Since I Am In The Giving Vein

This is a workhorse in every description. I have used this for 4 years solid. Everyone loves it. Iparticularly like the subtely of the magnet usage and the fact the the whole routine uses the one ahead idea to such advantage.

This is also published in 'CONJURING TRICKS TO AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS AND ANNOY THE NEIGHBOURS' Copyright Dean Atkinson 2004

From me to you.

The Chop Cup Routine
copyright Dean Atkinson conjuring Tricks To Amaze Your Friends and Annoy the Neighbours

Effect

A Chop Cup Routine.

Method

Following in the tradition of loads of card and coin books that have gone before me I have decided to end this booklet by explaining my Chop Cup Routine. I have been playing around with this effect since I was about thirteen and in recent yeas have developed a routine that works perfectly for me. I hope that it may also work perfectly for you. The routine that follows is what I consider to be a perfect example of the one ahead principle. It takes the emphasis off the cup and places it on to others parts of the anatomy, the hand the underarm and also on the pocket, this all helps to pull focus away from the cup by the way. Above all it uses the magnet in a subtle way, as a holdout employed incredibly sparingly and at the correct times to create the perfect illusion of complete reality.

I have always considered that the magnet within a Chop Cup should be treated like any other gimmick be it double-facer, thumb tip or shell coin. The use of such gifts needs to be subtle, there usage needs to be limited to those moments in a routine where one could not possibly get away without using such apparatus, those points where the effect would be far weaker if it was not for the gaff in play. In the following routine I use the magnet inside my cup only twice! It is my opinion that this is truly the great strength of the routine, that less is definitely more. One needs to view the following effect as simply a One Cup Routine rather than a Chop Cup Routine, a single cup routine I might add, with a brilliant secret. This secret magnet will be used intelligently and will hopefully fry you’re audience. I would much rather look at the Chop Cup with this regard than as a trick about a ball that constantly returns to the cup a million times after a good, hard bang against the table.

I hope you enjoy my work on this most intriguing of effects.

One final thing before I unleash this on you. I have never considered the Chop Cup or Cups and Balls for that matter, to be suitable candidates for over premising or clever and/or novel approaches in terms of presentation. The ideas surrounding this type of effect are, arguably, four thousand, plus, years old. The trick with the little balls and the cups or cup will be around after we are all gone and I don’t think we ever need to worry about presenting this effect for what it is, the dramatisation of the ‘Cup and Ball Game’. I am not suggesting for a second that you bore your audience to tears by asking them to play the game with you and constantly ask them to tell you where the ball is now. What I am saying is that the existing premise of the Cups and Balls is ugly enough and certainly old enough to stand alone. For this reason I present the whole thing as a theatrical account of how carnival con- men would swindle punters out of their money during a little game of follow the ball, a game which ends with the con-man winning your money and yourself walking away with only a few carnival toys in the form of three rubber balls (loads). Having said all of that I am not including my patter here but rather just an explanation of the routine. I have decided to leave out the script not because I am a bastard but rather that I want you to present it in your own unique way and also I dislike magic books that are filled to breaking point by the authors exact dialog for every effect. I always skip over it and I can only assume you would do the same.

The cup and magnetic ball are in the drawstring bag waiting to be withdrawn. In the right pants pocket there are three larger loads (I use big rubber balls) and the matching smaller ball (The one that is not magnetic)

The draw string bag is opened and the ball pulled out. This ball is placed on to the table along with the cup, which is taken out directly afterwards. The ball is placed into the cup and the cup is turned over with enough force that the ball is dislodged from it’s magnet. This is done as you describe what the game of ‘Cup and Ball’ is all about, the ball being placed inside the cup and then taken out really quickly. You now pick up the ball and execute a false transfer from the right hand to the left. Thew right hand is now used to hitch up the sleeve a little and in so doing a suspicious movement occurs near to the underarm. You actually retain the ball in a right hand palm but the audience’s assumption is that you may have hidden it in the armpit. This is another example of what I call Magic Micro Sleep. The ball is retained in its place of origin but through subtle misdirection, used here as a double bluff in as much as the audience could be led to believe that the ball has been secreted beneath the arm when it hasn’t, the audience looses track of the true sequence of events entirely.

At this point you pick up the cup and use it as a pointer. Firstly it is tapped against the closed left hand (empty) and then up against the underarm during which actions you explain to the audience that at this point, in the carnivals of days gone by, punters were never quite sure whether the little ball was in the hand or under the arm. As you say this the cup is lowered back down and in that action the ball is allowed to be loaded into it from the right hand. The ball rolls into the cup and attaches to the magnet so that it can be slowly placed, mouth side down, to the table. This is the first example of the use of the magnet as a subtle hold out device. Without actually referencing it you are placing an empty cup to the table. The audience already knows that the ball can only be in one of two other places anyway as they consider that this is the nature of the game. The assumption of the audience is that they need to be watching the hand and the underarm very closely to try to catch you out. In a standard one cup routine the ball would be loaded in the usual Cups and Balls fashion and the cup placed to the table with enough speed that the ball would not fall or roll out. During such an action the audience would be none the wiser for the secret load but since we have a magnet we may as well use it. This concept is a very important element of sleight of hand magic as far as I am concerned, the subtle employment of gimmicks to compliment one’s skill.

The cup is therefore lowered slowly to the table, without it being too obvious, during which point the focus never really leaves the left hand and underarm

The hand is opened slowly to reveal that the ball is not actually there. At this point most people should believe the ball to be under the arm. If the Micro Sleep has done its job correctly and if the audience is human they should have absolutely no other option than to believe this to be the case. You slowly raise your arm to show that the ball is not hiding under there either. I consider this moment to be very strong both theatrically and magically so don’t underplay it. You now explain that the ball is actually dropped into the pocket when no one is looking, which is actually a feasible reality. The right hand reaches into the right pants pocket and pulls out the second of the balls.

It is interesting at this point to consider the beautiful time delay that is steadily increasing on the reveal of the ball under the cup. It is just sitting there waiting for you but we will delay it just a little while longer. For me this is the essence of the routine. There is a definite sense of getting one or even two steps ahead of the game and then waiting another few beats than usual before revealing the fact. The ball in the right hand is apparently placed into the left again and the audience invited to witness the actual work of the ditch to the pocket. In reality the ball is retained in the right hand once more by way of another false transfer. The right hand now moves toward the underarm as you explain that the motion is actually a bluff to throw the audience off the scent. In actuality you really do leave the ball in the armpit at this point. I love this bit! The impression is such that I am showing the audience how I threw them off the scent in the previous phase when in reality I am throwing them off the scent again. The hand moves out of the armpit as if still holding the ball and pretends to place it into the right pocket. At this point the right hand moves out of the pocket palm up to emphasise it’s emptiness. You now ask the audience if you are going to fast for them and should you start again? This is said very quickly as you lift up the cup to reveal that the ball is actually there. This is a beautiful moment. It has been so long since the cup played a part in the game that the reveal is totally unexpected. This is a classic example of the practical benefit of time misdirection.

The ball is picked up and dropped into the cup. The cup is turned mouth downwards upon the left hand and the hand quickly moves away closing, as it does so, into a fist. The audience is led to believe that the ball is inside this hand when in reality it is sticking to the magnet again. I first saw this type of steal performed by Don Allan. The right hand maintains its fake hold upon the ball and the left hand slowly lowers the cup mouth downwards to the table to subtly infer its emptiness once more. This is the second and final time the magnet will be used in the routine.

There is apparently a ball inside the right hand and in a moment we will cause it to vanish and appear in the armpit, yes remember that there is a ball waiting for us under there! It would be all too easy at this point to simply open up the right hand to reveal it as being empty. Instead of being boring and predictable we will take the disappearance of the ball to one more level. The imaginary piece of ‘nothing at all’, posing as a ball in the right hand, is transferred into the left hand, which closes into a fist as if taking something. The right hand moves away palm up so that people can see it is unquestionably empty. You blow on your hand and tell the audience that at this point the con-man operating the game is miles ahead of the punters. The hand is opened to show that the ball is not actually there and at the same second the ball in the armpit is allowed to fall from there and into the right hand.

You now explain that the game works because of the ‘Fake Transfer’. The ball is held in the left hand French drop position and an open exposed fake transfer is carried out into the right hand. You tell the audience that you don’t really place the ball in the pocket and with that move the hand into the pocket itself. This gesture is used so that you can secretly pick up on the first of the larger loads be they super balls or pieces of fruit. The hand comes out of the pocket hiding the load and moves directly and quickly to the underarm again. You tell the audience that you don’t really place the ball in the armpit but actually leave the load in there! The gesture to the underarm is used to illustrate the words you are saying and the fact that you are apparently shoeing the audience what it looks like to pretend to place something there. The audience assumption at this point should be that there is nothing under the arm. A few faster folks may consider that you have placed another small ball in there. This is all the better for you and the ultimate reveal of the larger load. You now tell the audience that the ball really stays in the left hand and show it to be there.

We are now entering the final sequence of the effect. There is a large load beneath the left arm and a ball waiting for us under the cup. Yes remember that. I even forgot about that and I’m typing the trick up. The other two loads are in the pocket with the exposed ball in the left hand. The audience is still only aware of a little cup and a little ball. The ball is openly taken in the right hand and placed into the right pants pocket at which point another of the loads is grabbed. The hand comes out of the pocket and the other hand lifts up on the cup to reveal the other ball. At this exact moment the larger load is placed secretly into the cup and the cup placed back down for the moment. The exposed ball is taken and also placed into the pocket where the hand picks up on the final load. The re-appearance of the extra ball is excused as cheating on the part of the Carney. You tell the audience, at this point, that an extra ball is used to throw off the punters during the game. As you say the words “Extra ball” The cup is lifted to reveal the bigger ball and a big surprise. In the tradition of the first load you will use this moment of astonishment to load the third large ball beneath the cup, which is again placed on to the table with the first large ball sitting on top of it. The technical work in this effect is now over. All that remains for you to do is let the load in your underarm fall into the right hand where it is placed to the right of the cup. The cup is now moved to the left and lifted up to reveal the final large ball.

To end, the cup (with first load on top) is placed in between the outer balls to create a strong final image.