Cup-and-ball - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

  • The Family Guy episode, "The Fat Guy Strangler," included a humorous TV commercial featuring the toy, saying it has been Mexico's favorite toy for 340 years. The gag was referred to in a later episode, "Padre de Familia."
  • The toy was parodied in The Simpsons episode "Marge Be Not Proud".
  • In the "Sign Language!" episode of Oobi, a deaf girl named Amy impresses Oobi and Kako with her technique, to the point of being dubbed "Cup-Ball Queen." She takes a deep breath, then gets the ball into the cup with a brusque flick of her wrist.
  • In the Blackadder episode "Bells", Lord Percy asks Bob if he'd like to play a game of cup-and-ball. Later in the episode Queenie is seen playing with a cup-and-ball.
  • In The Wise Man's Fear, a story within a story tells of Jax, a boy who is shown many wonderful things, none of which make him happy. Another character interrupts the tale: "Ball and cup doesn't make anyone happy," Marten muttered. "That's the worst toy ever. Nobody in their right mind enjoys ball and cup."
  • In Confessions, Jean-Jacques Rousseau claims that "the only morality within reach of the present century is the morality of the cup-and-ball" (195).

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