Lubor Fiedler's TRANSLUCENT CUPS
mitchell_leary
#6511090369. As I write this the price is up to $127.50. I don't have
this trick so my idea of the secret is speculation. I built my version
of the trick today and it works.
The basic effect with Lubor's cups is this: You introduce two
translucent tupperware cups (no lids) and stack them one inside the
other (bottoms upward). There is a clear space between the bottoms.
You then bring out a die and push it through the side of the top cup,
or otherwise vanish it. It now appears inside the glasses, trapped in
between the bottoms (see the e-Bay photograph).
I built my version of this trick today from plastic ware cups from the
dollar store. The cups are completely ungaffed. The secret to the
whole trick is the die, they're carefully cut from white FOAM stock
with a razorblade. Then the dots are placed on with a marker.
The fake die is trapped between the sides of the two nested cups. It's
hidden by the hand which holds the two together (the way the dollar
bill is hidden in Enigma, if you have that trick).
Another way to hide the compressed die between the sides is to lay the
two cups down, bottoms towards the spectators. From this end-on view
the die is completely hidden. Tupperware or clear plastic isn't
comletely clear, and when you begin nesting them together they become
opaque at a point. Looking at the two cups end-on and nested, white is
hidden perfectly.
To make the die appear inside the two cups, trapped between the
bottoms, is very simple. Hold the two cups mouth down on the table,
compressed die hidden behind the fingers. All you have to do is
slightly lift the top-most cup about an inch and the die pops up and
into view between the bottoms.
The above is combined with an external vanish of a duplicate (foam) die
outside the glasses. If you're doing this one handed then try this.
Hold the hand in a vertical fist with the die resting on top of your
thumb and first (curled) finger, as with the trap vanish. Inside the
fist is a thumb tipm opening upward. Place the thumb on the die and
push it into the fist out of sight and diretly into the thumb tip.
It's important that you don't compress the die while it's still in view
of the spectators, it must appear solid. When the die is stuffed into
the thumb tip and slipped on (all done with one hand), you can open the
hand to show the vanish. Revere this paragraph and the above one for
the proper sequence (sorry).
Something you can do to prove the die is solid is to bang it on the
table while wering the hard plastic thumb tip. The TT hitting the
table with the die between the fingers creates the perfect acoustic
illusion of a solid object (I do this with sponge balls in my
multiplying billiard ball effect).
Ihave no idea if this is "the" method behind Lubor's TRANSLUCENT CUPS.
But it works every bit as well and can be built for less than $1.oo!
Even less of you rob the old ladies tuperware collection during the
middle of the night.
-Leary-
mitchell_leary
This is a BONUS IDEA I meant to put with the original post. If you own
Nicholas Knight's ENIGMA gimmick, you can modify or shim one or both of
the dice with rare earth magnets or steel shims. Then you could repeat
the trick with one cup, kind of like a clear chop cup.
I believe I explained the ENIGMA gimmick years ago, look it up in the
Leary Archives, aka google.com.
-Leary-
Randwill
I mean other than so magic dealers can sell more silly, useless crap to
children.
Randwill
"mitchell_leary" <mitchel...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1108207975.4...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Paul H
<rwilli...@triad.rr.com> wrote:
>Yeah but, why would a magician want to push a die through a tupperware cup?
>I mean other than so magic dealers can sell more silly, useless crap to
>children.
>
>Randwill
>
Why do magician's want to do any of the stuff they do ?
It's entertainment by apparently defying the laws of nature and
physics.
Tupperware cups don't cost much.
Secrets do ('cept 'round here)
Randwill
to *learn* to stack dice which is something you can't buy and cut and glue
from the dollar store.
Randwill
"Paul H" <nym...@coinverizon.net> wrote in message
news:urjs019g707gv2q5k...@4ax.com...
mitchell_leary
Dice stacking isn't nearly as hard as it looks. I taught myself to do
it in about an hour from an old beat up manuscript by Senator Clark
Crandell. I think most magicians are afraid to try dice stacking
because it looks difficult, like something that will take months to
perfect. It's all technique and centrifugal force. You could probably
learn to do it even faster than I did. I'm pretty sure it's on video
now, which would make learning it even easier.
-Leary-
Joshua Wilde
I think this is a fantastic question!!
It's too easy to just say we do what we do to entertain. I agree that that
is one of the reasons, but personally, my interest in magic runs deeper than
that, and I've never really put my finger on why we do what we do.
Why do people go see movies and plays? Is it just to be entertained, or is
it to be a part of an external representation of something larger than
ourselves that we cannot express in daily life? I say it depends on the
movie, or in our case, it depends on the presentation of the effect.
If you do what you do to trick someone, and to leave them fooled, then
people will one day ask you why you do what you do.
But if you do what you do to inspire, and to leave them feeling alive with
wonder, then no one will ask why you do what you do...they will just ask you
to do more of it.
I think asking ourselves why we are doing what we are doing is very
important...if for no other reason, than to avoid having someone else ask
that question for us!
Best regards,
Josh
"Paul H" <nym...@coinverizon.net> wrote in message
news:urjs019g707gv2q5k...@4ax.com...
Ziggadydog
--
Thanks,
Timothy Champ
zigga...@comcast.net
Jake
<zigga...@comcast.net> wrote:
>The auction ended at 180.27!!! Insane if you ask me!
Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. This
particular Libor effect is out of production and still sought after.
The method in which you described making your own does not reflect the
way the Libor model works, nor can the same routine be used with your
method.
The particular auction you were referring to was auctioned
by ebay user flinnermagic. If anyone in this group likes rare, hard
to find magic then this ebayer is the one to watch as they are always
introducing rare collectible items on ebay almost on a weekly basis.
Getting back to the Fiedler version of the Translucent cups, if you
want to do this effect, the original is the way to go. There are some
remakes floating around, but they are not as good as the original.
Jake
Vice President
RNT II Magic, Inc.
www.rnt2.com