I have watched a couple cups and balls routines and was wondering where I could find a tutorial for a routine or maybe some common moves that go into it?
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Where to Learn Cups and Balls Routine
- Thread starter therealcardini
- Start date
I will second Michael Ammar. Look for some cheap VHS tapes of his Cups and Balls Volumes 1 and 2 or get the DVD set here:
http://www.llpub.com/zenshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1704
http://www.llpub.com/zenshop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1704
Gazzo's Street Cups is a good resource, too. I used a lot of his moves.
One thing I will say is this - Learn the moves, not the presentations. Build your own presentation from the ground up and it will be more 'you'. We have enough people imitating Dai Vernon and Michael Ammar. Come up with something at least somewhat unique.
One thing I will say is this - Learn the moves, not the presentations. Build your own presentation from the ground up and it will be more 'you'. We have enough people imitating Dai Vernon and Michael Ammar. Come up with something at least somewhat unique.
I agree with this. Cups & Balls is great because even inexpensive, off-brand resources will often have a technique or two that someone else might have missed. At least watch, learn, and get a feel for Vernon's routine. This can be found in The "Cups and Balls Booklet" with a $5 suggested price, and is typically sold for less.
Also think about your final load a little bit - assuming you include one. I think it's expected these days.. If you're doing mostly card work then maybe making three pieces of produce appear might seem strange. Look around for other items that fit your act better, if the produce isn't cutting it.
For final loads I use hacky sacks. I'll also use stuff crabs and sometimes I'll used stuffed bunnies since you know magicians pull rabbits from hats. Johnny Ace Palmer loads live baby chicks. David Regal final load is the red blue and yellow cups from every starter magic set. Ricky Jay does fruit and veggies. There is one magician who does pennies. Paul Gertner does steel ball bearings and a shot put. I have even seen small glasses filled with water and live gold fish.
You want to see a brilliant final load? Watch Johnny Ace Palmer load 3 "live" baby chicks under the cups at the end. Phenomenal!
I like that one but let me see if I can find the one where the guy put $2 in pennies under the cup
I used to do a chop cup routine. My final load sequence was two of the red balls, then one large ball, then a toy elephant, then a Kinder Egg which contained a signed dollar bill which is a reference to an earlier part of my busking act. These were all one right after the other, so it seemed like I picked up the cup to reveal the two balls, then picked it up and showed the one ball, so on. Very Gazzo-esque.
Right now you can get the Michael Ammar Cups and Balls book as a PDF for $10 http://llepub.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=32