Tony Shiels - Expert Escamoteur Ebook.pdf - T - animga

Escamoteur’s

Equipment

Tony Shiels

An Exploration in Three Parts

of Various Aspects of

Cups and Balls Conjuring

The Expert

It is strongly recommended that you print this ebook out before reading.

Staple the pages together - or better still take the pages to you local

Staples or ofice supply store and have it bound. Add your own notes and

ideas as they come to you. That way you will turn this ebook into a valuable

reference document.

These articles originally appeared in The Linking Ring, the magazine of The

International Brotherhood of Magicians http://www.magician.org

There is no charge for this ebook. You are

free to share it with your friends provided it

is left unedited and in its entirety.

Introduction by Quentin Reynolds

If you associate the name of Tony ‘Doc’ Shiels with weird, strange and

bizarre magick, you will, no doubt, be surprised to discover that in his

professional work, the Linking Rings and the Cups and Balls effects, were

the stable part of his repertoire.

As you read through this manuscript, and bear in mind it was written in

1966, you will be inspired by his enthusiasm for the subject.

In more recent times the Cups and Balls has had a revival back onto the

streets and is the featured effect by many of magic’s leading street

performers.

At the rear of this manuscript I’ve listed some recommended further

reading, published since Tony’s articles irst appeared in The Linking Ring.

As publisher of one of Tony’s other books, The Shiels Effect

http://www.TheShielsEffect.com I was delighted to discover some of

his older writings lost in the iles of magazines. As these come to light I

will post them on the above website.

There you will ind updated information on ‘Doc’ (now retired from

perfroming, living in a remote part of south-west Ireland, painting and

exhibiting his works) as well as his writings.

Enjoy this manuscript and I hope it inspires you with your study of the

trick of tricks...the Cups and Balls.

To your success,

Quentin Reynolds

PS There is no charge for this ebook. You may distribute it to your friends

providing it is not edited or altered in any way. The copyright belongs to

Tony Shiels.

Expert Escamoteur’s Equipment Page 3 Tony Shiels

Part One - The Apparatus

“Note also that you must have none of your trinkets wanting, least you

be put to a nonplus: besides it behoveth you to be mindful whereabout

you go in every trick lest you mistake and so discredit the Art.”

(’The Art of Jvgling or Legerdemaine’ 1614.)

ONE fateful night, some ifteen or sixteen years ago, I sat in a large

theatre and witnessed the most amazing man perform the cleverest feat

of conjuring I had ever seen. The magician was Galli Galli and his trick

was the Cups and balls ... It was magic . . . magic . . . MAGIC ! ! !

Indeed, he was “. . . A most dexterous fellow; and even beyond

Eurybatos of OEchalia, of whom we have heard so much” . . . and the

Cups and Balls was, and is, the classic trick of tricks. Its many variations

are endless, complex and eternally fascinating. I was securely hooked

that night and remain so today.

The actual equipment, the props, the cups and the balls themselves are

of special interest to the student escamoteur. Leaving aside such re-

lated triles as walnut shells, thimbles, Chinese Marbles and notes under

teacups . . . let us take a look at some of the predilections of presti-

digitators past and present: and thus attempt to justify the rather

ponderous title I have tacked onto this series of meanderings!

The Greeks had a couple of words for it, ‘acetabula et calculi’ . . . the

cups and pebbles. Pebbles are talkative objects”; most dexterous fellows

those Greek acetablarii must have been. Victor Farelli was highly

suspicious of the whole business and suggested that the pebbles were,

in fact, switched for soft pellets of bread.

But what of Conus, the great nineteenth-ccntury escamoteur ”He used

balls of solid brass, did then nor cause a loudish clatter”. Well according

to Robert-Houdin, Conus met this dificulty by means of a special sleight,

consisting of a ‘check’ given to the ball in the act of introducing it under

the cup, which made it stop dead ...” (Secrets of Conjuring and Magic, P.

347). Anyway, the brass balls should not have been too much of a

problem to a magician who advertised that he could conjure his wife

from under a cup! All the same, the brass ball and pebble puzzle is

worth pondering over.

Expert Escamoteur’s Equipment Page 4 Tony Shiels

Have YOU ever tried the trick with pebbles? It ran be done, though your

moves are rather limited. The Greeks (and Conus) may have performed at

a lively speed, as the Egyptians do, with much banging and clanging as

part of the routine. The general din would help to cover up the occasional

‘talking’ pebble. I really don’t know the secret, but a most logical

solution is that suggested by Eddie Joseph in his Advanced Lessons in

Cups and Balls.

He writes. “I may warn you that the balls announce their arrival when

dropped in cup to those close to the table. This may be over come by

lining the roof of the cup with felt.”

He then describes a routine using cups and balls studded with

Rhinestones; a case in which a lined cup would be useful not only to avoid

un-welcome noise, but also to protect the bejewelled balls. A similar

dificulty arises when wine-glasses are loaded for a climax. Senor Mardo

states that Max Malini’s prowess in this direction was the result of lifelong

practice ... and advises the use of small livestock, fruits or larger balls

instead!

Today, balls of sponge, cork and crochet-covered rubber are generally

employed; and each performer has his own individual ideas on the matter

of which is best.

Laurie Ireland’s famous routine probably helped to make sponge-balls so

popular with many Cups and Balls experts. Claude Rix, the brilliant

French manipulator, lists Ireland’s pamphlet as one of the three best

works on the Cups and Balls. Burtini, another well-known expert

escamoteur writes, “I have tried various materials for the ‘Balls’. I found

that sponge-rubber suits me best, easy to handle, silent, easy to obtain.”

George Mclntyre, one of Britain’s top Cups and Balls men, writes, “I do

not like cork balls and use only American Sponges; they are quite

large and real sponge, NOT latex foam. I feel if one uses a large cup

and very small balls the whole effect looks silly.”

Brian MacCarthy says, “The sponge-rubber balls are very easy to palm,

never talk, and two of them can be squeezed together and held as one

ball a distinct advantage.”

But, there are those who beg to differ . . .

Expert Escamoteur’s Equipment Page 5 Tony Shiels

Tony Shiels - Expert Escamoteur Ebook.pdf

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