Hal Levy passed away on May 19, 1999.  He will be sadly missed by all his friends from the Rochester Magic Clubs.  I am so glad he finally took the time to put his routine in writing before he left us.  Thanks, Hal.....

  If you are interested in adding to your knowledge of Cups & Balls, I suggest you print this routine and keep it as a reference.  I have seen the Hal do this routine many times and it never ceases to amaze me. 

MODERN APPROACH TO THE

PROPS:

1 ea. White Ball, a Red Ball (matches soda-can being used), and a Blue Ball

1 ea. Red Ball 2 (additional ball to match soda-can)

1 ea. Plastic coffee cup (I use a crayon style cup with handle), color optional

1 ea. Foam Insulated holder made for 12-16 oz. Beer \ soda-cans

1 ea. Soda-Can, unopened (Classic Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, etc.)

1 ea. Magic Wand (small)

1 ea. Final loads (three) to fit cups. I use a plastic apple, a plastic lemon, and a plastic orange.

(You can use real fruits, etc.).

1 ea. Empty 8 oz water glass. Used at end for SURPRISE effect (Optional: can use the coffee cup)

OBJECTIVE:

To show 3 odd cups matched to 3 different colored balls. To mystically move balls from 1 cup to another. Finally, the balls disappear and are replaced by a final load of 3 odd (different fruits, etc.). As an Anticlimax surprise ending, one of the cups (the can of soda) is found to be solid and filled with fluid.

The theme could be `I spare no expense for props'. The magician describes what is going to happen before it happens so that the spectator can follow the action without becoming confused. Hopefully just mystified. The different color balls, each associated with a different odd cup will help.

METHOD:

The white ball (WB) will be associated with the foam cup; the blue ball (BB) with the coffee cup; and the Red balls [RB1 & RB2] with the soda-can. The Red Ball (RB1) in left pocket or on left side. The lemon on left side or pocket; the orange and apple on right side or pocket.

Throughout this explanation Quote (")marks indicates patter to match action.

Place the 3 cups in a horizontal line, mouth down from LEFT to RIGHT.... Foam (F), Soda (S), Coffee (C). Place WB in front of F; Place RB2 in front of S; Place BB in front of C; Place magic wand (MW) at lower right of mat . Place water glass (G) off the mat, on table to the left, mouth up.( optional: can use C at the end in place of G).

Tell the audience that the balls will move from cup to cup. You will explain each scenario beforehand. The stage is now set to begin.

ACTION:

Stage 1:

Load balls under cups in following order: LEFT, RIGHT, CENTER by using RIGHT hand to pick up ball and LEFT hand to lift and tilt cup slightly back thus putting ball under the cup from the audience side. RB2 is faked to the CENTER (S) and retained in the RIGHT hand, finger palm.

The next series of moves are used to subtly enforce that the RB2 was \ is under S.

Lift S with the RIGHT hand, dropping the palmed RB2, to show that the ball is still there while saying" The red ball" and recover RB2 by finger scoop-stealing the ball back into the Right finger palm as you lower S again…."will travel to join the BB here". . simultaneously moving RIGHT hand over to pick up the C and showing the BB. As you recover the BB, add the palmed RB2 so that the BB and the RB2 are under C. "with the aid of my MAGIC WAND (MW)".

Pick up the MW in RIGHT hand and grasp it like a cigarette between the first and second fingers. Use the MW to simulate ball going from S to C. With the LEFT hand, lift S and with the RIGHT hand (still holding MW) lift C to show RB2 has joined BB.

Stage 2:

Replace S and C in line, with RB2 in front of S and BB in front of C. Put MW down to Right side of mat. Again place RB2 under S using LEFT hand to tip S back and use RIGHT hand to fake loading ball from front or use the method of covering ball with S in RIGHT hand and finger scoop-stealing ball to palm as S is lowered. Pick up F with LEFT hand, transfer to RIGHT hand prepared to load palmed ball into F. With LEFT hand point to WB. (see #4 Optional Moves listed at end). Recover WB with F in RIGHT hand. F now has RB2 and WB underneath. Pick up MW and simulate RB2 going to join WB under F. Pick up F with LEFT hand and S with RIGHT hand showing RB did indeed travel. Put F and S down at starting positions. Put MW down to the right side of mat.

Stage 3:

Line up cups again (F>S>C) with the appropriate balls (WB>RB2>BB) in front of each. You are ready to reload cups for third phase where RB2 goes from S to C and BB from C to F simultaneously.

Using RIGHT hand to add the balls and LEFT hand to tilt the cups, FAKE loading C with BB; load F with WB and, secretively add palmed BB; and fake RB2 to S finger palming it in RIGHT hand. Using the same drop and take routine, show RB2 is under S, (recover and palm), lifting C high enough to secretly load palmed RB2; BUT not enough to see whether or not, (actually not), the BB is there. Then slightly lift C again to simulate that the BB will go to join the WB under F and slightly lift F with LEFT hand, BUT not high enough to see that 2 balls are ready there. Fit your actions to the following patter. " This Red Ball will replace this Blue ball and this Blue Ball will join this White Ball. WATCH".

Pick up the MW and simulate the expected actions and routes taken. Place MW down and to the Right. Pick up S with RIGHT hand showing ball gone and return S to the table. During this maneuver and the next revelation, secretly go to your Left pocket with your LEFT hand to get RB1 in finger palm as you continue on to C with your RIGHT hand and lift C to show a RB2 there but no BB. Come out with LEFT hand (with finger palmed RB1), go to F and show WB and BB under F. Give time for this bit of magic to get a reaction and sink in. Cover the WB and BB with F while secretly adding the palmed RB1. In the same continuous motion, PUSH F to the Left front (nearest audience) of the mat. Say something like "I will cover these 2 balls here and make the Red Ball over there (pointing to RB2 on right side of mat) travel, in a most magical manner, to the far corner to join the WB and the BB under the F".

Stage 4:

The next sequence is a combination of moves with high impact on the spectators. You now have S and C, mouth down, empty of balls, and the RB2 showing on the right.

Place the RB2 in the center of your mat about 1\3 distance from you to front of mat. Place S to Left and C: to Right, about 1-2 inches on either side of RB2. C should have the cup handle to front (audience) left (magician’s) about 11 o’clock away from the magician.. Put RIGHT hand around lower 1/4 of C. Put LEFT hand around S the same as RIGHT hand is around C. You are now going to expand your distance between the cups by moving hands toward the outer sides of the mat and bring them back to their original position as if testing the alignment and distance to RB2. Then separate them once more and bring the cups speedily together, aimed at hitting the ball between the cups so that the cups actually hit each other loud enough to be heard. Just as the cups are about to collide you must tilt the Left side of C just high enough to clear the ball and down again as you hit S coming from the Left. You must also stop your hands just as the cups hit so that the crash is not so intense as to lose control. Back the cups immediately away from the center towards the sides of the mat so that they are about 10 to 12 inches apart. Stop, slide third and pinkie fingers of LEFT and RIGHT hand, simultaneously sweeping under both cups ( to balance action and movement), catching and lifting RB2 with RIGHT third and pinkie fingers underneath, and lift both cups with tops tilted slightly toward audience and mouths toward magician and raise about 4 inches above the mat, not enough to show the third and pinkie fingers underneath, but enough to show that the RB2 has vanished with a BANG.!! After a small pause to allow the magic to sink in, place the cups down in the center of the mat about 6 to 8 inches apart. This entire procedure is done in one smooth rhythmic motion with the lifting of the cups as the climax. You now point with your RIGHT hand to F at the outer Left corner of mat and saying something like " Really, the RB has joined the WB and the BB way over there. Simultaneous with this action, you secretively go to your Left pocket and get the Lemon into a Left palm position and place left fingers at the left rear of the mat (table top) with the palm tilted down and off the table. At the same time, reach slowly with the pointing RIGHT hand and lift F shaking the 3 balls out onto the front of the mat causing the audience to stare in amazement. While the audience is misdirected, transfer F smoothly to the curled top of the Left hand which loads the Lemon and sets F down on left. After the Right hand places F in the LEFT hand it continues to move back to point at the 3 balls just revealed.

Stage 5:

Pick up the RB1 in RIGHT hand saying " This ball has unique talents, more so than the BB and the WB. Not only does it travel around the table invisibly, but it can penetrate almost any object. .WATCH". As this is being said, pick up the RB1 with the RIGHT hand, display it briefly, close your fist, and go under the table directly under C. Take C in LEFT hand and move slightly around as if trying to find a soft spot for the ball to penetrate up through the table and into C. Meanwhile, as the RIGHT hand goes under the table and is out of sight, deposit the RB1 in the Right pocket and get the Orange load. Bring up to position under table beneath C. 'BANG' underneath the table with your knuckles when you have found the soft spot. At the same time, lift C, held by the LEFT hand and display RB2. Hit the ball slightly with the side of C as you lift the cup. This will give the ball a slight movement and catches the attention of the audience. "See it penetrated this solid table". (see #4 for optional handling herein) Bring C to back of table top, bring RIGHT hand up under C and load Orange just beneath the table, sliding C back onto the table top (mat). Simultaneously, extend the now empty RIGHT hand forward to point at the RB2 displayed on table. All this action is timed to coincide with the end of the penetration statement. With the RIGHT hand, pick up the RB2, retrieve the WB and BB, and lay them out as in the beginning display in normal order from Left to Right; WB, RB2, BB. Line up F, S, and C behind them.

Stage 6:

You are now ready for the finale: You have a load under F (Lemon) and a load under C

(Orange) and an Apple still in Right pocket. The audience thinks that you have 3 empty cups with a ball in front of each cup. The next two actions are continuous so that the audience thinks that you are just putting the appropriate colored ball under the appropriate cup. This sequence is important. You must start with the RIGHT hand. Pick up C, use the third and pinkie fingers and sweep underneath to keep the load from being seen. Reach forward to cover the BB by coming over ball at the front (audience side), tip C with mouth toward you with top toward the audience, come back placing C over BB while your fingers sweep under C, and finger palm BB as cup is set down. Continue motion of hand to back of mat and lap the BB. While RIGHT hand is moving back to lap BB, the LEFT hand has moved out and lifts F and does the same thing that the RIGHT hand just did. While the LEFT hand is lapping the WB, the action continues with the RIGHT hand now reaching for and lifting S and doing a repeat action.  RIGHT hand, however, continues under the table, laps the RB2, retrieves the apple from Right pocket in palm position ready to load S. As a cover for this action you point in a sweeping motion with the now empty LEFT hand and comment that "all the balls are now loaded under their respective cups"... pause until ready...take a deep breath.. "But what I don't understand is why they changed to a Lemon, an Apple, and an Orange"…You are saying the name of each fruit (load) as it is exposed by reaching first with the LEFT hand to uncover F displaying Lemon. Then with the RIGHT hand, come forward as F clears the Lemon and lift S as you drop the Apple. The back of the hand must be up and facing the back of S with the fingers almost perpendicular to the mat. Just as it reaches the back of S , the fingers turn up and 30 degrees around to grasp S, lifting and dropping the apple while the hand moves back and over the apple. Meanwhile F is put down and the Left hand reaches across apple to lift C. The Right hand has put down S as the LEFT hand exposes the Orange and puts C down last. Do NOT lift S too high or tilt mouth toward the audience or you will reveal the sealed mouth prematurely.

Stand to take the applause.

Climax: Wipe brow with LEFT hand. Then reach for and position the water glass (or C) onto the mat mouth up. Pop the top on S and pour liquid into glass and drink some of the soda. Without saying anything you are showing that the SODA CAN has been a CAN of SODA the entire time, a solid can, full of fluid. An impossibility. A real miracle. You can offer the can to one of the skeptics for a drink.

Comments:

1. During performance please refer to S as a Soda CAN not a Can of Soda as you want to project the  thought of an empty can.
2. Tilt cup mouth up slightly toward magician to add to the illusion and improve the angle to hide the fact that the fingers are underneath the cup.
3. In the sequence of secretly loading RB2 by placing F over it while in the Right hand and then covering exposed WB with F on Right hand in Sequence "B", you can retain F in grip of Left hand while it is covering RB2 on palm up Right hand. Then moving closer to WB on mat, you can slide F off Right hand and over WB as you replace F on the mat. This can be used in Sequence "E" when lifting C with the Left hand to expose RB2, coming to table edge, loading Orange up into C with Right hand, and sliding loaded cup forward again to the table top with the Left hand. Try it. It maybe smoother.
4. The author created this routine because he felt that most routines were too long; that the audience becomes lost and doesn't realize what supposed to be happening; whereby, the effect loses its impact. By using different color balls and common objects as the odd cups, the audience can identify with the items throughout the routine. By explaining what is going to happen, the audience is even more amazed by the actual magic and does not attribute it to apoplexy.
5. The author has been impressed by ideas contained in Peter Harris' Uncanny and by Colombini’s Cup and Ball Routine.