I've just started down the Cups & Balls path, and it can easily and justly be said that I don't know squat, however I recieved The Complete Cups & Balls by Michael Ammar today and I can testify that this book is the perfect book for those that fall into the don't know squat category. It's detailed and it's easy to follow. I may sound like a shill for L&L publishing but if you decide to get this book, get it from them. A collection of performances on DVD plus the explanation of two of them was included gratis. I ordered copper Bazar de Magia Cups from Adesso Verlag and not only am pleased with the value of the set, the transaction was a most enjoyable one. Thanks to all that have given input on Cups & Balls, I've read much in these forums and have learned from it. Soon I shall join the ranks of the Squat Knowers. Till then I'll be burning the midnight oil.

Welcome to the club. What a wonderful trick.
I remember being so ... envious when I did not have a routine.

What an enjoyable crowdstopping, full of fun thing to do with
some plain old props. cups. balls. and a stick. ahhh... so simple.

when you think about it that way, it's a damm good thing to know how to do.

I second the comments about Michael Ammar's book. I have a beautiful Cups & Balls set that sat in my drawer for a long time because I could never get around to putting together a routine and mastering the basic moves.

Ammar's book was well organized and easy to follow, and made it easy to set up a routine that was within my ability. I can also see how to expand the routine as I add new sleights and moves. Lots of good information and ideas on final loads, too.

Best of all, it is amazing to see the audience reaction to what is one of the oldest and simplest magic tricks (but not so simple to perform skillfully and effectively!).

You also might want to check out the Greater Magic "Cups & Balls Teach-In," which is available from Stevens Magic and a few other dealers. Curiously, I didn't care for any of the presentations, which are all of the "guess where the ball is now" and "did you catch me" variety. However, it's worth getting in order to observe the sleights and techniques, particularly of Mike Rogers, whom I really enjoyed watching. As you know, you can and should come up with your own presentation and patter anyway. SETH

So what don't you know?

You got enough right now to make one great routine. Good luck, this is one fabulous path, it is never ending but you will certainly find some pots of gold along the way.

I just got my first set of combo cups yesterday. I love C&B routines. I'll probably have to take a look at Michael Ammar's book though. I cant wait till I have a routine perfectly worked out so I can start showing it to people.

Jim

The key to a good cups and balls routine is knowing how much to leave out. Start with a basic, simple routine and learn to do loads. Once you have those two things mastered, then begin to add to the middle. Keep it short. The actual mechanics of the trick should not last more than about 3 minutes. The rest should be filled with good entertainment value.

Thanks Bill!! Great suggestion. My loading is a little off so I know I need to deffinatly work on that. I have only been playing around with them for a little over a day now. I want my routine to be perfect before I show it to anybody. When I imagine the type of responce I will get, I get so excited. I cant wait!!

Jim

Definately!
look at Gazzo's routine. He is known for fabulous routine. It is extremely simple in terms of the moves. No need to clutter up a routine with a million wand vanishes etc. I have 3 vanishes in my routine: retention vanish ( a lot of those), Vernon wand spin (one of these), and Strike Vanish (one). I am thinking of getting rid of the Strike Vanish too, just to simplify things a little more.

The Vernon routine is also quite short, maybe 2 and half min. He didn't BS as much as gazzo, and many of the others do, but still, a very simple routine in terms of the mechanics.

The Less is More advice that Bill mentioned follows the things I read about the crowd must be able to follow the action. Too much this and that and the performance becomes cluttered and confusing, and not in a good way. One suggestion was to start with just two cups, the fundamentals can be practiced, and then add the third cup when you understand more about natural flow and when and how the magic moments should happen.

One routine you don't see very often is the one by Ken Brookes
in Lewis Gansons book Routined Manipulation.