Price$50.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedDec 23, 2013
Clap and Cheer Cups and Balls
Morris, Mario
School of Busking
(Based on 1 review)
120 minutes on this DVD including:
Real Audiences - Real Shows! Las Vegas - on the Strip and at Wonderground; Mario’s performance at a European Busking Festival. Mario Morris goes through detailed teaching instructions and unpacks his routine that has entertained countless audiences throughout the world - both outdoor and indoors.
- Types of Loads
- Types of Cups
- How to Prep the Cups
- Types of Surfaces
- Table Cloth Pull
- The Routine Explained
- Talking through the routine - all phases -
- Handling explained from Mario’s unique table and case
- Handling explained using a regular table & pouch
- Bonus Material
Mario Morris has over 20 years experience of international street performing. He has taken the classic Cup and Ball routine and made it unique with his twist on the finale - mixing magic and side show - the table cloth pull. Mario encourages and teaches on making magic routines unique and demonstrates in the video on how he does just that with an ancient and classic routine.
".....Mario Morris, He is a consummate entertainer with a unique, engaging, and highly entertaining act that can best be described as a quintessential busker with a contemporary twist. As a cup and ball worker myself it was refreshing to see a fellow performer put his own spin and voice into this classic routine. Mario's performance's are clever, captivating and will keep you on the edge of your seat."
— Master Payne
"Working with Mario was a great pleasure. He has years of experience, and, more importantly, knows how to communicate this experience to students of the art. Patience and professionalism combine to create an excellent learning environment. We look forward to continuing our classes and including Mario in our programs."
— Jeff McBride, Creator of McBride's Magic and Mystery School, Las Vegas
Reviews
(Top ▲)
I had the pleasure of watching Mario Morris perform this routine live, for only a few of us, just a few weeks ago. As someone who has performed the Cups & Balls for over a quarter-century, I was pleased to see a routine that has obviously developed to entertain live audiences, not just fool magicians (which it will also do).
Full disclosure: Mario and his lovely wife Veronica are friends of mine, as well as guest teachers at the Magic & Mystery School, where I am on faulty. However, as a reviewer I will leave my personal relationship out of this review.
Let me start with what I feel is the most important selling point of this DVD: this is a professional routine that has taken Mario around the world. This is his bread and butter, not some “new” (read old, but un-researched) idea cooked up by a 16-year-old in his bedroom. It has been honed over thousands of performances for real people.
And it shows. The structure of the routine is brilliant. For one thing, it allows him to get his hat pitch in TWICE during the course of one routine. Plus his promise of the tablecloth pull at the end of the routine will actually keep the people around until the end when he passes that hat.
What’s more, there are no magic props. He can, and does, buy everything he needs from a local store (not a magic shop). The cups he uses on the DVD were purchased at IKEA.
The DVD begins with a short interview with Jeff McBride. They cover the history of the routine, the reasons it works and Mario’s purpose for creating it.
Next follows three performance segments in three separate locations (all live; no studios): one on the Las Vegas strip, a second at Wonderground and the third at a street festival in Germany (fully-surrounded). These are not edited down for “just the good parts.” You get to see three full performances of the entire routine.
Before Mario gets into the routine itself, he talks about how to find cups and loads, properties for a good table surface, and a very smart technique to keep the final loads from “talking.” Keep in mind he’s using ceramic coffee cups and glass containers for loads. He also goes over important details for performing outdoors where you have to deal with things like wind.
He walks you through all of the moves in the routine. I suppose if I had to nitpick and find a fault in this work, it would be that some things are taken for granted and glossed over. But they’re the types of things that anyone wanting to learn this routine should already know. And many of them are picked up and explained in later sections of the DVD. There’s even an over-the-shoulder view in the bonus section.
I want to close by saying that I think anyone performing on the street should own this DVD (as in real street / busking situations, not that edited-for-TV-and-YouTube stuff). Even if you have no intention of doing the cups and balls, or if you already have a routine (as I do), what you will learn about structuring your routines will be worth the price of the DVD.
Full disclosure: Mario and his lovely wife Veronica are friends of mine, as well as guest teachers at the Magic & Mystery School, where I am on faulty. However, as a reviewer I will leave my personal relationship out of this review.
Let me start with what I feel is the most important selling point of this DVD: this is a professional routine that has taken Mario around the world. This is his bread and butter, not some “new” (read old, but un-researched) idea cooked up by a 16-year-old in his bedroom. It has been honed over thousands of performances for real people.
And it shows. The structure of the routine is brilliant. For one thing, it allows him to get his hat pitch in TWICE during the course of one routine. Plus his promise of the tablecloth pull at the end of the routine will actually keep the people around until the end when he passes that hat.
What’s more, there are no magic props. He can, and does, buy everything he needs from a local store (not a magic shop). The cups he uses on the DVD were purchased at IKEA.
The DVD begins with a short interview with Jeff McBride. They cover the history of the routine, the reasons it works and Mario’s purpose for creating it.
Next follows three performance segments in three separate locations (all live; no studios): one on the Las Vegas strip, a second at Wonderground and the third at a street festival in Germany (fully-surrounded). These are not edited down for “just the good parts.” You get to see three full performances of the entire routine.
Before Mario gets into the routine itself, he talks about how to find cups and loads, properties for a good table surface, and a very smart technique to keep the final loads from “talking.” Keep in mind he’s using ceramic coffee cups and glass containers for loads. He also goes over important details for performing outdoors where you have to deal with things like wind.
He walks you through all of the moves in the routine. I suppose if I had to nitpick and find a fault in this work, it would be that some things are taken for granted and glossed over. But they’re the types of things that anyone wanting to learn this routine should already know. And many of them are picked up and explained in later sections of the DVD. There’s even an over-the-shoulder view in the bonus section.
I want to close by saying that I think anyone performing on the street should own this DVD (as in real street / busking situations, not that edited-for-TV-and-YouTube stuff). Even if you have no intention of doing the cups and balls, or if you already have a routine (as I do), what you will learn about structuring your routines will be worth the price of the DVD.