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After buying Eugene Burgers Magical Voyages Volume 1 and watching the bit on sponge balls I'm looking to purchase some. Can anyone recommend which ones I should or shouldn't buy or are they all pretty much the same?

Gosh do some pretty good ones. i really like mine.

Alwasy go with the Goshman range.
What YOU have to decide is:
1. Do I want the standard ordinary, long wearing ones or
The Super Soft which I have to dampen to make them expand fully.
In a damp towel can work.

2. Which SIZE do I want?
2 or 2 and a half inch for cabaret, stage or stand up.

3. Which colour ?

Allen Tipton

Thank you for the replies. In his routine Eugene Burger ends with 24 red balls appearing in the spectators. He also advises against the super soft. So I'm guessing their 1.5" but not sure. Would like to make sure i get the right size.

24 1.5" sponge balls is going to be a very sizeable "packet" to conceal, not to mention the pocket space it will take up! In my sponge routine, I use a multi-ball load of about 8 or 9 smal sponges (no more than an inch I'd say)
You got to bare in mind that when the spectator opens their hand, the balls will go EVERYWHERE and bending over to pick them up will create lots of dead time in your performance.

Probably not the response you were looking for, but I hope its helped out in some way!

Mark

I have used Sponge Balls in a stage routine for some 30 odd years ending with the shower of balls from the spectator's hand.

And suffered the how & when to pick them all up afterwards.Often on a stage they would fall into the orchestra pit and the supply had to be constantly replenished.

Then a few years back I had an idea to prevent this.

For the Shower I have always used one inch balls. I took about 20.
Then using a fairly thick needle I threaded each ball, one at a time onto some very thick red thread (the balls are red). AFTER one ball was threaded I tied several knots in the thread'
Then moved all along, the thread, a few inches (about 2 could be 3; then knotted again.
Repeated this thread a ball, knotted, then moved alongto thread another ball, knotted until all 20 were in one long line.
So I ended up with a row of balls each with knots before it and after it.

They were easy to cop-- & no loose balls to drop when you copped!

You don't get the shower all over the floor BUT you do get them swelling up in a wide, spread out formation ,in the spectator's TWO hands with me, urging him to hold onto them like mad.
This prevents any hanging in a line from his hands

I found I still got the laughter, the surprise and the applause and NO back bending afterwards.
Rarely with the old shower did I pick the balls up till after the show. Apart from the undignified look it could create a dead spot after s great finish.

The red thread, of which I still have a half a reel was Dewhurst's Sylko, Machine Twist Silk Substitute, No. 36.
It was given to me by my late mother in law in 1990.
So it is pretty old but there are strong threads around.

This thread, no matter how hard I pull, I cannot break with my fingers.
And my 'New Shower' has never had a replacement thread.

It would support an Asrah frame easily.

Allen Tipton

Thank you all again for your replies. I emailed Eugene Burger direct and apparently he uses 1 inch balls in the routine on the dvd.

Allen Tipton wrote:....For the Shower I have always used one inch balls. I took about 20.
Then using a fairly thick needle I threaded each ball, one at a time onto some very thick red thread (the balls are red). AFTER one ball was threaded I tied several knots in the thread'
Then moved all along, the thread, a few inches (about 2 could be 3; then knotted again.
Repeated this thread a ball, knotted, then moved alongto thread another ball, knotted until all 20 were in one long line.
So I ended up with a row of balls each with knots before it and after it.

They were easy to cop-- & no loose balls to drop when you copped!
....

Nice idea Allen, thanks for posting that.

SimonK wrote:

Allen Tipton wrote:....For the Shower I have always used one inch balls. I took about 20.
Then using a fairly thick needle I threaded each ball, one at a time onto some very thick red thread (the balls are red). AFTER one ball was threaded I tied several knots in the thread'
Then moved all along, the thread, a few inches (about 2 could be 3; then knotted again.
Repeated this thread a ball, knotted, then moved alongto thread another ball, knotted until all 20 were in one long line.
So I ended up with a row of balls each with knots before it and after it.

They were easy to cop-- & no loose balls to drop when you copped!
....

Nice idea Allen, thanks for posting that.

Seconded, excellent idea. I'm going to do that.

I might try something like that with my sponge bunnies, it's always a nightmare having to scrabble on the floor picking them all up again.

Go to your next nearest magic shop, take some of the shelf, pop all the various sizes and types in your hand and choose the ones that feel best for you.

I agree, stay away from the super soft.

May i ask why people are advising to steer clear of the super soft sponges?

If you are looking to produce lots of balls from your hand you may want to look into the "micro" sponge balls by goshman, I believe they are .75" and usually come in a bag of 10

I use super soft all the time - not sure why people are saying not to use them

I will amend my previous post on the subject. I do not like the super soft sponge balls. Perhaps I was a bit harsh to suggest to others not to try them.

I like the regular Goshman. They have more of a spring to them. There is no maintenance except possibly to keep them clean. The super soft don't quite 'spring' into action like a regular or traditional sponge balls. As far as keeping them hidden I've never had a problem with the traditional ones so the benefit the super soft has, in that regard never came into play.

As with everything else it comes down to personal likes and dislikes. So try them both, it is not like they are overly expensive. Then go with the ones you like.