Great post.. I am in the middle of getting my C&B routine together and have been loading out of my pockets because I can't at this point in time afford a pouchers pouch...Heading out to grab some ply and have a go at this stragery of loading..

Cheers..

One more thing for the C&B workers... When having loads in my pocket I obviously put the ball into my ball then get the load, come out of pocket and load cup... But when you use a servant do you put the ball in the pocket then go to the servant to get the load? You can't say I'm going to put this ball under here if it is suppose to be unseen by the audience but it seems odd to make a gesture or put the ball in the pocket then when coming forward you have to go somewhere else to get the load.... with the pocket it's all one motion no pause the same with pouch because that's where you put the ball.

Hope that makes sense....

Cheers

I load from my poskets and the big load from the servant...

koz

Lionboy wrote:


Could you rephrase that, please? "I obviously put the ball into my ball ..."

Sorry 'bout that...

I put the ball into my pocket and come out with the load..

Cheers

That makes more sense.

I'm kind of uncomfortable tipping a lot of technique in an open forum, but I'll give you some hints. The bigger the load, the larger the thing it has to come out of must be. A pouch gives you opportunities a pocket does not. A servante does the same thing.

There is a matter of direction/misdirection, of course.

Lionboy -- I have never been able to master the technique of exchanging a small ball for a big load, although it certainly makes sense from a logical and practical standpoint.

So I don't do my final load that way. After the balls travel from one cup to another a few times, the audience gets used to watching me lift the cup and anticipating what they will (or won't) find under it. So there is plenty of misdirection to do a load immediately after lifting a cup. And I get to do one thing well at one time, as opposed to doing two things poorly. That works well for me, particularly using the servante. SETH

I used to have a home built table that worked much like the prep table at the Subway restaurants. They have that long open channel about 3" in width that runs the length of the table close to the edge for dropping in waste. In essence, it was a very long well.

Underneath the table, the box things fell into had 1" foam on the bottom. The side closest to me was open so I could reach under and retrieve dithed items at will.

The channel was about 8" long and the inside was flat black. There was a rectangular yellow rim around the entire table, so the 8 inch black space between the lines was practically invisible. In the center, I had a red closeup mat on which I worked.

It was great for the cups and balls and even better for coin work because of the foam.

-Chris.

If you view the http://www.stevensmagic.com Teach In video "Cups and Balls" you will see Mike Rogers' setup for loading the Paul Fox Chick Cups off a shelf at the back of his table.

Nick Ruggerio, ex-of Collector's Workshop, has FOR SALE... a table with three elevator loaders made specifically for my Galli Galli jumbo cups. He showed this at the last WMS convention.

Pete, the Rogers clip was the starting point for my thought about a "box servante." Then I remembered an illustration I saw in Hoffman's Modern Magic, showing a table with a fold-down rear shelf and a hollow interior. That's when I realized I could stop worrying about how to attach a shelf to an existing table and messing around with a drape -- instead, I could put the "empty interior space" on TOP of the table, in the form of a box, just as Mike Rodgers had done. Much cleaner, simpler, more portable and easier to execute.

Interestingly, in watching that clip again, I noticed that during his routine, when Mike takes away one of the balls, he actually says that he is "placing a ball on my shelf." I don't think I would do that -- why give the specs ideas? But I guess Mike could and would get away with it.

Re your "elevator table," is it similar to the one shown in Ammar's Cups & BAlls Book? Just curious. SETH

I like to load from the shoulder bag saddle bags that were made for me by Frank Starsini. If I am doing a formal close up show I use them as saddle bags. If I am doing walk around I add a shoulder strap to one and then take my loads from there.

I also load from my side pocket sports coat.

The saddle bags made by Frank Starsini work very well for all the close up gigs I do!

The box servante is a popular item, not only for trade show guys, but with dealers for demo purposes. Many of the older and wiser guys use them. It elevates the performing surface, for better viewing and a less sore back, and behind/inside can hold anything from a Scotch and Soda to, well... a scotch and soda! (Gotta love the dealers' room!)

Back on track, I made a servante for my street table of black fabric that fits over the top of the entire stand, locking onto the corners like a fitted sheet. Along the back is a pocket that runs the entire width. It's about 4 1/2" deep, and holds up to six baseball-size loads, the 4th ball, and my wand. At the back edge of the pocket is a flap that pulls over the top of the pocket to keep all concealed until I need to get to the stuff. The table top rests atop this.

Steals are a snap and pretty well covered all around, although good misdirection is always in order for load steals.

I plan to short-skirt the front and sides for added cover against anyone with a view from below, like kids or seated people. The drape will have my logo for added justification, as well as advertising.

I have also ditched into the servante with the technique of dragging back, but you have to be careful not to have too much rear trajectory or you might overshoot the pocket.

I carry my props in a canvas/leather shoulder bag that hangs from the rear of the table lower than the servante. I can easily reach any prop needed, but don't attempt to conceal that fact, i.e. steals.

The servante folds up into the bag. The prop bag and the top attach to the folded stand with bungee cords. and because the stand has casters attached to the sides, when tilted, it becomes a self-contained rolling cart!

~michael

In a pinch a children's shoebox can be used.

Dean Dill has a nice servante. It packs flat and is reasonably priced. Bend it into shape and stick it under a close up mat. I use it for ditches and loads.
http://www.deandill.com/products_main.html
Richard

Might want to consider Ross Bertram's "Welcome Mat". It won't work for final loads for the C&B's, but the CONCEPT can be used many ways...

Best, PSC

SethB: I don't know what is in Ammar's book (re: table loader). But if you think "star traps" with mechanical elevators, you would have it.

Pete, Like a hank pedestal?

Pete -- The table in Ammar's book (in the Appendix) was a custom job done at Holden's Magic Studio in the 1940's. I will have to double-check, but I believe it was a combination of Black Art and mechanical spring-loaded devices, and not too far from what you're describing. SETH

This is a great idea. This gives me insite as to how I want to build my preformance table. I'm off to the drawing boards!

I like your idea. I’ve been wanting to do something like that because I think the servante is a very under used item. (I know, because I don’t use it anymore). Thanks, now I can use something that is practical and reinsert routines that require it.

I’ve played around with an idea for close-up servante so I can do some of Slydini’s lapping techniques while standing. I haven’t worked it out, but anyone is welcome to the idea because I don’t know when or if I will ever get to it.

Interesting how things come 360°. Slydini's article was subtitled, "The Art of Using the Lap as a Servante." Now we are studying "The Art of Using a Servante as a Lap."

Look into the technique called the Imp Pass. It may not be in SOM. It is in some of the other Slydini books.