Do you, or have you ever used a Cups and Balls / Chop cup routine in your table hopping?
Most on here don't use them, but how does "the pro" feel?

Do you feel that you shouldn't "Invade their space" or don't you mind?
james

Actually, there are a lot of 'pro's' here and I've enjoyed exchanging ideas.

I don't mind putting things on people's tables but wouldn't go so far as to place a mat, for instance. Regarding the cups, it becomes an issue of pocket space for the props, the loads, etc.

I do use my own Chop Cup routine (which is in print in manuscript form at The Magic Menu site) when I work behind the bar.

I went to the The Magic Menu site and could not find the Chop Cup routine. Can you give me a url?

Thanks,
Bama Gambler

I hope that I am not overstepping my boundaries by posting this here, but here is my two cents regarding the performance of the cups & balls in a restaurant.

I personally would rather not invade their space with a mat and/or 3 cups, although, many performers do just that. I have seen a local magician moving his audience’s beverages around to make room for his large close-up mat! The thought of a magician in a bad tuxedo arriving at my table during brunch scares me enough; I certainly don’t want that guy touching my juice. =)

However, if you have a routine that you would like to use at your restaurant venue, behind the bar is the perfect location. A gambling themed routine is ideal for this situation. I used to perform a “shell game” style routine with 3 coffee cups and a balled-up cocktail napkin when I occasionally performed at a local bar. The contrast of the white cups and the red cocktail napkin made for a classy routine that showed up from as much of a distance as I needed. The bar is also a great place to improvise bits of this type of a routine – it doesn’t always have to be as highly structured behind the bar.

The countless uses for those cocktail napkins is a topic for another discussion, but you truly are only limited by your own imagination. Some examples include: Lovell’s Rose, Impromptu Vanishes, and torn and restored napkins. I have done, and continue to do, all of these.

Just some thoughts,

Eric Starkey

One additional advantage that I meant to mention in my last post is that you are using "found objects". You don't have to explain the cups away; they are ordinary, right off of the shelf behind the bar. And you don't have to worry about carting additional items with you.

In fact, I carry vary little with me, but still have a wealth of material at my disposal due to borrowed objects (watches & rings), found objects (cocktail napkins, cups, & sugar packets), and my trusty deck of bicycles and a few coins. I am not talking about "impromptu tricks", these are highly structured routines that simply seem as though I'm "working with what I've got".

Sorry I'm a little off topic now, but I think it's relevant information, nonetheless.

The URL for information about my chop cup manuscript is:

http://www.magicmenu.net/store.html

And, regarding Eric's further thoughts (and you're not overstepping anything; we're all sharing ideas here and I'm learning, too), I have to agree. Most people in a restaurant are very proprietary about their table space. It's theirs for the 70 minutes or so they're their and they're entitled.

By the way, Eric, I mentioned it in another post but regarding napkin pieces, I must do Harlan's "Starcle" 20 times a night.

Actually, I have performed both and have found that once I establish myself as an amiable person, one who is fun to be around and who is providing a welcome diversion, there is no real barrier to my using a bit of their table space for even a 3-cup routine.

I have to choose my moment. In addition to the people at the table being in the right mood, I also watch the angles of where I can stand at that table with regard to other tables. So it's not an every-table routine.

However, I'll set the 3 nested cups (or 1 cup, if I'm doing a chop routine) mouth down on the table and use the uppermost surface as a pedestal during, say, a sponge ball or coin routine. By the time I'm done, they'll ask me what the cups are for and I can suggest that it's a particularly interesting item to perform at tables where I have a bit more space... often they'll immediately clear the space themselves and invite me to proceed.

I don't table-hop with a cup routine every week -- just now and then. However, if there is a banquet in the back room I will gather three coffee mugs and some lemons and do the routine in a strategic location so that people in the room can enjoy it. It makes a nice closer to a somewhat larger performance for that room.

I am really finding that the working details of material I choose while working the tables -- while certainly posing logistical limitations -- is still less important than the kind of person I am when I'm interacting with people. Once they like me and know that I respect them as my audience, they'll happily adapt to whatever conditions may be desirable for a particular routine. I make sure not to abuse that flexibility, but I don't ignore it either. The whole point of my being there is that this experience is going to be somewhat unusual, now that they've been interrupted from the typical flow of a restaurant visit. I work to make my interruptions "intriguing and worthwhile" and not "a gosh-awful hassle" by showing respect for the people.

JMT

While I have not been doing restaurant magic all that long, I feel I have something to add. One of my best routines in the restaurant is Mark Jennest's Jiggernaut. It is one "cup" routine done with a jigger and an olive with a two corks as the final load.

This routine goes over very well and is my employers personal favorite.

I obviously do use the table when performing this but I always politely ask first and it is usually done as a closer. This way, I have time to feel out the table and get a sense of whether they would mind me using their table space for a final routine.

I feel it is the perfect "cup and balls" routine for the restaurant as it packs flat (the jigger takes up little pocket space) plays big and resets the moment you put it back in your pocket.

Just my thoughts