I'm seeking advice on where to purchase a reasonable set of cup and balls, preferably with a chop cup included. I want good quality, but not too expensive. I want to use them to perform a good cup and balls routine, and also want to use the balls for a trick I saw Dai Vernon do using roulette balls. I basicall want the balls to travel from one hand to the other utilizing Dai Vernon's technique. I figured the balls used for the cup and balls routine would work well for this effect as well. Any advice or tips would be very helpful. I've looked online at different sets and don't have a clue as to what to look for. I see some made of aluminum, brass, copper, and etc. I just want to make sure I'm not going to get ripped off with a cheap product.

It's fairly subjective, but I can't really recommend the Bazar de Magia combo cups. The interiors are very dodgy looking.

I might sound a bit fuddy duddy, but might it be worth starting with a cheap, 'straight' set of cups? I use a Combo set, and the special feature is used... for two brief moments. The rest is sleight of hand.

There are some amazingly knowledgable people in this corner of The Café, and it might be worth searching through some old threads?

But if you start with a straight set, you'll soon find out if you really want to persist with studying Cups & Balls. My combo set cost several hundreds of dollars, but that was after years of practice!

Generally, it's worth thinking about size; are you 6'7", with huge hands? Or are you 5'6", with delicate little paws?

Cups come in all shapes and sizes, as do final loads. Ball size is also important, or so I hear... You can use various palms with those crochet balls; there will be a size that suits you best.

Best case scenario, you would be able to visit a shop and take a look at various options, but I know that isn't always possible for most.

A good start is to find some cups you like the look of, think about visibility and your performing conditions, and take it from there.

Enjoy the beginning of this journey. With any luck, you will never quite reach the destination, which is as it should be.

Tom

:-)

Snooganst,

Tomsk192 makes some great observations as to choosing cups. There is a lot of great information here regarding Cups if you dig deep and hard enough. If you are going to take the jump to get the right set of Cups, spend some time reading the posts here. Below is a link to 14,000 postings on Cups…

http://tinyurl.com/odv5tw4

I am not familiar with the roulette balls mentioned, but from what I know of roulette, the ball is very hard and might not lend itself well for the Cups, let alone being gaffed for a Combo set.

As to being “ripped off with cheap product” … like most things such as crafted props or tools… you get what you pay for. You might be more satisfied with a good non-Combo set. The inexpensive Combo sets usually have a very poor gaff to them.

I recommend that you look at RNT2 and become familiar with what they offer and why… they have a wide range of products and prices.

Good luck with your Cup quest and let us know which way you go.

Bruce

I was hoping to substitute the crochet balls for the roulette balls for the DV routine. Unfortunately I don't have any magic stores nearby to go test out different types. For some reason, Louisiana doesn't have a big magic market. I'm just really looking forward to learning the cup and balls because I know it will help my sleight of hand tremendously.

I am 6'2" and have average size hands I would say.

Thank you guys for the feedback.

Hiya,

I hear you, re magic shops. That makes it more tricky.

If you could find a ball made of rubber that resembled a roulette ball, then that would eliminate talking with the cups, but I would be concerned about scale and visibility. Perhaps the shells and pea game would be the way to go, using a roulette ball?

Anyway. For what it's worth, I'm shorter than you by a few inches, and I use large cups, (they take a tennis ball as a final load), with 1 1/8 inch balls. Nice and visible and suit my hands in terms of palming.

My first set was a fairly small, cheap, aluminium set, with 1" balls. I still have them. They are not as good as these, which are on sale for $99.

Snoogansgt.... Reach out to Donnie at RNT2; he is very customer driven and will make sure that you are happy... RNT2 offers a 30 day satisfaction which is very rare in the magic world. Besides Cups, they offer balls in many sizes and colors.

I am your size, I really like the PF and Squatty 2 style Cups. The newer foxy 3 Cups are pretty cool too.

Good luck!
Bruce

I second RNT2!

When I started cups and balls I purchased a Morrisey aluminum set. After a year, I wanted to upgrade to RNT2 after I felt I deserved them. I purchased a set of Johnny Paul cups and have been very pleased with them.

The balls that Dai Vernon used in his ball and net routine as well as a couple of other routines were not roulette balls, per se. They were "ivoroid" balls. There was no particular purpose for them. However, in the 1970's Presley Guitar manufactured sets of these. If you will go to your local Wal-Mart or your local "Party City," you can find high bounce balls made of a silicone rubber compound, roughly an inch in diameter. These are really easy to work with, and they are dirt cheap.

They will also work well in a cups and balls routine if your cups are a large enough size to warrant using a 1 inch ball. When purchasing the balls, be sure to take into account the color contrast between the balls and your close-up mat (or other working surface) and between the balls and your clothing.

Ickle Pickle makes a very good aluminum combo set. Steve Bender (the owner) and his staff are nice persons to deal with. They took extreme care of my order and I live in Italy! I recomend their products.