Cups and Balls Explained
Written By Mdaman (Matt B)
Effect: The balls mysteriously penetrate through solid cups. Then at the end, from your
pocket to the cups.
Secret: You have 4 balls; however, the spectators think that have 3.
Setup: The cups are stacked as in the picture below note that there is a hidden ball
between the blue and red cup.
Method: Hold the stack in your left hand, mouths of the cups up (as shown above). Tip
the Stack which empties the 3 balls out of the top cup. Now spread the 3 balls on the
table. With the right hand remove the bottom cup and place it mouth down on the table
quickly, directly behind the left ball, so it looks natural. Now repeat with the next cup
behind the middle ball (this is the cup with the hidden ball. Make sure you do the move
fast enough so the ball doesn t fall out.). Repeat for the final cup behind the right ball.
Now it should look the picture below.
Pick up the ball on the left and put it on top of the middle cup. Now take the cup from the
left and put it over. Now say a magic word or tap the cup and lift both the cups to show
that the ball has penetrated. Now turn the cups sp that they are mouth up and place the
bottom cup with the hidden ball on top of the ball in the middle.
Repeat this step for the ball in the middle.
The Last Ball
For the last ball take the ball and put it in your pocket. Now tell the spectators that the
ball will go from your pocket to under the cups. Stack all the cups and tap them. Then
Show the third ball under the cups. By doing this move last it makes the cups and balls
perfectly examinable because the extra ball is gone. If the spectators ask to see the inside
of your pocket reach in and pinky palm the ball then show your pockets empty. They will
be stunned.
Tips
1. Never give away the secret of this or any trick.
2. Watch your angles. Make sure nobody is looking from the side.
3. You can create your own routine and as you get more advanced you can learn how to
steal balls from and load balls into the cups. (I like to steal a ball and put a different
color ball in and when the cup comes up look surprised. I do this as the last move.)
4. Many resources are available for different routines and tricks. Check your local magic
store. (Or if you are like me and don t have a local magic store then buy off of the
Internet.)
5. Practice before performing this.
6. You can make your own cups using plastic or paper cups (not see through).
7. You can use cotton balls as balls.
8. Have fun with this.
MCB