I really like working with sponge balls, but I've come across some people who tend to view them as childish. I'm pretty sure the reason for this comes down to the appearence of the props themselves, and I think that some performers avoid them for this reason. I'm at the point where I'm considering dropping these from my repetoire as I perform mainly for adults and would rather not have my magic come off as childish. I'm just wondering what peoples' thoughts are on the subject of how these props are perceived by adult audiences? Also, has anyone dropped these props for similar reasons?

Many thanks,

It all depends on your presentation. I have never had a spectator say "hey, those are for kids". I get as strong of a reaction from adults as kids with my sponge ball routine. Adults love the sponge bunnies as well, by the way.

Agreed!

Actually, if your doing the Sponge Bunnies as Bryanpier suggests, you can really go for an "adult" presentation with them that makes it pretty clear "this ain't for kids!"

With that said, I have never had anyone question my sponge ball routine. To them, there just a prop.

For me, I do a 2 Cup Routine and my sponge balls are my final loads. That way, I can easily segway into my Sponge Routine. They think nothing of it b/c they've now been conditioned and have already seen one awesome C&B routine.

Before going into my sponge routine, I always use the line "do you know where I got these from?" (as I display the balls)

"On the way here tonight, I beat up a bunch of clowns!"

If that gets a laugh then I follow that up with "do you know why? That's right, because they deserved it!"

That line sets up the idea that if these were kid props, they may have been aquired in an adult manner....OR NOT? Who knows? Either way, it always gets a great laugh and people enjoy the routine.

It's all about your character and how you present the routine.

Play to your audience. Don't try to force the same three tricks on everyone in the room.

If you don't know more than three tricks, you shouldn't be working yet.

BTW, are the people who thought the trick was childish magicians or laypeople? Some magicians think the sponge balls are childish. They were "non-childish" enough that Roger Klause worked out a routine for them. Roger did not do childish magic.

If the spectators think that the sponge balls are childish, then you need to look at your presentation.

I get great reaction to my sponge ball routines from adults, and have never had an adult tell me they thought they were childish. There are always people out there who think any magic is childish. I wouldn't let them worry you. Possibly it is your routine, there are so many good routines out there to start with, and of course, over time you develop your own.

The primal simplicity of the prop gives potential for magic so strong that only the thicker skulls in the room would then mistake them for childish playthings. Of course there are thick skulls to be encountered, as there are magicians who cannot communicate what marvels lie in simplicity. Pity when they meet.

It's all about your attitude, confidence, etc.
You've got 10 seconds to convince them it's not a kids trick.
How do you plan on doing that?

I hate the sponge balls, and can't believe people are fooled by them. I've only seen one routine that really fooled me, Eugene Burger's, and that's the one I do. People scream. I get far better reactions from that than any Diagonal Palm Shift, faro shuffle or 2nd deal I do. But I still hate the sponge balls.

Why perform the sponges if you hate them? Do you think that shows when you perform?

I can't speak for Pepka, but I can speak for someone else who did a trick that he really didn't like all that much -- John Booth. John was famous for his version of the razor blade trick. Yet he didn't like it. It did not show when he did it, though. Everyone who saw him do it thought he loved the trick. He did it for the same reason other people do a particular trick that they might not really like -- the audience response.

Not at all, I hate them because it's a stupid trick. But when you put 3 balls in someone's hand and they open it a moment later and 25 come jumping out, THAT'S what I love.

I guess it's like a band playing a hit song for years. They get sick of it but they play it anyway because that's what the people want.

It is not about the trick or the prop, it is about the sensation of the effect, as experienced by the spectator. I suppose in many ways, it depends on whose hand you use. It's not necessarily a trick that everyone wants to see again (like hearing a band's song), but it is a trick that many people want to, or are glad they experienced. The symbolism of ultimate penetration is very much like being able to read someone's mind. There is a moment, however brief, when the spectator's mind is dealing with the fact that their personal space has been breached. There is almost a fight or flight moment before they conclude that they are actually still safe. It's one of the best tricks ever for finding out who the screamers are, without scaring the crap out of them with spiders, etc.

For Pepka HATE is LOVE...

Jules DeBarros may have secretly hated the sponge balls. He didn't like the commercial version, so he worked out a presentation that involved the padding in seats from aircraft that were captured from the Germans during WW II.

It was an interesting presentation, but it was so drawn out that by the time he actually showed the sponge balls for the first time, anyone else's routine would have been finished.

The person who originally communicated this to me did so after watching another magician do a sponge ball routine. I think what struck my friend as a bit silly was when the magician would make claims about the sponge balls and then try to prove these claims with an effect that really wasn't very deceptive. For example, claiming that there were really two balls inside the one and then 'sawing' it in half, or claiming that a ball was inside a magic wand and then blowing it out the other end. I admit that the ball really didn't look like it was being sawed in half and it didn't look anything like a ball emanating from one end of a wand.

I think my friend felt that their intelligence was being a bit insulted by the performance. I think that this all led to thier comment that such magic is best suited to 6-8 year olds (with the obvious implication that it wouldn't fool anyone over that age range). the scary part was that she pretended to be entertained and later asked me if she did a good job at feigning amusment.

I have to say also that my friend has seen a lot of my magic including sponge balls, so they know how some of this stuff is done, and I know that this takes a lot of the magic out of the effect.

I don't present my sponge ball routines in the manner described above, but I definately need to think about how I present them in order to avoid this kind of pitfall.

The sawing in half of a spongeball is a beautiful illusion that should fool anyone.

It is ruined, however, by a performer stating (or hinting) anything close to.. "i will now saw the spongeball in half".

This immediately plants the seed, for the more intelligent members of the audience (probably all of them), that there are now 2, instead of the 1 that they see.

At this point the illusion is lost before it even begins.
The magician in question is telegraphing everything they are doing.

Psychology in magic is extremely subtle and can be ruined by so many seemingly inconsequential things like this.

Instead, if the magician stated "wow, I didn't know there'd be so many people watching me" <pause> and then proceeded to saw the ball in half, and say, "i guess we'd better use 2", there is no hint to what was to occur next and the sawing in half would be quite funny and magical. Simple psychological misdirection.

Thanks Frank, I really like your thinking. I'm beginning to realize how fragile a lot of magic can be and how easily an illusion can be broken by words or actions from the magician that fall outside of the methods themselves.

Slydini's performing vocabulary was not very large. Often, he would simply say, "Look" or "Watch." Sometimes that's enough, especially if your work is as strong as Slydini's.