working conditions work perfectly. Even if the audience is all around the magician, the trick goes well. And the audience should be, of course in the same level as the magician or a bit higher-it's no problem. What position in your show do you feature this effect? Usually at the end of my show. I start more slowly with voodoo magic, it's another traditional Indian magic, the passing of a needle from one eye to another. That's how I begin, then I just speed up a little bit with some coins-the traditional Indian magic also with coins. Then, at the end, I perform the Cups and Balls. At this point I bring the tempo of my show to its highest level. And when it reaches the highest point, I stop for applause.

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Well, you know that the routine I do is in the traditional Indian language, so people rarely understand what I say. I begin by producing the ball from the apparatus I used from the earlier trick. After the production of the ball, I bring in the other apparatus, like the cups and the wand. While I'm doing that, I explain that what I perform is the traditional Indian magic, which was performed by magicians in ancient times in India. Then I explain what are important words in my patter-like I say that Bandu is ball, or Chepu is cup. So that's how people can have the knowledge about the main words I use in my routine. So it will be easier for them to understand the patter. When I speak in the Indian language, because of those important words, they can understand what I'm saying.

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So the cultural framework of your presentation enhances the effect? Well the people appreciate that I perform it in the traditional Indian language. Even if they could not understand it, they like it! Because the patter is more like a song. So it's like the magician is singing and he's performing. It goes, "Ackjajajeyjeyja .. atdemydeyda da ... and so on." So that's how it becomes a melody, and it's more fun for the audience. So that's how I do it.

Then I bring in some other techniques-like the vanishing of a ball. I can show the hand empty. If I were behind a table, I could use lapping . . . but as I'm sitting on the floor with crossed legs, it's difficult to use such techniques. But, I have devised other techniques for this particular effect, where I can show both hands empty at any point in this routine. So these are some of the technical qualities I try to concentrate on so that the effect becomes more interesting for the people. Because if I say I change one ball into another, the people may think the other ball is still in my hand. So if I show both hands are empty, their doubts are completely cleared. Another quality is that my hands never leave the scene. In other words, my hands don't go in the pocket. At the end, it enters the bag to dispose of all the balls which are on the mat. The hands remain in full view so that they can watch each aspect perfectly. And this effect, as I said earlier, is more melodious than the other tricks I perform, so the people are in a jolly mood to enjoy this magic. They like this the best in the whole show, so I do it at the end to bring the tempo to the highest point and then I stop. This is what the people like the most. And, another point, things happen one after another in a very fluent manner. For example, I begin the routine with one ball and three cups, and first the ball disappears from my hand and appears under one of the cups. And then it jumps from one cup to another. Then I'm supposed to vanish the ball and bring it under one cup, but the ball has vanished and it doesn't appear under one cup because I haven't waved the magic wand! So then I wave the magic wand and the ball appears. Incidentally, in the next moment the ball changes color, and then it comes back to its original color and so on. Then it passes through one of the cups, then it grows in size, then at the end I have a bunch of large balls with only three cups. Also sometimes I bring in a variation where I produce rice or mustard seeds from one of the cups, so there's a flow of rice or mustard seeds from the cups. So these are the variations I bring in. Again, I show the cups empty in the end. That makes the trick very interesting for the people, because there are variations happening again and again. No two moves are the same. -.

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JOACHIM SOLBERG DENMARK A major ir@u~r1reon ch.s~-zcpmagic in Srandinaz~in. Joachitn hns re,q~larlvlectured inJapan, and lm done many v i d m $her-6inclding u n on ~ tk C'up?,~ and &Us. His smnoth ski14 hi:,I~ermnnli~, c c d his diravning ability to charm olhm k4@ him so busy perfiW"ningpuhZic~,thatfau r n q ' c i a ~have s heard $him! I

Number of Spectators When I perform Cups and Balls, I prefer between two and eight people to be watching. I I I enjoy the intimate atmosphere and I think I my audience enjoys it, too. I prefer that people are sitting as close to me as possible, so they feel they are in control of what is going on. I'm always standing up when I perform my magic. The reason I want them to sit as close to "the action" as possible is that when I show the final loads, they will think it is totally impossible since they are sitting so close and watching . . . it is magic. '

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I'm standing up because: First of all I feel more in control when I can see all of my audience in their eyes. They can also easily see me. I can very quickly get to a heckler. I can easily get the props (and the big loads) out of my pockets. I do not muscle in by taking a chair and ask the people to move to make room for me. They might not like that. Maybe they feel it is "too close."

My presentation elements are: A lot of laughter, a lot of slow magic, some game playing (for fun), surprises, and a nice atmosphere. I found out that, for me, it is very important the audience can feel that I enjoy what I do. In that way, they feel it is not something I just do for "the money." For me, the above mentioned elements are what fit into my personality. I think if Juan Tamariz saw me perform (and was able to understand Danish) he would love the presentation. Example: in the routine I'm holding all three cups one on top of each other with the bottom down. I look to the right and say: "Nothing in there?" Simultaneously my left hand takes the top cup and shows it to the spectator on my left hand side, holding it right in front of his/hers eyes (distance: 5 cm./2 inches). Done with the right timing, it is a good running gag through this part of the routine and gives a good laugh. I

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About the technical part of the routine: About the technical part of the routine, let me give you some of my experience I have -

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- - with the big loads. I often use something I call "shoulder palming." That is, if you are palming something in your hand and you hold your hand on the spectator's shoulder. You can also perform "shoulder palm" on the back of a chair. This gives you a kind of relaxed style. When you perform "shoulder palming," you should look into the eyes of the spectator and ask a question or say a joke. To go on, you simply move the cup from the table and show the ball(s) (that is the misdirection) and let your hands meet close to the spectator, and again you should say something to make them look at you, and that is just the second you need to load your big load. Do not be afraid-they will never catch you. -

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About throwing a ball from one hand to the other: I have a new, totally natural move which I have shown to some of the inner circle people. They all agree that this is one of the very best moves they have seen. The JSBounce-Move:

Although it can be done with either hand, the move will be shown as performed with the I

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left hand as it moves quickly I downward 10 cm/4 inches. Now I you move your right hand into I any position you want, but simultaneously you shake your left hand up and down (small moves) as if you still have the ball in the hand. From here you can do what you want. Sometimes I pretend to leave it under one of the cups, or you can let it vanish, etc. When you perform that shaking j move, you should study yourself when you really have a ball in your hand and shake it. This shaking action I saw in 1982 from a young talent performing coin magicMichael Arnmar.

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You can also do the same move for having a ball penetrating the bottom of one of the cups. Again you hold the ball in your left hand as before. With your light hand, you hold around the cup which stands on the table with the opening downwards. Under the cup is the extra ball. Now you do the JS-Bounce-Move but onto the bottom of the cup. When you have stolen the ball back into your left hand you quickly move the cup upwards. It would be best if you could hit the extra ball with the edge of the opening of the cup so that it gives the impression that the ball is still moving. Try it a few times and you will find that with the right timing, it looks REAL.

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I had taught myself the Cups and Balls routine the way Dai Vernon used to do it. Once when I was staying at Michael Skinner's house, I showed it to Michael but not with the right cups because I did not have the money for them at that time. Instead, I used Coca-Cola disposable cups and did the whole routine with them. Michael Skinner then took a set of Paul Fox cups and gave them to me and said that I should do the routine with these cups. The cups he gave me used to belong to Francis Carlyle. I am very honored!

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I must say that the Cups and Balls are the very best effect I show. During a show, I have performed coins, cards, rope, rings etc. But it is always the Cups and Balls they talk about. I think the reason is that very big surprise at the end of the trick. They always talk about the trick with the apples (or whatever your big loads are). They never talk about the routine with the small balls. So I think it must be the shock they have when they see the big loads, that does it.

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,YCre~.tand bar m@an, CEOsmp, csh&.@,mge, and tmde shs-Rab hns done it a@! Bob d m %@r do ma@cjm a ZK'uing he dws it m a q $la$. Fmf mtdninm can fu-1low Bob's act, and frmm stid&-m a in exaggerated p m cli@-np---%an c l a k the jar reaching injuenrn Bob's mum@ has had on others.

1 Bob Sheets talks about "The Cups" I perform the same Cups and Balls routine close-up and on stage. I work off of a waiter'sstyle stand with a board across the top-from my restaurant days. I use an apron to carry all the props in and avoid the broken wrist loading action most folks use for the climax. On stage for family audiences, I tilt the I board and invite a bunch of kids up to help. The big kids are on my right and the little I I kids are on the left. I play with the little kids and hammer the big kids. It's a very I I funny look from the audience and the final loads send everyone to their seats I laughing.

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My routine is eight to twelve minutes depending on response. It's basically Vernon's with lots of bits and each part of the routine is featured up to the final loads as explanation for the shell game and why you don't want to gamble on this trick finish.

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I had started the Tower Magic Bar two years earlier and had moved into Aspen and opened my first restaurant as an owner. My routine was developed in Aspen to get people into the Jolly Jester Magic Bar and Restaurant I owned at that time. I would go to the street and do the free show. Just before the final load sequence, I would announce, , 'Well folks, why am I doing this and why are you still watching? I'm advertising for the Jolly Jester Magic Bar and Restaurant located at 520 East Cooper and if you like this trick, we do the good stuff there-and if you don't, you don't have to come in." I produced the final loads and then "pied pipered" the crowd into the bar, "Come on, let's all go." At the Jolly Jester, I jumped behind the bar and made their first drink, did the bunnies, turned them over to Steve Spill or Kevin Dawson and go back out and repeat the sequence until the bar was full. I did this the first two or three days of the week until we filled up. I did this in 19'78 and never had to do it after the first winter.

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That summer on the 4th of July was my first actual begging money experience. I went to Boulder and Denver and met a craft show producer and started working at art and craft festivals. That started my street-performing career. I have done the act with the deck stab on the street for three weeks in New Orleans, three weeks in Zurich, Halifax, Buskers, international street festivals in Canada, more than a dozen renaissance festivals and art craft shows that I still perform for today,

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I did this at a Joe Stevens convention in Wichita and a late night group and at that time, no one was performing the trick in this style (bags, tray stand) and it blew everyone away. Vernon, Fred Kaps, Max Maven, Roger Klause, etc. . . . and that was the start i of a most amazing evening of incredible magic. I For adults in my stage act, I get two people to stand next to me at the table. For cocktail parties, I do it street style. I am a stage magician doing close-up so the trick is very effective under all conditions for me. A real bread and butter trick. As much as the trick is performed for magicians, it is seldom seen by the public outside of a few venues and almost never on stage, so the response is always great. I have opened, closed, and performed the routine by itself to great response. I put on a jester's hat and bags and perform the routine as it was done centuries ago. In festivals, I dress sometimes as the jester or in street garb and put the hat and bags on just for this trick. Great trick. I think the Cups and Balls is as good as the amount of work the performer is willing to put into this true classic trick. I seldom perform this at magic conventions unless requested, because of the pervasive "I've seen that" attitude. They just don't know.

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GAZZO GREAT BRITAIN SWet p=$m rflr* m a r~fn.&1ionaltwmgJhe Ms malma@Ci(lmmIkGzmthe W&a Pkest."Cldaing wit, nave, a d rn ~ ' useen e him petjiwm the I;atps rn$h~treets~ f?m && on, u r k p ~ y w we s o m e &e.@j4m $kt ejffed, gclu say, Tenh. B u t y s M d see G am do it!"

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Please describe the working conditions best for your routine. This is a difficult question to answer, Michael. There really is no perfect situation on the streets. If I could find it, I'd be there now. I wouldn't be here talking to you. I'd be out there making money. But I'm not, and I am talking to you and I'll try to answer the best way I can. The perfect performing arena would be something like the Magic Castle parlor room, or the close-up room. The close-up room is a bit intimate, but that is what the close-up room is. If they could increase the attendance in the parlor room, from say 70 to 300 it would be perfect. The Palace is not good because they are sitting below the height of the table, you see. It's more of a stand-up type of performance room, where the Cups and Balls is more of a tiered seating type performance, where people can actually see what's going on on the table.

I perform the Cups and Balls primarily on the street when people are standing-I push them in and out of the crowd to suit accordingly. The bigger the crowd, the more money I make because I'm passing the hat. But I'm also governed by doors, windows, stores, Ice Cream trucks . . . I'm conscious not to block doorways or push the crowd onto the streets where accidents can happen. Also, I try to find an area which is well-lit because I usually perform at night.

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1 In an area like Boston, Fanny Hall was great, because people were hanging out, a i drinking crowd, not that that's the best type to work for, but it was a mellow crowd, I they've had a beer, they've had some coffee, they've had something to eat and they're 1 out looking for something to do. And that was basically a great place to work for many years. But it wasn't always the best because it was a flat floor for a standing perforI mance. If you could arrange the crowd so that the short people were in front and the i tall people in back, it would be perfect, but that doesn't always happen. There is only so long you can stand in an area trying to organize a crowd to suit before they just walk on you.

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At what position in your show do you perform the cups, and why? The end. Simply because of my ending. I don't think you can better end any routine in magic than the Cups and Balls. It's just such a startling climax, it catches people so off guard. They're stunned-you just can't beat it.

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I've actually seen people do the Cups and Balls, then straight after do a rope trick-it dies. And I have seen people do the Cups and Balls and juggle the fruit afterwardsit's anti-climactic. I find, in my opinion, all these things are anticlimactic. But when I perform the Cups and Balls, I load six fruits, and then I do a melon under the hat at the end. But being that we were just talking about the Cups and Balls-I would not load six fruits. Very rarely do I load four, just three and tip three cups back. I still find, from the reaction of the audience, that if you do the fourth load, it can be anticlimactic. I find that you get more reaction by just tipping back three cups. So if I'm not using the melon in the routine, or I've decided not to give the melon in that performance, then I just do the three loads and tip the cups back. So I'd have to say the ending is where I perform the Cups and Balls and it's the thing that really gets the money. That's important because I am a street performer and I must collect money in a hat. And I've experimented many, many different ways of trying to get the money. But this is the one that can do it. I remember the effect it had when I watched it for the first time, and I suppose the crowd is getting the same reaction I had as a boy watching it. You just can't beat it. Describe the presentational frame you put around your routine. That's a difficult question because over the years, I've changed to more comedy. Where I would once do more sleight-of-hand magic with less talking, now I'm doing sort of more comedy in the magic. I've decided that what works in my presentation is the comedy, and the public seems to love the combination of comedy and magic. I don't like to make it too serious in that aspect as well. I try to give them something to remember.

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So, the presentational frame would be more of a gypsy-style character, you know the "wise-boy" scam artist-though they're convinced you're actually not scamming them. They've already made their mind up. You're dressed like a gypsy, down on your luck and after a buck. And you put down these three cups and they immediately assume you're doing the old shell game.

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an American would in this country. But it works both ways. If an American goes to England, doing the same style of performance as an American-type con-man, it would suit him better there than it would here, I suppose. So, that's the type of first impression I try to bring about, a gypsy-style, con-man character. But it has to be sold pretty well, because if people think the worst-they're going to walk. If they think you're scamming them-they're going to walk. Sometimes they'll even complain to the police that you're doing the three-card trick or the shell game. And the police come up and move you on; they ask no questions or even let you start your performance. I've also done the effect where I pretend I'm pick-pocketing in a performance so I can save the character right to the end; where I shake a man's hand-while I pretend to steal his back pocket wallet. I tap the back pocket and produce a wallet. He doesn't know this, but the crowd who is behind him sees me do this. Then I immediately shake his hand, send him back to his place where he was standing and I walk back behind my table and open the wallet, pretending that I've just stolen the wallet. It goes with the character I'm doing. But some people can take it the wrong way. Sometimes the police wait for my performance to commence so they can come up to me and ask me questions on this bit. So I tend not to do it so much any more, because I don't want people getting the wrong idea. But it still goes with my character. I suppose when I was a lot younger, I could get away with so much more than I'm doing now. Because now, the older I get, the more people seem to take me serious. Or maybe I'm not presenting it as well as I should have. I perform with a pouch, and I designed my own. Fortunately, I could design a practical savant because I used to work in leather. I produce my loads from that since I didn't like the idea of a coat or bringing the loads from a jacket. I want it to be selfcontained. But, obviously, people frequently watch the routine and then come back a few times, because they are so taken back by the loads-they come back to watch it again and they'll actually stay there during many performances to see how I do the loads.

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The reason I wear the pouch is because it was an old, original style of performing the I Cups and Balls. And I went through the book Jeff Sheridan published on Street Magic, and it had a lot of etchings and old drawings of conjurers. So I modeled myself as an Old English-style street performer. There's one famous picture, which I think Bob Read has one of the original prints from, called the English Juggler. It was a guy performing in Paris and I molded my style on that actual picture when I first started. But that was also an artist's impression of what he saw. He wouldn't sit down and paint a guy as he was performing, he would go home and envision what he saw by memory, so a lot of it was incorrect. For example-the table, the pouch, the size of the cups in comparison with the size of the performer. That's basically what I molded myself on.

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What performance or presentational qualities do you bring to this effect? I try to make it simple and basic. I think if it's too confusing you won't keep their attention. Being a street performer, that's one of the strongest points to note-the effect must be able to hold the crowd's attention from the start of the performance to the end. And being that the Cups and Balls is the big finale, it has to be the trick they actually remember and the reason that they end up giving you money. It's not actually the trick they give me money for, it's the story at the end that I tell them. Anyway, the presentation side of it would be more like the Three Shell game. Where I even go into detail about that, I'd say this trick was originally from the Three Shell game, where this is more used as a magic trick, where the Three Shell game is used as a con. I actually tell them that, which maybe puts their mind at ease. Are there any technical attributes you try to emphasize or focus on? Basically make it simple throughout so that everyone can understand it; elderly people and kids alike. I've never done it silently. If there are people in the crowd who don't speak English, a lot of my patter is one-liners and quick-paced talking. So if people don't understand what I'm saying, I try to make it simple enough so that at least they can enjoy what is going on on the table. Technical qualities would actually be the final loads. I've developed a sequence where I load six final loads and the melon at the end. But as I mentioned before, if I decide not to do the melon, then I wouldn't even consider doing the six loads. But I've had people that work by the side of me performing an art show or a street festival magician doing a Cups and Balls in their routine. They think it would be inadequate for them to perform the Cups and Balls with only three loads when I'm doing six. So they tend to do six. I had one guy call me from New Zealand and say, "I saw your routine, it was great. . . I'm doing nine," which is absolutely pathetic and anti-climactic. If I'm not doing the final loads, I would do three loads and just tip them back, as I said. The other things are the vanishes from hand to hand. I have different ways of vanishing the ball. I even expose the fourth ball (the load of the fourth, small ball). Not to be clever, but for comedy effect, where I've said there are only three balls being used, and you have to stress there are only three balls being used, and then I allow the fourth ball to drift out of the cup. Lots of people may cringe for my doing this, but it doesn't matter because all you do is pick up the ball and fake hand transfer and put it back in your pocket, or the bag. People have been worried that when you're hot and sweaty, the conditions aren't right, or the air conditioner's not on, and the ball tends to fall out. Well, I've never had that problem because if something happens like the ball falls out of the cup or you drop a ball on the table, just bend down and pick it up. You find on the streets that these things don't really matter when you're doing the routine, because anything goes, you know. You could be dealing with a drunk; a dog comes in, you deal with it; a Hare

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On the other hand, if you work the Parlor at the Castle, the only thing the performer has to worry about is going overtime. Typically no one's going to interrupt, you don't get heckled, no one's going to throw stuff at you . . . unless David Williamson's in the audience.

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The wand spin is another thing I try to concentrate on. I don't do the Vernon/Mora-type wand spin. I devised my own wand spin that looks magical and skillful and gets away from the drummer's spins. But I don't use it to vanish a ball, I just use it because it's very artful to look at and pleasing to the eye. I use a special wand, I actually use a drumstick-and I think they're called a practice drumstick, where they just tape it at both ends. It just looks like a magic wand with tape on it. I found that by putting black duct tape on the wand, it stops it from splitting. And I always carry two just in case I lose one, so I don't have to perform without a magic wand (I could, but I feel a lot more comfortable with a magic wand). This is a point that not only goes for the Cups and Balls but for everything I do in street magic, and that is: easy set-up and quick break-down. I could basically do a performance, set up and break it down in a matter of about two minutes. In and out, that quick. That's something that I strive for; I concentrate on that easy set-up, being able to pick up the table and move, if the police tell me to move twenty feet down the road. I can just pick up the table and call on the crowd to follow me. Obviously they won't, but things like that do happen.

I concentrate on a simple set-up. I use two bags, one in the back and one in the front. Compare the general reactions this effect generates compared to others in your show. Do you have any thoughts as to why the reactions might be what they are? I've already answered. But I can go into more detail on it. The general reaction would be it's the greatest trick. (Maybe you should interview people who have just seen the effect for the first time ...nice chapter for your book.) When I first saw it, it was on TV. I don't remember who it was, a street performer who was doing it in England. He was doing the Cups and Balls. He went into a fake explanation from Vernon. I was convinced he was showing me how the trick was done. His final loads were an orange, apple and lemon. I was quite taken back. I didn't lose sleep over it, but I was basically laying back in my bed trying to figure out how he did this or how he could have done this trick. I went into things like the table, maybe having false bottoms in it, or the balls were cups to begin with. But I remember at the beginning of the performance, he gave the cups out to be examined. And if they were in the cups themselves, then he had stooges to say they were

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But like I've said, in the streets, they can come back for more performances. As you do 10 or 15 shows a day, if they want to watch 10 or 15 shows, that's fine by me. And sometimes they get to figure out how a trick is done, but it doesn't deter from the fact that I am doing the Cups and Balls immediately afterwards; and I'm thinking, 'What if they shout out: 'Hey, there's an orange in that cup there..."' Sometimes they do, but it's like when you're performing with the thumbtip on, people cringe at the fact that you've got a thumbtip. That used to worry me when I was inexperienced, but now I'm more experienced. If people shout out that I've got a thumbtip on, then I shout back to them, 'Yeah, fake palm, more fingers, my skin comes up . . ." I don't really let it affect me anymore because even though they mean a thumbtip, they say "a fake thumb." The general public doesn't know what they're saying, I've had people come up to me and say, 'Yeah, I can see a fake thumb." It doesn't worry me. The more experience you get, the more in command you can be of your performance. Some people are smart and they sit back and enjoy the performance knowing that they know something the other people don't. But you sometimes get ignorant people who spoil it for others. The older I get, the less it bothers me.

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Are there any additional thoughts you would like to add? Go and see some other performers do the Cups and Balls, and see them in their environment. When I say this, I mean, I wouldn't want you to see me in front of a thousand children, because it just wouldn't suit me. That has happened. I've had people come over to see me, and I'm in front of a really terrible crowd. I can work a crowd probably just as good as anybody, because I've been performing for a long time with this actual routine. But I would hate for a group of magicians to see me performing for a crowd of say, old people. A bunch of geriatrics, they've got no motivation, on a hot day, and they watch one trick and leave. This has happened. I'd prefer them to see me in front of a college-type audience because they interact with me. They don'tjust watch me, they talk back. Things like this are very important. You are only as good as the crowd. But what I'm trying to say is, the saying is, "A performer is only as good as

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his audience," and I truly believe that. I've had some really terrible crowds. But I try to make the most of it. Bob Sheets, great worker, I mean, he gets the most out of any trick when he performs it. I'd recommend going to see him. Johnny Fox, another Cup and Ball worker. Bob Read, Cup and Ball worker-tons of comedy, tons of one-liners, I think a lot of his work has been published-great worker, a lot of admiration for him. Classic routines, Dai Vernon, purely from a technical stand-point cannot be beaten. Michael Ammar, a great routine I've seen on tape, technically excellent. Sean Greer, another street worker. Jim Cellini, another good street worker, excellent Cup and Ball worker, one of the first I saw in England-he used a pouch, which I believe he got from Johnny Fox, and I think both got it from Bob Sheets. I think Bob was the front runner who popularized the pouch in England. David Williamson, two-cup routine, which is based on John Ramsey's, I believe. Tommy Wonder, I've never seem him work, but I understand he's great. Ger Copper, another good Cup and Ball worker. There are many good ones around the world. If people can see them, I recommend it. Cups and Balls is one of those you have to do a hundred times before you really get the feel of it. Because it can throw you off, you know. . . you drop a ball, you drop a cup . . . and it'll throw off your routine. And I don't have any set patter when I do the Cups and Balls. I just do lines, or one-liners. I talk to suit, because I'm not sure at what point I'm going to do the routine. I always do it at the end, but I might do it straight after a certain trick, or I might do a rope trick, or a Floating Card, a Rising Card, an Ambitious Card, the vanishing coin under a glass where the glass vanishes. Then I might do the Cups and Balls after all this, I'm just not sure at what point I will do it. I might be governed by whether it is hot, or the police coming by, will there be a parade coming in, the bars letting out ... I can't let any of this distract from what I'm doing. So I'm always looking around and being aware of what's going on. Because the Cups and Balls is the big finale to my show, and it's the money trick, that's where I pass the hat straight after. I do like a basic half-hour on the streets, sometimes it'll be twenty minutes, sometimes an hour. I've been known to do two-hour shows. I know people find that hard to believe. But it's because the conditions are different. It's like when I'm on a program, and people have come from a two- or three-hour drive to an area (i.e. Nova Scotia), and I'm on a program that's been sold, I look at this as street theater-it's more of a captive area. In New York, where people are coming to and from work on a street corner, that's street performing. A pioneer of street magic would be Jeff Sheridan. But he's never done the Cups and Balls in his performance. He's put out a book called Street Magic,which I believe is out of print. It's got a lot of ideas I've been working on since I got it as a kid. The Paul Fox cups are good. For a lay audience, you can't beat an orange as a load. There are lots of funny gags you can do with the cups, such as pushing the wand through the bottom or acting like you're twisting the cups back together.

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TOM MULLICA U N I T E D STATES

Un~ersallycomidmkd thi8 gmd%;ld%;lon's f m m t b mapc ara&r&iraeg T m Iklu&m iwss r a i d the TomFmlemy mfwith ZatLgkter&W 10 pafP-for lodfi-ona A&Qs wrbl ari viisi~ ~ o ~ P ~ ~ < ~ fp & )UIC! Trn'sC%@anid: om T ~ . Babls rimti% pou k m hfhr m m d cigar&e m g i c &&st tb tip of hif ~@evt&, Would you describe the working conditions/arenas your routine works best in? The only real working condition I insist on is the "working surface" itself. I can do the routine standing with a servante (as I prefer) or sitting down, but it's very important that the working surface is extra-large to make the moving/sliding of the cups easier. I rely so much on a large surface area that I'll avoid doing the routine without one. When I was working on the routine (in the early '70s), I decided (after studying Jim Ryan's famous routine) that the sponge balls would be the focus of the routine ... almost like a sponge-ball routine with cups involved.

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At what position in your show do you perform the cups in, and why? I have ended my show with "Rouge de Paris" (the name I've given my Cups and Balls routine) but have found it more effective when presented about midway through my performance. The routine is good enough to end my show but I find I get more attention (and respect for the props) when performed earlier on. I've even opened my show behind the bar with Rouge de Paris. I think the Cups and Balls has enough theater to be A SHOW in itself. Would you describe the presentational frame you put around your routine? When I created my Cups and Balls routine, I focused on the sponge balls and how weird they are to lay people. When you give a layman a sponge ball, they usually look at it and roll it around in their hands as they say, "Oh, this feels funny!" I've actually had women drop the ball as they lift it up for the first time because they don't know what to expect and find it 'weird' to the touch. We as magicians take sponge balls for granted but lay people find them very interesting. I use this built-in curiosity as I intro the ball into the routine, and by the time they see it and feel it for the first time, they are waiting with bated breath. Of all the routines I've created, Rouge de Paris is the one I'm most proud of...theatrically.

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What performance or presentational qualities do you bring to this effect? Presentation is very important in my routine because it is the build-up that makes the routine work. The cups become an unimportant part of the routine because the audience is only concerned about "Rouge7'-the ball that the story revolves around. It's a I tongue-in-cheek story that goes perfect with the actions of the routine itself. I begin I I the routine by openly (juggling) showing the three final-load balls as I set the story with my patter. I put the large balls away behind the bar (in readiness to be stolen durI ing the routine) and go into the routine as if they were just part of my fooling around. Most people don't even associate the opening ball juggling with the final production I of the balls at the end of the routine. Funny what people see and remember. It's all a matter of guiding them down the path you decide.

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Are there any technical qualities you try to emphasize or personally concentrate on? Naturalness. One of the other stipulations I committed myself to when creating my routine was to eliminate any and all fake transfers. Only once in the whole routine do I do a pick-up of a sponge ball and apparently transfer it to the other hand. All the movements are natural and it does not look like a juggling routine that is too fast to follow.

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Compare the general reactions this effect generates compared to others in your show. Do you have any thoughts as to why the reactions might be what they are? If done correctly, the Cups and Balls routine should evoke many reactions along the way. There is so much going on during the average routine, and the surprises that happen along the way build to a wonderful climax (no matter which ending you prefer). I finish with the (secret) loading of the balls I juggled at the beginning of the routine l and I usually even fool magicians because I don't load them all at once. The first one is loaded and wedged into a cup and the complete routine is performed with that cup fully loaded. Toward the end of the routine I ask the helper to hold a ball (secretly adding another) while I do some weird moves with the cups. It's a very special moment when they open their hand and find the two balls-that's strong magic! I

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PAUL GERTNER U N I T E D STATES 1

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Winner Of virtunl!~mety major magic award, a crefltq au& and tofi amdP s h p q f m PaulF.' earliesk s i p afuv pi&-4 incluhd h& rela&i&moftPke-Cupsa& Balls which uses && Bcs& -and l'urgt Ml bearings m@&€ M.s! Y w g m learn it and more of his cr&'m@ his bed selling Book and videos.

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Would you describe the working conditions/arenas your routine works best in? The best environment for the routine I do with the steel balls is a hospitality suite situation, one in which the audience can be very close. In many cases they are surrounding me 360". I like to perform the routine at a large round table, about 6 to &foot diameter. This way I can have many people around the table standing behind those who are sitting. The large size of the table will create good angles and visibility for everyone involved. At what position in your show do you perform the cups in, and why? The time I perform the cups varies greatly from audience to audience and from situation to situation. In some cases, if I know I'm only going to be performing for this group for a very short length of time, perhaps 10 to 15 minutes, I may open with the Cups and Balls. I do this because I feel it is a very strong and powerful routine and it creates a statement about my magic right up front that this is worth watching and that I am highly skilled at what I am doing. I feel my Cups and Balls routine emphasizes those points. In other situations, where I know I'm going to be performing for a longer length of time for the same group, I will use the cups towards the end or perhaps as a closing routine.

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Would you describe the presentational frame you put around your routine? Once again, this can vary depending upon my audience. If it is an audience of magicians, obviously I would use the concept of steel balls, the metal cups and point out that this creates a difficulty factor for the performer. When working for laymen, I often theme it around a gambling routine, talking about it as a version of the threeshell game. At the same time I also, even for lay audiences, point out the fact that performing this routine with steel ball bearings creates more of a challenge and offers them the ability to figure out how the trick is done because they will also be able to hear the balls under the cup at the same time.

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What performance or presentational qualities do you bring to this effect? I Obviously the addition of the steel balls is what intrigues other magicians and has helped 1 I create a trademark routine for me. From a performance standpoint, the use of the steel balls was a way to bring a number of innovative techniques using sound to the routine. It has also opened up some different presentational possibilities as described above.

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Are there any technical qualities you try to emphasize or personally concentrate on? From a technical standpoint, I like to see routines that flow from one sequence into another. I also feel it's important for a routine of this type to be able to be done in many different conditions such as: stand-up, standing, seated surrounded, etc. ThereI fore, I have developed different performance techniques for these different situations. I am never at a loss to perform the routine due to "wrong conditions." Compare the general reactions this effect generates compared to others in your show. Do you have any thoughts as to why the reactions might be what they are? The reaction to this particular routine does tend to be one of the stronger ones of all the tricks I do. It is the routine people will talk about and will remember perhaps more than others. I feel part of the reason for this is that at the end of the performance of this routine, people often want to come up and feel the steel balls, see the weight and pick them up. They want to look at the cup and see that the large steel ball does not actually fit into the cup which creates another question, where did it come from? This allows them to become involved in the routine on a physical level even I though they were not holding the props, or actually involved during the performance of the trick. It falls into the category of the card on the ceiling or cigarette through I the quarter-routines in which the actual effect can be described in a concise way. "He lifted up the cups and there were these huge steel balls underneath each cup." That is I something they can describe to others and visualize, and quite often they unknowingly embellish what was done during the actual performance. I have often heard people talk about the appearance of a steel ball the size of a shotput when, of course, that is not really the case.

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People have often asked where the original idea or concept came from to perform the Cups and Balls using steel ball bearings. When I was about 16, I purchased a set of beat-up cups at a local magic auction. Since they were already rather dented and tarnished, I wasn't very concerned about damaging them any further. Then I found some steel ball bearings in my father's tool chest that came out of some sort of machinery. I toyed with the idea of the steel balls and sound. To me, it added another element to the routine and it eventually progressed along that line. When Mike Rogers originally saw me perform the routine, he was the one that made the connection between Pittsburgh being known as the Steel City and me performing the Cups and Balls with steel ball bearings. The incident happened quite a few years later and that wasn't the original motivation for the idea. Of course now, in my presentations, I usually lie in that fact. I usually say, "In Pittsburgh, we produce steel; therefore I'll perform this routine with steel ball bearings."

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A magi&n .Tina the a@ offw1; Jshmy h~histh2 diSti~1&.0~Bf&i%g the only pmon $0huue e718 won f h@=est'@mc ~ F.ISM &and Pszsc uwmd as a dm-wp q'cian-and to 'omtd m so with his d * oft& Cuqbs ~ Q n B&P! d h r h won many &her &sJ as &4 &he mrn?~&e m I t sfjdtnny's strmg mts'ning,pad%, hriq k ~ m and &@*HZ impf&he reckvn fkmt hi,r Gups and GAikks r d m .

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The places I have performed my Cups and Balls routine, with live baby chicks as the final loads, range from huge theatres to living rooms. The most important consideration regarding conditions is "viewability." Although I have received standing ovations from audiences watching a performance via a giant video screen, and audiences that are completely surrounding me-even looking over my shoulders-the ideal situation is an intimate setting, with the front row of the audience sitting directly across the table from me, within arm's reach of my magic.

Position

My Cups and Balls routine is in the middle of my closing sequence. The strength of the production of live baby chicks easily qualifies this routine to be used as a closer, but I utilize it as a springboard for an even stronger finale.

Presentational Frame

The presentation of my Cups and Balls routine is like a demonstration of skill. The pace is upbeat with an implication of, "This is what you've been waiting for!"

Presentational Qualities My personal enjoyment of this effect is contagious. I love performing my Cups and Balls routine, and I let it show. Rather than having a "Look what I can do!" attitude, I want the audience to have fun realizing the effect is magic even though the method is sleight of hand; that's why I often say, "Doesn't that look real!"

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Fast hands, smooth moves, and developed skill. That combination is what I want people to think is the cause of my Cups and Balls effect. Naturally, those are the technical qualities I concentrate on and try to emphasize.

Reaction

The revelation of unexpected final loads in a Cups and Balls routine has always gotten strong reactions from my audiences. Live baby chicks receive the greatest reaction I can imagine; nothing else compares.

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The presentation of chicks as final loads for my Cups and Balls routine was incorporated into my act to win the "Gold Cups Award of Excellence" from the International Brotherhood of Magicians. It was my third attempt, and I wanted the "Gold Cups" with all my heart. During early development, I really thought I would use the chicks just to win that particular contest. However, the first time I performed the routine in front of an audience (a group of students at my college dorm), the reaction was so great, I knew right then I'd be doing "tricks with chicks" the rest of my life!

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AB i&f&ration to magicians around the ~uorld,Tom1ntJ' m~d/s6rt chst? etp &&up, w h h&fmar diffmmt vefszefSZ~ qlf the cup^i in each hmvotume Books &Wonder recehed unpecedm ww. ram, @&ng bn'tliant'insighis to his mitivity as a thinket; ( &M@magic. No matter what classic it is, u~hethnti mwhatarer; When Tommy touches it, won& As you approached the development of your routine, what were some of the first considerations on your mind. For example, was it the magical criteria imposed on you by the place you would perform the effect?Was it the desire to create your own rendition of a classic, or what? For the close-up two-cup routine, the main thing which made me make my own version was the fact that in those days, it was j rather difficult to hide loads on the body. Back then, early Seventies, clothes were very tight-fitting, and carrying loads would result in unsightly bulges. So, I set out to find an I i alternative way to get the final large loads. This resulted in my using the bag as a final load. The pompom was a logical development, a logical extra load to go with the bag. So basically, it was inspired by the working circumstances. I ,

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For the stage version, I made the routine because it allows me to have a rather easygoing routine in the beginning, which allows the audience to get used to me, and also it provides me with the objects I need for the orange, lemon, egg and bird trick.

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I Would you describe the working conditions or arenas your routine works best in? I I The close-up version needs table space, and the audience must be able to see the props and the table surface. This means the routine does not play well on a dinner table when there is a lot of other stuff on the table, blocking the view. Also, in general, it works best if the mood is such that there is room for nuances to be appreciated. The I final loads I use are, after all, not as basic in appeal as, let's say, when three lemons suddenly appear out of nowhere. Such a procedure has more shock value and can survive rougher situations, but, of course, the final loads of the bag and pompom have more spiritual depth, which, for more educated audiences, has another type of impact which I feel is often underestimated. A lot of magic could use a bit more spirituality instead of always going for the most basic appeals of shock and surprise.

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one can do with three cups, one can also do with two cups. Of course, if one simplifies further and uses only one cup, like a chop cup for instance, then certain effects are not possible anymore. Twocup routines tend to be more easy to follow (in general also harder to do, because there is no helpful "confusionn).

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In the stage routine, as described in my book, I have made two cups smaller. This means I have a large cup and the small cups, making the routine easier to follo~v.In a way it is like a two-cup routine with three cups. I

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I At what position do you perform your routine in your show, and why? I In close-up, it is used as a closing effect. It is the trick which uses the most props. Visually it is the largest trick I do in close-up. On stage, it is the opening effect-this is for the obvious reason that it brings me the props for the rest of the act. What sort of presentational frame do you put around your routine, and what sort of technical qualities do you I consider most important? In close-up, it is presented as one of the classic effects of magic. Technical qualities? I I , Proper direction techniques and timing. The timing must be so that the effects do not 1 blur together; make distinct pauses between the effects. One of the hardest things in I the Cups and Balls is to make the effect clear-cut. Timing and the proper placing of I accents are very important. Direction technique is essential to make for proper presenI tation, i.e., in placing the accent on what is important, with the added benefit that it 1 makes the secret moves and passes go unnoticed.

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Can you compare any difference in the reaction you receive when performing this effect for lay people or for

With the close-up routine, magicians usually pick up better the refinements of the routine. This means that, for magicians, it can also be effective under slightly more rough conditions. With laymen, I have to be more careful about the performing situation so that they can appreciate the effect. 1

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There is no difference in reaction with lay people or magicians with the stage routine as far as I can see.

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MICHAEL SKINNER UNITED STATES

This kgmdaty perfhegun. urith Eddie F e w in &flab, hfm joining fhP Magic Cmtk sww dmthe excitingy m s Mu1em 1!+b/; and f 975. Tl~enStme Wjan mad8 him re.hdmt magician at the Lillie hngEr3r rpslaurunt at tlae h Vgas GIRm Nu*, where h'shem a m g~ce. 114ichael's huge r@Prtoire once allowed him lo m j $m a wu $he AIaffc CatlP withouf reppaling Q single $fed!

To you have any opening thoughts on the Cups and Balls? The Cups and Balls, the Cups and Balls. When regulars 1 or repeat customers begin to realize how extensive my repertoire is, they often ask me what is my favorite effect. Without hesitating, I always I I say it's the Cups and Balls. It embodies just about all the principles in magic, and so much happens in a good Cups and Balls routine. I'm not the type of magician who i makes a comedy act out of it. I'm not a humorous person. Any laughs or chuckles I get ! i are found in the course of the routine itself. I'm not a Tom Mullica or a Bill Malone. So I don't make the Cups and Balls funny, I take it seriously. I present it very seriously, generally as a closing number. It's so strong, it's hard to follow anything with it, but I have opened with it. If I'm working for some special people, I want to be sure they have a chance to see it, and if they only have a chance to see two or three items, I go ahead and open with them to be sure I get it in. Then I can still follow it with a couple of routines. I

The Cups and Balls is comprised of a variety of props. I've used everything from coffee i I cups, and rolled up dollar bills or cherries or olives. These days, I use the Charlie Miller cups I got from Jay Marshall-the copper ones. I had Slydini's cups at one i point, but someone walked off with one of the cups. I was doing a show at the Castle and they had the get-ready room, where you go through the curtain to set your props j up in the back. After my show, I set down the three sterling silver cups-they were I Connie Haden cups, patterned after the Paul Fox Cups. But someone walked off with one of the three cups. I

I Naturally, I was upset at the time, particularly because they were Slydini's cups, but later I thought, 'Well ..... when you have a lemon you make lemonade, so I'll just work up a two-cup routine!"

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You primarily work in the Lillie Langtry restaurant. Do you have them clear a space or carry a table? I do work at the table, but I don't even approach the table until they are finished I eating and the waiters are clearing off their meal. When people arrive, I approach the I table and offer my services. If they're interested, I say, "I'll be back after dinner, when i you are having coffee and dessert." I time it so the bus boy is clearing the table, so I have a great surface to work on. The surface is a nice big table top, and the table cloth I has some 'give' beneath it, so it's almost like a close-up pad.

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Do you walk up carrying the cups? The cups are in a bag, my and is in my inside breast pocket-it's a black wand with white tips. A smaller than usual wand-not as long as some of the guys like to usebut it fits my pocket perfectly. The four small balls are inside the cups, so I don't have to steal anything from my pockets to begin. It's all self-contained. Three balls are in the center cup of the stack, and the fourth ball is in the bottom cup. They see my hands empty to begin, then I put one cup on the table, roll out the three visible balls, and steal out the extra ball as I set down the final cup.

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The routine I'm basically using now is the Professor's routine, with an added phase I put in the center called, "The Scatter Phase." I still use his final loading sequence, except for using four final loads. The Impromptu routine I did on The Tonight Show years ago, I still perform from time to time. I had the pleasure years ago of having dinner with the Professor and Slydini. It was at a steak house on La Cienega called "Our Heaven's Steak House." Two or three others were there, too. So we decided to do some magic after dinner for the people standing around. I excused myself, went into the kitchen and asked the chef if I could borrow four small potatoes. He asked what I planned on doing, and I told him to come out in five minutes and I'd show him. So he brought out the whole kitchen staff, and I did it on the floor of the restaurant. I got right down on the red carpet-Slydini and the Professor were there-and I did the Cups and Balls and ended up with those four potatoes. It was a wonderful, memorable evening, and I had a very good time. Another good story is about the time when I was in the hospital. My doctor asked me if I would put on a show in the day room for the patients who normally just have television to watch or play cards. I said sure, but I didn't have any props. So I got three Dixie drinking cups, and I went into the bathroom. I tore off small batches of bathroom tissue, I wet it, and pressed it into four small balls. Then I unrolled a lot of tissue, wet that, and squeezed those into my four final load balls.

I put my street clothes on, and did my routine with a pencil, Dixie cups, and everything borrowed and made up on the spur of the moment.

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. Was the Impromptu routine you did on The Tonight Show basically the Vernon sequence? Yes, except that I couldn't do the Charlie Miller cupthroughcup move, or the Through The Cup handling, because the cups didn't stack. But I started out with the Tip-Over move, and did the Professor's routine, again except for 'The Scatter Phase" I mentioned earlier. Can you briefly describe the presentational frame you use? I remember you once did for me the "Rub-a-DubDub" routine, and I know that's completely different from the Vernon routine. Yes, that's nice too. That's a rhyming patter thing-I'm very partial to rhyming tricks. I I love them! But the Ruba-DubDub routine is an entirely different situation, done with , the small, plastic cups and no final loads.

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But with my regular routine, I take it very seriously, and I talk about the history of the Cups and Balls a little bit. "I'd like to perform for you now something that has been performed for thousands of years. It dates back to the days of the Egyptians. In the Pyramids of Egypt, there are stick hieroglyphics of men performing the same routine you're going to see no,. brought up to date-a version of this ancient classic. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy performing for you-the ancient mystery of the Egyptian Cups and Balls." Then I go into the TipOver sequence, and perform the basic Vernon routine.

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As for the rhyming patter routine, "Rub-a- Dub-Dub", that was written by Jack Bateman and put on the market by Gene Gordon.

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Are there any technical qualities that you try to emphasize or concentrate on? The cornerstone of any Cups and Balls routine, to keep it really interesting all the way through, is a very convincing small ball vanish. You have to get a good retention of vision vanish. Most guys that do the Cups and Balls, when I've seen them, I'm disappointed with the small ball handling. They do something quick or clumsy.

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I've only seen two or three people do the Cups and Balls with good small ball vanishes and that's the very cornerstone of any Cups and Balls routine. A lot of people poo-poo and say it doesn't matter what you do in the beginning, because all they remember is the loads at the end. Well that isn't true. You can make the first three or four phases very magical and entertaining if your sleights are technically convincing. Obviously you perform this effect for both laymen as well as magicians. Do you get a different reaction from these two audiences? I Oh, yeah, you'd have to. Obviously, magicians know what's coming. They know what 1 the trick is all about, they know about the vanishes-what happens to a ball when it's not in your hand-you may catch them off guard with your final loads if your timing is right, and your misdirection is strong. It can't be the same for magicians as it is for laymen. Magicians admire how you did it, maybe, but they aren't baffled and they don't have the same experience as a layman.

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You'd mentioned that you had at one time done the Cups and Balls on stage, and you ended with four large oranges. Where did you keep your final loads? I had a secret which Dai Vernon passed on to me from Paul Fox, where you expand your left hip pocket so that it can fit up to four large final loads. , !

1 Yes! It was Roger Klause who told me about Paul's idea after I tried combining the two back pockets into one for the same reason. Combining the two pockets didn't work as well as just expanding one might have, because in my experiment, the loads settled in a little too far back. Right. I used larger cups, and did all the steals with my left hand. i

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But having studied magic almost forty years, I've covered a lot of material. I don't perform it all, but I've studied far and wide-and I've never found another effect which can equal it. For so many reasons, the Cups and Balls has it all. It embodies so many things. You have productions, vanishes, transpositions, penetrations-even color changes in some routines. But even more important-it's so much fun to do! The enjoyment the performer has when he does it matters.

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One of the main secrets is for performers to slow down-not just with the Cups and i Balls, but with everything they do. The audience would enjoy the magic more, because they would be more relaxed, while the performer creates a more conducive ! atmosphere for what he or she is doing.

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A canten@wa.? #D& Vmm, C h d e Mi& and vidudh eumy master @W@C m~m-the kft40 gears, JoJtznny Thompson i s one magician who lzas &meit all! Gh.~m&, flIllzlsions,Doves, Cbmdy, Tru& Shuw.+-ywl laam ii, and Johnny hm excelkd t if. Broad e.'pmes?mce, d e q in$@& and can abilig to share and eqhm it in a f m c i r ~ ~ * ~ way make every menation with him an educatim,

Not only have you performed the Cups and Balls yourself, but you were fortunate enough to study with Harry Riser, Charlie Miller and Dai Vernon. Can you talk about some of the things you've learned from each of these men? The Cups and Balls, to paraphrase Professor Hoffmann, is the groundwork for all legerdemain, being what many believe to be the earliest form in which sleight-of-hand was exhibited. Harry Riser taught me the wonderful use of subtleties as well as sleight of hand, when performing the Cups and Balls. For instance, and I guess it's okay to mention this because his routine is in print now, he starts out by being two balls ahead as opposed to the accepted one-ahead method. In other words, he opens his routine with five balls. Harry's ideas on construction are also very interesting and quite informative. His three-phase routine reflects his thinking in this area. It's constructed on a very simple concept. Each phase results in the same outcome, that is, the balls always vanish from under the end cups and reappear under the center cup. Due to the fact that the audience becomes aware of the premise and outcome of each phase, the conditions get tougher with each successive pass and therefore require completely different methods to accomplish the same results. Harry also taught me his method for loading the final loads while performing seated. Instead of the normal method of bringing the hand containing the load up from below the table as the cup is transferred to cover it, Harry would rest his hand on the table in advance of the transfer. He would then transfer the cup and load it right out on the table. With Harry's method, your hand flattens onto the table as you set the cup down. Although this technique was developed for a seated performance, I have often used it in stand-up conditions. Dai Vernon was the first magician I ever saw who performed the Cups and Balls in a

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manner that actually made me feel that I was indeed seeing real magic occur. It was in 1963 at the Magic Castle. His performance was truly Merlinesque and it was stunning to see this classic so flawlessly performed. Vernon's thinking, with regard to naturalness, is epitomized in his handling of what has surely become the most copied Cups and Balls routine in the history of magic. Although the Vernon routine was published by Harry Stanley, it is interesting to note that the basis for the routine can be found in The Sphinx, credited to Vernon, Horowitz, Carlyle and Charlie Miller. Charlie Miller, without a doubt, was the best Cups and Balls worker I've ever seen. One day at our home, while discussing the Cups, Charlie performed an endless amount of Cups and Balls routines and moves that lasted several hours. He performed Bosco's routine, Guyot's routine, Malini's routine, as well as moves, ideas and routines of his own. He also performed routines utilizing both the Chinese and East Indian cups. It was beyond a doubt one of my most memorable experiences in magic and although I'm sure he hadn't practiced these routines in years, he performed them effortlessly, Charlie's timing and introduction of the final loads was absolutely incredible. Some years ago, Charlie and I did a "session" video for Joe Stevens, and what most magicians miss is the information on the Cups and Balls. When Charlie executes the final loads, he does so in a manner that allows him to perform this most difficult of all the Cup and Ball moves in a slow and relaxed manner. There are no sped-up movements or jumping back and forth to his pockets. It's clean, direct, and he does it so slowly that you see nothing and you realize that it's accomplished by perfect timing and careful attention to angles. Charlie's final load technique was dependent upon being able to load with both hands. He loaded from both back pockets, as opposed to the Vernon technique which, like Malini's, only utilizes one. Charlie favored the multiplication pass as a method for getting into the final loads. (This is the elimination sequence where the balls are taken from under the cups to the pockets one at a time, while secretly reloading that cup with another little ball as you do so. This elimination sequence, when repeated with each cup one or two times, creates the impression that the balls keep multiplying under the cups.) Charlie would only go around once with the multiplication, which would get him into the rhythm of taking the balls to the pockets before beginning to load the final loads.

Did Charlie ever talk about Max Malini and the Cups and Balls? Charlie and I discussed Max quite often, and as a matter of fact, I perform his opening phase in my own routine. Each phase of my routine is performed as a different magician. I open my routine with an impression of Malini, the premier Cups and Balls worker of this century. Max was the one who eliminated the gbeciire, the apron containing pockets, in favor of directly loading out of his back pants pocket.

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The second pass is performed as Malini's contemporary, Pop Kreiger. Kreiger was A1 Flosso's father-in-law and although he and Malini performed during the same period, it is interesting to point out that he still worked out of a gibecie're. Flosso's vocal rhythm was a lot like Kreiger's, except that Kreiger had a Yiddish accent. I use Guyot's pass, as did Pop Kreiger. Guyot, the nineteenth century French Cups and Balls worker, invented the phase where you begin with one cup stacked on top of another. The balls vanish from the hands, one at a time, reappearing on top of the lowermost of the stacked cups. The third pass is performed as Vernon. I use Vernon's opening pass, the one where the balls are placed on top of the cups and you do the Tip Over loading sequence prior to vanishing each ball. This pass was originated by Bosco. Incidentally, this was the pass that Malini used for the second phase of his routine.

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It's important for me to explain that Malini's opening phase is so strong that it really shouldn't be utilized as an opening. In brief, it went like this: Max would have someone select a cup which they put their hand on. He would make the balls vanish from under the other cups, one at a time, only to have the spectator lift their cup to find each ball. The third ball he vanishes in his hands, only to have it join the other two under the cup held by the spectator. Charlie had some interesting work on this idea as well.

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Would you talk about the cups you use? I have two beautifully engraved sets of cups. One was given to me by my friend Brad Holbrook. There are only two of these sets in existence. They're made from Ross Bertram copper cups which were silver plated on the outside and gold washed on the inside and then engraved with Egyptian hieroglyphics. They are so beautiful that you can easily talk about them as reproductions of rare artifacts.

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The other set is a Paul Fox set given to me by Danny Dew. This set was engraved by the late Joe Condon of Las Vegas. If I don't have one of the two sets with me, I'm always prepared to perform an impromptu routine utilizing glasses wrapped in paper. This, along with a set of impromptu balls carved on the spot from wine bottle corks, is what Malini used for his presentation. Max would often finish by causing one of the glasses to vanish a la 'The Glass Through the Table." When I perform my impromptu routine, I borrow three one-dollar bills and crumble them, green-side out, into balls. I, of course, have a prepared fourth bill hidden on my person. I

Are there any other points regarding your routine you'd like to mention? The final phase of my routine I perform as myself. I use Jacob Daley's final loading sequence, which is rarely seen nowadays. This is where you appear to only produce one large object, such as a tangerine. The other two cups are loaded, but the audience

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isn't aware of this fact. The load item is placed on top of one of the other cups and the original cup is brought down onto it causing it to appear to penetrate the lower cup. This is repeated once again with the third cup. Then the other two cups are tilted back to reveal all three balls. It is, of course, important that all three loads are somewhat identical in appearance. Alex Elmsley has a wonderful final loading sequence wherein one of the cups is revealed to be full of salt. I used this in a trade show once to great advantage. Needless to say, the client was Morton's Salt!

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We've talked before about how the "bend,"for want of a better word, in Dai Vernon's arms seemed to help him with some of his techniques. Would you talk about that? Sure! The accident that caused Vernon's arms to extend off to his sides in an unnatural manner occurred during the only "real"job he ever had. He was reading blueprints on the construction of the Eastside Parkway in New York when he chanced to see a young worker struggling to carry a bucket of mercury up a plank and onto a steel girder. In an effort to help, he went over and took the pail, which was so heavy it caused the plank he was walking across to break and Vernon fell six stories into the East River. When he came to in the hospital, they were asking him to use a pen in his mouth to make an X, approving the amputation of his arms. Luckily for those of us in ! magic, he refused. I i

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It took six months for his arms to heal, and when they did, he was left with his elbows projecting outwards toward his sides. But Vernon used the unusual position of his arms to great advantage. When he would bring his arms up and in towards his body, his arms would come in with a bit of a swing which positioned them perfectly for such moves as the Pop-Up Move for the Balls in the Net as well as the Bosco Tip-Over Load in his Cups and Balls routine.

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Another thing it helped him with was his wand spin. The unnatural position of his elbows helped the wand clear his body, and brought his right hand around the left in the perfect position to accomplish the move. This was natural for him, which is exactly what he was talking about when he said, "Be natural." It meant taking advantage of who you are and whatever else you can to be true to yourself. Simply put, it means do ' what's natural for you!

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A&II-time p ~ ~ f wer o thirty r yem, Brua @nt m a y of his ~drly,ffornnative y m at the Magic Castle. A student of Dai Vmon, B T Uk@t ~ the l e p d a 7 y Mag'c Castle Notebook, which h e bem famed in& the Vernon ChronicIes. He has spared on n)my mjur teI:&m [a& show and 7uorbd in commercials, movies, trade shows and fhpnua fe p o q circuit fm the@ set of Bmerl~Hilh.

Such has been the popularity of this ancient and wonderful effect, that it has become the all-time classic in the realm of sleight of hand. Some have even attributed pictures of men with stones and a bowl in the pyramids as an early depiction of this effect. Although this may be unlikely, the effect certainly goes back to ancient times and has delighted audiences for ages. Virtually every great magician has performed this feat and it never fails to make a big hit. "Pop" Kreiger, Max Malini, Leo Horowitz, and my hero, Dai Vernon, all performed the Cups and Balls. Not only did they love it, but their audiences loved it, too! Not to be overlooked are the wonderful modern day Cups and Balls variations by Al Wheatley (Chop Chop) with his Chop Cup and Don Allan with his famous Bowl Routine, both classics derived from the original effect. If you missed seeing Chop Chop or Don Allan do their classic routines, perhaps you were lucky enough to see Al Goshman perform Don Allan's routine or see Paul Daniels perform his stage version of the Chop Cup. I once wrote the introduction to a book that was completely devoted to the Chop Cup. That an entire book was written on the Chop Cup gives you an idea of how popular this little piece of apparatus and the wonderful effects it produces have become. What makes the Cups and Balls so good? Why are people intrigued by this effect? Why does it remain a classic? Perhaps two of the key reasons are its ancient plot and its simplicity. The effect contains all the basic elements of good magic including vanishes, appearances, transpositions, and penetrations, and then climaxes with a surprise production. The most common problem with many Cups and Balls routines occurs when the magician tries to do too much. The magician tries to incorporate every possible move into his routine and unfortunately loses the audience along the way. At the opposite end of the spectrum was Lou Derman (Friday Night Lou) who always wanted to just show a

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cup empty and immediately produce a big ball! This was his ideal Cup and Ball routine.. .short. Although Lou never quite reached his ultimate goal, I worked on that theme and was able to pair down the basic routine to less that one minute. I used this extremely short routine on March 30, 1988, when I appeared on the prime-time Canadian television show called "The Fifth Estate," a show which is similar to our "60 Minutes." It was a special tribute to Dai Vernon. Because you may not have gotten a chance to see it, I'll briefly run through the routine. The cups were shown empty, a ball was placed under each cup, and all the balls immediately traveled to the center cup. Two balls were then placed in the jacket pocket, only to appear back under the cups from which they had just been removed. Again, two balls were placed in the pocket but subsequentlyjoined the ball under the third cup. As a finale, all three balls were placed in the pocket and the cups were lifted to reveal the large loads.

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Brevity is what television people always want and that is exactly what I gave them. The Cups and Balls, however, is not necessarily the ideal effect for television. Because the camera angles can destroy your misdirection, I'd advise against performing it unless you are confident you can perform the sleights absolutely perfectly. I perform several versions of the Cups and Balls and enjoy adding and subtracting various moves from my routines. I must say that Dai Vernon did the same thing. He loved to throw in some little variation to spice the trick up, if only for himself. I saw the "Professor" perform this trick in both close-up and parlor settings but never on stage. I have used it in all three venues but have performed it only intermittently on stage. There is no better feat for any situation where the audience is close to the performer. Don't be one of those magicicans who meanders through the Cups and Balls until his audience drifts off and misses the final loads. Try to change the tempo at various points so as to retain interest in the trick. This is, of course, good advice for any routine. On the other hand, don't run through your routine at a breakneck pace. Start out slowly, speed up somewhat as you move into the main body of the routine, slow again and then, finish quickly. Talk to your audience but don't ask them questions about where the balls are unless you have a compelling reason to do so. The Cups and Balls can serve equally well as an opener or a closer but is poorly suited for the middle of a routine. It is an excellent opener for a strolling situation where it gathers a crowd and builds an audience. All you need to do is hand out a cup for examination and you'll be on your way to gathering a crowd. In many cases, if you do a substantial routine, you will only need to do this one trick. Strangely, I tend to use formal cups when working this type of show but have used ordinary coffee cups for over 20 years when performing regularly scheduled shows at the Magic Castle. For a formally-presented show, such as those I give at the Magic Castle, I find there is

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no better effect with which to close a close-up performance. In such a case, a fairly short routine is best as it can build quickly and then end with the surprise finish.

I also feel strongly that the best loads by far are fruits or vegetables. It is true that balls are convenient and never need to be replaced, but real fruits or vegetables are always greatly received and tremendously unexpected. I don't subscribe to multiple types of loads (such as a tomato, an orange and a potato) because I feel the impact is lost. Instant recognition of the objects leads to screaming and applauding by the audience. On the other hand, Dai Vernon typically used lacrosse balls because his cups were designed by Paul Fox to fit this ball perfectly. He always pointed out that when placed on top of the cups after being produced, the balls appeared to be too big to fit in the cups. He also always produced a fourth ball from the center cup. He felt this was very important because it convinced the audience that the balls just couldn't have been hidden in the cups all along. While on the subject of the final loads, let me give you an important piece of information: NEVER load the cups while seated! I have never seen this done well. The Bob Stencel load is the one exception to this rule but this load is typically only used in Chop Cup routines. This load was popularized by the great Ron Wilson routine (see his vastly underrated book) and its clone, the Jennings Chop Cup routine, which appeared in Genii.I personally do most of my Cups and Balls routine sitting but I stand up as I move towards the finish. Because of the popularity of Dai Vernon's beautiful routine, many magicians have mistakenly concluded this is the only routine worth doing. The Professor would be the first to agree that there are many other excellent routines in the literature of magic. Furthermore, he hated carbon copy magic and was a big proponent of performers showing their individuality and being themselves. Check out "The Stanyon Lessons For the Cups and Balls" which were reprinted in the TheJinx.They start on page 235 of that classic magazine. Just a short look at this reprint series will indicate to you the nearly unlimited ways in which the effect can be altered. One of the greatest single aspects in the Cups and Balls, and one which is almost unknown in modern routines, is the production of the balls at the beginning of the routine. Horowitz made a big thing of this part of the routine. He produced a ball from the end of his wand and then caused it to vanish and reappear under a cup. Then this ball mysteriously vanished from beneath one cup and appeared under another. A second ball was produced from the wand, vanished, and then it, too, appeared underneath a cup. As you can see, this is a wonderful addition to the routine. My dear old friend Mike Perovich loves this ball production and does his very own version superbly.

A little known fact regarding the Dai Vernon solid silver cups is that there were actually

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two sets of these cups originally made. Both could truly be said to be Dai Vernon's Cups and Balls. They were made by the same artisan of solid silver and were completely covered with intricate engravings. Interestingly, Dai owned but one set at a time. His original set became quite scuffed up due to constant use and the softness of the silver from which it was made. An old friend of Vernon's, wanting to possess "Dai Vernon's own cups," obtained the second set, which was virtually unused, and offered to trade this "new" set for the old. Dai, of course, jumped at the chance to get a brand new set and traded gladly. The new set soon became as beaten up as the old one. As a result, there are two sets of Dai Vernon Cups, each one just as legitimate as the other!

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This super6 shi~~t-ofJland magician, zi~hosc!mmter-ful c l o s ~ mupk is &way lamd with mMZpfi2nality, hm in recent y e m bec kown more as a c d y p m j i i His zinging ruit ricochets o t a live audienut in such an exciting way that the reartions produced by his s p u n t a m u , orgnnic c d y can ofiPn overshadoru tkp magic taking pkzce. I look will meal that dPep uns standing and the laught-m

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Why did you ultimately decide to do a two-cup routine, and now that you've used two cups for so many years, how do you feel about your choice?

I wish I could say I chose a two-cup routine because I thought it allowed interesting cause and effect symmetrical presentation points or that I knew that it had historical roots with Hofiinser and earlier or that the simplicity of the routine offered a "yin yang" approach.

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But, the truth is I do a two-cup routine because I lost the third cup! I had been doing the classic Vernon routine for years and was forced to use two cups one night at one of my table-hopping gigs and by the end of the evening, the bare bones of the routine had been worked out. I saw Tommy Wonder do his routine around that time and was truly inspired to explore the possibilities. Now I wouldn't go back to three unless there was some compelling presentational justification.

I do think that the use of two cups and (apparently) two balls is much easier for an , audience to follow. We humans can cope easily with two objects; we have two hands , and two eyes, so pairs is an easy concept. When you introduce a third object, things get confusing very quickly. And, with the cups and balls, you don't need confusion to create the various effects. The one-ahead principle works just as well with two balls as it ! does with three, if not better. With two cups, the routine doesn't feel as repetitious; it 1 moves along at a quicker pace. As I said before, there is a symmetry of action that is quite palatable to an audience. And, I'm not sure why, but 1 like my "one ahead" ball , to be an odd number. Just as in Chink-a-Chink,the "one ahead" coin is the fifth one. I think that it's a little more deceptive. I

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The other great benefit is that it takes up less room on a crowded table top-and the production of three lemons from two cups feels bigger than four lemons from three cups (and you carry one less lemon around in your pocket!).

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--. -- ..- . . --- The Striking Vanish you created became an instant classic. How did you come up with it? I still don't believe that I was the first person to try that move. Other people certainly have done very similar things before. I was playing around with a vanish of several coins that I read in Apoculypse. I think it was called the Marionette Coin Vanish by Ken Krenzel. That is where the "tossing" action came from. Then I just toyed with the movements, substituting different objects for the coins, until I tried a ball and a wand and it was a perfect vanish for the cups and balls.

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, On a recent television special, you performed your routine in a room full of Las Vegas showgirls using coffee cups. , Do you prefer borrowed cups in situations with a casual feel? I

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Not really. That was a totally artificial situation. And, frankly, that segment didn't work very well. (Not because of the choice of cups-more likely it was the choice of magicians.) I have done it many times with borrowed coffee cups and cherry tomatoes or strawberries. This works great in a pinch, but I think that by using "special" cups, the trick becomes special. The ritual of pulling the copper or polished chrome cups from the velvet bag and arranging the knit balls on top creates an important atmosphere and tickles the audience's curiosity. That said, I always have the cups and balls examined-in fact, I make a big deal about that because that makes them even more suspicious of the props when the balls start jumping around. The cups themselves become misdirection. If you just use any old cups, the audience will start looking for other explanations-closer to the truth.

I worked in dinner theatres for many years in Ohio and Virginia and the Cups was always my closer. I worked about twenty-five tables a show. We did eight shows a week and I worked fifty weeks a year for about seven years so you can imagine after doing a trick tens of thousands of times, it gets a little stale. To keep it interesting, I would play around with what ended up under the cups and I got the strongest reaction when, near the end of the routine, I would casually ask to borrow their empty coffee cup and then cause a ball to appear underneath it, then another ball and then, as if I just thought of it for the first time, I would pick up a coffee creamer from the table and put it in my pocket and, standing far away from the table, instruct them to lift the cup themselves. They would literally scream when they saw that creamer. They couldn't imagine that I had been carrying an extra one around in my pocket. As I set the cup aside, I would load a lemon in it and go back to my cups where I would finish my routine with the lemon production. After the applause was over and as I was leaving the table, I would give a little frown as I looked at their inverted coffee cup with a puzzled look on my face. I'd shrug and walk away. I could almost count down to the moment as I walked across the floor5...4...3...2...1-SHOUTS AND LAUGHTER from the table again as I turn and run back yelling, 'WHAT'S WRONG?"And we would laugh even more. Sometimes I would load a wind-up spider toy, but the management asked me to stop. It was just too disruptive. The point is that if I would have done the trick with the borrowed cups from the beginning, the reaction wouldn't been nearly as strong. I know-I tried. There wouldn't have been a point of departure to the seemingly impromptu deviation, and that was the part that they remembered, when they thought I went "off script"just for them.

--- ---Do you ever perform your Cups routine for your corporate clients? Yes, all the time-it's my favorite trick. I pour a lot of myself into the cups and it has become a bit of a showpiece for me. I've been doing it for so many years that it's like breathing-fully automatic now and it can become a point of departure.

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Not to get too far off the question but the thing about close-up magic that makes it different from any other performing art is the personal, intimate human interaction. You can connect with another person on an emotional level and Cups and Balls is the quintessential close-up trick. In its purest form, the Cups and Balls allows the performer room to play and to talk and to listen and experiment with an audience. Albert Goshman told me that he always tried to find an "emotional hook" with every trick so that he could get to know his audience and they could get to know him. He did one of the best Cups and Balls routines I've ever seen, only he used salt and pepper shakers and coins. It's important that I keep the foundation of the trick intact and in my routine, the effect has been simplified to the point that even with my clowning or improvisational tangents, the trick doesn't suffer. If I were doing some complex three ball, remember which hand, colorchanging wand, multiplying cup routine, there would be no room for what I consider the most important element-me (corny but true).

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What do you think laymen think about the Cups and Balls? They like it because it's not a card trick. You conclude your routine with a bag load of lemons-would you talk about your thinking behind this? I was in London working Ron McMillan's International Day convention several years ago. I needed to go buy three lemons for my routine and my friend Ian Keable went with me. We walked into the produce shop and saw a giant beautiful pile of bright yellow lemons. Ian said wouldn't it be funny to produce all those lemons and dump them on the table? I thought it would be hilarious-especially for a bunch of jaded magicianeso I bought them all. I had an hour to figure out how to produce them. I decided to empty out my large satchel and keep them in there during my act. During the final load sequence, I discovered, much to the delight of the magicians, that I forgot to put my final loads in my pocket, so I reached into my bag and picked up three lemons. I flashed them to the audience as I dipped down behind the table to apparently put them in my pocket. They actually went back into the bag. I pretended to clumsily load the lemons into the cups, apologizing all the while. The magicians were still laughing at me. When my spectator finally lifted the cups to find ...nothing, the laughing stopped. "Oh, here they are," as I dumped 30 lemons onto the table. I got 'ern and they loved it! So, it was a gag for a magician's convention but I kept it in for laymen as well and it always played big-good ending, hard to follow. And true to their custom, many laymen would tell others about the magician who produced 300 lemons from his bare hands.

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ALDO COLOMBINI UNITED STATES De&gIz@iand distilui, this msir?rof light-hco~ted,Mnrnw~-Ma'a hhgic earned a long-.~to!rcdiszg r v E i o n m n -2rxtdng&i~km in his fksme w a n e cfPtaly. Bzixd~&arnpZanfi~gh a w @ $ on Culfonzica soil, his stnr hns continuad to rke 71irheach nm ufl>e~rnnrg and ledwr~.,411ta$. ' approach fa thp Cups land Rag$ is dyn~rnirand viaballj m n t i ~ ~winning g hint a P1Si;VI /liBnk in c l o w ~ ~magic! p

I don't think that I will be called pretentious for saying that I, too, can offer a couple thoughts about this matter, as I have deeply studied the Cups and Balls (and won a F.I.S.M. prize for it . . . but please don't hold that against me!). I have two routines I perform regularly; one mainly for magicians, which is highly technical and may not be easy to follow for lay audiences (all magic should be simple to follow in my opinion) but extremely challenging and appealing to the magicians who are looking for new and (why not?) revolutionary moves. Obviously being conceived for a competition, I kept in mind, at the time, that I had only magicians watching me perform tlie routine (although I do perform it at the Magic Castle, but there I don't find a "normal" lay audience in the sense that it is a mixture of magicians and lay people). I perform the routine for lay audiences only in special circumstances or for special people. I remember doing it for the tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, and his special guests in Italy and the routine got a standing ovation. But, then again, they knew, they felt, it was something special. Many Cups and Balls routines are confusing, not easy to follow. We forget many times that when we perform, we know what is going on. We have done the routine countless times, so we know the position of the balls and so on. But, the audience doesn't. It's not easy to follow three balls and three cups at the same time. So, keep it simple. I have seen magicians doing routines with two balls and three cups or three balls and two cups. Why? It's too conf~tsing.Three and three is logical and easy to remember. Three, that's all. If you use three balls and two cups, they already have two things to remember with the consequent challenge of following the positions and so on. I have a second routine that I perform regularly for lay audiences and it is kept as simple as possible. By simple, I don't mean necessarily simple to do, but simple to follow. I use different colored balls, a few penetrations, a couple of transpositions and then go directly into the big load. Frankly, it is not easy to find patter for such a trick. In fact, I perform the F.I.S.M. routine silently or sometimes with music as a special effect. Some

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I partially disagree that the only thing spectators remember is the final load. It is the same thing as saying that in the Ambitious Card routine with the card-in-the-wallet ending, the spectators remember only the card in the wallet. They may remember especially the card in the wallet, as it is your climax and created to be memorable. But, they certainly remember the phases in between. So it is with the Cups and Balls. They may not remember each phase and how many times the balls penetrate or transpose, but they certainly keep in mind what happens. It is the build-up, the prelude to the final load. It is like a piece of opera; you usually have a not-so-difficult basic "aria" that gradually builds up into the famous "tenor masterpiece." And, it's this climax that pulls the thunderous round of applause. Cups and Balls are the same. Basically, I repeat, the must here is to keep the routine as simple as possible; try to avoid inserting every move you know about the Cups and Balls. When I created my original routine, I bought all the basics I could find about the Cups and Balls. Gee, how many there were! I studied them all and then tried to come up with something new and different. Other magicians say that the Cups and Balls are a puzzle. Well, if you think about it, atery magic trick is a puzzle. It is the job of the magician to change the puzzle into entertainment. Also, Oil and Water routines have been labeled with the "boring puzzle" name. Magicians tend to ignore such tricks because they think they are boring. I disagree. Nothing is boring if presented properly (except maybe an Italian soccer match). As a challenge, I did my Oil and Water routine at the Magic Castle knowing that many magicians are always in the audience. I got letters, e-mail messages and telephone calls telling me how good the routine was. I know, I know, you don't have to tell me. I would probably have had a lot more phone calls if the people who didn't like it had called me! However, you get the point I am trying to make.

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To me, the biggest "doubt" about Cups and Balls is what do the cups seem to be to the audience or what exactly are they meant to represent? Glasses? Containers? Why cups with balls? Why hand-crocheted balls or miniature golf balls? Or sponge balls? Why any particular combination? Great questions! I'm afraid I do not know the answer. Sometimes we tell the audience that this is a very, very old trick seen in pyramids and : so on. Do they really care? I doubt it. My solution is simply that I don't have one! I just do it. I never came up with a logical explanation why we use cups and those kinds of balls. Do we real4 need an explanation? We may say that these are a kind of replica of cups from ancient times and the balls are replicas of stones or small fruit used by ancient magicians to do the trick. I just do the trick. Audiences are so aware of the Cups and Balls (remember, it is a classic), that I don't think we need an explanation of what they are. And, if we think in that way, so many other tricks would need an explanation. Why do we light candles and then use a silk to vanish them? Why do we use a cane and then use a newspaper to vanish it? And so on and so on. I

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Cups and Balls, like Linking Rings, are classic. I don't think that audiences will ever get tired of the so-called classics. It's like music. Verdi, Mozart and the likes are classic. You know them. You've heard them over and over, but from time to time you want to hear them again. Why? Because they are usually tied to some sensation, emotion, feeling, or romantic moment-sensations that stayed in your heart and you want them ' back to relive again from time to time. Even though you know it's just music, you like it. The classics of magic are the same (at least to me!). Even if you know (even if the audience knows) that you have an open ring, a Linking Ring routine performed properly, I think, is always well accepted, because it is in the way you do it-your own personal and unique presentation. Basically, it's a very simple secret: there is no secret.

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Some things can not be explained or defined. Dissection reveals little; analysis gives but the most cursory understanding. Classics, for example, are often the subject of clichil and truism like statements such as, "They stand the test of time." Under such scrutiny, prostitution might be considered a iiclassical"profession. Something is missing, something is not definable; maybe that, too, is an element of being a classic. With all great beauty, there is-there must be-mystery. Will I really attempt to unveil the intricate anatomy of a classic? No. What we observe, we change; what we define, suffers. I am perfectly happy to call the Cups and Balls a classic and leave it at that. What I prefer to do is explore this great effect and embrace the potential that lies within. The Cups and Balls are a performance platform. By this I mean that the effect gives you the ability to demonstrate your personality, if you have one. If you don't, you can demonstrate that as well. (I actually saw this happen once and was thrown into close-up depression which I was rescued from when Ricky Jay introduced me to the genius of Juan Tamariz.) Three cups, three balls-on the surface, one might doubt that there is room for variation. Certainly, many of us have attempted to master the routine of that greatest of all routiners, Dai Vernon, and left it at that. Vernon's routine is a plateau, something to reach, linger on for a while and then move on. You do yourself and magic a disservice by not finding something in the effect that is yours. I once asked Ricky Jay a question about the Cups and Balls (this was during my young and stupid period . . . about two years ago). I asked what his favorite routine was and what books I should read. Ricky told me to read whatever books I liked, learn what I could and then move on, the eventual goal being to create my own routine. When you see the great diversity in the routines of our top performers, this bit of advice become self-evident.

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Colombini uses the Cups and Balls to demonstrate manipulative prowess (leave it to any Italian). I have named only a few presentations. I could name more and probably should. I know somebody is going to scream at me for leaving out someone. I was just giving proof of the diversity that can be found in this effect. 'You vant more, you are a little slow tonight, but you alright." That was my favorite line of Siegfried's. He doesn't do it any more and I miss it. Okay, you get more . . .

POETRY The effect is a perfect piece for rhyme. You have meter in words and movement. Many performers have used rhyme with the Cups and Balls, a little or a lot. It doesn't even have to make sense. For instance, you could recite TheJabberwocky as you presented the effect and even if your routine stunk, just being able to recite the poem would impress the audience. COMEDY Intentional or not, the Cups and Balls affords you ample opportunity to be funny. This is obviously not for everyone. I have great respect for magicians that handle comedy well and find those who don't and don't know it, painful to watch. Again, because of the rhythm of the routine, you can find humor simply in breaking that rhythm or in the ad nauseum redundancy of it. MUSIC Most people think of the Cups and Balls as a talking effect. You would be surprised to find out how many routines use a musical background piece. Sometimes the performer talks over the music and sometimes the music is all you hear. I use a background piece that I talk over much like my Linking Finger Ring routine. I use Rosini's (not a magician, even if he does have ini at the end of his name) "The Thieving Magpies." I could have given the Italian name but using "cursory" and "truism" in my first paragraph is enough pretension for one article.

NARRATIVE When I was twelve years old, I accompanied my father to a Bridge tournament at the Mission Inn in Riverside, California. I am speaking of the card game. My father was, and is, a fanatic. The Mission Inn is so named because at one time it was a mission. Several shops opened onto a central garden, it was beautiful. One of the shops sold gags, party items and magic. At a break in the tournament, we went for a walk in the courtyard and ended up in front of this store. My father looked down at his twelveyear-old son whose nose was pressed against the glass and said, "Choose something." I could not contain my excitement for in front of me was the arcane apparatus of the magician. My eyes fell on a colorful set of cups with three fuzzy white balls. The cups were plastic; red, blue and yellow. On the box next to the displayed items were found the words, "The Cups and Balls." Even at my young age, I knew that this was an illusion out of the past, a myth. I pointed to this trick and looked up at my father. We

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walked in and he bought me my first set of Cups and Balls. That was thirty-two years ago. Through the years, I have acquired many sets and the one I use tonight is made of silver, but I still own my original set and I was right-this is an illusion of the past . . . a myth. At this point, many of you will be thinking, 'Wait a second! This can be said about a lot of effects like the Linking Rings, the Egg Bag and the Billiard Balls-you know, a classic." Oops! We discovered a truth, an element of an equation whose sum is a timeless effect of magic. I said I wasn't going to define what makes an effect a classic and I am not. What I am doing is helping you to recognize one when you see it and realize what you can do with it-almost anything. Certainly, there are limitations; taste, for one. One could give a simple mathematical presentation and bore the audience in record time. One could recite Eliot's The Waste Land while presenting the effect, making sure to stress the Grail lore found within the cups and the poem, but not in front of me. What one should never do, and here I fly in the face of standard wisdom expressed by giants who know a lot more about the Cups and Balls than I do, is race through the routine in order to get to the revered "Final Load." Man, I hate that! Agreed, the final production of "whatever" is really cool, but to dismiss the preparatory magic as merely preparation is a mistake made by many performers. Now, normally, one attributes rushing to the climax with illusionist, those who don't needlessly dance around forever. You may point out that I am an illusionist. True, but I never rush a climax. Take time to express the wonderful magic found as the routine builds. The final load is all the more amazing when the magic in front of it is sufficient. If the audience thinks the opening magic is lame, they're looking for the pay off. In closing, I would like to tell a story that happened to me one Christmas in Newport Beach, California. I was a student at University of California, Irvine. It was my Senior year, and I was running out of money. In less than a month would come the fateful day when, during a swim team practice, I would see for the first time Charlotte Brown, soon to be Charlotte Pendragon. I worked in nightclubs doing magic, but that wasn't enough so I also got a job at Hollywood Magic in Newport Beach. There I demonstrated for and taught those clients who bought the tricks. One late night, December 23, I was alone in the shop when the biggest stationwagon (you know-the really long cars popular before the Jeep Cherokee was invented) I had ever seen pulled in front of the shop. Out walked John Wayne! He lived in Newport Beach. Now, in my life, I have met many actors and few are as impressive in real life as they are up there on the screen. John Wayne looked bigger in real life. He walked up and told me that he was looking for stocking stuffers for his kids. Could I suggest a few magic tricks? I went numb! This was John Wayne and, after all, my parents were Republicans (then again, almost everyone in Orange County was a Republican). I showed a few simple effects. He liked

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them. Then he pointed to a set of Cups and Balls (the tricolored plastic ones). I told him that this was a little more complicated and demonstrated a simple routine. He loved it and wanted to buy it on the condition that I taught him the routine. For the next half hour, I taughtjohn Wayne the Cups and Balls. He made his purchase and thanked me. As he was leaving the store, he reached the sidewalkjust as a long-haired, loosely attired young man of considerably different iconoclastic beliefs was walking past. Here were two exact opposites, liberal and conservative. The young man stopped and in a very gracious tone said, 'You first, Mr. Wayne." In a gesture that is familiar to any fan of his films and even those who aren't, John Wayne tipped his hat, said, 'Why, thank you," and got into his car and drove off. That is a memory I will cherish for as long as 1 live. But, hey, it was Christmas in Newport Beach and anything was possible.

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Alphonse Delaporte was a New England-based magician who specialized in Cup and Ball routines. He was what one might call, in modern parlance, a "Cups and Balls freak," who reportedly won prizes at magicians' conventions for his interpretation of this classic conjuring form. Delaporte commissioned Herman Hanson, manager of the Boston branch of Holden's Magic Company, to construct a custom-designed table with special hidden wells for platform presentation. The mechanisms built into the table are the work of Hanson's principal employee, mechanical expert Joseph Frustaglio. This table is now housed in Raymond Goulet's New England Mini Museum of Magic in Watertown, Massachusetts. No specific routine of Delaporte's exists for the use of this table, but the built-in gimmicks might have been used to climax a standard Cups and Balls routine. The table top has the traditional black velvet surface with a grid pattern fashioned from silver ribbon to disguise six trap doors. A short black velvet skirt with silver fringe conceals the mechanisms underneath the table at the front, the sides, and part of the rear. Three of the traps are at the front end of the table, and can be used to vanish objects into one large well: a cloth bag suspended beneath the table's surface. Each trap door, square in shape, is spring-hinged at its rear and is opened downward by pulling a bead at the rear of the table by means of a string that runs from the bead to a front corner of the trap door. The spring hinge shuts each door automatically when the bead is let go. A ball can be vanished either by covering it with a cup and secretly pulling the appropriate bead, or by the feint of picking the ball up and secretly dropping the ball through the trap while it is covered by the hand that is supposedly lifting it off the table. The other three traps are toward the rear of the table top, and were used to cause three balls or other small objects to magically appear under the cups, presumably for final productions. Each trap consists of three parts: a wrist release, a circular trap door that opens in a lateral direction by activation of the wrist release, and a piston well with a plunger that rises to the table's surface and takes the place of the opened trap door. A sliding bar mechanism is pushed at the rear left side of the table to simultaneously release all three plungers

and cause them to rise with their secret loads. Each rear well is prepared in advance by pushing down on the plunger, locking it in dace (bv ~, means of a catch) several inches below the table's surface. A ball or other load is placed into the well atop the plunger. The trap door is swung over and up, flush with the surface, where it automatically locks in place. During performance, a cup is placed mouth downward over each trap door with the left hand, and at the same time, the heel of the hand presses down on the table top just to the left of the cup. This activates the so-called wrist release, which causes the trap door to lower slightly and swing to the rear underneath the table, by means of a spring-loaded pivot mechanism. This secretly opens the well under cover of the cup, With all three cups in place over each open well, the performer places his hands in a natural position at the rear side edges of the table, allowing him to secretly press a metal plate just below the left rear edge. The plate is attached to a sliding mechanism on a track, to which is attached three bolts, each corresponding to one of the piston wells. Each bolt simultaneously comes into contact with the top of the catch, which releases the plunger. The plungers smoothly rise to the top of the table, bringing their respective loads with them, and covering the openings in the wells. The cups can then be lifted to reveal the loads. The "trigger bolts" that activate the catches appear to be adjustable, since they are threaded and are screwed into nuts, one for each bolt. It is actually the nut that is attached to the bar mechanism. It is possible that the bolts could have been adjusted to activate the plungers one at a time rather than simultaneously~depending on the amount of space that the bar mechanism is slid along its track. This is, however, speculative. The piston plungers ascend at i ,' 1 i such a smooth pace that, conceivably, small glasses of liquid could be used for final loads. The traps are completely invisible from even a short distance, and the mechanisms are perfectly silent. Using these wells at the conclusion of a sleight-of-hand routine, the vanish and reappearance of the balls (or the sudden appearance of different small objects) seems miraculous. (Source of information: Ray~nond Goubt. Transcribed and illustrated by Alan Wassilak.)

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Partial Bibliography

Arnmar. Michael, The Magic ofMichael Ammal; Tahoma, California, L&L Publishing, 1991 Detailed account behind the thinking and construction of Michael's Stand-Up Cups and Balls Routine. Bamberg, Theo, Notes On The Cups And Balls in (Robert Parrish) Okito On Magzc , pg. 61 (1952). A group of suggestions based on "classic" material, including "right" and "wrong" handlings. Bannon, John, Impossibilia, Tahoma, California, L&L Publishing, 1990. Another performer who has chosen to perform a routine using only two cups. Berg, Joe, Berg's Cups and Balls in The Berg Book (1983). Re-written and re-illustrated by Eric Lewis from the prior text in Genii for July 19'74. Two full routines, ending with onions ("a strong finish!"). Biow, Dick, The Sponge Ball King's Cups and Balls, New York City, Robinson Wizard, Inc, 1994. A classic performer's handling of a commercial routine using sponge balls. Blackstone, Harry, The "Linking Rings" and "The Cups and Balls" in Secrets ofMagc. A number of moves and routines, using a total of seven balls. Also in his Modern Card Tricks and Secrets ofMagic. Blyth, Will, The Cups and Cubes in The Sphinx (April, May and July 1934). Very informative, using a sloping board so cubes don't roll, for enhanced visibility. Recommended. Brooke, Ken, Ken Brooke's Magc, The Unique Years, Bideford, England, The Supreme Magic Company, 1980. This is the same routine as was printed in Routined Manipulations. Interesting to note that although this is a three-cup routine, Ken decided to end with only a single final load. Brooke, Ken, Ken Brooke's Cups and Balls in (Lewis Ganson) Routined Manipulation Part I (1950). A full routine, with some audience participation. Colombini, Aldo, Colombini's Cups and Balls (1981) (and in forthcoming L & L Publishing's compilation of Ganson's "Teach-In" series). Extremely useful treatise with the full "Colombini Presentation." Particularly recommended. Colombini, Aldo, Rainbow Cups and Ball Routine in Hic-Cups. Valuable publication, with color-changing balls routine plus other related routines. Cremer, W.H., The Secret Out; One Thousand Tricks With Cards, And Other Recreations, New York, Dick & Fitzgerald, 1859. A lengthy description of the Cups and Balls with additional moves such as the balls changing color and growing in size. Elsewhere in the book, Cremer suggests the use of coffee cups for a transposition of small balls. Daley, Jacob, Dr. Jacob Daley's Cup And Ball Routine in TheJinxNo. 47 (1938 and later bound reprints). A routine built upon moves described in The Stanyon Lessons (see below).

Dhotel, Jules, The Cups And Balls in Magic with Small Apparatus (1947).A full presentation, with many passes but requiring a special table. Elliott, Bruce, Classic Secrets ofMagic, New York, Galahad Books, 1953 Elmsley, Alex, The Elmsley Cups And Balls Routine in (Minch) The Collected Wwks ofAlex Elmsley Vol. I(1991). Fedko, John, The Magic of John Fedko. Fischer, Ottokar, The Magzc ojJohann Ntgomuk Hojinser; Omaha, Modern Litho, Inc., 1985. Translated by Richard Hatch. An interesting, rather involved routine using two cups, fourteen balls, and a servante attached to the table. Ganson, Lewis, M a p With Faucett Ross, Bideford, England, The Supreme Magic Company. Faucett's routine is based on the Vernon routine, but he features a couple of different thoughts and approaches. Ganson, Lewis, Routined Manipulation Finale, London, Harry Stanley, 1954. Ganson gives a brief history of sponge ball magic, mentioning A1 Cohn, but crediting Jesse L. Lybarger with the introduction of balls made of sponge in 1926. Ganson says that in the same year, magic dealer Joe Berg introduced the first cups and balls routines using sponge balls which Berg subsequently published in manuscript, "Here's New Magic," in 1937. Ganson explains how to cut sponge balls by hand. Garcia, Frank, The Very Best of Cups and Balls (1977). A valuable collection of routines, including Garcia's, Paul Gertner's with ball-bearings, and S. Leo Horowitz's. Also ideas of Francis Carlyles's and others. Hilliard, J. N., The Cups and Balls in Greater Magic p. 658 (1938 and later). Moves, routines, recommending a maximum length of four minutes for a routine. Hoffmann, Professor, Modern Mapic, A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring, London, George Routledge and Sons, 1904 (Eleventh Edition). Hoffmann (AngeloJohn Lewis) provides extensive details on the sleights and passes associated with the effect. He credits the work of French authors Guyot and Ponsin as his source for much of the material described. Robert-Houdin, Jean-Eugene, Translated and Edited, with notes by Professor Hoffmann, The Secrets of Conjuring and Magic, Or How To Become A Wizard, London, George Routledge and Sons, 1878. Robert-Houdin describes sleights, various methods including those employed by Conus and Bosco, and gives extensive contemporary dialogue. Ilango, P.K., Indian Cups and Balls, Bideford, England, The Supreme Magic Company, 1983. The Indian Cups and Balls features a cup with a knob on top, which allows for a variety of different techniques. Some manipulations unique to these cups are shown in the process of teaching a routine. Ireland, Laurie J. Ireland's On'ginal Cup and Ball Routines (1961). Outstanding publication, including The First Ireland Cup and Ball Routine from Ireland Writes a Book, The Second Ireland Cup and Ball Routine from Ireland's 1934 Year Book, and Ireland S Famous Cup and Ball Routine (1937). Joseph, Eddie, My Favorite Routine with the Cups and Balls. A comprehensive manuscript, well worth studying. The author has written extensively on the subject, including also A Practical Lesson i n Cups and Balls, Advanced Lessons i n Cups and Balls (1938) both combined in How To Do the Cups and Balls (1946), The Last Word On Cups and Balls (1942) and Lessons In Cups and Balls (1938). Jonson, Wilfrid, Magc Tm'cks and Card Tricks. A book featuring many magic topics, which does a good job of introducing the reader to thoughts on the Cups and Balls, while teaching a simple routine. Kaufman, Richard, The Amazing Miracles of Shigeo Takagi, New York, Kaufman & Greenberg, 1990. Kaufman, Richard, Paul Gertner's Steel and Silvq Silver Spring, Maryland, Kaufman & Greenberg, 1994.

Kaufman, kchard, Williamson's Wonders, New York, Kaufman & Greenberg, 1989. Lake,Jimmy, The Way I Do It Cups and Balls. A convenient routine with a minimum of sleights and final large loads. MacCarthy, E. Brian, The Chameleon Cz~psand Balls (1942). A complete act, with the balls changing colors, and including full details on the Gilly-gilly dress and the humorous patter in full. Recommended for parts and in full. Mardo, Senor, The Cups and Balls (1955). A complete analysis of manipulation, routines, and presentation, plus "The Homing Ball" and "The Shell Game." Also see Mardo's Cups and Balls in his Routined Mapc (1945). Matsuura, Gene, Tommy Wonder Entertains, Three Novel Routines Based on the Cups and Balls by Jos Bema, Oakland, CA, Jeff Busby Magic, Inc., 1983. Great explanations of Tommy's brilliant routines. A complete explanation of the Two Cup routine, as well as two routines using a single, solid cup. Mendoza,John F., The Mendoza Cup and Bull Routine (1971). Moves and a four-phase routine with photos. A bewildering (especially without the Errata sheet) and entertaining 2 1/2 minute routine. There is also a published supplement. Neil, C. Lang, The Modern Conjurer and Drawing-Room Entertains London, G. Arthur Pearson, Ltd., 1911. Features a few photos of Charles Bertram performing a couple of moves, and a final load, as he teaches his routine. Osborne, Tom, Cups &Bulls Magic, Munipulation and Routines, Philadelphia, published by Lee Grey, 1937. Breif discussion of transition from sponge ball production into cups and balls routine using sponge balls. Ouellet, Gary, The Two Goblets, Sillery, P. Q., The Camirand Academy of Magic, Inc., 1980. Gary's routine using two cups. One of the cups is a 'Chop' cup, which allows for some interesting possibilities. Platt, Johnny, Cups and Balls. His very effective professional routine, with 18 photographs. Ramsay,John, John Ramsay's Routine With Cups and Balls by Victor Farelli (1948). Desirable work, including Chronological History, Equipment, exhaustive Passes, and a Bibliography with Addendum. After nearly fifty years, still one of the most highly regarded books on any single topic of magic. Sachs, Edwin, Sleight Of Hand: A Practical Manual Of Legerdemain For Amateurs and Others, London, L. Upcott Gill, Second, and greatly enlarged, edition. No date. Circa 1893. Sinclair, Frank, Slow Motion-Cups and Balls in The Linking Ring December 1954. A fundamental routine with a surprise ending; simple and useful for children's shows. Stanyon, Ellis, The Cups and Balls in MagicVol. XI1 Nos. 5-10 and later in TheJinx Nos. 35-47. The pioneering and still important series, a collection of moves and other principles which should be reviewed by serious performers. Also see "Thimble-Rigging" in MagcVol. IV No. 1 p. 6, and the latter topic and 'Walnut Shells and Pea" in MagcVol XI1 No. 8 p. 62. Tarbell, Harlan, The Tarbell Course In Magc, Volume 1, New York, Louis Tannen, 1941. Tarbell describes a Cups and Balls routine using sponge balls and paper coffee cups. Tarr, Bill, Now You See It, Now You Don't-Lessons

in Sleight Of Hand, New York, Random House, 1976.

Taylor, Franklin V. (and others), The Eternal Cups and Balls (etc.) in (Bruce Elliott) Classic Secrets of Magc Ch. 12 (1953 and later). Very informative; several routines of Charly [sic] Miller, Ande Furlong (after Joe Berg),Johnny Paul, Roy Benson (Bowl Routine) and Don Allan [sic]. (For Taylor's full routine, see Phoenix No. 75. For Benson's full bowl routine, see Phoenix No. 156.)

Thompson Jr., J. G. Cups and Balls in M-U-M, September 1956, p. 158 and in Top Secrets ofMagicVo1. 1, p. 93 (1956).An effective routine, complete with patter, built on Taylor's principle described in the preceding entry. Trost, Nick, Nick's Routine With the Cups and Balls (1971). A brief but useful routine. Vernon, Dai, The Cups and Balls in (Lewis Ganson) The Dai Vernon Book ofMagic (1957 and 1994). As Ganson wrote, "...one of the classics of magic" and "...one of the finest routines in existence." Certainly required reading and studying for any serious performer. Also published as a separate booklet. Vernon, Dai, The Impromptu Cups and Balls Series 5, No. 1 (1949), later in Stars of Magic. The first published disclosure of Vernon's methods. Presented with drinking glasses wrapped in paper, with rolled-up napkins for balls. Again, required reading and studying. Victor, Edward, A Fragment: The Cups and Balls in (Rae Hammond) The Magic of Edward Victor'sHands p. 201 (1995). Part of Victor's routine, including the production of as many (10-20) balls as called for by the audience, finishing with a potato under each cup. Volkman, Kurt, The Oldest Deception (1957). Weiner, Irv, Impromptu No Nesting Cup and Ball Routine, Utica, New York, Cummins' Studio of Magic. Published sometime in the late fifties. Weiner, Irv, The Original Patn'otic Cups and Colmed Balls Routine, Needharn, M A , Mr. Fingers Magic. Using different colored sponge balls, published sometime in during the fifties. Wilson, Mark, Cups and Balls in Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magzc p. 425 (1975). Exceptional teaching of the trick, with cautions and substantial advice.