barbell7, i found a good routine for hindu cups! with help from dennis lommis,it's called"indian" cups&balls by charlie miller and plain cork balls are used. i did investigate the info you gave me,the abbott's book you mentioned has been out of print for years. hope all is well.been gone for some time, thanks for your help,steve s

Steve,

I'm glad you found some good info on the Indian C&B! Those little cork balls are something! Different handling, that's for sure.

If you would like, I can scan the pages of the Abbott's booklet and email them to you.

Tom

I have taken a number of the Moves and Sleights gleaned from my experience/search with Indian Cups and modified them to use with other small containers.  These are included in my Kup & Stone Guide companion to any "Cup" relaetd eBook on eversway.com.  However, I could be persuated to sent it to you independently.

My chop cup is gathering dust, but I have a combo set which I use once in a while. I gave up on the Hindu Cups. Can't do everything! And my knee doesn't let me sit like the Indian magicians do. Good thing I don't live in India!

I was checking out your website. Your Kup & Stone book looks pretty good. I like the idea of working around the moves and patterns of performance, like you said. Thank you for your offer. I'm trying to persuade you.

Tom

Sorry to jump in here so late.

I couldn't find a link with a quick search to Kups and Stone book. Sounds interesting. I would be very interested in finding out more about the Indian cups routine.

I've just started using cork balls for other effects, very different handling from crocheted balls. (Well it could be the old hands trying to understand their way of falling and rolling.) 

Any pointers would be great and appreciated as I didn't see any of the original links.

Thanks for any info.

Warren

contact me at gusarimagic@comcast.net or check out www.eversway.com
re moves for Hindu Cups.

Those Hindu cups are something! For me, they were kind of difficult to handle. You're right about cork being a lot different in handling than crocheted balls.

Tom

If you work with cork properly, it becomes much easier to manipulate. It is light and will adhere to your hands a bit. However, it works better if you cut the balls yourself.

If you cut them yourself, they have an irregular surface which lends itself better to the things we do.

Regarding the Abbott's book that is OOP, I surmise that it's one of Eddie Joseph's books on the Indian cups and balls. While these are no longer being printed, they are not rare and are often found on eBay and other auction sites.

The Charlie Miller instructions were from his Genii column.

Do not try to use those horrible Indian cups from Morrissey. The are too small and are also not the right shape.

Right on, Bill! The Morrissey cups are too small. And the book I was talking about is from Abbott's.

Tom

Pete Biro sells Shankar's Indian cup routine. It's worth having.

Thanks, Bill. That's something I should look into.

Tom

Bill, that is a GREAT assessment of the Morrissey Indian Cups!
I bought a set of these in the 80's and they came with the Charlie Miller routine. I practiced them hard, sitting cross-legged on the floor and was extremely fascinated with the trick for a long time. I only actually performed it once for some friends and it all worked out really well - I have to attribute the success of the effect to the CM routine, but I finally gave up on it as being just... too impractical - and a waste of my energy.
Now I find out over 20 years later that the problem was the cups! (OK not really, I'm just not willing to sit on the floor and do the Indian cups...)
I still have the cup & the 1000 cork balls that came with them - and the routine, but I've long forgotten it. Every now and then, I look at the routine and just cringe (because of those cups!). By now, I'm willing to let the cups go - I should put them up on ebay for $0.99 opening bid. They are just awful little pieces of aluminum.

Gary Kosnitzky should be lured over here. He really knows the Indian cups and balls -- far better than I do, actually.

Hi,
My name is Gary Kosnitzky and I am new here.
It really is nice to know that there are others who see the beauty in this ancient piece of magic.

The Indian Cups and Balls is also known in India as Cheppum Panthum.
It is an amazing traditional ancient Indian magic trick  possibly thousands of years old.
The  history of Cheppum Panthum  is shrouded in the mists of time. As of this time its exact origins are completely a mystery.
The few magicians that perform Cheppum Panthum claim it was the ‘original’ cups and balls and shell game. This may be so.

Most magicians are under the impression that the Indian Cups and Balls  aka Cheppum Panthum is handled in the same manner as ‘Western’ Cups and Balls since they both appear to have the  same plot lines.
They are not the same at all.
The handling is very different than in the ‘Western’ Cups and Balls.
The Indian Cups and Balls are much more difficult to perform and much more deceptive and cleaner appearing than the  ‘Western’ Cups and Balls.  Cheppum Panthum can be performed naked and surrounded if you wish, that is how deceptive it is.
 
Cheppum Panthum was developed into the state of the art by India’s most legendary magician, ‘The Grandfather of Kerala Magic’, Vazhakunnam Neelakantan Namboodiri .
Vazhakunnam Neelakantan Namboodiri (1903-1983) performed Cheppum Panthum with masterful skill.
He was considered ‘the guru’ of the Indian Cups and Balls.
His style of performing the Indian Cups and Balls became the state-of-the-art.
Vazhakunnam’s techniques were vigilantly guarded and kept strictly secret.
They were passed down through the oral tradition, but to only a few of his students.
Unfortunately, this extreme secrecy has caused Cheppum Panthum to languish in relative obscurity.
It truly has become a dying art.

I was taught Cheppum Panthum from two of Vazhakunnam’s finest disciples.
I am devoted to this advanced style of performing the Indian Cups and Balls.

I am dedicated to  keeping Cheppum Panthum still alive.

See! All I had to do was to mention his name, and he appeared as if by magic!

Gary, let me welcome you to cupscon.com. That's actually Sean Dale's job, but I am very gratified to see you here.