Greetings.

Does anyone have any comments on this routine by R. Shane, which can be downloaded from lybrary.com? The over all genesis of the routine (which I have not seen, but read about in his introduction, available on lybrary.com) seems interesting enough.

Anyone read this or do this routine?

Appreciate any insight.

RevJohn

I have it and read through it a few times. it is very story heavy, but the overall routine seems interesting. I admit I have not gone through the moves, just visualized it. The routine is also in his book Pentalogy. I would like to see a video of R. Shane doing it.

-todd

I have performed the routine. It is excellent. But now, I have revisited it, and changed some handling and final loads (instead of the scorpion, I use other elements, because I changed a bit the story for my own style). I think the best cups for performing it are the River Nile Cups, by Buma, wich have egyptian images and hyeroglyphs. With a liquid final load, as the river Nile waters of Num, I think the Sting have a lot of potential. I really love this routine and I have created many variations over the original. I read the routine in the book Pentalogy.

Do you actually have a set of these cups?

Whatever happened to those cups? They were up on Steven's Magic for a while then disappeared. I personally thought they were kind of tacky, but I am guessing they were at least manufactured if they showed up on Steven's.

-Todd

Steven's never got any of them. I ordered a set a long time ago. Mark had some bad stuff happen to him, and he was delayed in producing them.

They were sold by Viking Magic and Steven's.I wrote to Buma asking for the cups. Here I copy his answer:

Andres,

Thank you for your email inquiry on my cups.

I still find myself on the road, upon my return home I will strive to
email you about the cups.

I would advise you also to keep in touch with Joe Stevens of Stevens
Magic emporium.

Best Regards,

Mark BUMA Burger

So, I think we have to wait a bit. Viking magic and Steven's Emporium wrote me that they will be avaible in tho months, more or less.

Correction. They WERE to be sold by Viking and Stevens, as well as Wolfgang Wollet's WonderWarehouse. Stevens never got any of them. Neither did Viking. I have been in close touch with Stevens about this.

I also had an e-mail exchange with Mark Burger about it.

Well, I see, these cups are hard to find and, may be, an Urban Legend. So, I still think they are the best for performing R Shane's routine. Another set with liquid load will be fine for my final version with the waters of Num (but the egyptian design was so cool...). I believe a little big excursion into the Cups and Balls Museum will be inspiring. The storytelling routine is nos complex in sleight of hand, but has a very special taste in emotions.

Any other thoughts about the routine itself? Just discovered lybrary.com =) and was thinking of making this my first purchase.

Re: the routine. I bought it; it's very good. If you have an adult audience free from heart conditions, it's an excellent idea. But seriously, warn them first; some people have a very strong reaction to the routine, especially with R Shane's subtle handling ("I'm ashamed to admit...") at the end. I use an adapted 'rattlesnake egg' style practical joke to make it 'scuttle' once it's in the closed box and my hands are away from it. It helps with performance if you're an arachnophobe yourself. I am, so my (entirely genuine) fear sells it well.

On a related note, has anyone tried a 'taxidermy' scorpion rather than a fake? It's easier to source an authentic Androctonus Australis that way, and it would be 100% true to the story. Seems classier than plastic or rubber, but are they too fragile?

I used a variation of the routine, changed the story & no scorpion, and it was well received. I was really drawn to the use of the balls.
Recommendation...Yes The general idea can be played many ways though the scorpion angle is a great one.

Maybe it's the language barrier. I hope so. The cups are NOT an urban legend. They were produced -- there were only 10 sets made. I have one of them. The set is in the museum.

They finally did arrive at Stevens', by the way. He has a few sets left. The water load is interesting, but it isn't easy to use. It will require a lot of practice.

The reference to "The Waters of Num" did not make any sense at all until I googled it. In English it's the "Waters of Nun" or the "Waters of Nu." It might make a good presentation. But I don't see how you will fit the scorpion into this.

Going from the balls to the scorpion makes sense.

I downloaded the routine from lybrary.com. My recommendation -- get Shane's book, instead. The routine is also in there. And you get a bunch of other material as well.

Note about the "rattlesnake eggs" gimmick. In the UK, the same thing is used for "scorpion eggs."