Oh I very much consider it a settled deal ... but not despite any input from armchair quarterbacks here, rather due to the feedback I get on the pitch - watch the live footage: "wow" "how did you do that?" "that was a good trick!" "what the f***"

That is just a small sample of the feedback I'm getting - I'm doing this trick 30-50 times a night, we're talking 200+ lemon loads a day. I'm looking at the routine at a different level than my critics.

Who wouldn't love this pouch? It's an awesome pouch! It really is.



-JoeJoe

I find it really hard to judge loads these days. I'm always looking at the right place at the right time so I just see everything. I do however find a rhythm to a cup and balls routine. The loads must stick to that rhythm throughout to be fluid. I thought the last videos were very slick. I also like how the bag gapes open as if there is nothing to hide.

Good work Joe.

Spoken like someone that has actually performed cups and balls for real people! You are very much correct, there is a rhythm to it ... not just to the cups and balls but to the entire performance as a whole. I generally refer to it as "pacing" and "pace", but rhythm is just as good of a word to describe it.



I had a great show the other night - really wish I had a camera on me for it! A guy noticed the 2nd load was suspicious ... he told his wife "there is a ball under that cup". I do the next load he tells his buddies "there is a ball under that cup" (the 2nd once again). I keep going and he steps forward and announces to the whole crowd "I'm telling you there is a ball under that cup" (again, pointing to the 2nd load).

I break from my usual lines so I can proclaim "that's impossible sir - there is a lemon under that cup! Can't fit a ball and lemon under the same cup!. He throws his hands in the air and walks off ... the audience goes nuts ... before I could do the next production he comes back pulling his money out of his pocket. Felt like that song the "Devil Went Down to Georgia" and he knew that he'd been fooled ... he had no choice but to pay up.

That is what I was trying to explain - the lemon doesn't exist! There is no lemon! My pouch and load process is specially designed to take advantage of that. That is why I rapidly make the ball disappear and reappear under the cup so many times, burning into their brain the balls will reappear under the cup - misleading them so the climax becomes a bigger surprise.



I know ... I've spent way too much time analyzing cups and balls. I've been obsessed with it for years now. In all honestly, it is the only trick I actually want to do these days. All the other stuff I do is just so I can get people to watch the cups.

Never wanted to do the trick because I was told there was nothing new you could do with cups-and-balls. Then one night I'm watching Dancing With The Stars and realized that these dances were pretty old, but nobody was saying "there is nothing new you can do with the Tango". In fact, these people were expected to bring something new to the Tango each week. So I set out to create my own cups and balls dance.

Love it or hate it, nobody else does it like me. [proud look]

-JoeJoe

I'm actually pretty new to cups and balls but been doing my chop cup routine for a while now. Everything in the routine is working towards the final loads and getting the best impact from them.

With regards to your pouch, did you work from a pattern, or just start with the material ?

I started from scratch ... have made about 10 of them, lots of trial and error. I have ideas for some new mods, but no time to start a new one in the middle of summer season. But they will be some great mods when I get around to it!

-JoeJoe

I'm starting my own pouch shortly, not sure where to start. just staring blankly at the material!

When selecting cups, Michael Ammar recommends you start with your load and select your cup around it. I suggest you do the same thing for your pouch.

How big does your pouch need to be to hold the loads? How wide? How deep? How tall?

It should allow your hand to enter and remove the load in a very natural manner without having to contort your body.

Will you be using this exclusively for your loads? Or is it a general purpose pouch for your entire act (like mine)? What exactly will you be holding in it? Do you need pockets? How many? How big?

Zippers? Buttons? Snaps? Reenforcements for high stress areas?

And of course color ... I'm of the opinion that black is the worse color for a pouch, although from dialog with previous comment'ers I may be in a minority within that department. The only advantage I see in it is that it will appear to be smaller than it really is. I don't see I need that advantage as I selected loads that don't need a lot of space and the way the audience sees me remove everything else in my act from it (easily justifying it's size).

A google image search is a great resource for design ideas - there are a number of keyboards you can get inspiration from. Pouch, poachers pouch, hunters pouch, renaissance pouch, etc etc etc.

And the belt - will this attach to a belt you are wearing? Or sewn into the pouch? How will you secure it - special clip? Or just tied?

Hope that helps put you on the right path! Just some of the thoughts I put into my pouch.

-JoeJoe

I had some green pleather so I got my wife to run up a basic pouch on the sewing machine. Its just a simple pouch with belt loops at the moment. The first one is a little too deep so MkII will be slightly shallower with an internal pocket for the smaller balls. It holds 4 lemons well and gapes nicely to get my hand in. Thanks for your help JoeJoe

I first did belt loops. The weight of the loads caused the pouch to "bunch up"; the belt loops slide closer and closer to each other.

Thus, I switched to a belt stitched to the pouch. This keeps the pouch fully open.

The belt itself is just a long strand of fabric about four inches wide. Each side gets folded to the center, then folded along the center, and sewn. So it is four layers of fabric folded over and then stitched to the pouch. It seems to work better than an external belt.

Good to hear someone is benefiting from my post. Hope your pouch comes out awesome!

-JoeJoe

Here is a video with the details of how I made the light-up magic wand for the routine should anyone else want one ... despite it not being exactly what I want, it is pretty cool to have:

http://magicjoint.com/pages/magic-tricks......ic-wand/



-JoeJoe

Here is the "final" pouch, with an explanation of the secrets and some live footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaHZ1Eyd4aE


-JoeJoe