I've been reading over past threads for hints on ways to minimize the noise of the ball hitting the pad when using a chop cup. I found many good suggestions.

In a couple of the threads, the pad was mentioned in passing, and observations made that the standard magician's pad may be too hard. I would be intested to know what you use as a pad for a chop cup routine, and how/where a softer pad might be found or made.

Thanks--

Flimnar

How about Dean's Pad?

I usually use a piece of automobile headliner. You can buy this by the yard at major fabric shops. Get about a half yard of it. That will give you enough to make several pads.

Great suggestion--that's one I never would have thought of. Thanks Bill!

Flimnar

The nice thing is that if you need a really big pad, say 54 inches by 72 inches, you just buy 2 yards of it.

Wouldn't you love to see that routine?

Bill,

How do these automobile headliner pads look after being folded? Do they crease? I'd like to find a pad that can be unfolded and not have a crease or wrinkles.

The folds come out of them fairly quickly. They are lined with a thin foam layer. This generally does not keep a crease.

Thanks, Bill. If one of these pads were kept folded in a walk-around situation, then brought out and laid out on the table...it sounds like the crease would probably be present for the duration of a 2-3 minute routine. Would you say so?
Thanks.

ROLL IT, DON'T FOLD IT.

When I worked the chop cup in bars, which I did for many years, I kept the props in an appropriately-sized Crown Royal bag and used it as "a portable stage". Of course, any such bag would also work; made better providing the color contrasts that of the ball(s). Now you're not even concerned with finding a place to set the bag aside. With a set-up like this, it becomes entirely self-contained and I've even played it on the palm of someone's hand when no table was present. The bag provided perfect "insulation", and surprisingly, final loads came as a surprise to the person whose hand was being used, too, even if at a slightly different time. I never once had any of them tip it early.

~michael