talkmagic.co.uk

Hi everyone.

I've studied the Cups and Balls off and on for a few years, and I've been playing with a few versions of a comedy routine with them.

I've never worked them into an act, though, due to pracicality reasons.

I'm now in a posiiton where the Cups and Balls would fit perfectly into one of my stand-up acts, if I could just get my head around one fundamental problem:

Angles.

In particular, the fact that I tend to be (albeit slightly) elevated above the audience. This is accentuated by the fact that I'm standing and they're sitting.

So... problem number one, is the visibility of those little crocheted suckers. My big worry is that the audience will just see the underside of a table.

The same angle problem makes me anxious about using a combo cup set with a chop cup.

Does anyone have any solutions for ultra-portable low-hight plinth-type things that can be brought on and discarded for this purpose?

Or am I worrying too much?

Pete

Sadowitz did the cups and balls on stage, and he didn't change the standard size crochet balls at all, he just kept everything as per ususal.

Yes, but at the Edinburgh Fringe, they had raked seating, so the audience was looking down on the table. Not up at it.

Pete

When doing his chop cup Daniels uses a tall box table , on some really high stages, and never had a problem because ,he used the bigger white ball.

If your using the small crochet balls that come with many sets of cups, i would be inclined to trade up a size, and go lighter.

but. if your after something lower on which to perform it, Why not get two chairs and a plank.

this will take the action down lower, and make the effect more impromtu in a way, because clearly your not using a special table

But I'd try the bigger balls first.

I like the two chairs and a plank idea. It fits my style.

Bigger balls always seems like a good idea, but I need to be sure that three can fit snugly in your nested cups...

Perhaps cup size should be just as much an issue as ball size.

Pete

pcwells wrote:Bigger balls always seems like a good idea, but I need to be sure that three can fit snugly in your nested cups...

Perhaps cup size should be just as much an issue as ball size.

Pete

i salute you sir for the most subtle of innuendo ridden of postings...

I find that the Nerf Balistic balls, which you can get in toyshops, show up better. They come on a range of bright colours, and because they are only slightly bigger than a crochet ball, they still fit in the cups.


(There like a solid foam stuff. and range from about 1", to 8" hows that for a final load eh?)

http://www.toysbythebundle.co.uk/nerf-r ... 1507-p.asp

No, I was talking about his live stage show. Not the fringe. They were looking up.

Ah... when I saw his stage show, it was in Edinburgh, and we were looking down. Plus, he had the advantage of a video projection for the close-up stuff...

Pete

daleshrimpton wrote:I find that the Nerf Balistic balls, which you can get in toyshops, show up better. They come on a range of bright colours, and because they are only slightly bigger than a crochet ball, they still fit in the cups.


(There like a solid foam stuff. and range from about 1", to 8" hows that for a final load eh?)

http://www.toysbythebundle.co.uk/nerf-r ... 1507-p.asp

Brilliant idea about the Nerf Ballistic balls!!!

Thanks!

Pete

The key here is to lower the effect. In your situation I would worry that the first few rows will see the underside of the table. If you are really good you could use a glass table and work it to your advantage, but I'm not sure how but if Penn and Teller could do the whole thing with clear cups and show you what they were doing as they did it and still fool the c*** (not the best) out of the audience then there is the possiblitly.

Sightlines are the thing to consider here. If the audience cannot see the top of the table, there is no effect.

Take care, Ian

IanKendall wrote:Sightlines are the thing to consider here. If the audience cannot see the top of the table, there is no effect.

Take care, Ian

That was kind of my point of the initial post. It's the reason why I've been put off including the effect in a stand-up set.

The question was how to deal with the issue of sightlines when doing Cups and Balls in a stand-up performance.

Pete

I know, but if your audience can't see the table top, there's no point in doing the routine.

The best way to fit it in is to get a venue with a floor level stage.

Ian

Hi Pcwells.

Im not sure if this will be an option where you are performing. However, Lance Burton performs the Cups and Balls in his theatre. The majority of his show is performed on stage, but when he performs his cup routine he has a card table set up just in front of the stage on the floor. This not only brings the effect closer to the audience but also solves the angle problem - the audience wouldnt see it otherwise.

To echo Ian Kendall, if the audience cant see the table top (where most of the magic will be apparent) there really is no point.

jim