I am working on a addition to my C&B routine just for fun. May or may not use it. Thinking of adding THE FOUR TRAVELING Balls from "TARBELL COURSE IN MAGIC VOL. 1. This may be a good finish as a way of doing the hat load. It might be overkill though and may be better to simply have the load appear with no previous things aside from the cup loads. If I do use it though I would use Peanuts Rather than sponge balls. I would half to have one already hidden in my hand. Preceded by three more, by the time I got to the one in the pocket my hand would not be relaxed. I tried it and ended up with a tightened fist of peanuts. I may try a shuttle pass, or some other technique.

It may even be better to use it as a beginning effect with the load being my stack of cups. Unless that is just going to give away the end load. Any suggestions?

Personally I feel clutter and it's not appealing.
Then again you may be able to make it very entertaining, but I'm going with clutter.

This is what I generally call an "uncle" trick. It's the kind of trick that your uncle would do after dinner using someone's hat and some balls of news paper. It's really a piece of impromptu magic. I don't think I would put the whole thing into a cups and balls routine -- the Gazzo climax may have come from this, in a way.

Other "uncle" tricks include the soup plate trick and the pieces of paper on the knife blade.

My Uncle does a great trick... everytime he walks down the street, he turns into a pub!

So does my Uncle, every time someone mentions work, he vanishes.

Well, to play devil's advocate for a second, I've seen some "uncle" tricks that smoke the hell out of some so-called magicians doing the supposed good stuff. But, I digress...

As our herb-enhanced friend suggested, clutter may be the lurking threat. The hardest thing I ever had to learn about constructing a Cups and Balls routine was resisting the temptation of DOING everything I COULD do. Learn to kill your darlings.

We have GOT to hang out before I leave the country.

We'll sort it.....

No we won't. You'll forget about me and never talk to me again. I know the type. My last girlfriend was the same way. You total ONE CAR and they stop speaking to you.
I'll make my way down there before I go. Gotta explore!

J.G. - I'm all for any variation to a cups and balls ending if it keeps it interesting and doesn't muddy the effect. Pete Biro's addition of 2 in the hand, 1 in the pocket was a great ending to his routine.

You'd only regret it in the morning Andrew...

I think that the impact of a hat load is lost if it isn't done right after the final loads of the cups, you want to build and keep that momentum going....

I'd agree...I like the way John Carney does it. I know that's really a one cup routine but I think the idea can be the same if done right...when the coconut comes out of the hat it's almost like a bonus that no one was expecting because they basically figured that the hat was out of play at that point.

Couldn't find a John Carney video though I loved the Pete Biro routine. Gets me thinking thanks.

Check out Bob Read's work J.G

Check out Carney on Letterman. It's on YouTube.

I think the discussion on this forum, "appeal of the chop cup" is instructive regarding J.G.'s question. It is noteded by several people that the simplicity of a chop cup routine is what strikes the audience. One, two, three impossible things happen in quick succession and then it is over. Very powerful.

Longer routines are much less tolerant of weakness in the story line or external distractions. It can certainly be done (e.g, Vernon), but must be extremely well crafted and executed or much of the impact will be lost.

Just my opinion - short, punchy routines seem more reliable in creating the desired response.

Of course if you have years of practice and hundreds of shows, even the most complicated and lenghty routine can be refined into a masterpiece.

One of the secrets of art is to know when to stop. Once you have found the elephant in the stone, don't hunt for the horse and the sparrow -- unless they are really there.

Too many brush strokes will turn a beautiful painting into a canvas full of mud.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
...That applies here too, right?

Carney on Letterman was genious thanks for that Andrewzuber. That will keep my mind buisy for a while.

Glad you enjoyed it! The act is even better in person.