The Magic Memories (04)

Hello everyone!

This is the 4th installment of The Magic Memories, and I thank all those who wrote in to say that they like it.

Let’s talk “Cups & Balls”. In the video clip below you will see me performing my own “Cups & Balls Opener”, which is published in my book Confidences (Hermetic Press 2012), there titled “Overture for Cups and Balls”. The video is by Giacomo Bertini, of coin magic fame, who recorded it at his “European Close-up Magic Symposium” in Milan (Italy) on NOV 10 & 11, 2012. This was a gathering that took place from 2010 to 2018 and was inspired by my own “Magic Symposium” in Torino (also Italy), which in turn was inspirited by the “31Faces North” private gathering organized by David Ben and Julie Eng, sponsored by Allan Slaight; as you can see all things connect somehow 🙂

This opener in its slender, minimalistic structure has its merits precisely in its outward simplicity that harbors great complexity, to paraphrase one of Ascanio’s favorite quotes by Miguel de Unamuno (1864 – 1936). You can simply enjoy it, or dwell a bit deeper into its internal structure by studying my thoughts exposed in Confidences. The book is out of print, but you can get one of the last copies HERE, autographed on request. However, as promised in the “Mission Statement” to The Magic Memories, this project has no commercial purpose, but I will mention the sources for the convenience of those who want a bit more. To prove that this is true, you can find the explanation of this C&B opening inside the lecture-PDF I gave you in the Magic Advent Calendar of December 7 absolutely free 🙂

To me, the epitome of a C&B routine is still Dai Vernon’s version described by Lewis Ganson in The Dai Vernon Book of Magic, and which I have thoroughly discussed in my DVD project The Dai Vernon Seminar. It is still the template on which almost all modern versions build on. Anyway, my little opening sequence leads elegantly into it, if I may say so myself, and as a bonus it pre-loads the first cup with the fourth ball, so you can go into the first vanish as clean as a whistle. This has a nice intra-personal benefit, as by “starting clean” you build self-confidence; add to this that the opening sequence itself is almost self-working and you have a truly practical way of starting a successful performance.

If you want still more on the subject, see Sam Horowitz’s fine C&B routine in the Magic Advent Calendar of December 9. I came up with my handling totally independently, so you can imagine my surprise when I read that Horowitz had an almost identical handling decades before I was even born!

Have an excellent week!