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MrCyNic Loyal user England 238 Posts |
Inspired in part by Reed McClintock's excellent "Defiance 2", I've been playing around with presentations for a C&B routine recently. I decided early on that I needed to use smaller balls so I could nest four in a cup. I keep a collection of discarded parts and peripherals under my PC desk, so I scrounged together the rubber balls from four old mouse controllers.
Anyway, so I'm starting to put together a few ideas when I make what is to me a bizarre and unexpected discovery: all four mouse balls have that "special quality" that makes them work with a Chop Cup! Needless to say, that quality simultaneously destroyed the ideas I was working on and blasted me with a whole range of new ones. Cheers, Cy. |
GaryW Veteran user HSMagic 317 Posts |
I was going to say you are crazy but then I took my mouseball out and tried... who would have thought...
What to do ??? Mouse Balls and Hard Drive M******.... Got to be some PC magic there... |
Payne Inner circle Seattle 4571 Posts |
I've been using mouse balls for years and years. We had a mouse here at work that used a black rubber ball that replicated perfectly the burnt cork balls that were used in the old days.
I've since abandoned using these in favour of hand rolled felt balls which are more visible than the black mouse balls are.
"America's Foremost Satirical Magician" -- Jeff McBride.
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MrCyNic Loyal user England 238 Posts |
Nice one, Payne. I like quite a lot of things about mouse balls at the moment. The high-friction surface is a nice plus, and I also like the general size and weight of them.
Still, the big news to me was that they work in a Chop Cup. Were you using them like that, or in a Chop-less routine? Cheers, Cy. |
Payne Inner circle Seattle 4571 Posts |
The ones I have are solid rubber (or at least a rubber like material) so they wouldn't work in a chop cup. Since I don't use a chop cup this wasn't a problem.
"America's Foremost Satirical Magician" -- Jeff McBride.
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jcb New user 6 Posts |
Payne,
I searched the forum and saw that you spoke a few times of felt balls, yet I could not find an explanation of what they are. Could you describe them ? Thanks. |
Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
Okay,seeing as how that secret is out, you might want to check out the Ramsay Cups routine using two mini chop cups.
The mouse balls are just right for hiding four, and even the load at the start when done on a closeup pad. Another long held secret goes public. <sob> :o( -Jonathan
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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MrCyNic Loyal user England 238 Posts |
Oops, didn't mean to spill the beans there, Jon. Just made a discovery and wanted to share.
I'll certainly check out the Ramsay routine. To all who haven't already made the same discovery I did: These aren't the balls you're looking for... You can go about your business... Move along. Cheers, Cy. |
jbohn Regular user Minneapoils, MN 102 Posts |
Oh, but they ARE the balls I was looking for!! :smile:
Working as an IT person has given me new insight into scrounging for equipment/parts for magic! Jeremiah |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
I thought that mouse balls were too heavy?
What exactly are hand-rolled felt balls? How would you do that. I'm interested. I like that Idea. I have lots of good felt for my leather chop cups and dice stacking cups and I could borrow some.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
KirkG Inner circle 1391 Posts |
Jonathan,
Why are you always so depressed that secrets are let out? Too many secrets go to the grave and are never worked on or with again. Also many magicians are geographically separated so they will never get to session with "the guys" and yet could probably contribute to the advancement of the work. True there will be those who are hacks and don't deserve it, but they will die out in the process of natural selection. These things too shall pass. Kirk G. |
Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Man...! Woo...after seeing the title of this thread, the comedy lines that went thru my head...
"Gee, I never looked that close" "The cat sure looked funny, carrying those!" "Yeah, and they look strange dancing, too!" Etc, etc... sorry guys, couldn't resist! Doug |
Dave Le Fevre Inner circle UK 1666 Posts |
I always saved old mouse balls, just in case they had any conjuring use.
But they're too heavy to be supported by the m***** in my chop cup. ***! But thanks for the idea, anyway. Dave
The Ozzy Osbourne of the 34x27
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TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
I'd like to thank payne publicly for the felt balls idea. I had to start making them for my line of chop cup products to get them to match the cups just right.
It took a while to figure out how to make them and it is very time consumming but I'll try to post some pictures. Again, Payne, thanks for sharing that idea with us. Frank Starsinic Here's the link to the felt balls. Thanks again to Payne for the idea and my wrinkled hands. Soft but wrinkled. http://www.theambitiouscard.com/balls/samples.pl Frank Starsinic
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
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