206 entries in Cup / Cups & Balls / Two & Three Cups Routines / Moves with Cups
Creators Title Comments & References Year Source Page AA Categories
3. To Secretly Introduce the Palmed Ball under the Cup
1876 275
4. To Simulate the Action of Placing a Ball under a Cup
1876 276
To Pass one Cup through another
1876 277
To Hold the Ball whilst conveying under Cups
1902 184
Eddie Joseph The Secret Introduction how to load a ball under a cup, two methods
1936 2
Eddie Joseph Secret Extraction stealing ball from under cup while lifting it
1936 2
Eddie Joseph To Show Ball Under an Actual Empty Cup
1936 3
Eddie Joseph To Simulate Action of Placing Ball Under Cup
1936 3
Eddie Joseph The Jo-Jo Introduction loading ball into cup
1936 3
Eddie Joseph Additional Moves a. spectator holds cup on palm, ball appears under it
b. borrowed hank vanishes and appears under cup
1936 6
Ellis Stanyon The Stanyon Lessons for the Cups and Balls part 4, moves with balls, wand, cups
Nov. 1937
The Jinx (Issue 38)
254
Ellis Stanyon The Stanyon Lessons for the Cups and Balls part 5
Dec. 1937
The Jinx (Issue 39)
260
Loading a Cup tip over load
1938 660
Removing a Ball Secretly from Under a Cup
1938 660
Ellis Stanyon The Stanyon Lessons for the Cups and Balls part 6
Jan. 1938
The Jinx (Issue 40)
266
Ellis Stanyon The Stanyon Lessons for the Cups and Balls part 7
Feb. 1938
The Jinx (Issue 41)
282
Eddie Joseph Secret Introductions intro to cup loads
1942 12
Eddie Joseph Secret Introduction of Two Balls Under One Cup Simultaneously
1942 13
Eddie Joseph Secret Introduction of Single Balls from the Double Palm
1942 13
Eddie Joseph The "Two-in-One" Introduction
1942 14
Eddie Joseph Secret Introduction of Three Balls Together Under One Cup
1942 14
Eddie Joseph The "Tip-Up" Introduction
1942 15
Eddie Joseph The Torpedo Introduction
1942 15
Eddie Joseph The "Back-Street" Introduction
1942 15
Eddie Joseph The Cup Introduction
1942 15
Eddie Joseph The "Infinite" Introduction
1942 16
Eddie Joseph The "Stratagem" Introduction
1942 16
Eddie Joseph The "Top-Hole" Introduction
1942 17
Eddie Joseph The Jubilee Introduction
1942 17
Eddie Joseph The Hinge Extraction ball steal
1942 18
Eddie Joseph The Double Extraction
1942 19
Eddie Joseph The Triple Extraction
1942 19
Eddie Joseph The "Grasshopper" Vanish
1942 20
Eddie Joseph The Slide Vanish ball dumped into left fingers below table edge
1942 21
Eddie Joseph The Thumb Steal
1942 22
Eddie Joseph The Roll ball apparently rolled under cup, rolls out the other side
1942 24
Eddie Joseph The Scoop ball rolled into cup, secretly bounces out again
1942 24
Eddie Joseph The Reel cup shown empty, ball hidden behind
1942 25
Eddie Joseph The Match Holder keeping item hidden in cup with match stick as holder
1942 39
Eddie Joseph Loading Tall Articles into Cups articles "nearly as high as the cup"
1942 42
Eddie Joseph The "Phantom" Load fruit stuck in cup to handle cups freely
  • First Method
  • Second Method
1942 45
Senor Charles Mardo A Novel Sleight: “The Flight” technique for Cups and Balls routine that apparently vanishes (or causes to penetrate) a ball resting on top of cup
1945 18
The Pounding right hand palms ball on top of cup after slapping down on it, for penetration effect
1945 20
John Ramsay Passing the Wand Through the Cups
1948 44
, Johnny Paul Cup Through Cup Move with variation by Johnny Paul
1953 204
Lewis Ganson Moves with the Bags and Balls
  • 1. The basic move
  • 2. To show a bag empty when it contains a ball
  • 3. Loading a ball secretly into a bag
  • 4. Loading from the pocket
  • 5. Production of a glass of wine
1956 16
Eddie Joseph The Basic Secret Moves
  • Move I: The Transfer
  • Move II: Secret Introduction
  • Move III: Simulating Visible Introduction
  • Move IV: Loaded Lift
  • Move V: Loaded Lift Combination
1956 11
Charlie Miller Charles Miller's "Cups and Balls Move" penetration of cup with ball
Also published here 1957 188
Milton Kort Fake Load Pretend to put ball under cup
1962 42
Milton Kort Turn Over Load Secretly load ball in cup by turning it mouth down
1962 43
Milton Kort One Hand Cup Turnover Flourish for turning cup over
1962 43
Milton Kort Two Hand Cup Turnover Flourish for turning cup over
1962 44
Charlie Miller Charlie Miller Move
Sep. 1968 207
Roy Walton Ghost Cup addition for cup-through-cup sequence
Winter 1968
The Pallbearers Review Vol. 1-4 (Vol. 4 No. 2nd Folio)
221
Bounce Steal card thrown under cup stolen, actually page 298A
Winter 1969
The Pallbearers Review Vol. 5-8 (Vol. 5 No. 3rd Folio)
298
Reverse Spin Steal actually page 298A
Winter 1969
The Pallbearers Review Vol. 5-8 (Vol. 5 No. 3rd Folio)
298
Karl Fulves Visible Penetration ball through cup
Sep. 1970 362
Tipover Move loading move
Oct. 1970 367
Peter Alexis Clip Steal ball stolen from top of cup as another cup is put onto it
Oct. 1970 368
Peter Alexis Delayed Lapping Move ball lapped from cup
Oct. 1970 368
Galloping Post sequence with cups and ball
Related to
  • Modern Magic Manual (Jean Hugard)
Oct. 1970 369
Ger Copper Cups and Balls sponge balls
  • ball vanishes between two stacked cups
  • showing tabled cup empty despite a ball being underneath
  • dropping classic palmed ball into upright cup when reaching to wand
1970 4
Horace Goldin, Frank Garcia Horace Goldin's Cup & Ball Move ball vanishes when two cups are banged together with ball between them, see also p. 815 for comment by Roger Crabtree
Related toAlso published here July 1973 635
Pete Biro Cup Chop
  • The Karate Acquitment
showing cup empty despite ball underneath
Related to Apr. 1974 723
Sam Aaronson The Basic Loading Move
Aug. 1974 778
Karl Fulves Speedball featuring hand-to-hand transfer of ball with cup
Sep. 1974 791
Loading Move
1974 6
Horace Goldin Frank Garcia erklärt Horace Goldin's Becherspiel Griff ball vanishes when two cups are banged together with ball between them
Also published here Apr. 1974
Intermagic (Vol. 1 No. 4)
72
Scotty York The Basic Move hiding a big ball in the cup
1975 3
Cup through Cup with ball hidden
1975 6
Scotty York, Larry Jennings Center of the Mat Cup Load Jennings' loading sequence without the handkerchief
Related to 1975 12
Sam Leo Horowitz Two Tumblers and a Coin - Horowitz Cup through cup standard illusion, but with coin inside one of the cups
1975 153
Ian Baxter My Cup Flippeth Over throwing a loaded cup from hand to hand
Aug. 1976
Pabular (Vol. 2 No. 12)
298
Palming
1976 152
Introducing the Ball loading the cup
1976 152
Placing Ball under Cup
1976 153
Appearing to Place Ball under Cup
1976 153
The Penetrating Cups
1976 153
The Optical Move showing cups empty
1977 10
Aldo Colombini The Can-Can Move hiding balls in cup, while tossing them from hand to hand
Variations 1977 12
Aldo Colombini The Tilt Move tilting the cup from another cup, stealing a ball
1977 12
Aldo Colombini The Flying Catch ball is dropped from cup and caught under it, hiding other balls
1977 14
Charlie Miller Miller's Penetration
1977 18
Aldo Colombini The Balls Penetrate Two Cups
1977 19
Aldo Colombini The Ultimate Vanish ball vanishes by hitting two cups against it
1977 20
Frank Garcia Double Post stacked cups, ball secretly between, cups dragged down on table with balls underneath
Inspired by
  • "Galloping Post" (Hugard's Modern Magic Manual, 1939, p. 130, item 4)
1978 1076
Frank Garcia The "Scoop" or "Lift Up" Move showing cup empty despite ball
1979 34
Theo "Okito" Bamberg The "Galloping Post" Move
1979 35
Charlie Miller Miller's Drop Through Move
1979 51
Horace Goldin "Click" Move ball vanishes between to cups that are banged together
1979 61
Paul Gertner Secret Loading of a Ball Underneath a Cup with steel ball
1979 82
Paul Gertner The False Load steel ball apparently placed under cup
1979 84
Horace Goldin The Horace Golding Baffling Cup gaffed cup to vanish a ball under it
1979 103
Frank Garcia Passing a Wand Through 3 Nested Cups
1979 105
Cup Through Cup
1979 109
Herb Morrissey Fako Move sequence for showing cups empty
1979 111
To Show that a Cup is Deeper Inside than Out
1979 117
Danny Korem The UDT Cups and Ball Routine clean vanish of ball from cup, pendulum holdout
1980 15
Gary Ouellet The Cenotaph Illusion showing the cups empty
1980 9
Gary Ouellet The Cenotaph Placement placing apparently empty cups on table
1980 11
Cup Through cup
1981 4
Jim Cellini The Elevator Move
1982 94
Cup through Cup Move
1982
Spell-Binder (Vol. 2 No. Special #1 (Summer))
6
Wayne Dobson T 4 U move with cup that has a handle and ball
July 1982
Spell-Binder (Vol. 2 No. 15)
291
David Roth, Charlie Miller Cup Penetration Variation with chop cup
1984 23
Fabian Han Ping Cup Move
1984 109
Elevator Move brief
1987 47
David Williamson One-Handed Ball Steal
1988
Magical Arts Journal (Vol. 2 No. 4, 5 & 6)
16
Hippie Torrales EC Cups & Balls Elsmley Count to show cups empty
Jan. 1989
Apocalypse (Vol. 12 No. 1)
1590
Cup Through Cup uncredited
1989 89
Charlie Miller, David Williamson Charlie Miller Move variation
1989 92
Wand Through Cup
1989 94
Roy Walton Thru and Thru No. 81, cup dropped through cup, with coin inside as convincer
1989 113
Rafael Benatar Cup Through Cup Variation cup falls through other cups, with all three cups
1989 5
Charlie Miller Charlie Miller Move
1989 11
The Reverse Stack Count
1990 83
Cup Through Cup
1990 84
John Bannon The Trick Pick - Something New ball removed from cup and reloaded at same time
1990 84
The Slide Move - Another Standard Cups Move
1990 85
John Bannon Shuttleball - Another "New" Sleight
1990 85
Charlie Miller Miller Penetration Move
1991 8
Michael Ammar No Tip "Tip-Over" Load
1991 13
David Williamson One-Handed Ball Steal
1991 19
Gary Kurtz The Tip-off Load from classic palm
1991 18
Gary Kurtz The Double Load loading an extra ball under the cup
1991 18
Gary Kurtz The Fake Load
1991 19
Alexander de Cova Becherspiele cup load with ball, dropping small ball inside while reaching over cup
Also published here 1991 15
Antonio Casas The Flipover Flourish Load
Sep. 1992
Apocalypse (Vol. 15 No. 9)
2119
Antonio Casas Switch/Load for Cup & Ball
Dec. 1992
Apocalypse (Vol. 15 No. 12)
2153
Alexander de Cova Becherspiele cup load with ball, dropping small ball inside while reaching over cup
Also published here 1992 161
David Berglas Verwendungsmöglichkeiten des "Ärmelns"
  • Becherspiel
  • Billardball-Produktion
1992 11
The Pick Up picking up cup with ball hidden under it, pinky
1992 190
The Transfer transferring ball under cup, while stacked cup is removed from other cup
1992 191
The Load loading sponge ball under cup
1992 191
The Steal stealing sponge ball from under cup, similar to shell game basic move
1992 192
Antonio Casas Striking Vanish
Aug. 1993
Apocalypse (Vol. 16 No. 8)
2250
False Loading "Apparently placing a ball under a cup"
1993 4
Real Loading "Really placing a ball under a cup"
1993 5
Secret Loading "Secretly introducing the ball under a cup"
1993 5
Loading Fruit "Secretly introducing a larger object under a cup"
1993 6
Paul Gertner Click Convincer steel ball apparently heard inside cup
1994 198
Charlie Miller Cup Penetration with steel ball
1994 200
Ball Steal when covered with cup
1995 6
Karl Fulves Cup Kink "An idea for the cups & balls"
flexible cups
1996 63
Harry Riser Ball under Cup Move ball apparently placed under cup
1996 98
Harold Cataquet Tip No Load
July 1997
Apocalypse (Vol. 20 No. 7)
2812
Harold Cataquet HPC For Cup And Ball Hand Ping Chien
July 1997
Apocalypse (Vol. 20 No. 7)
2815
The Centrifugal Move ball stays inside when cup is turned over and tabled
Related to 1998 2
The Pickup Move ball under cup secretly picked up with cup
1998 2
The Cup Steal & Conceal ball apparently rolled from cup into hand
1998 2
Bob Farmer Big Sponge Ball Vanish sponge ball rolled from cup into hand and seen, vanishes
1998 7
Bob Farmer Big Solid Ball Vanish ball rolled from cup into hand and seen, vanishes
Related to
  • "The Vanishing Buckeye" (Eddie Fields' Secret Diary, p. 19)
1998 7
Karl Fulves Penetro "Short Takes"
gaffed cup with trapdoor
1998 231
"Joro" Bruno Hennig Das Laden eines Bechers mit einem grossen Ball loading final load in cup
Also published here 1999 36
Cup through Cup
2002 124
Measuring inside of Cup
2002 125
Charlie Miller Cup Penetration Move actually credited to Mexican magician by Miller
2002 129
Ross Bertram The Cups and Balls ball under hand on table, ball on hand and cup covers it and slides it apparently down on the table
Mar. 2003
Genii (Vol. 66 No. 3)
59
The Tip Over Load
2004 48
The Scoop
2004 49
Stacking Load
2004 49
Wand Through Cup Classic
2004 50
The Fruit Load From pouch
2004 50
Karl Fulves Up Cup two cups nested, wand pushed in from below, it seems to penetrate lower cup and lift upper cup
2004 361
Alexander de Cova Cups & Balls Loading Technique topit tunnel used to get final load into other hand without going into pocket
Also published here 2004 13
Alexander de Cova Another Vanish ball on left fingers, right hand puts cup over ball and drags it onto table, steal
Also published here 2004 16
Don Alan Don Alan Chop Cup Loading Technique
2005 20
Don Alan The Big Bang chop cup loading technique with bang on table
2005 25
Karl Fulves KF Notes
  • plastic glass clings to knife
  • thread strand in middle of mouth of cup in cups and balls
  • Fred DeMuth's tumbler trick
Inspired byRelated to 2008
Prolix (Issue 5)
280
Alexander de Cova Cups & Balls Loading topit tunnel used to get final load into other hand without going into pocket
Also published here 2008 11
Jon Allen Push Through Move ball penetrates cup, Charlie Miller phase alternative
Also published here 2009 170
Alexander de Cova Cups & Balls Loading topit tunnel used to get final load into other hand without going into pocket
Also published here 2010 22
Al Schneider Cup Pickup and Replace loading a ball under a cup
2011 132
Al Schneider Tip Load
2011 138
Turnover Move hiding a ball while placing the cups on the table
2011 145
Al Schneider Tweezers Steal
2011 147
Al Schneider Tweezers Steal with Large Ball large ball hidden under cup

2011 153
Al Schneider Tweezers Load
2011 157
Al Schneider Twist Pickup cup pickup hiding a large ball
2011 160
Al Schneider Subtlety Pickup cup pickup hiding a palmed ball
2011 163
Al Schneider Rotate Load
2011 165
Al Schneider Double Load
2011 167
Alexander de Cova Geheime Taschenladung final loads handling, using topit
2011 11
Roberto Giobbi Overture for Cups and Balls cup moves, three balls appear, travel under cups
2012 119
Tom Gagnon Empty Cup Move display sequence for cups
Also published here
  • The Blueprint, Vol. 5 No. 6
2013 208
Alexander de Cova Abschlussladung mit einer Pouch final load choreography with pouch
Also published here July 2013 13
Christian Scherer Das Becherspiel als Salonkunststück general remarks on the Cups and Balls
  • Der Handlungsablauf beim Becherspiel
  • Die Struktur (structure)
  • Der Vortrag (patter)
  • Die Becher (cups)
  • Die Kugeln (balls)
  • Der Zauberstab (wand)
  • Der Tisch (table)
  • Die Tischoberfläche (table surface)
  • Die Handhabung der Becher (handling of the cups)
  • Die falsche Übergabe (false transfer of a ball)
  • Die Ladung (loads)
  • Das Platzieren der Ladungen (placement of loads in pockets)
  • Die Ladetechnik (loading technique)
  • Die Ladung vor den Blicken der Zuschauer verbergen (hiding the loads)
  • Indirektes Laden (indirect loads)
  • Das Abstellen der geladenen Becher (putting cups with loads on the table)
2014 175
Kurti Freitag, Aldo Colombini Der Wurfgriff hiding balls in cup, while tossing them from hand to hand
Inspired by May 2014 579
Kurti Freitag Der Pickup picking up cup with ball underneath, unusual grip
May 2014 582
Horace Goldin Goldin Vanish ball vanishes visuall between two cups that are banged together with both hands on the table
May 2014 583
Charlie Miller Charlie Miller Move
  • Die Finte mit der Bewegung
May 2014 586
Das Stehlen steal of sponge ball under cup when placing cup over ball
May 2014 588
Alexander de Cova Ladung mit der Pouch final load choreography with pouch
Also published here 2015 231
Alexander de Cova Ballstehlen ball on left fingers, right hand puts cup over ball and drags it onto table, steal
Also published here 2015 219
Alexander de Cova Becherspiel Load topit tunnel used to get final load into other hand without going into pocket
Also published here 2015 266
Alexander de Cova Becherspielladung ohne Jacke cups and balls loading without jacket, through hole in front of trouser
2016 191
Charlie Miller Setting the Spring Gag one cup through the other until an apparent spring is set in cup
2018 19
Rule of Thumb Move inside deeper than outside gag
2018 19
Al Schneider Picking Up The Cup With Ball Palmed
Nov. 2019
Genii (Vol. 82 No. 11)
63
Al Schneider Placing The Cup Onto Table and Loading the Palmed Ball
Nov. 2019
Genii (Vol. 82 No. 11)
64
Al Schneider Loading The Large Ball Into the Cup
Nov. 2019
Genii (Vol. 82 No. 11)
64
Charlie Miller Cup Penetration Move
2020 269
Guy Hollingworth Cup Load from Flapped Ball
2022 31
Jon Allen Expertalk: Jon Allen on the Cups & Balls ball penetrates cup, Charlie Miller phase alternative
Also published here 2022 522
Mago Mai The Drop Production ball apparently dropped into cup that is held in the other hand, as vanish or transformation
Also published here
  • MAGIC, Aug. 2007
2022 646
Mago Mai Expertalk: Mago Mai on the Cups & Balls "Roll Flat Vanish", ball held out with arm against body
Also published here
  • MAGIC, Aug. 2007
2022 650