historical magicians famous for the cups and balls.

[Josef tryllekunstner]

Hello everybody, I have been doing a lot of research on the cups and balls and I was wondering if anybody had information on people who were famous for performing the cups and balls, preferably as early in history as possible? I already know of Bosco and Conus as described by Robert Houdin, but surely there must be other historical figures who performed this trick. thanks so much

[Richard Kaufman]

Have you looked at the website www.conjuringcredits.com ?

[Josef tryllekunstner]

no I have not, thank you.

[Richard Hatch]

Hello everybody, I have been doing a lot of research on the cups and balls and I was wondering if anybody had information on people who were famous for performing the cups and balls, preferably as early in history as possible? I already know of Bosco and Conus as described by Robert Houdin, but surely there must be other historical figures who performed this trick. thanks so much

Hofzinser (1806-1875) admired and commented on Bosco's skill with the cups, but chose to do an unusual two cup routine himself (I believe Robert-Houdin said Bosco used 5 cups, two of them mechanical), well in advance of John Ramsay and Tommy Wonder. Of course, Pop Krieger and Malini were noted for their skill with this feat, but may be later than the references you seek. And Robert-Houdin himself appears in a photograph performing the feat, and describes it in his Secrets of Conjuring and Magic. He claimed in his Memoirs to have seen the feat performed by a performer calling himself "Dr. Carlosbach", though this may be a bit of literary invention or reconstruction on Robert-Houdin's part.