The Dennis Loomis Cups and Balls Routine: New 2005 Edition
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Description: Thirty-two excellent photographs and nine diagrams show every detail! A classical routine with traditional props and effects, but with exceptionally clean handling and extreme economy of motion. Table hoppers - this routine resets during performance!

The Three Ball Assembly phase is the cleanest ever devised for the Cups and Balls. The audience sees three tabled balls covered one at a time by three cups, but a moment later, all three balls are under the center cup. It looks like real magic to laymen, and has fooled many knowledgeable magicians.
The Smash Color Change is visually startling, and provides perfect misdirection for one of the final loads. This routine is designed to be done seated, working from a set of saddle bags ala Don Alan. The Dennis Loomis saddle bags are described with 3 photographs to enable you to make your own..
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I've had the pleasure of meeting Dennis Loomis on several different occasions while attending magic conventions and video shoots. During those chance meetings I found him to be a highly skilled professional and very knowledgeable in regards to magic in general. Mr. Loomis has spent the better part of his life traveling and performing for thousands of lay people and magicians alike. This kind of hands on experience has allowed Dennis to perfect his magic to a point where it really becomes a true piece of art. In short, theatre that entertains and amazes.

That said, I was very eager to read Dennis' latest offering to the magical community, his prized Cups and Balls routine. Not only is Mr. Loomis sharing the real work on this multi-phase routine, he does it in a most excellent manner. The routine is explained in a very well produced booklet which measures in at about 5 x 8 inches in size, has a full color cover and contains twenty glossy pages of step by step instructions. The material presented is accompanied by 32 clear photographs and several line drawings round out the package as it were.

I am very impressed in the way that Dennis has chosen to present the material. First, he gives you a little background about the routine, which is essentially based on Dai Vernon's classic presentation - but with one big difference, the moves. But why use different moves, especially in a routine that has become so widely used and considered a classic by most of magicdom?

From the introduction we read; "Why use different moves? To make the routine more natural. Imagine just two objects sitting on the table, a mouth-down cup and a ball. If the goal is to get the ball under the cup, the simplest procedure, and hence the most natural, is just to lift the cup, pick it up, and place it over the ball. I think that's what most laypeople would do. It doesn't seem natural to me to pick up the ball in one hand, pick up or tip back the cup with the other, and then put the ball on the table, placing the cup on top. And, it certainly isn't natural to pick up a ball with one hand, then transfer it to the other hand (or apparently do so) and then pick up a cup with the other hand and scrape the (non-existent) ball off the hand onto the table"

This philosophy from Mr. Loomis is very obvious in the way that he has eliminated most false transfers and has elected to take a direct route as opposed to any scenic tours many routines of this nature usually embark upon. Many of Mr. loomis' solutions to otherwise probmatic situations seem very logical and definately work, especially in the context of the routine proper. Has he improved the original Vernon handling? That is very subjective and I'll let others be the judge. However, credit must certainly be given to the sheer amount of thinking that Dennis has obviously put into the working and presentation of one of magic's standard affairs.

Regarding the instructions, I really appreciated the fact that Dennis begins by explaining in detail all the necessary moves before going into the actual routine. Many of the professionally done photographs make use of clear lucite cups, making the placement and order of the balls very clear and obvious when learning the moves. The routine is presented in stages, so one need only learn one stage at a time, which I thought rids the student of any possible confusion he/she may be having. Two things that bothered me (these are moot points, but did stick out in my mind) - the routine does not use a wand (not a big deal for most of you) and you must be sitting when performing (could be a problem for some of you). That aside, I liked his thinking and will be playing with the ideas presented. Well done, well presented. Great value and worth your consideration. Recommended.
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My rating:

Suggested retail: $15 + $6 S/H (Canada: $10 S/H /foreign orders add $15.50 S/H)

You can contact Dennis Loomis directly at:
deloomis@mindspring.com

To order, visit the Loomis Magic website at: Click here!

Payments can be made via PayPal to: deloomis@mindspring.com
You may also order by mail by sending a check or money order to:

Dennis Loomis
621 VICTORIA CT.
BAY POINT, CA. 94565
USA
Phone: (925)586-4447