Routines

130 entries in Cup / Cups & Balls / Two & Three Cups Routines / Routines
Creators Title Comments & References Year Source Page AA Categories
Unknown Of the Play of the Balls
1634 The Art of Legerdemain Discovered 7
Unknown Cups and Balls Routine Pass I. Having Placed a Ball under each Cup, to draw it out again without Lifting the Cup
Pass II. To make a Ball Travel invisibly from Cup to Cup
Pass III. Having placed a Ball under each of the end Cups, to make them pass successively under the Middle Cup
Pass IV. Having placed two Balls under the Middle Cup, to make them pass under the two Outer Ones
Pass V. To pass three Balls in succession under One Cup
Pass VI. To place three Balls one after the other upon the top of one of the Cups, and to make them fall through the Cup on to the Table
Pass VII. To pass three Balls in succession upwards through the Table into one of the Cups
Pass VIII. To pass two Balls in succession from one Cup to another without touching them
Pass IX. To make three Balls in succession pass under the Middle Cup
Pass X. The "Multiplication" Pass
Pass XI. To Transform the Small Balls to Larger Ones
Pass XII. To again Transform the Balls to still Larger Ones
 		1876 Modern Magic 279
Charles Bertram The Cups and Balls
1902 The Modern Conjurer 183
Laurie Ireland The Cup and Balls including moves
  • Pass
  • To load the ball under the cup from the finger palm
  • To pass the ball into the left hand
  • The Palm
Related toAlso published here 1931 Ireland Writes a Book 33
Laurie Ireland Cups and Balls Moves and Ideas including moves
  • Finger Palm
  • Finger Palm curled in
  • To pass a ball
  • To pass a ball to left hand
  • To pass a ball under cup
  • The Crotch Palm
  • To raise a cup that is really empty and show a ball under it
  • To raise a cup with a ball under it without exposing the ball
  • To change a small ball to a large one
  • New surprises with loads
  • Servante for Cups and Balls
Related to 1934 Ireland's Yearbooks (Issue Yearbook 1934) 4
Laurie Ireland Cups and Dollar Bills with rolled up bills
 		1936 Ireland's Yearbooks (Issue Yearbook 1936) 6
Unknown Egg Cups and Pellets alternative props for cups & balls
 		1937 The Magic Annual for 1937 94
Unknown Routine
1938 Greater Magic 661
Dr. Jacob Daley Dr. Jacob Daley's Cup and Ball Routine
1938 The Jinx 1-50 (Issue 47) 332
Charlie Miller My Cups and Bills three coffee cups and rolled up bills
Also published here 1940 Chap's Scrapbook (Vol. 2 No. 12) 2
Harlan Tarbell The Cups and Balls three cups, with several sleights
 		1941/27 Tarbell Course in Magic — Volume 1 157
Eddie Joseph The "Ink-o" Routine two glasses with water and one with ink, covered by cups, monte type game
 		1942 The Last Word on Cups and Balls 52
Eddie Joseph The Red Herring monte type routine with cups and balls of two color
 		1942 The Last Word on Cups and Balls 54
Eddie Joseph The Jumping Frog one ball and three cups
 		1942 The Last Word on Cups and Balls 57
Eddie Joseph The Wandering Ball one ball and three cups
 		1942 The Last Word on Cups and Balls 57
Eddie Joseph Crystal-i-zation three tumblers and three lumps of sugar
 		1942 The Last Word on Cups and Balls 58
Eddie Joseph Mechanical Routine gaffed cups
 		1942 The Last Word on Cups and Balls 61
Eddie Joseph The Nudist Routine no steals from body
 		1942 The Last Word on Cups and Balls 62
Eddie Joseph The Hindu Routine
1942 The Last Word on Cups and Balls 63
Eddie Joseph The Multipalm Routine fourteen phases
 		1942 The Last Word on Cups and Balls 64
Jean Hugard Cups and Bills with rolled up bills and cups, three final loads
Related to Oct. 1943 Hugard's Magic Monthly — Volumes I, II, III and IV (Vol. 1 No. 5) 17
Franklin V. Taylor Taylor's Cups and Balls three cups, gaffed, thread and sponge, gimmicked possibility to make a ball appear under a cup
VariationsAlso published here 1945 The Phoenix 51-100 (Issue 75) 304
John Ramsay John Ramsay's Cups and Balls with two cups, large balls and paper streamer as climax
 		1948 John Ramsay's Routine with Cups and Balls 37
Dai Vernon Impromptu Cups and Balls
1949 Stars of Magic (Vol. 5 No. 1) 69
Bruce Elliott The Eternal Cups and Balls three cups, with two in the hand one in the pocket sequence
 		1953 Classic Secrets of Magic 176
Franklin V. Taylor Taylor's Cups and Balls three cups, gaffed, thread and sponge, gimmicked possibility to make a ball appear under a cup
Also published here 1953 Classic Secrets of Magic 187
Charlie Miller Cups and Balls three coffee cups and rolled up bills
Related toAlso published here 1953 Classic Secrets of Magic 192
Ande Furlong, Joe Berg Cups and Balls
1953 Classic Secrets of Magic 199
Harlan Tarbell Flower Pots and Oranges cups and balls with flower pots and small oranges, inflatable melon final load
 		1954/27 Tarbell Course in Magic — Volume 6 48
James G. Thompson Jr., Franklin V. Taylor Cups and Balls ball on a string inside cup
  • Taylor's Cups and Balls Variation
  • Cups and Balls, classic routine with three cups
  • Benson Bowl Routine Variation
Inspired byAlso published here 1956 Top Secrets of Magic 93
Lewis Ganson Bags of Everything cups and balls with felt bags
 		1956 Unconventional Magic 15
Eddie Joseph "The Short Routine" using three Hindu Cups and feeding bottle valves as balls, five phases
 		1956 The Hindu Cups 18
Eddie Joseph Genuine Hindu Routine three cups
 		1956 The Hindu Cups 44
Dai Vernon The Cups and Balls
Related toVariations 1957 The Dai Vernon Book of Magic 125
Alex Elmsley Cups and Balls salt as final load
Also published here 1959 Low Cunning 3
Eugene Gloye Further Routines with Fan-Ta-Cups
  • A Novel Routine with Fan-Ta-Cups
Related to 1962 The New Phoenix 351-400 (Issue 367) 296
Milton Kort Cups and Balls in Miniature Cups and Balls routine done with plastic cups and balls
 		1962 Kort Is Now In Session 41
Milton Kort Chromo Cups and Balls Cups and balls with three different colored cups and balls
 		1962 Kort Is Now In Session 53
Edward Marlo Cups and Balls three cup routines, no extra ball
 		1965 Ed Marlo's Lecture Notes 18
Tony Cole A Three Cup Routine with sponge balls, billiard ball loads
 		Winter 1967 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 1-4 (Vol. 3 No. 1st Folio) 138
Alex Elmsley Cups & Balls salt production as finale, see also p. 206
Related to
  • suggestion by Jules Conway on p. 216
Also published here 		Sep. 1968 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 1-4 (Vol. 3 No. 11) 203
Edward G. Brown A Routine for the Cups & Balls
Related to Apr. 1969 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 1-4 (Vol. 4 No. 6) 251
Edward G. Brown Cups & Balls part 2, see p. 265 for further references
Related to May 1969 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 1-4 (Vol. 4 No. 7) 259
Kirk Stiles Cop Out one-cup routine performed on left hand, using silk and second cup
 		Sep. 1969 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 1-4 (Vol. 4 No. 11) 279
Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser Cups And Balls using servante, actually page 298A
 		Winter 1969 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 5-8 (Vol. 5 No. 3rd Folio) 298
Dai Vernon Cups and Balls Routine
1970 Expanded Lecture Notes 3
Peter Alexis Canterbury Cups with various sleights and loads
Inspired byRelated to Sep. 1970 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 5-8 (Vol. 5 No. 11) 359
Peter Alexis Routine very short two-cup routine with final load
 		Oct. 1970 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 5-8 (Vol. 5 No. 12) 368
Al Baker Cups & Balls routine via John Braun, H. Adrian Smith, Lou Tannen
eight phases
 		Winter 1970 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 5-8 (Vol. 6 No. 4th Folio) 381
Stewart Judah, John Braun Stewart Judah's Cups & Balls "An Article by John Braun"
 		Mar. 1971 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 5-8 (Vol. 6 No. 5) 408
Sam Leo Horowitz Cups and Balls six phases, see also p. 476
Also published here
  • The Sphinx, September 1938
 Autumn 1971 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 5-8 (Vol. 6 No. 5th Folio) 454
David Lederman Thimbles & Pea cups and balls routine with thimbles and pea, sponge ball final loads
 		1972 Tarbell Course in Magic — Volume 7 187
Sam Aaronson Cups and Balls see also p. 780 for note by Mike Rogers, p. 863 for Al Cohn credit by Richard Stride, p. 1053 for comment by Milton Tropp
Related to Aug. 1974 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 9-10 (Vol. 9 No. 10) 778
Bob Read The Penultimate Cups and Balls humorous routine, three different cups, with smashed watch and wandering tip wand
 		1974 The Penultimate Cups & Balls 2
Scotty York The "X-Rated" Cups and Balls Routine three cups, no loads from pockets, seated
 		1975 Cups & Balls 1
Scotty York The "Technicolor X-Rated" Cups and Balls with different colored balls
 		1975 Cups & Balls 13
Faucett Ross, Dai Vernon Cups and Balls Based on Vernon's routine with different endings
 		1975 Magic With Faucett Ross 135
Max Malini A Malini Note on his cups and ball routine, glasses wrapped in newspaper
 		June 1975 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 9-10 (Vol. 10 No. 8) 974
J. "Rink" van Rinkhuyzen Becher, Münzen und Bälle cups and balls with small cups and coins
Also published here
  • Magigram
 June 1975 Intermagic (Vol. 2 No. 4) 80
Dai Vernon Cups and Balls "short, very direct Cups and Balls routine"
 		1976 The First California Lecture 8
Al Cohn Cups & Balls five phases, see p. 1053 for comment by Milton Tropp
Related to 1976 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 9-10 (Vol. 10 No. Close-Up Folio #6) 940
Patrick Page The Cups and Balls three cups
 		1976 The Big Book of Magic 124
Aldo Colombini The Cups and Balls
  • The Colombini Presentation
  • Requirements
  • Set-Up
  • Getting Ready
  • Performance
 		1977 Colombini's Cups and Balls 7
Dai Vernon Cups and Balls without wand, five phases
Related to 1977 The Pallbearers Review Vol. 9-10 (Vol. 10 No. Close-Up Folio #7) 997
Stephen Minch Cups and Flies balls change into plastic flies one by one, plastic spider final load and bug aerosol can
 		1977 Creations of a Magical Madman 53
Tommy Wonder Cups and Balls two cup routine
Related to 1977 Jos Bema — Lecture 12
Francis Carlyle The Cups and Balls baby chicks as final loads
 		1978 Magic and Methods of Ross Bertram 132
Barry Nelson The Flash Cups very short routine (one minute) that ends with final loads
 		1978 The Book of John 116
Horace E. Bennett With a Grain of Salt salt finale
Inspired by 1978 On Your Feet 71
Frank Garcia A Lesson on the 'Cups and Ball' outline of routine, very brief
 		1978 Lecture Notes — No. 1 11
Frank Garcia The Frank Garcia Million Dollar Cups and Balls Routine
  • First Phase of Frank Garcia's Routine
  • Variation on the "Oldest Deception"
  • Phase #2
  • Phase #3
  • Phase #4
  • Phase #5
  • Phase #6
  • Phase #7
 		1979 The Very Best of Cups and Balls 17
Paul Gertner The Cups and Balls with Steel Ball Bearings
1979 The Very Best of Cups and Balls 81
Sam Leo Horowitz S. Leo Horowitz's Cup & Ball Routine
1979 The Very Best of Cups and Balls 91
Robert Parrish On Rosini's Cups & Balls Routine
1979 Interlocutor (Issue 32) 124
David Garrard Shell-Shocked! cups and balls routine with plastic egg shells and coins
 		Feb. 1980 Apocalypse Vol. 1-5 (Vol. 3 No. 2) 305
Al Schneider Quickcups with magic kit cups and balls
 		1980 Al Schneider On Close-Up 137
Danny Korem The Routine three cups and balls routine using pendulum holdout
 		1980 The Upside Down Toppit — Volume II 16
Gary Ouellet The Two Goblets with two cups, one chop cup, three large balls as climax
 		1980 The Two Goblets 4
Ken Brooke Cups and Balls three cups
 		1980 Ken Brooke's Magic — The Unique Years 211
Ray Mertz, Dai Vernon Cards & Coins Ala Cups & Balls Vernon's routine with jumbo cards and coins
 		Oct. 1981 Apocalypse Vol. 1-5 (Vol. 4 No. 10) 546
Jim Ryan Bare Bones of the entire routine
 		1981 Jim Ryan Close-Up: The Famous Cups & Balls Routine 16
Carl Brema The Cups and Balls No. 31, simple routine
 		1981 Self-Working Table Magic 38
Stephen Tucker Tickup two cups, hole in bottom of one cup
 		1982 Spell-Binder (Vol. 2 No. Special #1 (Summer)) 5
James G. Thompson Jr., Franklin V. Taylor Automatisches Becherspiel ball on a string inside cup
Also published here Aug. 1983 Intermagic (Vol. 10 No. 2) 52
Milton Cups and Balls Minus One routine with no extra ball
 		Dec. 1984 Apocalypse Vol. 6-10 (Vol. 7 No. 12) 1004
Frederick Braue Braue Cups and Balls Routine
  • First Phase
  • Second Phase
  • Third Phase
  • Fourth Phase
  • Extra Phase: Single Ball Movements
 		1985 The Fred Braue Notebooks (Issue 3) 4
Jay Sankey The Cups Runneth Over monster routine, inspired by Frank Garcia's "Five Ball Routine"
 		1986 Sankey Panky 110
Randy Wakeman Randy's Cups & Balls Routine based on Vernon's routine, no wand, no fake explanation phase
 		1987 Special Effects 46
Steve Draun Cups and Balls routine with no extra ball
Also published here 1987 The Magic of Steve Draun 39
Ken Brooke Ken Brooke's Becherspiel
Also published here
  • Routined Manipulations Vol. 1
 Oct. 1987 Intermagic (Vol. 13 No. 1) 24
Michael Ammar Stand-up Cups & Balls
1988 Magical Arts Journal (Vol. 2 No. 4,5&6) 1
David Williamson The Gold Cups two cups
Variations 1989 Williamson's Wonders 86
Rafael Benatar Routine three cups, four final loads
 		1989 Transit Cups and Balls 3
John Bannon Of Cups and Fuzzballs
1990 Impossibilia 82
Michael Powers My Cup Runneth Over with two mini cups, empty cream containers, they are filled again as climax
 		1990 Top Secret Stuff 155
Michael Ammar Stand-Up Cups & Balls detailled explanation
 		1991 The Magic of Michael Ammar 1
Alex Elmsley The Elmsley Cups and Balls Routine salt as final load
VariationsAlso published here 1991 The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley — Volume 1 205
Gary Kurtz The G.K. Cups and Balls balls change color, seven final loads
  • Phase One - Introducing the Props
  • Phase Two - Countering Expectations
  • Phase Three - Variation on Vernon's Travelling Sequences
  • Phase Four (All Three Balls Appear under the Centre Cup)
  • Part Five: The Final Loading Sequences (Part One)
  • Phase Six: Producing Three Oranges (and Reloading)
  • Phase Seven: The Final Stretch
 		1991 The Cups and Balls 1
Laurie Ireland Rutina "Ireland" de Cubiletes translation by Ascanio
including moves
  • Pass
  • To load the ball under the cup from the finger palm
  • To pass the ball into the left hand
  • The Palm
Also published here 1992 La Magia de Ascanio — Vol. 5 69
Steve Draun Three Cups and Three Balls Routine with no extra ball
Also published here 1993 Secrets Draun from Underground 145
Harlan Tarbell Tarbell's Oranges cups and balls routine with flower pots
 		1993 Tarbell Course in Magic — Volume 8 76
Paul Gertner The Steel Balls and Cups using steel balls for routine and final loads
 		1994 Steel and Silver 195
Jerry Mentzer Cups and Balls with Baby Chicks
1994 Close-Up File 113
Jerry Mentzer Ultimate Cup Routine two cups, with magnet gimmick in hand
 		1994 Close-Up File 131
Fred Kaps Cups and Balls three cups with sponge balls
  • Sequence One: Three balls appear under three cups
  • Sequence Two: Three balls gather under the center cup
  • Sequence Three: Three balls go beneath the right side cup
  • Sequence Four: Three balls vanish and reappear under the cups
  • Sequence Five: The balls vanish from the left hand and appear under the center cup
  • Sequence Six: A ball appears to travel from under the middle cup to either end cup
  • Sequence Seven: The fake explanation leading to the loading of the four final loads
Related to 1995 Fred Kaps' Cups and Balls 5
Tommy Wonder The Two-Cup Routine
  • Phase One: The Opening
  • Phase Two: The Permeable Cups
  • Phase Three: Twin Ascension
  • Phase Four: Air Transport
  • Phase Five: Sshuwit! Sshuwit!
  • Phase Six: Two in the Hand, One in the Bush
  • Phase Seven: No Room at the Inn
Related to 1996 The Books of Wonder — Volume 2 105
Dominique Duvivier Cups, Balls, and a Cup Cups and Balls routine which produces a fourth cup
 		1996 Magie Duvivier 138
Harry Riser Harry's Cups and Balls three cups
 		1996 The Feints and Temps of Harry Riser 95
Curtis Kam Coffee and Dough bill torn and both halves crumbled up for short cups and balls routine, restoration and load of coins
 		1996 Professional Close-up of Curtis Kam 107
Rainer Pfeiffer, Helge Thun, Manuel Muerte The Fruit Cups two-cup routine with two different colored balls
 		1998 The Book 35
Steve Beam Nectar of the Cups humorous bar bet routine, with cups and balls
 		1998 The Trapdoor — Volume Three (Issue 70) 1478
Bob Farmer Cyclops routine with three cups and one ball, three balls as climax
 		1998 Cyclops 1
Bob Farmer The Egg Bag Addition incorporating an egg-bag in the routine
 		1998 Cyclops 6
Helge Thun Easy Chop Cups and Balls one of the three cups is a chop cup
 		2000 Faustdick hinterm Schlitzohr 25
David Regal Cups & Balls & Cups & Balls
2002 Constant Fooling 1 160
John Carney Muscade Magic streamlined Vernon routine
Inspired by 2002 The Book of Secrets 120
Ron Bauer Dixie cups & balls routine with torn pieces of fake bill as balls and cotton balls as final loads
 		2002 Dixie 2
Al Baker Cups and Balls
2003 The Secret Ways of Al Baker (Issue Notebooks) 701
Luis H. Trueba El Moro Los Cubiletes del Moro, cups and balls routine, with three cups
 		2003 Magia y Dramagia 175
Ron Bauer Effect easy routine, three small cups, one sponge ball as final load
 		2004 Basic Cups & Balls Technique 2
Gazzo The Routine Gazzo's Cups and Balls routine with patter description
 		2004 Street Cups and Balls 53
Karl Fulves Abridged Version cups and balls routine outline for standup, using first three then two then one cups
 		2008 Prolix (Issue 4) 219
Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser, Dani DaOrtiz, Richard Hatch Los Cubiletes de J. Nepomuk Hofzinser on Hofzinser's Cups an Balls routine
 		2009 El Manuscrito (Vol. 2 No. 7) 160
Román García Los Cubiletes de Wittgenstein routine with two cups, one chop cup
 		2010 Nanomagias 61
Al Schneider LA Street Cups balls travel from cup to cup one by one, vanish and reappear under the cups, one final load
 		2011 Al Schneider Magic 688
Christian Scherer Angewandte Physik two cups routine, balls first appear from purse frame
Inspired by 2014 Schlaglichter 190
Christian Scherer Cagliostro der Alchimist cups and balls routine with two steel mortars and steal balls
 		2014 Schlaglichter 210
Joaquín Matas Los Cubiletes de Vernon "Tuneados" with three cups, one chop cup
Inspired by 2014 A Fuego Lento — Volumen I 253
Charlie Miller Miller Cups and Balls with black balls
  • Opening Sequence
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2: The Miller Penetration
  • Phase 3: The Multiplication of Balls
 		2018 The Magic of Johnny Thompson (Issue 1) 293
Johnny Thompson The Cups and Balls routine presented in the style of three magicians
  • Max Malini
  • Pop Krieger
  • Dai Vernon
 		2018 The Magic of Johnny Thompson (Issue 2) 15