GREAT SCOTT’S TABLE-HOPPING

CUPS AND BALLS ROUTINE

by Scott Guinn

Comments: A routine with two cups and (apparently) one ball, this is based on Gary Ouellet’s
"The Two Goblets". Here are some nice features of this routine:

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It can be done standing or seated.

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There are no false transfers.

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There is no lapping or topiting.

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It resets quickly and easily

Requirements: From a combo cups and balls set, you will need the chop cup (CC), one regular
cup (RC), the magnetic ball (MB) and one regular ball (RB). Also required are three final load
balls, preferably two of the same color (SCL) and one different color (DCL). In my table-hopping
work (which is, after all, what this routine was designed for), I use the miniature two-inch combo
cups, available from Bob James’ Magic Shop. These take up very little room, and are still highly
visible in a table-hopping environment. For the final loads, I use silicone balls from my Fakini
multiplying billiard balls (two white and one yellow). They fit the cups perfectly.

You will also need an opaque handkerchief and a magic wand.

Set up: Place the MB in the CC and the RB in the RC. Nest the RC into the CC, then place the
handkerchief into the RC above the RB. Place the nested cups in the drawstring bag that came
with the cups. Place the two SCL in your left pants pocket, the DCL in your right pants pocket,
and the wand in your inner breast coat pocket. You should be performing this routine on some
type of close up pad.

Method and performance: Begin by introducing the props. Bring out the wand, display it and
then set it on the table to your far right. Introduce the drawstring bag. Open it, remove the nested
cups, and place the bag aside, off of the pad. Remove the handkerchief and comment that you
won’t need it until later as you place it in your left pants pocket.

With your left hand, pick up the nested cups and dump the RB into your right hand. Place the RB
at the center of the pad.

Hold the nested cups in your palm up left hand so that the mouth of the RC faces straight ahead.
Grasp the CC at its center with your palm down right hand. Simultaneously pivot the left hand
palm down and the right hand palm up, causing the cups to rotate 180 degrees in opposite
directions, where they nest again with the mouth of the CC facing you. Reverse the procedure to
bring he cups back to starting position. Remark that each cup can nest within the other. This
sequence is Mr. Ouellet’s “Cenotaph Illusion,” which implicitly proves the cups are empty. It looks
very fair, because the audience subconsciously thinks they have seen both cups inside and out.

Hold the nested cups briefly in your palm down right hand, so that your left hand can turn palm
down and regrip the RC. Separate the cups, their mouths downward. Lightly set the CC (which is
in your right hand and has the MB clinging inside) on the table over the RB. Move the cup slowly
in a flowing counterclockwise circle of about a four-inch diameter. Lift the CC off the ball and
move it about six inches to the right of the RB, setting it down firmly to dislodge the MB. Set the
RC (still held in your palm down left hand) over the RB and move it in a clockwise circle. Lift the

RC. Take the RB with your right hand and set it atop the CC. Now place the RC in your left hand
onto the CC, nesting the cups with the ball between them.

Pick up the wand with your right hand as your left hand slides the nested cup s to center and
moves them in a clockwise circle. Wave the wand over the cups, tap the top cup with the wand
and then return the wand to its former resting place. Do the “Tip-off Move,” credited to Herb
Morrissey. In case you aren’t familiar with this move, here is a brief description:

Hold the CC near the rim with your left hand. With your right hand, tip the top cup forward, letting
its rim scrape across the bottom cup and dragging the ball off into the tipped cup. Set the cup
(with the RB inside) mouth down on the table about three inches to the right of the CC. Lift the CC
with your left hand to reveal the MB, creating the illusion that the ball penetrated through the cup.

Pick up the MB with your right hand and set it on the RC. As your right hand obtains the wand,
your left sets the CC on the RC and slides the nested cups in a circle. Wave the wand over the
cups and tap the top cup. Lift the CC with your left hand (carrying away the MB) and table it to the
left firmly enough to dislodge the MB. As your left hand carries out this action, the right hand
replaces the wand so it can pick up the RC to reveal the RB. Pick the ball up with your left hand
and set it on the CC. Your right hand then picks up the RC and sets it on the CC. As you reach
for the wand with your right hand, slide the nested cups to center with your left and circle them as
before. Wave the wand and set it aside. Do the Tip-off Move, but this time, table it about six
inches to the right. Pick up the CC by the rim with your left hand to reveal the third penetration.

Allow the CC to pivot mouth up in your left hand. Pick up the ball with your right hand and drop it
in the cup. Grasp the bottom of the CC with your palm up right hand and let go of the cup with
your left. Cover the mouth of the cup with your palm down left hand. Keeping the cup trapped
between your palms, turn both wrists to the left so the CC is mouth down. Move your hands and
the cup down as one unit until the back of the left hand contacts the table at a point about a foot
to the left of the RC. As your right hand continues to grip the cup, slide your left hand out from
under it. Release the right hand’s grip and show both hands clearly empty.

Pick up the wand. Lightly tap the CC and then move the wand in a rainbow arc over to the RC
and tap it. Set the wand aside. Lift the CC with the left hand—no ball! Lift the RC with the right
hand—ball!

Replace the CC at center, dislodging the MB. Move the RC off to the right front and set the RB on
top of it. Obtain the hanky from your pocket and drape it over the CC. With the left hand, move
the RB from the RC and set it on the covered CC. Place the RC on top with your right hand.
Place both hands on your hips as you comment that the ball now has to penetrate both the cup
and the hanky. Your left hand remains on your hip as you turn your body slightly to the left. Your
right hand picks up the wand and does a wand spin or vigorous wave over the cups. This gives
you plenty of misdirection for your left hand to dip into your pocket and obtain one SCL ball. Set
the wand down and lift the RC with your right hand. As you do, move the rim of the cup forward
so that it knocks the RB off the CC, sending it rolling forward as you feign disappointment.
Meanwhile, as all eyes follow the RB, place the RC in your left hand over the SCL. Set the loaded
cup on the front left of the pad as all your attention is focused on your right hand picking up the
RB.

Close your right hand into a fist around the RB. Turn the fist knuckles up and work the RB into
heel clip as your left hand picks up the wand. Push the wand halfway into your fist. Slide your left
hand along the wand, past your right hand to the other end. As the left hand passes your right,
drop the RB onto the left fingers. Pull the wand from the right end out of the fist. Tap the back of
the fist and then the CC. Set the wand down as the empty right hand opens.

Your left hand, keeping the RB in finger palm, takes the hanky off the CC and stuffs it in your
pants pocket, where you release the ball with the hanky and grab the second SCL. As the hand
comes out of the pocket, your right hand lifts the CC to reveal the MB. Pass the cup to your left
hand, loading it as your right hand picks up the MB. Set the loaded CC on the pad about a foot to
the right of the loaded RC.

Pick up the wand in your left hand and openly put the MB in your pocket. Do not remove your
hand from your pocket. State to Vandella that you will make the ball travel under the cup of her
choice. Meanwhile, your right hand (still in the pocket) has released the MB and obtained the
DCL. Tap the wand against your pant leg and then the chosen cup. Place the wand aside. As
your left hand reaches for the selected cup, bring the right hand out of the pocket with the DCL.
Lift the cup, showing the SCL. Under cover of the reaction, pass the cup to the right hand, loading
it, and table it front and center as the left hand lifts the other cup to reveal the other SCL. Nest the
empty cup onto the loaded one. Pick up the wand, do a spin with it and then use it to tip over the
nested cups, revealing the DCL for the climax! Set the wand down horizontally behind the cups
and final loads for a nice display.

To reset, put both hands into your pockets as the audience is reacting to the final loads. The left
hand finger palms the RB, the right the MB. Bring your hands out and take the RC in the left, the
CC in the right. As you pivot the cups mouth up, drop the balls inside. Hold the cups mouth up
and clink them together in a toasting motion as you thank your audience. Drop the left cup into
the right and hold the nested pair in your right hand. Remove the hanky from your left pocket and
stuff it into the RC. Put the cups into the drawstring bag and close it. Put the two SCL in the left
pocket and the DCL in the right pocket and you’re reset!

Final comments: I think you’ll really enjoy this routine. It has a nice flow, there are no “dead
spots,” all the loads are motivated and it’s very easy! Try it out and see if you don’t agree