Do It Right!

Over the weekend I got to watch many performers showcase their acts to a room full of people who book entertainment. I got to watch one magician, who I’ve known for years and he did everything right when doing the cups and balls on stage!


Here’s the problem with the cups and balls, it’s not a stage trick. It’s a close up trick that takes up a lot of space. This makes a lot of performers think they can do it on a stage. Unfortunately, you cannot just put it on stage and have it work for 300 people without solving a couple of problems.


The first problem is the table top. If you are on a raised stage, the audience’s vision of the table top can be blocked because they have to look up at this. Years ago when I used to do the cups and balls in my show, I solved this by having my table sit at an angle, this is the same solution that I saw over the weekend. As a bonus it puts motion into the balls when you lift the cups and they roll, making the trick play a little bit larger.


The second problem with doing cups on stage is the balls most magicians use are very small, and usually a dull color. The ones with the crocheted covers don’t reflect light, this makes them appear smaller onstage. If they were glossy, they’d appear slightly larger as they reflect light. The magician I saw used glossy, bright red balls that were very big, at least an inch in diameter. You could see them from the back of the large banquet hall.


Take a look at your show, how can you make it play bigger, especially if you are moving from close up to stage.