I wish that the above analysis and references may help younger magicians to realize that creativity is not in finding a new "move" (which wouldn't change anything) but in using different props and writing a sequence of effects tied together with an interesting and emotional script justifying the props... and possibly leading to a new move for practical reason (but not the other way around, which never worked even for the most famous masters of our art)

Thank you for posting such detailed posts, I learn so much about sponge balls and the three ball trick now.
It gave me a bird's eye view on the topic.

Lawrence is the absolute king of references for magic tricks. I am often overwhelmed by the sheer size of his posts, but the information is very valuable and worth reading.

I love the 3 ball trick. I worked for a while on a version where all the balls are in play through all phases, as it allows three balls to come from the right hand without ever needing a Han Ping Chien move. I wasn't happy with how the left hand looked, though, and went back to the way Johnny Thompson teaches it. I thought I was all clever, but the audience would need to believe the left hand is empty at the end or the trick is blown.

Worth working on, though, just for the thinking about it.

-Patrick

There is in my opinion a inherited and faithfully trasmitted mistake on the three ball trick. It seems to me that using the Pop Up move on the first ball is a psychological mistake which may arouse suspicion when the move needs to be done on the second and third balls. As a matter of fact, the right hand (for right handed magicians) places it in the left hand TO BE ABLE TO take the second ball. Why then run when nobody is chasing us? Let's just place the ball into the left hand that closes into a fist, to take the second ball. Then as an afterthought, as if some spectators had doubt, simply open the left hand palm up and show the ball there. This alleged suspicion of a false transfer offers a real misdirection for the second ball to be placed on the left thumb crotch of the closed fist to let it sink in the fist.

There is another inheritated misconception about the net. Initially the trick is performed over a table, but workers don't always have a table, so came the idea to use a large handkerchief for a larger number of spectators to be able to see this walk-around effect, then -to make everything appear as genuine-, came the idea of using transparent chiffon so that people could see exactly how things aren't done". But along the way the scarf became square and with rings in the corner. What about using an elegant white Cashemire or sick silk scarf worn around the neck and then get it held by only two spectators enabling more people in the audience to enjoy the effect....

There is another point where I strongly disagree with Mike Gallo, who I respect extremely highly as a both a creative and skillfull magician. He claimed briefly that the "Three ball trick" has to be performed between the Hands with three balls. Actually, in the biblio published here, more than one half of the magicians perform the effect with the two in the hand and one in the pocket... which is a Three Ball Trick as well but from the pocket (further impossibility) to the hand instead from hand to hand with potential manipulation.

The same could be noticed about the cups and balls (the impossibility is under the spectators eyes on the table rather than on the performer's body (hand or pocket). Lewis Ganson was using his "bags of everything" and Roberto Giobbi uses a bag for his brilliant Three Ball Trick routine. Would it stop being a Three Ball Trick if we were using the big pompom of the string in the bag - Tommy Wonder's way- for the climax

And as Alkhemist mentions here above, the sponge balls allowing a Three Ball Trick phase in the effect to happen in the spectator's hand, which is not a small thing... and it's still the Three Ball Trick

Therefore other objects than just the traditional three rubber balls can be used like grapes, round sea shells, pebbles, small metallic nuts (as in my Ikea nuts routine), steel ball bearings (like Comte and Robert-Houdin in the 19th century, and Paul Gertner nowadays), silver coins (Al Schneider has developed a very nice fist movement to perform the Pop Up move with coins), the pearls of Rezvani and now Claude Rix or the "little beans of John Ramsay (all three using the mouth), ear plugs (as with Jay Sankey's sponge balls), ladies make-up sponges as in my own sponge balls routine... 'the sky is the limit. Some of these objects do not allow the double Roll Up (which we all love) but shouldn't we be effect driven rather than narcissistically in love with a move. The Double Roll Up came late (in 1973) in this effect already very famous after his creation in 1905 by Silent Mora. SO Using different props makes the effect look new and, in some instances more casual looking.

Now with what we discovered with Dr Daley's Chromosphere is that the objects used ("the balls"), not only don't have to be balls but can be very different; like a sea shell, a metallic nut and a cherry (there are very convincing plastic cherries sold for flower decorations). Famous magicians like Leo Leslie, Aldo Colombini and now Kent Gunn have developed a superb Three Different Colors cups and balls routine (as explained a variant of the three ball trick)
Does it means that this wouldn't be the Three Ball Trick any more

Let's go one step further: what if instead of being kind of scholar and simplistic about the effect doing just a "transposition" effect, we want to introduce other effects for three "colors" with three different props? As a matter of fact in Frank Garcia's book on the Three Ball trick, Romaine starts by making the three balls to appear... and with the three different "balls" we could make some "color changes" (change of nature like a cherry becoming a white grape or a brass nut becoming a black steel nut, or a steel ball bearing becoming an antique copper rifle ball...) Already the Two in the Hand and one in the Pocket allows to supply a different effect but also to produce a large load climax. The beauty of changing the nature of the effect is that it disclaims sleight of hand jugglery in favor of "magic" when it's the same object that transforms in a different material... or travels into the spectator's hand...

I'm advocating not to be too lamely scholar and open our minds and imagination to spectators potential dreams and sharing the magic of these dreams with them in the real world.

Isn't that "Magic"?

I got the 3 balls DVD from worlds greatest magic series and loved it. It has a few version that showed me this trick hand more scope then I rifts imagined.

Took Johnny Thompson version and put a story to it about how I loved trapeze artist as a kid going from one place to another.

I also played around with Flip idea with the tin foil balls. With a story about space junk. I need to put more work into this to make it work but that my issues not the tricks.

Just a little info hope it helped

Any folks using the three ball transposition as an interlude in a cups routine?

I know the OP started this thread years ago, but John Carney's routine has more recently become available on his subscription service. I learned it there and have since been performing it with chestnuts. I have to say, I decided to learn it more as an exercise in pure sleight of hand, than anything else; however, the reactions are of sheer disbelief. It's stronger (at least as a close-up routine) than I would have thought, and I love having it in my repertoire.

I use instead of Cups and ball routine. I have used it on the streets and in walk round.

"Any folks using the three ball transposition as an interlude in a cups routine?"

Yes.

For anyone interested, I'm giving away my version of the Three Ball Transpo; one in which the number of transpositions is just right, the effect plays for larger audiences than the usual "balls in net" would, there's a new ending that has rarely, if ever before, appeared in this trick, has a funny and engaging presentational hook, and on top of all that, allows you to talk about Schrodenger's Cats as if they were oysters.

It's free to anyone who's already signed up for Reel Magic on Demand Plus. It's in the lecture I did there. Anyone else can join for the princely sum of 5 bucks. I kid you not. Or maybe it's $10. Whatever, the proof of this gross misapprehension of the value of my material is at http://www.reelmagicmagazine.com/index.p......ive.html

I'm really interested in seeing that. Thanks for the heads up. As a fan of this routine, and having worked on it with Bob White in the past, I really appreciate how strong it is, and moreso the fact that very few people like/do it. Thanks for taking the time to share this!

Cheers,

Pix Smith
Arlington, TX

I do Dai Veron's 3-ball routine as depicted in the Gason's book. It gets great reactions.