I have a question:

I was given a cups and balls routine that was written by a friend of a friend (Rucj Uffelman, with credits to Vernon, Colombini, Ireland, Tarbell, and Osborne), and in step 8 of the first phase, it says 'using the "Hamon Frustration" to show the bottom cup empty and place the top cup over the right hand ball, thereby loading a second ball under the cup...'

I probably didn't need to read the whole step, but what exactly is the Hamon Frustration. I'm rather new to cups and balls and the only person I've ever learned from was Gazzo, and he doesn't really give names to the sleights. Can someone please describe for me what this move looks like, or tell me how to execute it without much exposure?
Thanks!
~Jonathan

It's probably referring to Hamman's "Flushstration" which is a card move that flashes the bottom card implying that it's the top card.

For cups, I'd imagine it would be something like having the stack in your hand, flash the opening of the bottom cup and then remove the top cup of the stack and placing it on the table. Repeat the "flash" for the next cup, and then finally for the last one. Assuming the ball was under the top cup, it moved with the cup to the table to cover the ball already there, thus making you "one ahead."

It sounds like it would never work, but if done smoothly with the cups rotating in your hands, it's visually hard for the spectator to keep up.

Yes, I know the flushtration count for cards, and I sort of considered using it for C&B, but I never thougght that would work. I think I'll let Bill or Pete answer this one.
Thanks Dave...
~Jonathan

On page 28 of Ammar's "The Complete Cups and Balls" you'll find "The Flushtration Count" which is a method for seeming to show the cups empty and simulates a well-known move with cards.

There, I knew I read it somewhere! Thanks for the reminder.

That's where you will find it. It does work for cups and balls if you handle it with a steady rhythm.

Hey guys...thanks for helping the C&B Newbie.
~Jonathan

Note:

The key is steady rhythm, not necessarily speed.

And don't call too much attention to it as you perform the move. For instance, don't say "here this cup is empty...and this cup is empty too..." It's a casual move that implies emptiness as you talk about something else.

All I can add is that it works because I've used it w/ C&Bs.

You can also read that move in Garcia and also David Williamson does this in his two cup routine.

It is a one , two , three no pause type of rythem and it flies right by.
My line is usually "We have one, Two, Three cups and three balls..."
Mobius

Folks says "it does work", "it works" and "it flies right by"...

All these guys know more than I do, but I gotta wonder: do we say that "it works" because folks don't shout out? Is "flying right by" the same as "it is really convincing"? Or is my objection to moves like this a "magician's complaint"? Maybe.

Maybe not. Many years ago my new sister-in-law (a total lay-person) met me in a mall, and I dragged her into a magic shop (she had _never_ seen any magic performed, ever -- I was in town for a magic convention). There, the competent demonstrator performed the newly-published "Presto Printo" (if memory serves), which starts with a Flustration Count. As we left, I asked her what she thought of it. She described the sleight in detail, saying that she thought it odd, but not worth spoiling the trick for!

I can only imagine that the same action with cups would result in the same reaction for a good chunk of your audience.

Just my 2 cents worth: No, I don't think "fly right by," is the same as "it is really convincing" because I think those are two different things. It all depends on how the move is presented and how it is sold and what it is sold as. If it is sold as a deliberate showing of the cups being empty, then it is probably not convincing at all. But usually this is not the manner in which it is presented.

For instance, if you're doing the move with cups under the pretense of simply laying the cups out in a row, and at the same time, the interiors are not shown but just happen to flash, there is an implication that they are empty...but it's on a subconscious level. You're selling the layout of cups, not a display of three empty cups.

My memory of Presto Printo (which Doug mentioned above) is a bit hazy, but personally, I feel that when the flustration count is used to show that each card in a packet has changed appearence, the deception is on the weaker side. Especially when the move is repeated. To me, it is the equivelant of doing the move with the cups while selling it as, "Look, all three cups are empty." This is where I think the move is being sold improperly. The heat is on and someone like Doug's friend will catch on.

The Flushtration Count is used in Presto Printo in the beginning, to show all the cards blank. The move works best (maybe only) when done in a casual manner, not calling attention to the cards (in this case cups) as they are shown.

Perhaps in the case of the dealer and sister-in-law, the fault lay not in the move, but in its execution.

It's true, though, that just because no one says anything doesn't mean they are fooled.

I think that Bill's comment here is true for the entire C&B routine. If you study the Vernon video, you can only appreciate that his rhythm is as much, if not more, of the beauty of his presentation.

Dwight Powell