Cups and Balls - Performance and Variations

Performance and Variations

A basic routine is to start with a ball secretly concealed, the cups being nested in a stack. The three cups are set down in a line with the concealed ball being now under the center one. One of three visible balls is put on top of the center cup and the other two cups nested above. With a tap of the wand, the three cups are lifted, revealing that the ball has "penetrated" the cup. (There is now a new ball secretly concealed in the center cup). Again the cups are set in a line, the middle cup covering the ball which has already penetrated making two balls there, while the audience thinks there is only one ball. Another of the visible three balls is placed on top of the centre cup and covered with the other two cups, the cups being tapped and lifted to show the second ball has penetrated. This is repeated with the third ball at which time there is a ball still secretly concealed in the cups, and the performer is ready to go into the next phase.

For a sleight of hand routine, a typical move is to transfer a ball from the right to the left hand, really retaining it hidden in the right. A cup is then lifted to show there is nothing underneath and when it is put down, the hidden ball is released under the cup. The ball is now shown to have "vanished" from the left hand, and the cup lifted to show the ball has "traveled" there. In skilled hands, the illusion is perfect.

Many other secret moves are possible. These include the loaded lift where a ball is pressed against the side of the cup with the little finger as it is lifted, effectively showing the cup empty, and an extraction steal where the cup is set down over a ball but the little finger removes it at the last moment before the cup comes down. In this way, the performer is always ahead of his audience; the appearance and vanish of balls being quite miraculous. It must be stressed however, that the actual performance of these moves convincingly takes months and years of study and practice.

In the basic effect, often three balls are on view but as noted above there may be a secret fourth or fifth ball which the audience doesn't know about. The balls are made of soft material so you can't hear if a secret ball is in the metal cups. At the end of the effect, the performer will often "load" large balls or fruit inside the cups for the climax. A load is a secret move which puts the object inside the cup, usually when the audience is misdirected.

The cups and balls is the epitome of all magic tricks because it incorporates a plethora of magical sleights integrating the gamut of sleight of hand techniques used in the art of prestidigitation. Many magicians have used this effect in magic competitions and won, due to their skill in performing this trick, as well as the fact that it depicts such a wide range of magical skill.