I've spent a little time thinking.

I've recently got into magic at a fairly late age - fortysomething - and I've had a bit of a revelation.

I'd love to get a decent cups and balls routine but I'm starting to learn a few lessons.

Browsing the Café and coveting cups (I've got a lovely set) doesn't count as practice.
Buying a book must not be mistaken for reading a book or learning the contents.
Remember the magic. The audience won't care about whether I can do a fake load it's whether I can make it look like the ball goes in under one cup and comes out another. I've started to practice with two cups to get this effect (thanks Dick Oslund for the differentiation).

What's the obvious lesson you guys have taken too long to realise?

When I was younger, I was told, "Go learn the Vernon routine if you want to know anything about cups and balls." So, I did so. And like a good little robot, I could mimic the Vernon routine pretty well. Eventually, I quit doing the cups and balls because I realized that I didn't bring anything special to the trick.

Recently, I started studying the cups and balls again. I realized that the Vernon routine is brilliant, but the cups and balls are a more complex problem than I had realized. When Vernon created his routine, he made a large number of artistic choices. We're left with his routine, but we don't know all of the reasons that he made the choices that he made. So, I started to put together my own routine, this time being aware of every choice that I had to make.

I also looked at a large number of routines created over the last few centuries, and I discovered that the same weaknesses were found in many routines because 'that's the way we've always done it.' There were some sequences that seemed to end up in nearly everyone's routines that I absolutely didn't like. Also, in general, most cup and ball routines have too many phases and too much confusion.

So, I made decisions about which effects to include, which effects to leave out, and what I wanted to communicate. I thought that my goal was to create one perfect cup and ball routine. That's when I started to look at all of the constraints. I then had a revelation: I don't do just one card trick. Why do I have to do just one cup routine? So, now I have three routines. One is a chop cup routine for those situations when attention spans are too short for a complete cup routine. (Anybody ever work at a bar? Don Alan knew what he was doing.) The second is my formal routine for situations in which I'm wearing a suit jacket. It uses a wand, it includes a few sequences that are not seen very often, and it has final loading sequences that are a little off the beaten track. It pulls out all the stops, but it's also a pain in ass to set up. Finally, the third routine is my variation on Brian Watson's Anytime Anywhere Cups and Balls routine. This was designed for situations in which I'm not wearing a jacket. The routine is magical, practical and entirely self-contained. (But no wand. Sorry.)

Each routine had the same overarching goal: create a clear, deceptive magic effect that makes a connection between me and my audience. In all cases, I've had to come up with presentation frames to make something that 1) audiences will remember and like and 2) fits my personality. Sometimes, this was the most difficult part of the process.

In short, I've learned:

1) A cup routine is the sum total of a large number of small choices.
2) Life is too short to do a routine with the cups and balls that you don't love.
3) There's no rule that says that you only have to perform only one cup routine.
4) If your routine isn't a vehicle for self-expression that also connects with audiences, you'd be better off not doing it at all.
5) All these lessons apply to every other magic effect you do, regardless of the props involved.

That right there, for everything we do.
Modern life doesn't always allow for it, but it is great while we can!

Cups and balls is about making a ball disappear and reappear under the cup. That is all there really is to it. All magicians do is muck up the simplicity of the trick with our "routines".

-JoeJoe

Barry, JoeJoe, John
What great responses
I think as hobbyist magians a danger is falling for the kit, the books, the techniques and forgetting the magic.
You guys just say it better!

Also consider that a cup/container is a substitute hand with an assumption that "not in hand" is more difficult or impossible.
The cup allows a ball to be hidden whole showing the hands empty.

I like to start with a three-ball effect and then "graduate" to using a cup, i.e. there is a reason for the cup

Don't loose this advantage by making the cups appear as gimmicked. A transportation for one cup to another is more powerful than
a vanish from hand and appearance under a cup. (opinion)

Flourished with cup or wand may increase entertainment value, but at the expense of astonishment.

Funsway
Bear with me
Still trying to get my head round the "cup as extension of hand" theory
What do you think of using an item other than a ball to appear less "gimmicked"? Any other household item you've seen work?
Never found manipulating ball easy - hand too curved for finger p*** to look natural etc
I've seen gaffed Starbucks chop cups etc
I'll confess now I'm a home magician only and perform really just for my own entertainment so no authority to speak other than interest

A magician's hands are always suspect, some form experience and some from popular quips such as "hand quicker than eye."

There is a fine distinction between "not yours" as in a spectator's hand, and "other than your hand," such as C&B

These free up the performer's hands for other business and exclude the possibility of "sleight of hand."

Thus, using a container to conceal an object is doing the hand's work with several advantages, and many limitations.

A playing acrd in mAtrix and an Okito Box are both functionally 'containers' other than hand.

My favorite container is a cup with a handle. This allows for dozens of sleights and moves not possible with a traditional cup. No gaff required.

Many ordinary containers can seem less gimmicky than traditional props. Apparently spontaneous use of "found objects" works wonders.

At the diner, grab coffee/tea cup and some creamers and go to work. Their tops are the size of a half dollar and palming is easy.

Sorry for the delayed response Funsway
I like the coffee creamer idea
As a beginner (still) and looking for short cuts (guilty but don't we all) I was loooking for the easiest object I could find to classic palm for a chink a chink style routine.
I bought a bag of ferrules in a hardware shop - the plastic caps that fit over the legs of office chairs to protect the floor, or the end of walking sticks.
Upside down they're light, sharp cornered and wider at top than bottom making them an easy lift.
The creamer is a great idea because it's a more natural item to have or find
I'll try
Thank you as ever
Rick