Could you help me finding real fine cups and balls (except the Johnson ones)?
I need your knowledge on adresses.
Thanks.

El Duco's Golden cups are great this is the set I use and have used for the last 5-8 years. You can find the on his webpage at http://www.elduco.se

Jonas Karlsson
Vibono Magic
sweden

Greetings and Salutations CardFan,

"Real fine cups" is pretty subjective, but I'll give it a shot.

I've got a beautiful set of Galli-Galli cups from Pete Biro, he's a regular visitor on this board. These are nice, heavy cups that are perfect for street work when finishing with a large load.

I also have a set of Bosco cups from Harries in Sweden. They are not quite as heavy but have a very Renaissance era look to them, which is important because I work at several fairs.

I found a cool deal from hocus pocus on a set of wooden "hindu" cups. They are not large or heavy, but I got them for the look I was going after for my wizard character.

I started off with a set of Morrisey cups and chop cup combo with which I learned the basic moves and an appreciation of the great magic possible with cups and balls.

OK, I didn't answer your question directly, but this is a short version of my opinion. Go to "the side walk shuffle." You'll find several lengthy discussions on this very topic.

Have fun.

Joe in KC

Live a great adventure, make magic happen!

Sorry I gave you the wrong web adress it should be http://www.el-duco.se

My favourite cups and balls are Morrissey. I think they are great, and although I have tried others these are my favourite.

Many thanks MagiUlysses, I will begin searching in these directions.

I would like to get a Johnson set and an extra chop cup. Are the colors of these 2 separate products matching each time ?

Bye

Yes, they are made from brass...mine are absolutely identical.

Can you load a tennis ball in your set ?

Take a look at the sisti cups. They come in brass and chrome. The are a nice size and they appear small on the outside when producing a final load.

Go to http://www.jamesriser.com and to his "how to select cups and balls" pages.

This is the bible.

The Riser website is awesome! Even though Mr. Riser manufactures his own sets of cups, he offers a very objective presentation of lots of different types of cups. In fact, I ordered a set of the Brett Sherwood cups, sight unseen, because Mr. Riser and Mr. Biro gave them glowing recommendations. I guess that I'm going to have to find other things to spend my money on besides magic, since I now have two of the nicest sets of cups on the planet: Porper and Sherwood.

I have the Morrissey cups and it's a fine set. I think I paid $30-35, and they're the combo set, but I use regular knit balls, as I lose track of the gimmicked ball & cup.

I think I mentioned in another thread, that Pete Biro's is one I'd have, if money were not an issue. The question you have to ask yourself is:

"Am I getting these to show, or collect?"

Poorly made cups do not perform well (Riser's site explains this), but you don't need to spend $50 - $400 to have a nice set. Morrissey cups are fine. The impact is the same, and the audience (most of the time) are not impressed by flashy props. in fact, the more ordinary-looking, the better. I believe David Williamson (check me on this) does it with coffee cups. Killer effect!

As for the Morrissey, and the finer cups (Biro's, Riser's), how do you explain the cups? The really ornate ones are good, because at least you can spin an "old cups found buried in Egypt" story and be believable. But the plainer-looking cups look like props...in fact, if I spent $200+ on a set, they'd be for my collection, rather than performance.

Great stuff!

Doug

Well, it all boils down to what you want out of the cups. If you're mainly a private party or corporate magician performing for a clientele who are all wearing Rolex watches and driving BMW's and you pull out a flimsy set of aluminum cups, rather than a set of the Sherwoods, then you're kind of not really fitting in. Plus, these guys pull in enough dough to consider a $200+ set of cups a good investment. If you're just performing for family and friends, then of course you're perfectly o.k. using paper cups or whatever.

Personally, whether I'm performing for money or not on a particular evening, I like the feel and look of a nice set of cups. Plus, contrary to popular belief, the Porper and Sherwood cups are not merely collector's items. They are both perfectly balanced and VERY tough (even though they're extremely beautiful). I don't work the streets, however, so once again I'd say that it all comes down to what you want out of your cups. If I was working outside, then I'd go for a set of the $300+ Gazzo cups or something similar. Most street guys will make that back pretty quickly...Plus, seeing how the cups and balls is usually a closer, I really don't see a couple hundred dollars as a big deal.

A final thing to consider is whether you can get your desired final load into the cups. I started out, a long time ago, with a set of Morrisey cups. However, eventually I wanted to use real fruit as a final load. You're not going to get anything fruity, besides cherries and grapes, inside the Morrisey cups!

Definitely check out Riser's site. Fantastic thoughts on selecting a cup set.

As for which cups to use, let's look at it this way:

If you're dealing with luxury, some folks like Benz, Porche, Bentley, BMW.

That doesn't mean a Jeep isn't nice, or a Dodge won't work beautifully.

Me? I drive a Dodge.
But using Gazzo's cups is like performing with a Land Rover/Tank Hybrid. Can I get a witness!?!?!

Robert Bloor

Holla!

Gazzo's cups are tough as a $2 steak and HUGE. Plus they have a funny accent.

Thank heavens. I thought it was just the voices in my head.

Robert Bloor

Well, it all boils down to what you want out of the cups. If you're mainly a private party or corporate magician performing for a clientele who are all wearing Rolex watches and driving BMW's and you pull out a flimsy set of aluminum cups, rather than a set of the Sherwoods, then you're kind of not really fitting in. Plus, these guys pull in enough dough to consider a $200+ set of cups a good investment. If you're just performing for family and friends, then of course you're perfectly o.k. using paper cups or whatever.

Personally, whether I'm performing for money or not on a particular evening, I like the feel and look of a nice set of cups. Plus, contrary to popular belief, the Porper and Sherwood cups are not merely collector's items. They are both perfectly balanced and VERY tough (even though they're extremely beautiful). I don't work the streets, however, so once again I'd say that it all comes down to what you want out of your cups. If I was working outside, then I'd go for a set of the $300+ Gazzo cups or something similar. Most street guys will make that back pretty quickly...Plus, seeing how the cups and balls is usually a closer, I really don't see a couple hundred dollars as a big deal.

A final thing to consider is whether you can get your desired final load into the cups. I started out, a long time ago, with a set of Morrisey cups. However, eventually I wanted to use real fruit as a final load. You're not going to get anything fruity, besides cherries and grapes, inside the Morrisey cups!
[/quote]well said MJMARRS

Gazzman... welcome and see you soon in Hollyweird.
Stay tooned...

Considering that most laymen don't have ANY frame of reference to what a 'magic' prop is supposed to look like, I don't think they would turn their noses up at an aluminum set of cups.

Laymen can only tell something that looks heavy and presumably expensive, from something that looks lightweight. (lightweight is not necessarily chep anymore. Ever priced out an iPod?)

As long as the routine is well executed and entertaining, laymen won't care if you used dixie cups and napkin wads or a set of holy grail replicas and platinum balls with cashmere crocheted covers.

Thank you Pete, yes will be there soon 20 - 26 bring your wife as she's a lot better to look at than Ron Wilson.