I love the classics that seem like "real" magic. Never been a big fan of gadgets and such. When you produce a dove out of a pan or a rabbit out of a hat, even though it's cool, it just seems like it should be obvious to the audience that there's a trapdoor or a pouch or something.

But when you produce lemons out of three cups when there is seemingly no possible way they could have gotten in there, it's amazing. When the zombie ball is done WELL, and a metal sphere seems to hang in mid air a few feet from the audience and there seems to be no way there could be strings, it's amazing. They seem almost like true sorcery. These are the two main tricks I'm practicing right now.

What are some other classics that are like this? That take skill to perform well, don't involve a suspicious "gadget," but are high on the "sorcery" factor.

Chop Cup, Sponge Balls, Linking Rings...Are just the tip of the iceberg!
:bluebikes:

<<<KRaZy4kardz>>>

Yeah, sponge balls, not so much. Same with chop cup. Too similar to cups and balls which is my favorite. But linking rings are definitely next on my agenda.

U.F. Grants version of Out of This World, a simple cut and restored rope routine or The Professor's Nightmare, everyone loves seeing the linking rings and the vanish and reappearance of a silk via TT.

You could try multiplying billiard balls, or a chink-a-chink type assembly with coins/dice/bottlecaps/etc. I also think some of the TT vanishes of a silk are classic.

Chris

Rope is on my list, but it just seems a little short of amazing to me except of course for the Professor's Nightmare. Have to learn that one. Not a big fan of silk. Still too much like the aformentioned "gadgets" in that there is something inherently suspicious about it.

Rope is on my list, but it just seems a little short of amazing to me except of course for the Professor's Nightmare. Have to learn that one. Not a big fan of silk. Still too much like the aformentioned "gadgets" in that there is something inherently suspicious about it.

Miser's Dream - done with streams of coins coming from the most unlikely of places. "That's just too many coins for him to be concealing in his hands!"

It definitely takes skill to do convincingly, and it takes a good imagination to come up with an entertaining presentation.

- Steve

How about spending $25 for a copy of Tarbell 1? (Or $200 for the entire set?) Or less than that for Bobo or Royal Road. All of those books contain dozens of classics that I think fulfill your requirements.

I'm amazed that my favorite classic, The Egg Bag, wasn't even mentioned.
Like Patton said, "How fleeting fame"....
Ted (Leondo)

Producing cards from bare hands.

Magixx

Chop cup, when done properly is a jaw dropper. The specs will always be sure there is 'something' and they will often try to look under the cup. Take a look at Don Alan's routine on That's Incredible. At one point Kathy Lee bends over and looks under the cup. Don Allen, performer that he was, encouraged that. If you watch closely when the cup was 'clean' he tipped it back, flashing the inside. Kathy Lee fell for it and looked inside. He just looked at her like "Satisfied?"

Bobo's was a good idea. I suggest Peregrinating Halves and Gadabout Coins.

Zombie is another. Like Linking Rings, it takes a ton of practice to get it right.

Dancing Cane is yet another.

Oh yeah, thimbles.

Nothing is new everything is just a modified version of something old