In your C&B routine, how important is the relationship between the balls and the final load balls? Are the load balls a larger version of the reg. balls? Totally unexpectedly different? I use green felt balls with rubber yellow smiley face final loads and the smileys cause an extra shock. Ideas?

I agree with Bob Read and several others on this. Contrast is very important. Different colors. Different styles. Different materials. Strange objects.

Produce a sumo wrestler.

Produce a shoe.

I find the Smileys particularly useful when performing in hospital rooms. It makes these people laugh. And they need that.

I have been thinking about the Smiley balls, but have a "dumb" question.

How do you make sure that the "smile" is in the right position when the ball is revealed? Or do you just quickly turn the ball to the right position once it's been produced? SETH

You don't even worry about it. Just turn the balls. You don't even have to do it quickly.

Or you can put a magnet in your table top and put a thumbtack in each ball.

I think needing the smile pointing forward is not necessary - but I can relate to your thinking - the need for perfection in all aspects of the routine. I think this is one where the change in color, material, size, texture, and attitude (smiley) is enough......

I really like the idea of smileys. I used to produce some globes, talking about how the cups and balls are famous all around the world.

But for the emotional hook... smileys are great.

John

Some people think the Smileys are corny. They may be. But sometimes "corny" is good.

When I do the chop cup in the hospital, I produce the two smiley balls, then I pick one up in each hand and put them in front of my glasses. This gets another laugh.

Nothing looks much funnier than a well-dressed fat man with a beard and a waxed mustache who is holding some smiley face balls in front of his eyes.

What are the smiley balls and where do you get them? Can anyone post a picture? Sounds like a pretty cool final load.

Does anyone change their final loads for the season? Like halloween, Xmas, etc.

Go to the cups and balls museum and look at some of the mini cups by RnT II. That will show you what we are referring to.

You can get them from dollar stores and from party supply houses. Also Oriental Trading Co., Rhode Island Novelty Co. and Gumball Machine supply houses carry them.

For those who like the smiley balls and are worried about the orientation, here's a suggestion: Go to a toy store and get a tiny plastic hat (eg, a small cowboy's hat) and glue it on top of the ball. The hat is obviously the top of the ball, so it's and easy matter to find (and keep) the right orientation in your pocket. Also, in the revealtion, the hat should get you an extra chuckle. Then it's just a matter of turning it around to face the right way (which is actually better than if it did face the right way in the first place)... Now the problem is that your cup may not be tall enough to accomodate a hat.