Is that a false count?

Yeh I think he uses the Bat

My Brett Sherwood Engraved Brass cups and Jade/gold balls came in the mail today,right to my door.
What can I say that has not already been said about Brett Sherwood's cups and balls.
NowI know why every one gives them such a great rap ,even my Wife gets it now!
I decided to go with the Engraved Brass because they seemed to have much more engraving for the same money as copper,
and I think the pattern on the Brass is much nicer to look at.Also Brass is a much stronger metal than copper,so I
think Brass will take the wand tapping a bit better.(not that I will be wacking them hard)

Click here to view attached image.

The Bug bites.1

Click here to view/download attached file.

Recently bitten....

Just received my first set of Paul Fox cups from RNT2 today, in bright chrome. They feel as good as they look.

OK, stumbled on this thread and, I admit it- I am CABA- ready...

Jim

Check out these beauties. Just received them yesterday.

I'm a CABA too. I started out 7 years ago, and I was bitten the second month I started. I learned that every magician should learn the cups and balls to be a good magician, and I learned it and studied it, with Michael Ammar's excellent dvd collection. I abandoned my cups for a few years, and now since a year I've been back after creating my own 3 cup routine (with very simple moves) not even using a final load.

Now after another year, I simplified my 3 cups routine to the same routine, with 2 cups. I don't have fancy cups, and don't see the use in using fancy cups either. I would love some wooden cups though, they fit my character nicely (not chop cups, regular wooden cups)

Nice cups Corbett,how much were the mini baseballs and where did you buy them?

Like the mini baseballs. Does anyone have a source for them. I am looking for one w a magnet for my combo cup routine?

Michael Ammar and Auke Van Dokkum both sell mini baseballs.

Tom, thanks so much Yours, mark

You're very welcome Mark.

Thanks Tom.

I'm seriously bitten again by the cups and balls. It's so bad I can't stop thinking about the routine. I have bought a new wand recently, and this week I have bought some Magiclaurie monkey fists and a wooden cup set.

Same to you Jon, you're welcome.

What a great thread!

My name is Malaki, and I too am a Cups & Balls addict. Yes, the Cups & Balls is a compulsive obsession.

My first set was three small, aluminum cocktail shakers that I altered with a golf ball and hammer to indent the bottoms. I eventually got a regulation set of brushed aluminum that worked for years, until I found the set that I use now at a merchant at a Medieval tournament. I found a set of three matching, tapered copper cups with short stems, looking very similar to those featured in period paintings. A bit of alteration (adding a brass rim and chopping all three cups), and I had my set of period cups. The old cups (the regulation sets) were then passed to my apprentices.

Now, about 20 years later, I have decided to upgrade and improve my routine, taking full advantage of the chops that I had earlier installed in the cups. When I decided to replace the set of balls, I first looked through many pages on this site and started pricing the monkey's fists. Since most are made of nylon rope (not at all period), I decided to learn how to tie the monkey's fist and have been covering the 1" cork balls that I bought online with red suede lacing. This was a GREAT idea! The leather covered monkey's fists are a joy to manipulate! I have also tied monkey's fists around several super balls of the same diameter that are very similar to working with a weighted warm-up bat, when practicing.

The advantage of making your own balls becomes fully appreciated when you make your own Chop balls. I marked the poles and set them into the cork balls with epoxy, making a mono-pole ball that works, regardless of which end is up. The leather monkey's fist makes sure that everything stays in place, in case the epoxy ever fails. As much as I perform outdoors, the monkey's fists will help to keep me from picking them up from the ground (as often).

My performance table has also been altered to suit the C&Bs. I use a three fold base made of plywood that is hinged together with a top that locks everything into place. I have created a wire rack attached to the bottom of my table top that will hold 3, 2" load balls that uses gravity to make the next ball available for loading. I figured that a magician made the first vending machine (coin operated holy water dispenser), so why not borrow from vending machines to serve up the balls?

Historically Speaking...
My research actually shows that the Cups & Balls are far older than the debated figure in the Egyptian tomb. My reading has shown where the cups and balls were actually used as far back as the Stone Age, about 50,000 BCE. Carefully matched bowls and pebbles, in specific numbers tell the tail of it's use. (The Art of Magic by Douglas and Kari Hunt - 1967 and The Magic Book by Lydia Darbyshire - 1977) The Chronicle of the World (by Jaques LeGrand - 1989), says that magical practices of this sort may have evolved with the use of tools, which would place it at c. 2 million years BCE.*

Our vocational obsession is much older than most believe.


* Magical Renaissance: A Modern Wizard's Grimoire, Volume I, A Timeline of Magic by Malaki Dracwin, aka David Swanson.