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Smallini's Diary

Smallini's Cups & Balls

10/24/2020

 
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I’ve finally secured a set of Cups and Balls for my evening show. Due to the nature of my height (small), and the restrictive stage requirements of the Suitcase of Wonders (also small), this was a process that was many years in the making. Of course, I’ve performed the C&Bs for as long as I’ve been a magician, working with all kinds of sets, from disposable plastic drinking cups and paper napkin balls to finely spun copper cups and knitted cork balls. But these handlings have been for private and informal close-up shows; I have long been searching for the right set of Cups and Balls for my evening stage program, and alas, I think I might have found them.

This set, which I acquired from a reputable magic dealer, are not only of the proper proportions, but also the appropriate quality and (importantly), weight. They were a value in that the set also came with a chop cup and shell.
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Ultimately, the routine is the key to a satisfying C&B performance. With so much material available from some of the greatest practitioners of this trick, it can feel intimidating and overwhelming to assemble a routine to present professionally. But one (namely I) must also remember that the cups and balls is a continually evolving magic organism with slights, moves, and handlings being tinkered with and improved by magicians both professional and amateur all over the world. Like a deck of cards, the cups and balls are a classic magic instrument that can be whatever you want it to be in your hands.

After a few weeks, I’m pleased to have a first draft of a routine that seems to fit Smallini’s persone and is fun to perform. Right now, the meat of it is from the late Mark Wilson (a routine I’ve always loved), but with an ending I changed to fit the stage show. Instead of the balls being disposed of in one’s pocket (as would be fit for close-up work), I place them in a nicely decorated box sitting atop a side table. When the door to the box is opened, the balls have vanished and the cups make the classic reveal of the three large loads. Having another piece of apparatus on stage and being used with the cups is something I haven’t seen before, but Lord knows given that this is literally the oldest magic trick known to man, there could be another instance of that published somewhere. 

Right now the loads are a larger version of the red balls, leading me to ponder the idea of taking those larger red balls and turning them into a final large red item (an Apple?); Sort of a cross between Cups and Balls and Diminishing Cards (in reverse). I’m also playing with a surprise liquid (wine) pour from the cups after they’ve been collected, perhaps in conjunction with the production of some large red grapes?

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