The Sponge Balls

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Effect: The performer plucks a bit of lint off his shirt and by compressing it in his
left hand causes it to transform into a red ball. This ball seemingly defies the laws
of physics, passing through the pocket, multiplying, and transposing before
vanishing as mysteriously as it arrived.

Preparation: Have one ball in the left front pants pocket and two balls in the right
front pants pocket. A fourth ball is fingerpalmed in the right hand.

Method And Performance: With a sponge fingerpalmed in the right hand, pretend
to pluck a bit of lint off your shirt. Display this nonexistent lint between your right
thumb and index finger. Now, show your left hand empty and pretend to transfer
the lint to that hand. Actually your left fingers close around and conceal the
sponge which is secretly deposited by your right hand.

Patter about how squeezing the lint can cause the molecules to transform and
expand. Open your hand to reveal the sponge there.

Toss the sponge from hand to hand, ending with it in your right hand. Now,
pretend to place the sponge into your left hand but actually retain it in the right in
finger palm position. If you don't know a false transfer see Afterthoughts at the
end.

Your left hand, which supposedly contains the sponge, goes into your left pants
pocket. Talk about how the sponge can actually pass through solids unimpeded.
Your left thumb and index finger squeeze through the material as the right hand
comes over and places the sponge into the trough just created. The left thumb
and index finger pinch the cloth around the ball concealing it within its folds.

With the right hand cupped below the fold to catch the ball, slowly release your
grip with your left thumb and index finger allowing the ball to come into view. It
really looks as if the ball penetrated the pocket.

The right hand now displays the ball as the left comes out of the pocket.
However, the left hand finger palms the ball in the left pocket before coming out.
So, you are displaying one ball with the right hand and have another secretly
concealed in the left hand.

The right hand now comes over and places its ball directly on top of the ball in
the left hand. In the same action, both balls are raised as one then placed down
on the left palm so they are side by side with the right index finger pushing down

on both in the middle. Now by "sawing" back and forth with the index finger and
slowly releasing pressure, you can create the illusion of splitting one ball into two.

Display a ball at the fingertips of each hand. Say you'll show the spectator
something really cool. Have the spectator extend a hand, and place the ball in
your left hand into their hand with the instruction that they hold it tightly. Now
execute a false transfer with the ball in your right hand so it appears to go into
the left. Say you will cause their ball to vanish and join yours.

Instruct them to open their hand. Of course their ball is still there. Pick it up, and
in the process load the ball in your right hand behind it so the two balls appear as
one. Stare at the ball in mock surprise.

Place the ball/balls back into their hand again telling them to hold tight. In fact, it's
a good idea to have them turn the hand palm down lest they open the hand
prematurely and ruin the surprise. Say you'll try the reverse, to make your ball
join theirs. Make a pass over your left hand then open it to reveal the ball has
disappeared. Instruct them to open their hand -- slowly so the balls don't spring
out and end up on the ground--and they will see they now have both balls.

Say that you actually have another ball which you made earlier and have been
hanging on to. Reach into your right pocket and finger palm one of the balls there
and bring the second out at the fingertips. Place the ball at your fingertips into
your left hand, then pick up the two balls off the spectator's hand, loading the ball
in your right hand behind them. Say, you hang on to these two. Place all three
balls back into their hand again having them hold on tightly.

Toss your ball back and forth ending with it in the right hand. False transfer to the
left and cause the ball to apparently disappear. Have the spectator open his hand
to reveal all three balls there.

Say that as long as you have three balls here you might as well play a little game
with them. Pick up one of the balls off the spectator's hand and place it into your
left hand, secretly adding the ball concealed in your right hand in the process.
Pick up a second ball off the spectator's hand and place this ball also into the left
hand. The accompanying patter is, One, two balls go into my left hand.

Show your right hand empty then pick up the last ball and pretend to put it in your
right pants pocket, actually retaining it in fingerpalm. Say, and the third goes into
my pocket.

Ask the spectator how many balls are in your left hand. No matter the answer,
open that hand to reveal three balls. Position the balls on the spectator's hand
and say you'll try again.

Repeat the above procedure exactly up to the point where the third ball goes into
the pocket. This time really leave the ball in the pocket. This allows you to show
your right hand empty as it comes out of the pocket, something you couldn't do
the first time.

Again ask how many balls in the left hand. Again open the hand to reveal three.

Say you'll try this one more time. Pick up the first ball but instead of actually
placing it into the left hand, false transfer retaining it in the right. Pick up the
second ball and again execute a false transfer, keeping the ball in your right
hand. When you deposit the third ball in the pocket, you actually dump all three.

Ask the spectator how many balls are in the left hand. He will most likely say
three. Open your hand to reveal no balls. Take your bows and move on to the
next routine.

Afterthoughts: If you are a beginner to magic check the Gear page for a booklet
on sponge ball magic that will teach you the fundamentals. I have been
performing with sponge balls for over twenty years and they never fail to get a
good reaction. For the money and amount of practice involved, which isn't much,
sponge balls are good solid magic that no close up magician should be without.

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