hello.

i see that interest has increased in the highly entertaining world of cups and balls.
If you've seen me, you know that I'm an avid fan of this particular branch of magic.
this is how you make your own cups and balls set, under a budget of ten dollars:

3 metal cups, available at most hardware stores, tall, no shoulders (hence no nesting area), able to accomodate large loads - $1 each

3 melamine cups, available at pasar malams, Giant supermarkets, some NTUC branches, concave (nesting area included) - $1.20 each

4 spherical wooden drawer knobs, available at Art Friend - $2.50 for 4 balls

4 rubber mini basketballs, volleyballs or soccerballs, available atToy's R Us - $2.90 for 8 balls

4 styrofoam balls, various sizes, available at Art Friend - approximately 20 - 50 cents per ball

modelling rods and dowels (for wands) - brass, aluminium, wood, glass, available at Art Friend, approximately $2.50 per rod or dowel

Mousepads (for close-up mats), available at Popular bookstores, approximately $2 - $5 each


learning and creating routines to entertain others - PRICELESS*

For everything else, there's cold hard cash.



* OR, you can get DVDs. But you'll never cry out of sheer joy and exhilaration when you've created your own personal routine. Trust me.

Farid... you da man!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

WOW Farid !!! U are COOL!
haah i like the alst part , lol like the master card adverb lol

B)

wads the size? :wacko: big?or small?

wow!!! Cool bro! nice stuff... u da man!!

hmm.... will check out some pasar malam stuff in msia.. lol... cheap but workable.. hehe.. i use rolled up issue paper as the balls... :P

Nice budget plan, Farid! Gotta go buy them and try them out. :P

ah.... thanks man... more detail than the last time u told me... btw i got 3 stainless steel cups from little india @ $2 each... think i kena cheated!

now THIS surely beats the daylights out of penguin cups and balls. thanks farid!

thanks for the RAVE reviews guys!

WOO HOO!

whitemark - the size of the mouse pads are standard , i guess. most mice ( the computer ones ) are similar sized. Unless of course, you got a 17-inch mouse.

then you can use that as a final load.

This is what I call "quality posts" Farid! ;) This is really good stuff... thanks for sharing this solid piece info with the rest of us ^_^

So far I'd been using little colored plastic cups (that kids drink from) and small balls of lumpy bluetack or play dough for my godsister's kids (stuff you find around the house). I think it's fun going shopping for your own items, esp when i think most of us have a budget to go by. You also know what you're getting exactly...

Good research Farid! ^_^ You're officially SMC's CUPS n BALLS guy! B)

Go to no one else for the cups and balls :) Good one Farid...but you forgot something....marbles for balls.
I think marbles makes very good balls because marbles are loud and very audible when used with metal cups. The sound makes for many misdirection and effect possibilities.
For example, farid's tapping of the invisible ball on the night of the competition. That quietly spreading "eh? wah....." thru the audience followed by applause says it all. B)

yo yo..

for the record, the tapping of the 'invisible' ball is not original with me. Jamkid introduced me to the idea at the CCF charity event, though the move is not original with him either. He used a coin and a wand instead.

I modified the move for a cups and balls routine the morning of the competition, and knew I just HAD to do it.

Long story short - it has become one of my favourite moves in cups and balls, and i'm coming up with a new cups and balls routine - Sonic Spheres, which will you can see on my DVD soon.

AND, marbles cost around $2 for four - you can find these at Toys'R'Us, or some bookstores. PM me if you want the big ones.

But a routine with marbles use different techniques altogether - cos they're rather noisy.

thanks for reading!

i believe can line the inside of the cups with felt (although i wouldnt cos its too troublesome).

but anyway, thanks for the great info farid. im gonna get the materials asap.

Where's this art friend store, can someone enlighten me. :)

Art friend is a a shop that sells all the art stuff like cutting mats and knife lol.. It located very near bugis you know ther place where we make out name card edwin lol.. got my cups and ball set lol yet to perfrom i sch but going to very soon need a few more practices lol.. :D

Brash Brasa Complex... The exact location where your namecards are made... ;)

i am of the opinion that you shouldn't line the cups with felt at all. not even a bit. a spectator can easily ask, "what's that lining for?" the whole point of a 'noise' cups and balls routine is that you have the ability to control the illusion of sound as and when you want to.

so stick with ungimmicked cups and noisy balls people.

Farid, about the nesting area for the metal cup right. Maybe could try to use a hammer to make a small dent, what do you think ?

i dont think that will work, winder.

you can't put a dent large enough to put a ball in.

and if you stack up the cups, the concave shape of the dent on the inside of the cup will cancel out the other cup's dent.

get it?

i do put a dent in the top of my cup, so that a marble won't roll off.

remember to cover the base with cloth or rubber before hitting it with a hammer.