talkmagic.co.uk

Just wondering if I can pick your brains.

I'm putting together a sponge ball routine which involves some cups and balls type effects.

My set of cups are too small to hold 3 sponge balls, the balls end up getting stuck in the cup, not good. I have got some bowls that work brilliantly, exactly the right size and nest in just the right way, unfortunatly they were quite expensive and I'll end up chipping them if I keep using them for magic.

So what I'm wondering is, does anyone know of any cups that are big enough to take 3 sponge balls or perhaps some not too expensive bowls that nest in the propper way.

Thanks

You have to be doing this deliberately. I'm trying to work here.

Do they have to be aluminium? If not, have you tried the large catering type polystyrene cups?

Lady of Mystery wrote:balls end up getting stuck in the cup, not good.

http://www.cards4magic.co.uk/acatalog/C ... Balls.html

or these any good?

http://www.stevensmagic.com/shopping/sh ... asp?page=2

if that last search link doesnt work, just search for cup obviously...

the only cup and balls thing i've got, is the buddha single double chop cup, that can hold quite a lot of balls...(no editing allowed for the innuendo thread)

Think yourself lucky I didn't write what I was going to write, Marky. I decided not to mention bouncing, amonst other things

I've thought about polystyrene cups, but they don't really sit together quite right and because of the size of sponge balls, it's quite difficult to modify them so that they do.

Thanks Abraxus, I was thinking about those bigger ones on cards 4 magic, but wasn't sure if they're big enough. I might have to take a drive over there and have a look

Before you invest I would seriously send Bill Palmer a private post. Honestly he is very knowledgeable and very informative. It is what I would do especially given the price of cups and balls these days.

You might try a store like John Lewis. My wife noticed some tumbler size stainless steel 'cups' in there last year and thought they might make good c & b or chop cups even.inexpensive
Allen Tipton

That's an idea Allen, good thinking, I'll have a look out and see what I can find.

How about instead of changing cups, to using more springy balls, so that when they decompress they'll jump out of the cup?

I realised there was a difference between the rates of decompression between different types of spongeball when I ordered some supersoft compared to some regular gosh sponges.

phoenixv wrote:How about instead of changing cups, to using more springy balls, so that when they decompress they'll jump out of the cup?

I agree, bouncier is better than bigger.

What size are they?

Your sponge balls, I mean.

If you use, say, 2" sponges, could you move to 1.5" ones? It's probably not worth going any smaller than that, because people will assume the secret is in the compression.

I'm using 1 1/2" balls at the moment, so can't really goi any smaller.

I don't think that getting bouncier balls is going to help all that much, the problem isn't getting them into the cups, it's that once you've got three of them in there, they won't come out again very easily.

I've tried several times to post in this thread but I keep having to take cold showers. Anyway, three possible answers:

a) Poundstretcher do a pack of 12 plastic beakers in the party section, they're 99p and you get two each of six different colours, size approx 3" tall x 3" mouth diameter, the 'red' one is nice and pink! You'd need to buy two sets to get three cups the same of course. They also do cardboard cups, like the ones McDonald's used to use, but in plain solid colours which look quite nice - less than a quid for, er, 6 I think .

b) Woolworth's Stainless Steel toothbrush tumblers - £2.49 each. Remove the top with the four holes in for toothbrushes and you have a nice shiny tumbler, 4" tall and approx 2.3/4" mouth diameter. (No idea what you'd use the surplus tops for - big stainless steel buttons I suppose.....)

c) Have you tried garden centres? They often do plant pots of the right size and shape to use as tumblers, sometimes in zinc, sometimes in plastic. Worth a trip to your local garden centre if the weather's good, stop off for lunch at a nearby pub - that sort of thing!