Advanced Cups and Balls
By Matt Beadle
This is the advanced tutorial on cups and balls. Don t
try this until you have mastered the basic cups and
balls.
This E-book will teach you:
Ball Grips
Loading Balls
Stealing Balls
Convincer
Tips
Ball Grips
Finger grip
This is the little finger grip.
Practice this grip as it will be used in many ways.
Method: To do this grip, hold the ball and squeeze it with your pinky and
ring finger. (Note: This is an exposed view. Make sure the ball is hidden in
the grip. The ball in my hand is very loose and this is only for teaching
purposes.)
Pinch
This grip below is called the pinch.
This grip is also very useful. The pinch is great for stealing a ball which will
be explained later in this E-book. This can be done between any two fingers.
Try to practice this so it looks natural.
Before moving on practice the above moves
Loading Balls
To load a ball means to put the ball into a cup without anyone knowing you
did it. It helps for ending effects such as a ball becoming a giant sponge ball
at the end.
Step 1: You have the ball in finger
palm position. Pick up the cup and
show the spectators that there is
nothing in it by using your thumb,
index, and middle finger, make
sure you keep a tight grip as not to
expose the ball. On your way to
put it down loosen your grip on the
finger palmed ball.
Step 2: Now tilt the cup a little bit
towards the spectator to hide the
ball.
Step 3: When the lip of the closest
to the spectators hits the table drop
the finger palmed ball because the
front of the cup will cover the
move. Now put the cup down.
This can be used for an ending
effect which I will explain later on
in this E-book. This should be
done in almost one motion and
should look like all you are doing
is putting a cup back onto the
table.
Tips: Practice this in front of a
mirror.
Stealing a Ball
There are many ways to steal a ball. I will explain and show you in pictures
2 of those methods.
First method: Pinky Steal
The pinky steal is like a reversed load of a cup.
Step 1: Show the spectator the
front of the cup.
Step 2: Slowly roll the ball out of
the top of the cup.
Step 3: Start to grip the ball tight.
Step 4: Palm the finger palm the
ball and place the cup on the table.
There are many reasons you would do this.
1. You need to steal a ball to load a final production
2. You do the steal and with your thumb, index, and middle turn the cup
to show that nothing is inside, then load the ball back in the cup.
3. You want to make the ball jump up a level by loading it in another
cup that will be stacked on top of it.
4. You want to make the balls vanish 1 by 1
Convincers
Convincers are used to make the audience think nothing is fishy. The
convincer I really want to go over is the beginning cup flip.
The Beginning Cup Flip
This is the best convincer to convince the audience that you are not starting
with an extra ball in one of the cups.
To do this move you hold the cup in the position as in the picture above.
You then flip the cup in a 360 degree turn so it lands in the same position it
started in. To do this, use your thumb, index, and middle fingers. Use your
fingers to start the flip. To get a good spin turn your wrist just a little bit but
in a fast motion.
NOTE: This flip must be done very fast so the ball doesn t fall out of the
cup. This must be done with every cup so it looks natural. This move takes a
lot of practice to master and if you get good you can do it with a cup in each
hand. Right after this move is performed put the cup down in the normal
way.
Tips
1. Never give out the secret.
2. Practice before showing it to people. To practice you can video tape
yourself or do it in a mirror.
3. Make the moves look smooth and natural.
4. Using Production loads (ex. Different color ball, Sponge Ball, Silk,
etc.) you will greatly enhance the ending.
5. Production loads should be easily accessible.
6. Make up your own routines and make the balls hop tables by loading
and stealing. Etc.
7. Use the Beginning cup flip convincer; it works very well once
mastered.
8. If you know how to vanish a ball, vanish it then load it into a cup.
9. Have fun with it. Create your own routines and new ways of loading,
stealing, new convincers, and production loads.
This e-book is for educational purposes only. Copying all or part of this document is
strictly prohibited.
Copyright 2003 by Matt Beadle