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s.freeman New user 54 Posts |
Ok all you wiser and more experienced magicians! Help me complete my new years resolution!
"I resolve to learn the cups and balls by the end of the year" Shouldn't be that hard right? So about 5 years ago I bought a cups and balls set and the salesman says "get these! one of the cups is a chop cup, it's a great deal!" So I go for it. It turns out this is a harder trick than I was prepared to take on. handling the chop cup was harder than I thought, can't make the ball drop without it looking obvious PLUS about 20% of the time the ball would bounce up and engage again. My other problem is I feel like the balls are too big for the cups. can barely fit two in teh bottom and have them stay loose and all three would be a nightmare. They all came as a set but I'm suspicious I got taken. Finally, I don't have like a close up mat. Any recommendations on substitutes or should I just invest in a mat? |
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
Start off with Michael Ammar's Cups and Balls DVD.
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Sir Richard Special user 650 Posts |
Quote: Both volumes. Mats are a nessesity, buy a good quality one as soon as possible. Do one of the following: 1.) find a substitute for the balls, like pom-poms; 2.) Buy smaller balls; 3.) Buy a decent set of cups; stay away from the "cheapos! I, too, used to have a "combo" set, but never used the combo cup. I've since bought a great set from Tom Franks, but there's also RNT II that have decent sets that won't cost you an arm or a leg!
On 2012-02-23 01:51, Dynamike wrote: Sir Richard.
"In the land of Murphy there is but ONE law!"
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tm613 Regular user Phila, PA 124 Posts |
Just becuase you have a combo set doesn't mean you need to use it as one...replace the chopped ball with a normal one....probably need to get a whole new set of 4 smaller balls as stated by Sir Richard
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Mark Ross Loyal user Batavia, NY 236 Posts |
I would recommend NOT using the chop cup feature until you have a "chop-less" routine in hand. I also recommend the Ammar videos (and the book if you can find it)as they will guide you from a "beginner" routine, through many moves, etc, all the way to Ammar's & Vernon's routines. Enjoy the journey, as I did.
Mark |
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s.freeman New user 54 Posts |
How much smaller should the balls be? I was wondering if there was some sort of rule of thumb on the sizes.
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Dave V Inner circle Las Vegas, NV 4824 Posts |
Not knowing the size of the balls or the type of cups you have, that's an impossible question to answer.
Personally, I don't nest any balls between cups, so that problem doesn't apply to me. I go with the biggest I can comfortably finger palm which is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches.
No trees were killed in the making of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
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Donnie Buckley V.I.P. Cleveland, Ohio 1123 Posts |
There is no reason that you should have to pound a cup to release a ball anymore. The pounding is what is causing the ball to bounce up higher than it should and re-adhere. The problem is with the ball - not the cup.
I make "adjustable" chopped balls in a wide variety of sizes that solve this problem. There are plenty of good DVD and book resources for learning routines, with or without the chop cup. Ammar's DVDs will teach you the fundamentals and bring it all together into a routine for a straight set of balls. The Vernon Mendoza Combo Cups Routine for Combo Cups is considered a classic which utilizes the chop cup. |
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rudy-ray New user 62 Posts |
I made balls out of aluminum foil, made different sizes found the right size for me. Until I could get a table built, I used a thick dish towel for a pad. I started with the routine in Mark Wilson's book.
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Before we unbag too many felines in an open forum, I suggest that s.freeman get 50 posts ASAP so he or she can access the secret sessions. There are a couple of threads there that address all of the problems that are being discussed here. Same thing is true for rudy-ray. If you don't have the required 50 posts, you can't even see that the secret sessions exist. And we can't reveal all the info either of you need in order to help you solve the problem, because they are, by their very nature, secrets that the gilpins don't need to know.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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s.freeman New user 54 Posts |
I'm working on my post count as we speak
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s.freeman New user 54 Posts |
I mean it!
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tm613 Regular user Phila, PA 124 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-02-24 01:08, s.freeman wrote: Me too |
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s.freeman New user 54 Posts |
Thanks everyone for all your help, my wife is picking me up some supplies and I'm gonna try making my own monkey fist balls to see what I like
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Dave V Inner circle Las Vegas, NV 4824 Posts |
That's what I eventually did. I found about three marble sizes at a local craft store to use as cores. Impossible to "chop" but at least I now know what fits me best, plus the making of the monkey fists themselves was a fun side project.
No trees were killed in the making of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
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Pete Biro 1933 - 2018 18558 Posts |
Once you get the ball size you like... start slow... don't try to make a routine. Learn to do a false transfer and finger palm. Dai Vernon always preached, "Learn to handle small objects in a natural way."
STAY TOONED... @ www.pete-biro.com
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Dave V Inner circle Las Vegas, NV 4824 Posts |
Bigger balls mean you don't have to "clench" so much, making your hand position more natural. It's a delicate balancing act to get the largest ball possible that still fits under the cups you have. Or, you can consider that you will be changing cups at some point in the future.
No trees were killed in the making of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
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s.freeman New user 54 Posts |
Any recommendations for what kind of cord to use for monkey fists?
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Dave V Inner circle Las Vegas, NV 4824 Posts |
Leather lace works for me. Nice texture. Pull test a piece if you're buying it on a spool. Some of it is cut badly and will break with the slightest tug.
Others like nylon parachute cord. Lots of nice colors, but I think it's too slippery. At least the stuff I tried was. It's a good place to start though and easy to work.
No trees were killed in the making of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
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s.freeman New user 54 Posts |
Thanks for all your help! I think I'll post some pictures when I get them done, I was thinking about building my own table too...
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