The Crimped Cup (Arthur Trace)

[Guest]

Based on what I read in the April 2006 issue of GENII, Arthur Trace is obviously a talented and creative magician. A man with a bright future ahead of him. I'm lucky if I have a small fraction of the talent and creativity that he has.

I will however express an opinion - an opinion that soley relates to one item, 'The Crimped Cup'.

Described as a "fresh, magical, why-didn't-I-think-of-that approach that breathes new life into the effect as a whole"...

...I don't think so. I didn't like it at all. Why bother ??

In my mind I can picture Dai Vernon pulling Arthur Trace aside, reminding him that 'confusion is not magic', and telling him to get rid of the white plastic rings.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm missing something.

[David Acer]

Originally posted by John Pezzullo:
Described as a "fresh, magical, why-didn't-I-think-of-that approach that breathes new life into the effect as a whole"...
...I don't think so. I didn't like it at all. Why bother ??

Hi John,

Don't blame Arthur for that line - I wrote up his trick, and he might never have made such a claim. But I don't think the plastic-rings climax is confusing, though whether or not it's worth including in your existing routine is a matter of personal (and theatrical) choice. The idea of marking a cup by dropping a ring over it is simple enough (like openly crimping a card in one phase of a three-card-monte routine), then, immediately after it is revealed that all three cups have balls under them, theyre all shown to have rings on them as well.

Granted, this kind of extra climax may appeal more to magicians than to laymen, but what I found most interesting about Arthur's ending is that, in order to create a totally new climax, he quite literally had to think outside the cups.