Dear all:


I would like to gather feedback as to how to you know what type of wand is suitable for your cups and balls routine.
How do you decided on the following attributes of the wand:

a) Colour (mix of colour);
b) Material (wood? Metal? Metal + wood? Other material?);
c) Length?
d) Weight?
e) Any other consideration?

Next, imagine if you are now performing your cups and balls routine using Sherwood Silver plated smooth cups, what type of wand would you use and why? Would it make a difference if instead you were to perform using Sherwood Copper smooth cups?

I am confused by which wand to obtain as there are so many different types of wand.
Would truly appreciate your feedback.
Thank you!

Overthinking it. But if you need it.
my opinion which I believe you'll agree. Try not to have your apprehension overtake your first initial thoughts and feelings.
a) subjective - at least venture away from the black and white look, mahogany or cherry is an elegant color for a wand
b) your preference - hopefully you own more than 1 to determine that yourself
c) above 8. depends on ones palm size. generally you'll see buskers use a relative short wand, shaft is solid single color. http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......&forum=6
d) several ounces - enough to feel right when doing a vernon wand spin
e) the "right" wand is not pivotal to a C&B routine in my opinion. And then in the near future, use the wand for a ring and stick routine

side note: I have a lot of fun using a combo cup set and a wand with pk'd tips. in case your not aware: http://moonlightmagicprods.com/mmsiteallwands.html

Check out wands at http://www.porperoriginals.com

See the one with Dai Vernon's picture etched in.

Why stop at just one? I have more wands than I do cups.

If I was on the street, I'd go with a tape wrapped drumstick, Gazzo style. It would look rather silly though if I was ever performing at the Magic Castle (not very likely) with a set of silver cups. For that, I'd find something much more elegant such as the Porper wands.

My personal preference would be a wood shaft of a high density dark wood, lighter tips for visibility, 12-14 inches to give me enough "heft" to do a wand flourish.

Details will vary, which would explain the multitude of wands I currently have, and why I'll end up with more sooner than later.

I agree with Dave pretty much... My go to wands are pretty much oak dowels with rounded ends, stained to look like something of old. The wood ends are less likely to damage my Cups if I get a little overzealous with the wand as oppressed to one with metal, bullet or hard tips.
As to length, for sitting I use a 12” wand and if standing a 15” wand... the reason is the 15” wand causes difficulty for me spinning when sitting down.

Don’t over think it... a wand is what you make of it.

Good luck,
Bruce

The above should read opposed to, rather than oppressed to... though the wrong wand could be oppressive... LOL.

Bruce

I agree with Bruce. I've always preferred wands that are made completely of wood for C&B as metal tipped wands tend to scratch and damage the cups. For some people, that's no big deal...but don't really like deliberately scratching my cups. Even without metal tips, a wooden wand will still dent and ding the cups. There are so many nice wands out there. Joe Porper's wands are some of the finest made, and although expensive, are certainly worth the investment. Tabman makes some nice wands, and RNT2 has some new wands on their website that are all wood, and come apart.

The wands that I use personally come from a store called Alivan's-- check out http://www.alivans.com. Mine come from the conjurers collection, which look like more traditional magician's wands. But if you are into Harry Potter, they have many cool wands!

See how straight forward this is. Easiest thing to do is just get one of each from each suggested vendor. $200-$350 is a reasonable price for a wand. Happy Shopping

How about this style?

Click here to view attached image.

Drumstick wrapped in red grippy hockey tape. Handles awesome, does the wand spin fine, is durable and silly-looking (which suits me). It may hamper future attempts at a ring-on-wand routine, I've not yet hand a chance to try it out yet.

I used to have an excellent well-balanced wand that was destroyed when an overenthusiastic kid smashed it against the cup, and the tip flew off. Since then, durability has been a key necessary feature.

I wand-spin in my cups-and-balls routine, so balance is more important than actual weight and length (within reason).

Regarding your question about what's appropriate to perform using your Sherwood cups... can we really answer that for you? Do your artistic goals require that the wand fit aesthetically with the cups? My wand looks silly and not-at-all like something a proper magician would use, but I get to leverage those qualities for comments in my patter.

I just use a plastic wand, traditional black with white tips

I have 4 wands I use. One Ammar Mercury wand, a Porper made from cocobolo, a beautiful Purple Heart wand by Rannie Raymundo and my favorite, Pete's "L.A. Street Wand" made by Tabby Crabb; it's a plain walnut shaft with .38 caliber shells on the end. The Porper and Ammar wands are heavier and easier to spin, Porper's is the only 2 piece I have. The fancier ones are used for cups and balls, while the last one usually for ring on stick. I love'em all!

The wand chooses the wizard.

Color should fit with your style. Very reflective finishes can flash at awkward moments. Wood is best if you're hitting cups. Drumsticks work well. Length is important, depending what you're doing. If you plan to do any flipstick stuff, 12" or so is best, if sleeving then even shorter (say, 7 or 8"). If you're keeping it in your pocket then 12" is about as big as you'll want to go in a one-piece wand. Weight matters for flipstick and spinning. Too light can be bad for spinning, too heavy can be bad for flipstick. Some wands have light centers and heavy tips, which can be bad. Other considerations? Some folks like a transparent rod for ring on stick, I think any one piece wand is fine.

Spins and sliding moves are easiest with a smooth, symmetrical wand (not the Harry Potter type). If you're combining any wand stuff with silk stuff it's important the the finish on the wand won't snag or drag on the silk.

Moonlight Magic is the place to go for a top quality wand at a reasonable price.

I think that the "stars" of the show are really the balls, since they are the performers whose movements the spectators should be trying to follow. If people come away from the performance thinking "Man what a beautiful wand!" they have missed the point have they not?

I love beautiful cups as much as anyone, but I feel that they too are only "supporting actors". As such they are crucial to developing the role of the principal characters (those little ole balls) and as such should never be allowed to upstage them.

As for the wand, well, I think understated is best.

Addressing your hypothetical scenarios, how about:

1) A simple black (or dark hardwood) wand with smooth silver plated tips for the "Sherwood Silver plated smooth cups"; or
2) A simple black (or dark hardwood) wand with smooth copper tips for the "Sherwood Copper smooth cups".

In other words a simple wand whose tips match the cups.

Since you seem to be considering some very nice, elegant cups, I assume that your performance character or style fits that look. Pick a simple, classy look, but not flashy. Think "Fred Astaire in his top hat, tails and cane"...simple, but the epitome of elegance. We all know he danced with a cane...but who cares what it looked like.

:)

This is a great topic! Wands are subjective. What kind of magician you are, what kind of magic you do, and the outfit you wear can give you an idea of the type of wand you use. Personally, if I could afford it, I'd get one of the four Pepka has.

But, since I'm on a limited income, this seems to do nicely:

http://www.chasesupplies.com/product_ima......zoom.JPG

People have commented how they like my "wand"...Ha!

Doug

Hello "zhuanan". All the comments here should help you a lot, including, "The wand chooses the wizard". The more wands/coin boxes I make, the more I believe it to be so. A few of the wands you look at will "speak" to you as you imagine yourself using it in a routine that you have in mind...kind of a gut feeling, then, the actual handling will seal the decision.

As for combining colors, shafts with tips, I usually end up with good results by trying to match the tip-color with some small to smallest patch of color contained within the shaft. For example, if the mostly brown shaft of Kingwood has some small hints of yellow, I might "pull" that color into the tips by using Yellowheart as a solid color tip, which will compliment the contrasting color(s)/figuring of the shaft, or, vice-versa. Also, color compliments can be obtained from viewing a color wheel, and, choosing a favored color, then, it's compliment will be on the opposite side of the color wheel. This is a good place to start sometimes.

Hope this helps, and, good luck with your search!

Michael

"Dougini", My wife is Cambodian. I never realized I had so many wands around the house!

Michael

Ha ha, Michael! I had a Thai girlfriend, and this is all I have left! I lost the other chopstick, so the only thing I could use it for is a wand! Cambodian! Lucky YOU! Sue went back to Thailand, so I lost out...

I would have to eat rice anyway, so, it's nice to have someone who really knows what to do with it! But, they can be mean!

Michael