Pages from the last word on cups and balls by Conjuring Arts Research Center

//{p/ost word CUPS AND BALLS BY EDDIE JOSEPH

*7Ae £ad Wand on

CUPS AND BALLS

EDDIE JOSEPH Author of PRACTICAL LESSONS IN CUPS AND BALLS ADVANCED LESSONS IN CUPS AND BALLS AND OTHER MAGICAL WORKS

Illustrations by MEL

\c NOVELTY CO.

/ lovingly dedicate this labor of love to

Esther and Hazel The two "Bittcv-Su'ect" Critics any Magic-minded Daddy would love.

THE LAST WORD ON CUPS AND BALLS

INDEX Part One PAGE

Introduction . . . . . The Appealing Force of "Cups and Balls" . . The Multipalm . . . . . The Single Palm (two methods) . . . . The Double Palm . . . . . The Triple Palm . . . . . The Multipalm Drop . . . . . The Multipalm Pass . . . . . The Multipalm Slide . . . . . One-hand Production of Three Single Balls . One-hand Production of T w o Balls Together . . Producing Three Balls Singly a la Billiard Balls . Secret Introductions . . . . . Secret Introduction of T w o Balls Under One Cup Simultaneously Secret Introduction of Single Balls from Double Palm . The "Two-in-One" Introduction . . . Secret Introduction of Three Balls Together Under One Cup The " T i p - U p " Introduction . . . . The Torpedo Introduction . . . . The "Back-Street" Introduction . . . The C u p Introduction . . . . . The "Infinite" Introduction . . . . The "Stratagem" Introduction . . . . The "Top-Hole" Introduction . . . . The Jubilee Introduction . . . . The Hinge Extraction . . . . . The Double Extraction . . . . . The Triple Extraction . . . • The " J a m " Vanish . . . . The "Grasshopper" Vanish . . . . The Slide Vanish . . . . The Elevator Pass . . . • • The T h u m b Steal . . . • • Through Passage . . • • • The Spidora . . . • • • The Roll . . . . . . The Scoop . . . • • • The Reel . . . . . .

<5 7 8 8 9 10 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 IS 15 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 24 24 25

Part Two The Automatic Cup . . . The Four-Point Cup . . . The Cup That Delivers . . The "Auto" Producing and Vanishing Cup The Brodie . . . . . Salt and Pepper . . . Real Ice Cream Cone from Cup . . — 4—

. . . .

. . . . .

. .

• .

26 27 27 28 28 29 30

THE LAST WORD ON CUPS AND BALLS

I N D E X (Continued) PAGE

Real Ice Cubes from C u p s . Jelly f r o m C u p . . The "Robot" C u p . . T h e H a l f Shelf . . Chinese L a n t e r n from C u p . L a r g e S t a c k of C o i n s f r o m C u p The Rainbow Streamers . . T h e S h o w e r of C a r d s . . T h e Bird N e s t . . Making O n e Canary into T w o . Rapid Hatching . . Another Canary Production . The Reptile in t h e C u p . . The Match Holder . . Liquid Production . . The Water Fountain . . T h e Fire C r a c k e r . . T h e T h r e e Glasses . . T h e Fire F o u n t a i n . . Loading Tall Articles into Cups . Firing t h e C u p . . . Spontaneous Combustion . The Repeat Production . . M a s t e r p i e c e Glass of L i q u i d P r o d u c t i o n T h e " P h a n t o m " Load ( t w o m e t h o d s ) T h e C o t t o n Mill . . The Inexhaustible Stream . T h e " B l o o m i n g " Roses . . B r i m f u l of W i n e . . Connecting the Terminals .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

31 32 33 33 33 34 35 36 36 37 3 ft 38 39 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 47 48 48 49 51

Part Three Routines The "Ink-O" Routine The Red H e r r i n g The J u m p i n g Frog The Wandering Ball Crystal-i-zation A Chinese R o u t i n e Mechanical Routine The Nudist Routine The Hindu Routine The Multipalm Routine

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

— 5—

. . . . . . . . . .

52 54 57 57 58 59 61 62 63 64

THE LAST WORD ON CUPS AND BALLS

INTRODUCTION I shall try to be brief. Nobody likes reading the introduction anyway. "Expert 'Cup and Balls' Manipulation" is not sent out to succeed my two other books on the subject. Rather it is to be looked upon as a GREAT extension of the two that have gone before. No repetition from my previous efforts nor copy from anyone else's work will be found within its pages. There is no room here for any plagiarism. Every piece of information — idea — suggestion and routine has been independently created, developed, exploited and tested by the author some time or other. The reader is therefore assured, he is not getting any "second-hand" material in consequence. The colossal amount of material crammed between these covers, will provide the progressive manipulator with a wealth of valuable assets. The book has been divided into three parts. The first supplies detailed explanation for nearly forty new moves and passes. The second is kept apart for the creation of novel effects that are out of the hackneyed class. Nearly forty of these will be found. And lastly ten stirring routines make up the third part. I appoint you dear reader the sole judge of "The Last Word on Cups and Balls." After all it is your opinion that will decide its success. Your approval will be my compensation for the many hours I spent in making this — the greatest book on "Cups and Balls" possible. EDDIE JOSEPH. Calcutta, India May 15 th, 1941

—6—

THE LAST WORD ON CUPS AND BALLS

PART ONE NEW MOVES AND PASSES The Appealing Force of "Cups and Balls" The "Cups and Balls" has been in existence since time before history was written. To trace its origin would equal to chasing the Moon. Likewise it would be equally futile to establish its national identity. It belongs to every race. Each can justly claim it for its own. I have seen it expressed by Chinese with ordinary pudding basins and the Japs with utensils resembling our soup plates. The Turks in turn prefer their tall wooden tumblers while the Egyptians practice with metal cups similar to our own. Finally there is the Indian conjurer. His cups are by far the smallest with least depth and incidentally require greater precision in handling. The "Cups and Balls" is more ancient than history itself. Despite its age it still survives. Then what has preserved it from decadence? Its widespread popularity. The popularity of a trick, same as anything else, is usually measured by the wideness of its appeal. The inherent nature of the trick gives it this appeal. The "Cups and Balls" has a powerful appeal, unequalled by any other table trick known to us. This appeal is the direct issue of the recurring character of its effect. In the "Cups and Balls," the manipulator is merely repeating the same effect over and over again. The repetition assumes the air of a challenge to the intellect of the beholder. The more they watch the further the solution seems to be. With each failure their determination increases until all possible means of solution is exhausted. Thus the trick is exalted and its prestige enhanced. How many times have we experienced the same reaction when working a simple sleight informally. The first impulse of our friend is to see it again. Not so much with the thought of enjoying the repetition but with the object of discovering the secret. Even such an elementary sleight as vanishing a coin would serve an example. The first time it is worked the onlooker feels he was taken unaware. He asks for a repetition hoping to watch more closely next time. If we are able to repeat the trick successfully the repetition in itself would enhance the mystery. The outcome would lead to a higher rating for a simple effort. Now, in essence, the "Cups and Balls" creates the same condition in the minds of the onlookers as that simple coin vanish when repeated several times. The difference is this. In the coin sleight the audience knows of a repetition, while in the "Cups and Balls" they regard the repetition of the effect as a sequence of the trick. The air of challenge is silently created and when the routine is completed the audience is convinced that they have witnessed a demonstration far above the ordinary. I have seen again and again the great enthusiasm with which a demonstration of the "Cups and Balls" was greeted while a more ambitious effort was given no more than a casual reception. The demonstrator had done nothing beside running through his set routine. The peculiar quality of the trick was sufficient in itself to develop this impression. Can we find another trick that depends for its survival entirely on repetition? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 7â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

THE LAST WORD ON CUPS AND BALLS

The Multipalm So far in the manipulation of the "Cups and Balls" we have been content to handle one ball at a time. Several original methods of doing this was disclosed in my two earlier books. And now, for the first time in the history of the "Cups and Balls," I am going to reveal what I firmly believe to be one of the greatest advancements yet made in the manipulation of this classic. I am going to show you how to handle three balls at one time. So complete will be your control over the balls that you will be able to dispose each independently of the other. The addition of this knowledge will exalt the demonstrator to heights never attained before. Imagine a cup lying on the table with its mouth toward the audience. The interior of it is in view at all times. Three balls are picked up singly and tossed into the air. They fade into oblivion. These same balls are recovered later from ihe cup. The three balls, I dare say, also could be made to appear under a cup by any of the older methods, but only by installments. So far no indication was given anywhere as far as I know whereby THREE BALLS appear simultaneously under a single cup. This is but a single advantage to be gained by the "multipalm" and therefore it is an accomplishment that no progressive magician can scorn. As the name suggests, the "Multipalm" is an identifying title for palming three balls at the same time. Each of the three balls is under an independent control. The reason for this is so that the disposal of any one of the three balls may not interfere with the remaining two. The Multipalm, therefore, may be regarded as a triple palm . . . each independent of the other. The three palms we shall refer to as "Single," "Double," and "Triple" Palm. The position for the first is in the center of the palm. The position for the second under the little finger and that for the third beneath the crotch of the thumb. I shall now detail the three palms under their respective heads.

The Single Palm This is the first of the three palms. In this the ball is held by the usual contraction of muscle as in the ordinary flat palm. The usual way to get a ball there is by holding it between the two middle fingers and thumb and bend fingers in against the palm. To disguise the movement of the fingers one usually has to resort to speed. While there is nothing wrong with this method of palming it is not suitable for table work and is in direct contravention to what we understand as "clean" manipulation. I shall therefore describe two methods of getting the ball into the single palm position without bending the fingers. METHOD 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; This method is recommended when it is desired to simulate the action of passing ball from one hand to the other before its vanishment. Hold ball between thumb and FIRST finger tips. The palm of the hand holding ball is pointing towards the ceiling. Now turn hand over the other hand but before doing this release the ball and it drops straight to the center of the palm. In other words the hollow in the center of the palm becomes too evident when one holds a ball between the first finger and thumb and no matter how carelessly one releases the ball it MUST get caught in the hollow. The other fingers are kept apart from each other right through. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;8â&#x20AC;&#x201D;