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MagicOfDamon New user 48 Posts |
The cups and balls trick will always hold a dear sentament to me because it was the very first real magic trick that I learned.
We took a family trip to Disney World and went to Old Towne Magic Shop in Orlando. I like using large regular plastic drinking cups that you can find at walmart and use sponge balls then go into a sponge ball routine with spectators. To me it helps sell the magic of the balls. |
Lawrence O Inner circle French Riviera 6811 Posts |
MagicOfDamon, allow me to tell you of King Midas complete story:
Because he was very close to Dionysus , the god of wine and unchained sexual pleasures, he started considering himself equal to the gods. So Dionysus gave him the well known "gift" that everything he would touch would change into gold. Since, due to this "gift", he could no longer eat or drink or enjoy sexual pleasure, he asked mercy from the god admitting his arrogance and begged him to get freed from the fateful present. Dionysus ordered him to bathe in the river Pactol and wash himself from his conceit. Then Midas regained access to mount Olympus and he was asked to tell which one was the most godly music between Pan's flute or Apollo's lyre. He expressed that the flute was more "his style" and that therefore he didn't care so much for Apollo's lyre. Then Apollo, the god in charge of the legality of the souls, harmony and balance, decided to ornate his head with a magnificent pair of donkey's ears before kicking him out of mount Olympus. Initially the arrogant Midas tried to hide his deformity under the sign of the liberated slaves, the Phrygian cap. Thus he was hiding his guilt under the guise of freedom of personal thought. However his barber (a magic café of the time), to whom he could not hide the shameful secret, could not keep it either. He attempted burying it into the earth: having made a hole, he whispered into it "King Midas has donkey's ears" and quickly recovered it with as much earth as he could. At this precise place however reeds grew and, with the slightest blow of the wind, they were spreading the news : "King Midas has donkey's ears... King Midas has donkey's ears... " May I suggest that you understand what Greek mythology can help us to accept. Hiding our short comings behind a self proclaimed freed style may not fool our peers and burying our guilt into a magicians' forum only risks telling everyone what a falsely modest cap attempts to hide. We may try and bury it but we would spread the news ourself. For your own sake, don't position yourself, under the "to me" cap, as a potential judge in a 52 card game where you apparently know only 3 cards. Keep learning about the C&Bs: if magicians over the centuries created enough thinking and grey cells sparkles to fill Bill Palmer's museum (and, fortunately for us, it is physically impossible to gather everything in one single place), it means that what can help you "selling the magic of the balls" may be a little short to be offered as exemplary enough for communicating about it. Now at least you are trying to think about your options which makes you eligible for getting to mount Olympus. However I wish you to gain there a better judgment than King Midas by being slow and thoughtful before considering your own experience as exemplary. :)
Magic is the art of emotionally sharing live impossible situations
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waltsal Loyal user 278 Posts |
10!
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SilvaAce Regular user Fargo, ND 156 Posts |
Great post Lawrence!!!
When I believe something is working for me, I can make it more believable to my audience!
All you have to do to change your life, is to change your daily habits!
Carlos Silva |
MagicOfDamon New user 48 Posts |
Ok, that made absolutely no sense at all but thanks for posting???
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panlives Inner circle 2087 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-24 14:29, MagicOfDamon wrote: That Lawrence’s post made no sense to you is symptomatic of a conceptual/perceptual mapping disconnect that he was (very beautifully and gently) trying to help you overcome. Sad and tragic – like so many of the Greek myths Lawrence used as his reference point.
"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." "The dog did nothing in the night-time." "That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes. |
Donnie Buckley V.I.P. Cleveland, Ohio 1123 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-24 14:29, MagicOfDamon wrote: This comment brought a visit from the Algea. |
HerbLarry Special user Poof! 731 Posts |
Hey MagicOfDamon,
You sell magic of the Balls, whereas I use the Cups as the cause for the magic, then again I never was much of a ball man. To go your route I would probably start with the S.B. routine and move to the Cups so that the final loads were, well...final, but that's just how I would do it. I'll not imply that you consider your own experience as exemplary, or that using sponge balls gives you a falsely modest cap that your ears won't fit under(?). Here is a question for you. Which is less enjoyable, the "I know more than you, so there!" magician's attitude in person or in print?
You know why don't act naive.
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Dale Houck Veteran user Dakota J Magic at Saint Cloud, FL 343 Posts |
I found much wisdom in Lawrence O's post, as I have in many of his posts. There is much wisdom being shared in the various threads in the Magic Café by many, many members and there are things we can learn from them. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote "Every man is my superior in some way, in that I learn from him." I truly believe that. If Emerson were writing today, he would have said "every person" but I'm sure that's what he meant anyway.
MagicOfDamon likes to use plastic cups and I like "found" cups as well. I have this curse that I'm sure some of you have as well where I can't go to a Walmart or flea market or garage sale without seeing magical possibilities in everyday objects. I also love magician's cups and I can't go to the Cups and Balls Museum website without finding a lot of sets I would love to own and use. I wouldn't make a very good critic of cups and balls routines. I like them all. There was another thread about Axel Adlercreutz' Cups and Balls routine that some didn't like, but I thought it was great. Someone posted in that thread or another one that they didn't like Tommy Wonder's routine and I think it's brilliant. There was a promo line many years ago for the first Superman movie that said, "You will believe a man can fly." When I see a C&B routine, I don't want to look for loads or steals, I want to believe in the magic. I want to believe balls can penetrate, vanish, and turn into fruit and vegetables. If I do see the loads or steals, I can learn from that as well. One of Covey's Seven Principles of Highly Effective People is to "seek first to understand and then be understood." Bill Palmer asked some questions that would help everyone understand MagicOfDamon. Instead of being offended, I think he should answer so we can understand. Then, with an open mind, he can learn from a great number of talented people posting on the Magic Café and we can learn from him.
Magic is where you find it.....
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Anyone who has ever been to the cups and balls museum web site will notice that there is a whole page devoted specifically to "found" cups. These include everything from paper cups that were gotten from Starbuck's to sterling silver shot glasses. There are even a whole bunch of plastic cups from Wal-Mart and various Dollar Stores.
The use of "cups at hand" goes back to the origins of the cups and balls.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
MagicOfDamon New user 48 Posts |
PS
I never meant to imply that I don't have a beautiful professional set... as I stated before, it was the first trick I learned so of course I have a pro set in my kit. BUT, there is nothing like taking ordinary objects like some cups, tearing up paper napkins or having little sponge balls around and doing a quick trick for someone. If anyone does not like my personal style that is your own personal opinion. |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Damon:
I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I don't have any opinion of your personal style. I haven't seen you perform, so I don't know what your "personal style" is. How could I? I apologize for giving you a false impression.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
bishthemagish Inner circle 6013 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-24 02:51, MagicOfDamon wrote: Three performers that come to mind that used sponge balls with the cups and balls trick are Laurie Ireland, Jim Ryan and Mr. Pickpocket Mark Raffles. Sponge balls work out great for the cups and balls - plus the magician can do hand to hand moves with the audience where a sponge ball vanishes from a cup or magicians hand to appear in an audience members hand. When I was starting out with the cups and balls I did the Jim Ryan routine with the Laurie Ireland cups. I started to use pom poms instead of sponge balls. Then I worked out a different routine using ideas from the Jim Ryan routine and Dai Vernon's. The reason I started with the Jim Ryan routine was at the time there were to many magicians that did the Vernon routine in Chicago - and I wanted to be a little different. Another great routine for spongeballs is the Benson bowl. A routine by Roy Benson. In the notes I have that my dad took when he saw Roy Benson perform this trick he did it as a stand up trick - a dancer from the line of girls (it was a night club) held a tray that Roy Benson did the trick on. Roy Benson did this trick as an encore to his act and to music. Don Alan is often credited of taking this stand up trick and doing it as one of his close up gems and adding a load. At one time it was a bagel. Later it became a large ball barring. Good luck with your cups and balls routine. I hope this helps.
Glenn Bishop Cardician
Producer of the DVD Punch Deal Pro Publisher of Glenn Bishop's Ace Cutting And Block Transfer Triumphs |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Johnny Paul also used sponge balls. It was his use of sponge balls that confused Al Wheatley, who didn't understand how they functioned inside the cup. He invented the chop cup in order to do the same kinds of things.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
bishthemagish Inner circle 6013 Posts |
Great post Bill Thanks for the info.
Glenn Bishop Cardician
Producer of the DVD Punch Deal Pro Publisher of Glenn Bishop's Ace Cutting And Block Transfer Triumphs |
Woland Special user 680 Posts |
Unless I am mistaken, there is also a magnificent Fred Kaps Cups & Sponge Balls routine.
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Lawrence O Inner circle French Riviera 6811 Posts |
It is claimed in several books that Joe Berg was the first magician to use sponge balls in the frame of the cups and balls
Pete Biro just rewrote the Fred Kaps C&Bs routine to be performed with light balls (sponge balls were used but pompoms, cotton balls, crumpled bills work as well) and the routine is available from Stevens Magic Emporium http://www.stevensmagic.com/index.php?ma......d=112203 Thanks to Pete and Joe Stevens for this great work.
Magic is the art of emotionally sharing live impossible situations
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
One of the sources for Joe Berg's claim is Joe Berg, himself. In his Chinese Cups and Balls routine, he makes that statement.
To put this into perspective, "sponge balls" as were known in the 1930's and 1940's were completely different from the "sponge balls" we have today. The old sponge balls were very stiff rubber, usually a brownish red in color. Once polyurethane foam became available, the whole situation changed.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
jesse_james_mcguire Regular user 172 Posts |
Man I need some cups now.
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