Advanced Cups and Balls By Matt Beadle This is the advanced tutorial on cups and balls. Don t try this until you have mastered the basic cups and balls. This E-book will teach you: Ball Grips Loading Balls Stealing Balls Convincer Tips
Ball Grips Finger grip This is the little finger grip. Practice this grip as it will be used in many ways. Method: To do this grip, hold the ball and squeeze it with your pinky and ring finger. (Note: This is an exposed view. Make sure the ball is hidden in the grip. The ball in my hand is very loose and this is only for teaching purposes.)
Pinch This grip below is called the pinch. This grip is also very useful. The pinch is great for stealing a ball which will be explained later in this E-book. This can be done between any two fingers. Try to practice this so it looks natural. Before moving on practice the above moves
Loading Balls To load a ball means to put the ball into a cup without anyone knowing you did it. It helps for ending effects such as a ball becoming a giant sponge ball at the end. Step 1: You have the ball in finger palm position. Pick up the cup and show the spectators that there is nothing in it by using your thumb, index, and middle finger, make sure you keep a tight grip as not to expose the ball. On your way to put it down loosen your grip on the finger palmed ball. Step 2: Now tilt the cup a little bit towards the spectator to hide the ball. Step 3: When the lip of the closest to the spectators hits the table drop the finger palmed ball because the front of the cup will cover the move. Now put the cup down. This can be used for an ending effect which I will explain later on in this E-book. This should be done in almost one motion and should look like all you are doing is putting a cup back onto the table. Tips: Practice this in front of a mirror.
Stealing a Ball There are many ways to steal a ball. I will explain and show you in pictures 2 of those methods. First method: Pinky Steal The pinky steal is like a reversed load of a cup. Step 1: Show the spectator the front of the cup. Step 2: Slowly roll the ball out of the top of the cup. Step 3: Start to grip the ball tight.
Step 4: Palm the finger palm the ball and place the cup on the table. There are many reasons you would do this. 1. You need to steal a ball to load a final production 2. You do the steal and with your thumb, index, and middle turn the cup to show that nothing is inside, then load the ball back in the cup. 3. You want to make the ball jump up a level by loading it in another cup that will be stacked on top of it. 4. You want to make the balls vanish 1 by 1
Convincers Convincers are used to make the audience think nothing is fishy. The convincer I really want to go over is the beginning cup flip. The Beginning Cup Flip This is the best convincer to convince the audience that you are not starting with an extra ball in one of the cups. To do this move you hold the cup in the position as in the picture above. You then flip the cup in a 360 degree turn so it lands in the same position it started in. To do this, use your thumb, index, and middle fingers. Use your fingers to start the flip. To get a good spin turn your wrist just a little bit but in a fast motion. NOTE: This flip must be done very fast so the ball doesn t fall out of the cup. This must be done with every cup so it looks natural. This move takes a lot of practice to master and if you get good you can do it with a cup in each hand. Right after this move is performed put the cup down in the normal way.
Tips 1. Never give out the secret. 2. Practice before showing it to people. To practice you can video tape yourself or do it in a mirror. 3. Make the moves look smooth and natural. 4. Using Production loads (ex. Different color ball, Sponge Ball, Silk, etc.) you will greatly enhance the ending. 5. Production loads should be easily accessible. 6. Make up your own routines and make the balls hop tables by loading and stealing. Etc. 7. Use the Beginning cup flip convincer; it works very well once mastered. 8. If you know how to vanish a ball, vanish it then load it into a cup. 9. Have fun with it. Create your own routines and new ways of loading, stealing, new convincers, and production loads. This e-book is for educational purposes only. Copying all or part of this document is strictly prohibited. Copyright 2003 by Matt Beadle