Double dribble. No, it's not what you do out both sides of your mouth after the dentist has just pulled your wisdom tooth. actually wer'e talking more along the lines of Michael Jordan here. It is a double appearing basketball.

The effect is simple: You, at any time during your act, open your briefcase and remove two, real, regulation size basketballs. Obviously, that must be magic, because they could not possibly fir in your thin briefcase.

Well, it's not really magic, it's more muscle than anything else. I'll elaborate in a moment.

The effect is pretty straight forward. And it's over in a moment. It's a big bang, followed by another big bang. That's it.

Is this good? It depends entirely on your type of act. Only you can decide if this will fit your style and venue. Definitely not for the Blaine guys, and other strolling performers. Although I have to admit, no palming is neccesary. (jocular remark)

On the other hand, if you could palm these babies, then "You da' MAN!!

The basketballs you receive are real, and are altered to allow you to compress them into your briefcase, and quickly expand when the briefcase is opened.

Now for the problem. I tried with all the herculean strength I could muster, to get two of these puppies into my standard briefcase, and I tried continually for several days, only to find that I absolutely could not get two in at once. Perhaps, I need a bigger briefcase, although mine is a standard size. It takes a bit of ummphh to get one in, and I am not of large frame,but then again, I'm also not a Barney Fife.

So, to solve the problem, I called in my son, who happens to be on the school wrestling team. Believe me, this kid is of antean strength, and when he is determined enough, can give the Incredible Hulk a run for the money.

So he gave it the old heave ho, and turned red in the face, and failed as miserably as I had. Face it, those twins were not going to be born of the same briefcase, no matter what I tried.

So, I settled for half of the effect, producing one basketball, until it occured that I could produce the second one by hiding it behind my night club table, and using a technique I had learned from Slydini. That worked perfectly, but the angles were lousy. Although, I must admit a stage hand off to the side saw me do it, and was still fooled and amazed. But that's another story.

Anyway, with this effect you recieve two regulation basketballs, instructions, and no briefcase. (Provide your own)

The props are beautiful to look at, (if you love basketballs, and could conceivably pack a whallop if, unlike me, you can figure out how to get them both in your briefcase.

I might mention, if you happened to see the Amazing Jonathan (sp) perform a similar effect on T.V., that this is an entirely different method.

For quality of props, and possibilities of packing a punch (despite the fact that you can only use one), I'm going to give this ***three stars.

I heard you can't bounce them like regular balls after you produce them. Is this true? Do you think this is a liability in certain situations?


Brian

No! You cannot bounce them....the routine actually falls a bit "flat" there is nothing really inspiring to do with them once you have produced them....or perhaps I am just not a creative thinker?

I think one of the reasons for this is because you cannot bounce them and so this limits where you can go with them...they in effect become mere sight gags.

I sold my double set at a magic auction along with the briefcase for a mere $50.00. I was surprised they sold for that amount but, I was greatful for the deal!

I say to you this, Do you have an idea for them? If you do, then by all means grab the rock and get them....if you don't but, are happy with just a sight gag then don't "Pass" on these basketball babies!

See you on the court?
rr

No, you can not bounce them, but that never bothered me, because I just produced them, displayed them, rolled them off stage, then slid into my next effect. (after the applause died down)

I've used Double Dribble to great effect when I first got it a few years back. While I managed to get them into a standard briefcase, it took a great deal of effort and was something that I didn't always want to try and set up right before my show because it could take one minute or ten minutes to set up depending on my luck. Afterward, I would be a little winded. I still have Double Dribble but I hardly use it anymore. I got the Executive Briefcase and started using that instead for my ball productions.

Wow! I gotta hand it to you! If you were able to stuff both of them in a briefcase, you did better than my wrestler son. You must be quite a hulk!

The executive briefcase, as I remember was quite a pretty penny to purchase.. More money than I had on hand at the time, which is why I went with double dribble...

What is the price?

thanks,

Jay

To tell you the truth, I don't remember exactly what I payed for it, but it wasn't cheap, that's for sure. I got it from Hank Lee.

Isn't the more logical variation thet one with the bowling balls? Then they wouldn't have to bounce...

Seth,
they are totally different methods. The basketballs are self-working and imho much easier.

Comments?

thanks,

Jay

My method for loading entailed placing the briefcase on the floor, kneeling down, putting on ball in while on my knees and then basically putting all my weight on the first ball until I could get the second ball in. Then I would shift my body so that both balls were kept in a compressed mode until I could bring the top of the case down, move out the way and secure the latch. It was quite an effort and I don't perform it anymore primarily as a result of that.

Hi Alton,

Maybe it's just me... but that read as *very* funny!

I wish I could laugh, unfortunately it's very painful for me, as I know the trouble that I myself went through to get just ONE of those puppies to co-operate! It makes me out of breath to just think about it!

Hey Jon ... you're right. Although I didn't intend for my response to be humorous, I can see where the double entendre references along with some of the poor grammar in my post can bring a small chuckle to someone reading it for the first time. Good catch, my friend.

Alton

I have this & never used it I went out & bought a leather briefcase at staples paid around 40.00 . Anyway the latches on the briefcazse broke trying to put the basketballs in horrible trick waste of money !!! 'Impossible to get the balls in the briefcase"