I'm in the early stages of playing with/researching this trick, after buying the excellent TCC set (3x4).
Two questions.
Given the common situation of one loaded tube and one empty are there any manoeuvres for showing each separately empty? I'm aware you can use sightlines creatively, also the standard "one under the arm" convincer, but it seems to me there is scope for picking up the empty - show, pick up the second and apparently showing equally cleanly, having swapped the tubes. This is a common move in the Linking Rings. It would not stand repetition but could be a cheeky convincer before they know what will happen. Does that ring any bells?
Second question
The TCc tubes are white, making any flash of the bottle easy to see. Should I paint the inside black, or paint the inside of the bottle white! Or any other painting combination?

Thanks for any help

Boy, this is going to be difficult to talk about in an open forum. My response may not make any sense. But here goes:

There is the original Passe Passe starting move. This is where you show both tubes empty side-by-side with "a bottle" and "a glass" on the table. You then place tube A over and off the bottle and then over and off of the glass (ostensibly to show tube A fits over both). Then the same is done for tube B. To the spectator, there can be no doubt that both tubes are empty, yet you are now set.

This same thing has been woven in the middle of multiplying bottle routines. So, say the bottle is on left and glass is on the right. You can place the tubes over them, lift the tube on the left showing a glass, then put it right back down over it. Then lift tube on the right completely showing bottle and an empty tube. Then pick up tube on left showing the glass is still there and place that tube immediately over bottle on the right. Now you can once again show both tubes completely empty. This is normally done just before you do the bottle flurry where you quickly produce additional bottles from the bottom of the tubes. That is, one tube then goes over the bottle again and is lifted showing a glass (so two glasses are now visible). Then that same tube is placed over the other glass and it becomes a bottle. Then another bottle is produced from that tube from the bottom. And the other tube is brought into play having acquired "a bottle" placed on the table earlier producing more bottles.

Another fun thing is in routines with 3X5's you can populate the table by removing not just a single bottle from the top. So, towards the end, you can show both tubes empty, place them simultaneously over two already produced bottles, then take them off and back on table to produce two more.

Again, this is very hard to explain in an open forum.

To be fair I think you did an admirable job for what it is worth!

Thanks very much Frank. I apologise for the open forum bit, I get so engrossed I forget that aspect sometimes.

It was good to read that your suggested solution is a "thing". I had realised since my original question that this was a possibility but only practical further into the routine.

I'm also realizing that the charm of the routine lies in the "almost sucker" element and fast unfolding near chaos, so any over proving can hold up the direct line to the close. I finally got to see Denny Haney's performance and can see why it has been claimed he did it better than Ken Brooke!

Thanks again any other thoughts welcome

Denny has a nice one. Personally I don't like when routines end with two glasses exposed. I think it leaves a wrong impression for people when they think back. But the momentary two glass flash when doing the fast one tube bit really seems to puzzle people with a "wait - did I see that correctly" thought.

There are also routines where the tubes are truly empty but then *something* happens. Take a look at Carisa Hendrix's (both as Carisa and Lucy Darling) setup for the finale in her routine and Jonathon Neal's handling for expanding the number of bottles. Jonathon's use of the wheeled table is so *** clever I am besides myself just thinking about it. There is another link on the cafe with various routine videos that have them.

My routine is available for purchase... send me a message if interested! You can watch it on You tube: Jonathan Neal's multiplying bottles

This all actually extremely helpful. Jonathan's routine is (as expected) very very good. I've also enjoyed Lucy Darling's presentation (an eye opening piece of theatre ). I had also missed Morgan and West's critique - logical for them but to be taken with a pinch of salt. Tom Stone's take in Maelstrom is also a refreshingly novel way of opening

Denny Haney lifting up the final two bottles without cover definitely offends thinking magicians. Apparently this was pure Ken Brooke and some of his instructions differed on that point. Nick Lewin comments on this and also points out that it gets a big reaction in its own right.

I'll start a fresh thread on suitable boxes to introduce one or more bottles, but sticking to my original question.....I need to adapt the supplied white TCC tubes, probably by painting the insides black and then obliged to cover/paint the outside a colour. Logically I could simply paint the inside of the bottles white, which in theory would allow glimpses inside. Has anybody done this? (I'm loath to mess up the set).

While on the topic of the inside of the tube - how common /necessary is it to introduce a lining and do people just use 3 vertical strips of some sort of tape?

I use cardboard tubes although my original intent was to use a thin walled aluminum similar to what Rice used for his "haunted Chimneys"...But when I contacted an industrial Metal supply company, they said what I wanted wasn't a standard gauge and could be prohibitively expensive. So I went with Cardboard as a stop gap measure until a better solution presented itself.

Guess what? I've made four sets of cardboard tubes since 1990... That's 35 years and an average use before wearing out of ...nine years! Mine are painted black on the inside, but white is possible. Tape also is a good idea!

I'm attracted to cardboard for several reasons, less trauma to the bottles, a bit quieter and potentially more "ornery" looking. I haven't yet, in the UK, found any tubes as snug as the supplied aluminium, but will keep looking!

It's easy to roll your own. go to an art or craft shop and buy some 1/2 ply chipboard (cardboard). this is very thin and will roll into a tube without cracking. Use a bottle or something of approximate diameter to roll the cardboard around. You can use white glue to seal the tube but I prefer "YES" paste which allows repostioning but dries hard. build up the layers until the tube is as stiff as you want it to be.

Thanks Jonathan, that is really useful information. I cant wait to try it.

Funnily enough there is a US/UK translation issue "Chipboard" in the UK is the stuff that kitchen units might be made from, or get screwed into shop front window frames if the glass is broken. I can see in the US it is a high quality cardboard. What do you mean by 1/2 ply, is that "half" ply or one or two ply? I'm used to "ply" referring to the number of layers in cardboard boxes. We are clearly are "two countries divided by a common language" - any further details very welcome!

Half ply is extra thin and is easily rolled without the 'calendering' (where the outer surface splits creating an ugly finish).

It is not unlike postcard weight material and can be purchased in large sheets: 36" x 48" (?) and then I cut it into 12.5" strips (12.5 is the height of my tubes) I then roll the entire 48" length into a tube and keep tightening the roll until it approximates the desired diameter. Now I do that once again but now applying YES paste between layers and then secure it with rubber bands until it dries. Yes paste dries less quickly than white glue but it spreads easily and allows a certain amount of repositioning while you work. Any further questions, don not hesitate to ask