September 16, 2013
Cups & Balls and The Journey?
A customer of ours who is a professional magician and quite a wonderful performer for layman has had an ongoing (friendly) debate from time to time over the past 25 years with me.
He believes that with an effect such as the Cups & Balls that what the magician does leading up to the final Large Climax of Balls/Lemons/etc is not important.
I completely disagree with his opinion on this point. I do agree with him that a Cups & Balls routine may be too long. But it is only too long if the magician does not perform it in an entertaining and engaging fashion.
To be clear, I do agree that the week or two after the performance or perhaps even the next day the only thing that the audience may remember is the ending of the large objects from the cups. But that does not mean that the journey is not important.
There is a lot of magic that takes place on the journey to the ending of the Cups & Balls. And that magic is and should be very powerful to the audience even if perhaps the climax is even more powerful but that does not negate its significance.
For me it is analogous to a movie or a novel a play. That is, if the movie or novel or play is boring then one is likely not to sit through to the end or finish.
Many times people do not finish the novel they are reading. Or they walk out of a play at the intermission not to return because part one of the play was not interesting to them.
Well, the same is for the Cups & Balls or for that matter almost all multi-phase magic tricks.
In fact I argue that all parts of a magic trick are important though the ending is of vital importance.
Until Next Time,
Jeff Pinsky
Browser's Den of Magic Shop
Toronto, Canada
Telephone 416-783-7022
Serving Magicians Since 1975
www.browsersden.com
