Why I spent $250.00 on a magic trick I HATE! 

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You could use fake icecubes, it could work with the kicker of pouring a drink at the end

Take a shot every time he says 'cups & balls' 🥃😵

Using fake olives like Mark Jenest’s Jiggernaut are my favorite “balls” to use that would fit with your set.

Have a m****t in your hand and load it into a cocktail napkin ball. Cocktail napkins are small, light, and pack fairly flat. They go with the aesthetic. It also reminds me of elegant parlor magic, maybe my fave type of magic next to close-up. Upscale. High-class. If close-up is like an outdoor concert, parlor is orchestra. Excellent buy. We all like something but hate it’s style. At least you’re willing to try a new style instead of giving up on the thing. Great video.

I see lots of grey in the debate of using magician looking props, or not. Not all audiences are suspicious of unusual looking props as they know magicians like to look professional. That being said, over-packing while doing close-up/mingling magic, especially if normal versions of your props are in the venue, might raise suspicion, and reduce flow. That being said, I used to carry sponge-balls with me while performing at restaurants because kids liked them, and the effect sometimes created the biggest reaction out of all the tricks. Overall, when deciding on the style of your props, you should consider the venue, style, and audience. Usually, when I perform magic on stage I use classier props, and when I do walk around magic, I use natural props.

I have the same issue as a UK based magician using half dollars, or Chinese coins for coin magic. My audience just aren't familiar with them and why would I carry them to do magic with rather than simply use the currency I would normally have in my pocket, or can borrow from others. I discussed this issue in one of my recent videos and it's a pet gripe of mine. That said, if you know where to find them, there are alternative props and gimmicks for UK currency. It's the same with cups and balls. Chop by Craig Petty has become a favourite and there's loads of alternatives to the standard woven looking ball. I've seen mini tennis or baseballs for instance, or just plain leather. It just depends on how you want to present it: something with a feel of ancient traditions of conjuring or a modern take with more familiar stuff. I can't say my audiences will relate much to putting any types of balls into a cocktail shaker though. Do you get much use with it?

I bought chop cup by Craig petty and I LOVE IT. It’s so great and people can actually enjoy it. You can also kinda make a joke about classic cups and balls

This was originally sold as just the bar cup. I am a working restaurant magician and use the cup and get incredible reactions. I don't know if I will every splurge for the full set because it's more stuff to carry around.

Prior to the "final' Shot Glass and pouring... Produce a lemon and/or lime (which obviously work with the bar theme). As mentioned here and by yourself, 'olives' seem to fit very naturally (or cherries!). Use a silver / chrome cocktail stirrer as a 'wand substitute' if you feel it would work with your routine? Also use a good looking coaster (perhaps leather?), to put down first if working on a damp bar / hard surface as a small close--up pad... Very nice looking shaker by the way. 😊

I was so waiting for you to do the effect! Especially seeing the liquid finish. You have to do it and post even with the balls you don't like. lol.

I love watching, performing and learning all Cups & Balls routine. Same as Linking Rings and Ring & Rope.

You could use obviously fake 🍒, but good looking ones, like from the board game orchard. Then for the finale maybe the shot is an old fashioned. You can work into your patter you only like an Old Fashioned with a cherry in it and produce a real cherry to go in the drink. There's lots of cool story directions you can go with the idea.

alex hecklau actually did a peguint lecture where he solves all the problems that you have with the cups and balls rutine (more like a chop cup rutine) it was his 2014 lecture at penguin. Highly recommend it

I had the same logic as you for some years but then I fell in love with coin maigc and I've been using old silver coins that could be wierd but they are not. No one ever questions it instead they become interested and curious and because I love the way they look, sounds and feels its easy for me to talk about them. But was is most important is you. If you act wierd about your props they will be wierd. Follow you heart. Art needs heart. Start to do it and you will find if its a keeper or not. I love performing my chopcup routine.I love that its not cards or coins. I also love the balls because I used to play all kinds of ball sports when I was little. Balls have a built in playfulness to them. I use a leather dice cup and leather balls+ eight ball +bag. Good luck and take care!

Whilst watching this video, I had the idea of maybe transforming a red napkin into one of those balls? I know other comments have mentioned napkins but if you want to still use the balls, thats an idea? This is also a good "looping" method for introducing the next prop into the routine. Just an idea?

Get some rubber olives and chop one.I got a couple with the jigger naut trick. Not sure if that trick is still available but you could easily chop one of the olives is I'm assuming what you bought is a chop cup

As a fellow ball lover (juggler) I see the balls as potential red herrings and joke material. You could do part of the routine with the organic object like the olives. Then explain how thats obviously impossible which is why all those other magician will use these red balls here. Give them some funny fake reason they work and the olives shouldn't. But then as a kicker make the olive do what the ball was supposed to? Could be a fun way to lean into the cheesiness of the red balls! Also i find that sometimes performing an act that is slightly outside your character will after a few performances just organically turn into something more along your style with all the small tweeks you do during each perormance

Use wine corks or rubber olives

Hey Cavan 😃 You can also use grapes or cherries which should be easy to prep Here in our country majority of our restaurants give out wrapped candy/mints with the receipts before the customer pays which can also work (except for the noise of the wrapper of course) Or you can use the same concept used with Craig Petty's c-cup with bills or paper. Hell, with the help of the bar-tender or waiter/waitress, you can get the drink orders for the table you want to perform to so that you know what drink to load (force) while they are waiting for their drinks. With all of this info you can rock up to a table with your notepad under the pretense that you quickly want to confirm their orders. Write down the drinks, and scrunch them up into balls. (No one should ever think there is something sneaky going on writing down the orders and prepping the one piece of paper) If there is more drinks (balls) that is needed for the trick you need to work around that but I believe you should have a workaround for this either using equivoque or some smooth sleight of hand😉 Enjoy it and let us know how your experience with your new prop went.

My initial thought was ice cubes as a final load ... Real ice cubes you snag from behind a bar .... or for a special gig get yourself a playing card suit cube mould for a £5 off ebay & arrive with tray frozen & insulated in double jiffy bag - again a venue might be able to pop in freezer for you till you're working - (Just watch out for ice burn !). ... oh Jiggernaut by Mark Jenest also sprang to mind. Good luck in your quest.

That’s really cool 😮

Skittles to mix with vodka, dried salty prunes

as a bar man/waiter you could crumble the check and form paper balls out of it

You’ve got a martini tin, so seems an obvious choice to switch out the balls for olives 🫒 Every 90s TGI Fridays bartender (myself included) did a version of cups & balls using regular cocktail tins and olives (or cherries) and it always went over very well. I’m pretty sure you can get chopped olives. There was a version using a jigger (spirit measuring cup) that used olives. Was it a Dave Forest release? Thinking about it, I’d be looking to change the shot glass for a martini glass🍸 or a Nick and Nora glass since pouring a shot into the type of shot glass you have out of a mixing tin makes very little sense. That type of glass would be used for a straight up shot rather than a mixed drink. For me, having the wrong glass for the final drink is more bothersome than using the crochet balls.

I bought the same trick and just lost it the first day in Blackpool, not sure, if i will spend that money again 😅

You could use Olives and/or Cherries.

Hey cavan. Don't usually leave a comment here, but i have a recommendation for a set that could solve both problems. Have you seen adam wilber's set? He uses 3 coffee cups and 3 coffee beans. The beans of course vanish and change places, then they grow bigger, and the final load of the 2 side cups is a bunch of coffee beans, and the middle cup is filled with coffee

I know this may sound gross but I’ve done weirder things while performing, I’d use the biggest greek olive I could find and wind up eating it at the end.

I have a buddy who uses frosted drink glasses and crumpled up 5 euro notes instead of the crochet balls

If sth repeatedly tells you - there’s sth that doesn’t fit - it doesn’t fit. So it needs time to figure out. Take your time and you’ll come up with your way - trust your feeling. Experiment and see how it feels, and decide then. Don’t let the buy rush you, if it took you that long to get a little closer to get near your vision or desire to perform sth with that kinda props or style seen performed by somebody - take the time to enjoy the journey - which means enjoy the evolution of your magic. Hope that helps out even make sense 😜😇😎👍🖖

You had mentioned fake olives but what about small wine corks?

I think you're overthinking it, you've already taken care of the main prop introduction with the cocktail shaker prop, if you just pull some balls out of your pocket and start doing the trick nobody is going to care. But yeah I've done a cups and balls routine with real olives and cherries before, so that definitely works, never tried the prop ones before.

I spent $75 on Dex...is your review coming soon please?

Why dont you have each audience member/ diner ball up a paper napkin (make sure you ball them up real tight!) then do the old switcheroo...

Use a cherry or strawberry. And a lemon or lime for big load.

I have that shopcup for more than 10 years, and I usted with olives, I own more than 50 different sets of cups and balls, chopcups and that set is one of My favorita sets and I use the olives because the prop that iam using (cocktail shaker) is complemented with the olives, and I produce a lime just before the martini or tekila as the final load...enjoy it...welcome to the club of satified chopcups practitioner....

I've seen a video of a bar man doing the cups and balls with cocktail shakers and fruit so maybe you could use fruit instead of balls.

Ball replacements: whisky rocks, monkey fist knots, Brazil nuts

I don't think the cups and balls look like magic props.

Instead of cloth balls could you use coins or origami folded bills? Buy you a drink sort of deal.

sugar blocks, an egg (because a lemon is too obvious)

Use an olive. Take out the stone put in the prop, boom. Put it into the Martini at the end of the trick - but don‘t forget to switch it with a real olive …

Bro you are way overthinking it. it's a drink mixer. you need a chop cup olive, a regular fake Olive, a lemon and an orange. These will make that trick absolutely look as normal as it possibly can which will make the trick as strong as it can be. yeah you said the answer but then you went past it. LOL great video and a beautiful chop cup per . loved it. instant subscribe. 🥳

Spents $250 when you could be doing Cups and Balls with red solo cups and aluminum balls. Can't get any more less proppy and casual than that.

I say rock the red balls. As long as you justify it to the audience. What matters to them, is you! Not your props! 😎

Damn 😭 i wish 15$ wasn't #15,0000 in my country 😭😭😭

I think that you need to change the balls because your style is so unique and that magic trick looks so cool so don’t change that

Limes?

Personally there two issues for u. Your inherent love hate for cups n balks. Which I can only say just go out n do the cups ( with crappy balls) That way u get to enjoy the routine rather than the props. 2nd problem I agree the balls look out of context. But check Paul Daniel's chop cup n ask if it looks corny. I would go for leather balls from Leo Smatser or genuine miniature foot balls like Gazzo uses on the street. Olives are too contrived unless u are behind the bar. Cellini rolled up aluminum foil into balls. I hope those cups fly or do something extraordinary. Nasty price. Iv only done the cups on the street. A shiny shaker would look like a magic prop but as mentioned in a bar setting very cool. Enjoy yr channel. Tx

It is rather surprising that such a chop set made to look and handle like a non-magic item would still include balls that have absolutely no connection both with the shaker but also the spectator. I therefore would go with your suggestion of the chopped olive, which i have performed with myself, as the most fitting of ball. It of course disappears at the end of the performance to be exchanged for shot glass although personally i would perhaps look to have a real olive appear in the glass to which you pour your "martini" into, say cheers, and down it. One might of course need to use a non alcoholic martini to give aroma of proper drink but not mean you end up flat on your face if table hopping :-) Great purchase, well worth the investment.

Use cherries.

Why not use the fact that you hate the trick as part of your performance - tell the audience that you hate it and why.

You should look into Juggernaut by Mark Jennest

I’d say if your head is saying don’t do it, it means you know there’s something better. Time to start experimenting!

If you're in a resturant, how about fake meatballs?

U just gotta go and perform it man

Or ice like balls

You know how it works so why not just design something around your need. It'll be cheaper than your purchase!

Hii cavan

at least it isn't metalism

As a trans woman I get you, playing with balls is not my favorite thing either. Regarding your problem with those balls maybe you fan simply use a borrowed bill o tissues with a m****t that have the same strenght on the one on the cup/shaker Another option might be a fruit replica like a strawberry for example

Just go out and perform it and see how good the reactions are. People expect magicians to use balls in a cup and ball routine. Why did you buy it after seeing it performed? My thoughts are it impressed you,and it entertained you,am I wrong? Go for it,don't over think it.

Cups and Boals?! Bloody Hell, why does it take over 12 minutes to explain? Bugger up

You paid $250 for a chop cup? I've never paid hundreds of dollars for an illusion, but I have seen a chop cup for sale, and I'm pretty sure the asking price wasn't that high.

Could you maby carry a notepad as that's something a waiter would have. And just rip some paper off and make them into balls. I have chop by craig and that's what I do.

Stick with your convictions, you have an image and brand you are trying to cultivate. Red cat toy ball doesn't fit then it doesn't fit.

cups and bollocks

Fake ice cubes

Nothing is more pretentious than being a magician. If people WANT to see some magic, than they understand that small props may be used. To say that you only want to use things that "make sense", is like a film producer only making documentaries.

I have the same problem as you. You hate the balls used in Cups and Balls, and I hate all card flourishes when magicians sit there showing off how they are so skilled with their digits, because, to me, that is a barrier that says 'this person is advertising that they are good with sleight of hand'. I prefer those that fumble and drop cards (which is VERY skillfull in itself)....ie Lennart Green, Markobi. As soon as a magician starts by showing off with all those fancy moves........I turn off!. Flourishes to me, have no place in a magicians performance, they are meaningless.

First World problems.... It's a struggle huh ?

waste

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Here's a tip: If you are really that bothered about "your mind, your logic", "what's wrong with me?" (Seeing that very succesful performers are using the props an yet you refuse, even if your heart wants you to...) You do not need other, more motivated props. You need a psychologist. One more thing (then you'll probably need a psychiatrist); C&B may seem strange to laypeople. But they can be handed out freely. This "normal" looking shaker is a C-cup. It can not be handed out and a C-cup routine is something entirely different than a C&B routine. Oh and a C&B can be done with borrowed cups, cherries, paperballs or literally ANYTHING you can find in any kitchen at any home. Your time is up, end of session. ;-)