Price$14.95
Media TypeDVD
CategoryGeneral, Close Up
Date AddedSep 12, 2015
Master Course Cups and Balls Vol. 1
Easton, Daryl
Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.
(Based on 2 reviews)
Now, renowned Master Magician, DARYL, brings you the first and last word on the subject with the 2 Volume, Master Course on Cups & Balls.
This is a complete and advanced comprehensive tutorial on Cups & Balls , using step-by-step instruction to teach you everything from masterful tricks to the most advanced routines. Classic sleight of hand skills, props and techniques are all explained in the thorough detail previously only obtained with private lessons.
DARYL brings decades of experience and an easy-to-understand teaching style in a multi-camera production designed to show you everything you need to know with the Master Course in Cups & Ball Magic.
Vol 1 includes:
Origination of cups and balls
Specific types of props to incorporate
Specific types of cups to use
Specific type of balls to use
Details of handling for performances
Sleights:
- shuttle pass
- inside and between cups
- fundamental moves and misdirection
- fake open load under cup
- roll through
- concealing a ball
- galloping post
- pinky move
- Fako move
- stealing a sponge ball from a cup
- vanishes
- loading a mouth up cup
- misc. cups and balls effects
- Charlie Miller move
Charlie Miller Elimination Sequence
Daryl's routine
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Who is This Child by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Master Course Cups and Balls Review
Volume I
One DVD, $15 bucks and one Master Course Cups and Balls Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Master Course Cups and Balls Review (I): Effect
Um . . . cups and balls . . . duh.
Master Course Cups and Balls Review (I): Method
Um . . . you know . . . the standard methods, etc. Okay . . . lest you think I'm getting lazy here, lemme 'splain. This isn't exactly a DVD of effect/method. This is a study of one particular subject. The methods taught are the standard Cups and Balls methods. False transfers, false puts, false takes, vanishes, appearances, etc. make up the methods. More details to come in the product quality and ad copy section.
Master Course Cups and Balls Review (I): Ad Copy Integrity
Take a minute to look at the ad copy. It gives a good overview of the contents of the DVD. No real claims, per se, are made. It's merely all about "here's what's on the DVD" — just the facts ma'am.
Master Course Cups and Balls Review (I): Product Quality
The film production quality is superb, and so is Daryl's teaching. However . . .
. . . here's where it all breaks down. The ad copy makes this claim: "This is a complete and advanced comprehensive tutorial on Cups & Balls." The problem is that this is true. What? Yes. The problem is that this is true. The first thing that Daryl says on this DVD is that this is an advanced course and that he is assuming you've already watched the beginner's DVD — I've reviewed that one as well. He follows that by saying that he will cover a few basics before diving into the advanced stuff.
That was followed by covering things like "this is the mouth of the cup", "this is a load", "this is a steal", etc. He continues on with statements like " . . . this is called the finger palm." He even went as far as showing us that when the cup is mouth down, it looks the same whether there's a ball under it or not. The first large portion of the content was stuff that was so basic that it was not even necessary to cover it in the aforementioned beginner's DVD.
Then he moves into a section about the various types of cups (and bowls). Next is a section about the various types of balls. Follow that with types of wands. Sound familiar? It should because it's everything that was already covered in the first beginner's DVD . . . you know . . . the one that he assumed we've already seen. After each segment, I "knew" that the next segment must be where he was going to start the "Master" level material, but 50 minutes into the DVD, I've fainted from holding my breath. At 60 minutes in, he starts the segment by saying that we will now learn "the most basic cups and balls move there is." He continues to say that this is right out of the standard basic instructions that comes with the little plastic cups and balls sets.
At 75 minutes, he teaches the French drop. Again? Not only did he teach that in the beginner's DVD, but he also taught it at the beginning of this very DVD. Finally at the 84 minute mark, the text on the screen says "Miscellaneous Cups and Balls Effects." Here we are shown some standard stuff like "cup through cup" and "how to choose the best props" (a little bit of a re-hash of stuff earlier on the DVD, etc. Finally at the 97 minute mark we see "Daryl's Cup and Ball Routine" which is a pretty standard one cup routine. Nothing "Master Level" about it. Don't get me wrong; it's a good routine, but I'm about ten minutes away from the end of the video and still have not seen anything "advanced."
In fact, there were a few things on the beginner's DVD that I felt were more "advanced" than most of the material on this DVD.
Master Course Cups and Balls Review (I): Final Thoughts
Let's put all this in perspective. I, Jeffrey Wayne Stone, have NEVER performed the cups and balls. Never. Not once. I'm probably the least knowledgeable person you know about performing this routine. Yet, with maybe one or two exceptions, everything, and I mean everything, that was covered in this DVD was stuff that I was already familiar with. That's the same as the beginner's DVD. There was a thing or two that I was unfamiliar with from that DVD.
The only thing on this DVD that I was really unfamiliar with was a routine with the cups mouth up. It was very magical feeling and was accomplished with moves I've never really seen used before. They're not anything revolutionary, but the routine was very magical and a pleasure to watch, but of course that's all opinion.
So to say that this is advanced or Master Level — a point that Daryl stressed multiple times throughout the DVD — is a misnomer at the very least. If you cut out all of the duplication and unnecessary stuff from this DVD and the beginner's DVD, then you could easily have a 5 Star 75 to 90 minute SINGLE DVD. A HUGE chunk of this DVD was almost a verbatim duplication of the beginner's DVD. The rest of it was definitely not what one would expect from an advanced DVD on the subject.
Lastly, let me say that I'm a huge fan of Daryl. I love his work. I love his personality. He's a super nice guy. I met him at a lecture in Salt Lake City a few years ago. I'm a customer of his. In fact, I just got a package from him for an order I placed, literally 2 days ago. With all that said, I just can't see how I can give this a good rating.
One the one hand, the content is EXCELLENT . . . for a beginner. It's taught nearly perfectly with top notch production values and in great depth. On the other hand, it's sold as a Master Level course, but all the way through the video, I kept waiting for the advanced stuff, and I felt like we just kept doing "one last thing before we get to the meat." We just never got there. All we got were vegetables . . . really good vegetables, but a) I've had them before, and b) I was promised a rib-eye. It never came to fruition (or steak-ition — if that's a thing).
Anyone who purchased the beginner DVD expecting this one to take them to the next level will, likely, be sorely disappointed. If you don't have the beginner DVD, then I'd say skip that one and get this one. All things considered, I have to (unfortunately) give this one harsh rating (believe me . . . this hurts me more than it does you).
Final Verdict:
2.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Grubble.
Available at your Favorite Magic Dealer. Dealer's see Murphy's Magic for details.
(Top ▲)
Daryl has long been respected as one of the best teachers in magic, and with very good reason. He knows his craft, he knows his history and he knows how to entertain crowds, both magicians and laypersons.
This volume is intended for the beginner after they have studied the Essentials in Magic - The Cups & Balls DVD. This DVD takes the student further in their studies and it covers everything you need to continue learning this classic of magic.
To get it out of the way: the audio and video quality are absolutely top notch, very clear and crisp. The menu is very nicely laid out and easy to navigate. You are also given the choice of watching the DVD in English, Japanese or Spanish with professional dubbing and translation.
He begins by talking briefly about the origins of the effect, as well as different things you might use for the effect. He talks about how to choose the cups and the balls that are best for you and your budget, the various types available and how to handle the props during performances.
Since this DVD will take the student down the tubes a little further, so to speak, you will learn basic sleights and some more intermediate ones. Everything from the Shuttle Pass, the Pinky move, the Fako Move to loading cups while mouth up and the not-so-often-seen Galloping Post are covered in great detail. You will learn some basic vocabulary as related to the cups themselves, very useful and helpful for the beginners. You also learn various sleights such as vanishes and productions, how to conceal the balls in your hands and with the cups as well as some interesting things you can do with the cups themselves.
After you learn the necessary basic and intermediate moves, Daryl then performs and explains the Charlie Miller Elimination Sequence and then performs and teaches his own Cups & Balls routine. Both of these routines are perfect for beginners because they are as close to self-working as you will get with the Cups & Balls. Rather than relying on many sleights, they both use the routining to do the work for you. At most, you will use a basic vanish for the Daryl routine, and at the same time, you still learn many of the necessary aspects of good magical performance: Timing, misdirection (rather, redirection of attention), scripting, motivation of action, etc.
Daryl does an excellent job of teaching all of the sleights and techniques in great detail, as well as the variations on each if applicable. His crediting is phenomenal and he points to various resources where things can be found for further study when necessary.
This DVD was shot with multiple cameras from different angles and while most of it is viewed like a one-on-one session, they do use different angles from time to time where it will help you see something better or where it will clarify something more clearly.
This DVD is primarily aimed at beginners and beginning intermediate students of the Cups & Balls. If you have been performing the cups & balls for years, you will likely not learn anything new here, especially if you have studied the Michael Ammar work. Even then, you might find some things you forgot about. As a person that has been studying and performing the cups & balls for a long time, I still found it refreshing and entertaining to watch Daryl, and I even picked up some great new ideas and tips that I will use myself. There is a lot of great information packed into the 90 or so minutes.
Overall, if you have studied the Essentials in Magic: The Cups & Balls DVD and want to continue your education on the subject, this is an excellent DVD for exactly that. One could also start with this DVD, though I suspect you may be missing out on a few things that are not covered here because they were discussed on the Essentials DVD. If you are an advanced beginner and want to work toward the intermediate level, this DVD, as well as Volume 2, are excellent resources for you.
VERY, VERY highly recommended!
This volume is intended for the beginner after they have studied the Essentials in Magic - The Cups & Balls DVD. This DVD takes the student further in their studies and it covers everything you need to continue learning this classic of magic.
To get it out of the way: the audio and video quality are absolutely top notch, very clear and crisp. The menu is very nicely laid out and easy to navigate. You are also given the choice of watching the DVD in English, Japanese or Spanish with professional dubbing and translation.
He begins by talking briefly about the origins of the effect, as well as different things you might use for the effect. He talks about how to choose the cups and the balls that are best for you and your budget, the various types available and how to handle the props during performances.
Since this DVD will take the student down the tubes a little further, so to speak, you will learn basic sleights and some more intermediate ones. Everything from the Shuttle Pass, the Pinky move, the Fako Move to loading cups while mouth up and the not-so-often-seen Galloping Post are covered in great detail. You will learn some basic vocabulary as related to the cups themselves, very useful and helpful for the beginners. You also learn various sleights such as vanishes and productions, how to conceal the balls in your hands and with the cups as well as some interesting things you can do with the cups themselves.
After you learn the necessary basic and intermediate moves, Daryl then performs and explains the Charlie Miller Elimination Sequence and then performs and teaches his own Cups & Balls routine. Both of these routines are perfect for beginners because they are as close to self-working as you will get with the Cups & Balls. Rather than relying on many sleights, they both use the routining to do the work for you. At most, you will use a basic vanish for the Daryl routine, and at the same time, you still learn many of the necessary aspects of good magical performance: Timing, misdirection (rather, redirection of attention), scripting, motivation of action, etc.
Daryl does an excellent job of teaching all of the sleights and techniques in great detail, as well as the variations on each if applicable. His crediting is phenomenal and he points to various resources where things can be found for further study when necessary.
This DVD was shot with multiple cameras from different angles and while most of it is viewed like a one-on-one session, they do use different angles from time to time where it will help you see something better or where it will clarify something more clearly.
This DVD is primarily aimed at beginners and beginning intermediate students of the Cups & Balls. If you have been performing the cups & balls for years, you will likely not learn anything new here, especially if you have studied the Michael Ammar work. Even then, you might find some things you forgot about. As a person that has been studying and performing the cups & balls for a long time, I still found it refreshing and entertaining to watch Daryl, and I even picked up some great new ideas and tips that I will use myself. There is a lot of great information packed into the 90 or so minutes.
Overall, if you have studied the Essentials in Magic: The Cups & Balls DVD and want to continue your education on the subject, this is an excellent DVD for exactly that. One could also start with this DVD, though I suspect you may be missing out on a few things that are not covered here because they were discussed on the Essentials DVD. If you are an advanced beginner and want to work toward the intermediate level, this DVD, as well as Volume 2, are excellent resources for you.
VERY, VERY highly recommended!