CHAPTER XIII.
The Cups and Balls.
The subject of the present chapter may be said to be the groundwork of all legerdemain, being, we believe, the very earliest form in which sleight-of-hand was exhibited. At the present day it is not very often seen, save in the bastard form known as “thimble-rig,” and used as a means of fleecing the unwary upon race-courses and at country fairs. It is, however, well worthy the attention of the student of modern magic, not only as affording an excellent course of training in digital dexterity, but as being, in the hands of an adept, most striking in effect. It is by no means uncommon to find spectators who have received more elaborate feats with comparative indifference, become interested, and even enthusiastic, over a brilliant manipulation of the cups and balls.
The prestige of the illusion is heightened by the simplicity of the appliances used, consisting merely of three tin cups about three inches high, each in the form of a truncated cone, with a rim or shoulder round the base (see [Fig. 118]), the ordinary wand, four little cork balls, three-quarters of an inch or a little less in diameter, and blackened in the flame of a candle, three larger balls of about an inch and a quarter in diameter, and four more of such a size as to just fill the goblet. These last are generally stuffed with hair, and covered with cloth. The number of balls may vary according to the particular “passes” which the performer desires to exhibit, but the above will be found sufficient for most purposes. The performers of the olden time were accustomed to use the gibecière, or apron with pockets, already mentioned, and to perform at a table having no speciality, save that it was a little higher than those in ordinary use; but at the present day the gibecière is entirely discarded, the servante of the table answering the same purpose. The arrangement of the table and apparatus is shown in [Fig. 118].
The whole art of cup-and-ball conjuring resolves itself into two elements—(1), the exhibition of a ball under a cup where a moment previously there was nothing; and (2) the disappearance of a ball from beneath a cup under which the audience have just seen it (or believe that they have seen it) placed. The routine is as follows:—A cup is lifted, to show that there is nothing beneath it, and again replaced, mouth downwards, on the table. A ball is taken in the right hand, transferred to the left, and thence ordered to pass under the cup. The hand is opened, the ball has vanished, and, on the cup being lifted, is found beneath it. Again, the ball, first exhibited in the right hand, is thence openly transferred, either directly under the cup, or first to the left hand, and thence to the cup. All having seen it placed beneath the cup, it is now commanded to depart, and on again lifting the cup, it is found to have vanished. It will hardly be believed, until proved by experiment, of what numerous and surprising combinations these simple elements are capable.
Fig. 118.
The sleight-of-hand requisite for the cups and balls is technically divisible into four different acts or movements, viz.—1. To “palm” the ball. 2. To reproduce the palmed ball at the end of the fingers. 3. To secretly introduce the palmed ball under the cup. 4. To simulate the action of placing the ball under the cup. The modes of effecting these objects will be discussed in due order.
Fig. 119.
