Saw you do the Chili pepper routine... enjoyed it.

I think the funniest routine I ever saw was baby chicks in the final load! They were being handled kind of roughly, and that might not go over too well, today.

I don't remember the magus that I saw doing that, but it was very entertaining. Mice would be funny, too, but women (my girlfriend, in particular, is AGAINST using livestock in magic) are sensitive to animals being handled too roughly. I guess it depends on who(m) you're performing for...or to...(preposition at the end of a sentence...BLAAAAT! Grammer alarm goes off!)

Grammar sucks.

Doug

Yes the most memorable I've seen in close up is the C&B with baby chicks as the final load. My jaw just dropped and I've been hooked to magic since then.

Learn the cups and balls because it develops other skills (timing, misdirection, etc.). Then decide if the chop cup is for you.

Jeff

Most magicians do use the C&B. The CC is not used as much. Do you think most magicians like C&B more because it has more rountines or because there are more videos/books/dvds explaining how to do it?

Paul Daniels does a good giant chop cup routine. I think they are both good. It depends on how well your routine is.

James

Paul Daniels does NOT DO A GOOD CHOP CUP ROUTINE... he does a BRILLIANT, FANTASTIC, AWESOME routine.

Actually, I think there is more magic with the cups and balls which is why you see it more often at magic shows or clubs.

Most guys who do the chop cup, just do the STUPID (IMHO) guessing game of "Where's the ball; in my hand or the pocket?" and then surprise, there's a big ball. How boring. Of course there are the exceptions, but generally speaking...

Whereas on the cups and balls you have vanishes, productions, transportations, gambling/guessing games and then after using all these cups, BAM! 3 or more large loads. And that is just the basic routine.

I think most restaurant workers use the chop cup due to the table space requirements. If you are going to use a two cup routine, don't forget Dave Williamson's on Sleightly Dave. Very good routine.

Kirk Grodske

They can all be good... it is up to the presenter.

I don't like the usual chop cup routines either.
I do like John Bannon's routine (Chop 2)
and I also like his cups and balls routine.

I just bought the book The Uncanny Scot Ron Wilson and it contains the most unique chop cup routine I've ever come across. The effect is called "The Uncanny Chop Cup" and uses a silk, a shot glass, and a chop cup. If you're looking for something different this is it.

Sounds like a Larry Jennings thing.

It is the Larry Jennings thing. Larry based his version almost completely on Ron Wilson's original and highly entertaining routine.

A ha. I have some booklet on the chop cup that has this sort of routine in it. I also have the Jennings book but his chop cup routine is not in it.

Where can one acquire both the Wilson original and the Jennings routine?

Isn't that in the "How to Book for the Chop Cup"?

Same silk/shotglass thing. Rather old from the fifties.

The Jennings routine can be found in Jim Swain's 21st Century Card Magic.

Ron

Thanks Ron.

Right KingStarDog. I think that's what I have.

I kind of like that idea. I was playing with a routine like that of my own for a while but got swept away by other things, I suppose.

I prefer sets that include a chop cup in the set. I can do an elimination sequence with the balls as well as the cups.

I've often pondered over the years of putting together a routine that used 3 chop cups, and work it as primarily a C&B routine with maybe a couple added convincers using the chop gimmicks.

Any opinions on whether something like that would be effective? I've no doubt that the purists amongst you (and you know who you are) would cringe at the idea, but I always thought if it were structured properly the whole could turn out to be greater than the sum of its parts. Meaning it could possibly be better than either routine by itself. At least that should be the goal, otherwise, why bother?

I could get 3 Johnson Chop cups for not much more than their C&B's, which I've been thinking of getting anyway.

But I would want to know if the chop cup would pick up a ball off the cup underneath it while the ball is in the attic. Anyone know for sure if it would?

Best,
Bill

I worked out a routine using three "chopped" cups for the cups and balls... you DO NOT use the gaffed balls until later in the routine when you switch 'em in.

Yes, the problem is the ball will lift from the attic.