All that being said, I would encourage all aspiring magicians to get familiar with this classic effect. So over the next few months I intend to do some reviews on some materials to help you learn. And I will gather all our Cups and Balls related posts here.  Be warned.  As you can see from the photo it is very easy for people to get a little obsessive about collecting cups…

First things first, if you want to learn the Cups and Balls you will obviously need a set of cups!

Choosing your cups and balls

Like many things in life, you can spend as much or as little as you like on these. If you take your magic seriously then I would advise that you look beyond the sort of very basic plastic set that looks like something in a child’s magic set. Though if you’re really on a tight budget you can pick up a plastic set for less than £3!

However, if you’re a little more serious about the magic thing, you will probably want to pick up some kind of metal set. They typically come in aluminium, copper or brass.

A good basic set would be this Combo set from Bazar de Magia.  A combi set includes one cup which is gaffed as a Chop Cup – which means you can use it for either kind of routine. This makes the set very good value. This set is very similar to my first set though mine was produced by Morrissey, the now defunct Canadian magic company who specialised in lovely metal work.

The slight trouble with an aluminium set is they can feel quite light. I have grown to prefer a heavier cup – so this copper set – which doesn’t include a chop cup – might be more suitable. But it is somewhat more expensive given the current price of copper!

In a similar vein, but to my mind nicer looking cups are the PFD Cups and Balls. They also come with a good selection of balls which is a bonus.

If these feel a little on the expensive side, then I have been told by a friend I trust that the Indian produced cups and balls are very good – but I have never personally handled them.

Finally, if you really want to make a serious investment on some pro quality cups, I would highly recommend the ones produced by Brett Sherwood. These are the bees’ knees. And you can read an account of my encounter with Brett and see some photos of the cups.  My working set is a Sherwood combo set.

Resources for learning the Cups and Balls

Daryl’s Master Course in Cups and Balls
Cups and Balls Revolution – a different style of two cup routine.
Jamy Ian Swiss Cups ad Balls Masterclass – Swiss’s take on the Vernon routine. Well worth a look.

(I will update this as I get round to writing further reviews.)

Chop Cup Reviews

The Chop Cup is, of course, a very different beast from the Cups and Balls. But for the sake of completeness I will include links to some Chop Cup Reviews below, since I have a bit of a thing about chop cups…

Mikek Busby Spirit Measure Chop Cup
Dennis Loomis Micro Chop Cup routine – one of my favourite walkaround routines!

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Let’s kick straight off with Trick Soup. A confession – I’ve not clapped eyes on this twin DVD set. However, everything that Gary Jones and Chris Congreave put out is worth looking at. They are two top class working pros and have released some superb magic over the years. So I have no hesitation recommending this sight unseen, and look forward to getting hold of my copy! £34.50

Next up is a lovely twist (did you see what I did there?!) on the old Paul Harris Reality Twister (without the lens) and the latest in a long line of effects using the humble sharpie marker. In Spiralled the barrel of a Sharpie Pen becomes tightly twisted leaving a wonderful visual effect. £14.72

I’m a die hard Chop Cup fan, and I love the thinking behind Alan Hudson’s Chop Glass. This is a way of performing the classic chop cup routine but with a glass you pick up from the table you’re working at. This both makes it seem utterly fair and saves pocket space. A genius idea for anyone who does lots of wedding or walkaround gigs. £48.50 (For another, really unusual, new take on the chop cup idea check out the Transformer Chop Cup by Sean Yang – though I’m less convinced by the look of this one!)

Nicholas Einhorn is a wonderfully understated gentleman of magic who also puts out some cracking effects. Just when you thought there could be no more variations on the bill switch a fantastic new alternative comes along. A receipt from a store is folded into 8ths and immediately turns into a banknote. Insta-Change is a great effect and well thought out idea. £34.50 (We’ve linked to the UK currency version. It is also available in Dollars and Euros.)

There have been a spate of new decks out too – so many that I’ll try and do a feature later in the month – but here’s just one of the releases to keep you going which is close to my magical heart. The Hocus Pocus playing cards have been commissioned to celebrate a wonderful US-based bricks and mortar shop – of the kind for which I have a great fondness. A bit of slightly nostalgic yet classy design, in a deep regal purple which is one of my favourite colours. What’s not to like? £12.99

As if all this were not enough, watch out for our (somewhat delayed) giveaway – which will be live soon! Have a great month.

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Everything but the coffee cup!

Coffee Cup comes with the plasticine and gimmicks you need to make your props. You will, however, need to provide your own coffee cup! There is also a link to the online teaching – just over 20 minutes of explanation.

The routine

As we have said, it is inspired by Rene Lavand’s beautiful routine – but the idea of using a coffee cup and balls is an old one (and they also reference Hugard’s Magic Manual as another source).

The basic routine involves three balls and a cup. Two balls are placed in the cup and one discarded, yet it keeps on returning to the cup. In a final surprise after all three balls are discarded a larger ball appears in the cup. In other words, it’s a bit like two in the hand, one in the pocket, but using a cup. And the cup is handled very cleanly – mainly with only one hand – which appears to eliminate any suspicion of sleight of hand.

The teaching section also include a ‘street’ handling – but this adds very little and doesn’t feel enormously practical.

The pros

Using plasticine balls is a nice idea which aids the handling and the (basic) sleights involved. It also means you can readily replace them if for any reason you need to.

I don’t want to give too much away, but in some ways this is akin to the chop cup – but with a ‘more sophisticated’ gimmick. In can’t quite decide if that adds or removes from the strength of the routine, but it does allow for a very free handling of the props before and after. And it also facilitates the very disarming handling. (Apologies – that is an unfortunate choice of words since it is so reminiscent of Lavand’s 1-handed routine!)

The cons

The method means that you need some set up to perform this. In an ideal world you would be in your own (controlled) formal close up setting. It could be used for table–hopping – but not so easily as many other routines of the kind.

I haven’t actually seen the explanation of Lavand’s routine, but from what I understand Lavand’s is a pure sleight of hand routine which could therefore be done more or less impromptu with fewer constraints.

The verdict

The jury is slightly out for me on this one. I still remember the first time I saw Lavand’s routine – and that is over 20 years ago – it is a beautiful and powerful effect. Coffee Cup is extremely clever, but in bringing this effect into the realm of someone with less technical skill, it somehow feels to lose something.

The explanation/teaching is basic but adequate with plenty to get you started. It is the sort of routine you might want to jazz a bit anyway. There is a useful ‘recap’ video without words to help you learn the routine. A live performance, as ever, would have been much appreciated.

Coffee Cup is available from the Merchant of Magic for £34.99 (at the time of writing)

Review copy kindly provided by Murphys Magic to whom dealer enquiries should be directed.

Well done for getting this far. Here is your reward. Rene Lavand’s beautiful masterpiece…

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Let’s get the measure of it

(Apologies that this is slightly out of focus.)

So what Mike has produced is a very innocent looking spirit/shot measure cup made in stainless steel – exactly the kind of thing you would find at any pub or bar. But it has been gimmicked in the usual ‘chop’ way making a good range of magical effects possible with only minimal sleight of hand.

The set also includes two stuffed rubber olives (one chopped, one unchopped), of which more later. You don’t get a routine – but you’ve already got one of those, right? And it all comes in a nice black velveteen bag.

A spirited performance?

I really took a shine to this little cup. In practise the strength of the m****t was pretty much spot on – which made all the usual chop cup moves very easy to do. The cup has a nice weight which helps with the normal ‘drop’ move. At roughly 6cm height and less than 4cm diameter, it takes up very little pocket space.

(Apologies that this is slightly out of focus.)

For me the great plus of the prop is that it is such a natural thing to have ‘swiped’ from the bar. You may remember Mark Jenest’s Jiggernaut release a good few years ago. I loved the idea of the jigger, but I haven’t really seen many of them in the UK – –maybe I’m in the wrong kinds of bars. But these spirit measures are everywhere. (Also the Jigger wasn’t chopped, so in that sense it was more akin to a single cup and ball routine than this which is a proper chop cup.)

A word about balls

As already mentioned, this comes with some rubber olives to use instead of the more normal balls. And I’m still not sure about this. I understand the logic – there is a natural link between olives and bar drinks. But would you really keep an olive in your pocket? And if your routine involves the spectator handling the ‘ball’, would they really want to touch an olive? Clearly there is a ‘suspension of disbelief’ involved in any magic performance, but I can’t make my mind up about this one.

You could use some ‘ordinary’ balls – experimentation shows that the largest ball that would fit in is a 1 3/8 inch one – but you can only get one of those in at a time, so though it could be a final load you would probably want to use a smaller ball for the main routine. And if you used balls, you could still use a cork for the final load. Ultimately this will come down to your personal preference and performance style. I might have to experiment a bit before I settle.

In conclusion

All in all, this is a great release. I think I’d love it even if I wasn’t a chop cup nut. It’s reasonably priced and I can see anyone getting a lot of use from this.
The Spirit/Shot Measure Chop Cup is available from DudeThatsCoolMagic (who kindly provided the review copy) for £29.99 (at the time of writing).

My collection. It includes some Cups and Balls too, but I’ve included them since they are all combi sets!

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Our first suggestions are in honour of the recently deceased legend that is Paul Daniels. With his passing, the UK has lost one of its all time great magicians and entertainers.  I’ve written in the past about some of my own experiences of the great man. But of the many routines he made his own, the Chop Cup is surely one of the finest.  This wide mouthed Ickle Pickle chop cup is quite close in style to the Ken Brooke style cup which Paul used. £36.99

Chop Cups come in many sizes and styles – if you want to see some alternatives, have a look at the spooky Sea of Skulls cup, the streamlined modern Leather Chop Cup, or the unique space-saving design of the Harmonica Chop Cup.

And if you want to learn from the master, then you can’t go wrong with his wonderful Bravura DVD set in which he teaches some of his trademark routines (including the chop cup routine).  £119.99.

Although the Scotts don’t always like being associated with the UK, our next suggestion is by that talented Scottish magician, Dave Forrest.  He’s has put out numerous brilliant releases over the years, and one such very recent example is REM. This is very powerful close up mentalism where you are able to show the spectator has correctly imagined every part of your dream. Wonderful. £28.50 (you can read our full review here)

Next up is one of the greatest hits of the recent Blackpool Magicians Conference, at least – in the eyes of Jeff McBride – and he knows a thing or two about magic!  Dave Loosley’s Inflexion is a super-visual two card transposition which is easy to do.  Conceived and manufactured in the UK! £28.50

And last, but not least, Nick Einhorn is one of the nicest pros working in the UK at the moment – and anything with his name on it is guaranteed to be a worker.  I love the thinking behind his Bill to Marker – a totally ‘organic’ approach to the ‘bill to impossible location’ plot. Think ‘bill tube’ but in a logical form which fits the routine perfectly.  This is a real winner and would also work really nicely with any bill change routine you do.  £65.99

There it is – a variety of effects with a UK link – to help me think of home in the coming weeks.  I’m looking forward to doing some work on my Cups and Balls routine while away – watch this space for some interesting reflections on that classic of magic.  And let us know what you’ve seen that’s new and interesting in the world of close up magic.

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