Brett Sherwood Cups

Magic Randy · Postby **Magic Randy** » May 18th, 2003, 12:18 pm

This started in the close-up forum, but is maybe better answered here.

In the June issue of Genii there is a full page ad on these new cups.

These cups are nice and I want to buy them, but Im wondering if anyone can vouch for Brett Sherwood Magic?

The web site they list does not work.

They have no email address.

I cant find them listed anywhere on the web (web site, listing, business, anything).

All I have is an address and phone number in a foreign country with a price of $995-$1,275.

The ad is compelling, but I'm not comfortable ordering from them.

Anyone have any experiace with Brett Sherwood Magic?

Thanks,

Randy

Guest · Postby **Guest** » May 18th, 2003, 4:14 pm

Richard took the ad; maybe he knows something. Richard?

Glenn Farrington · Postby **Glenn Farrington** » May 18th, 2003, 9:48 pm

I have been wondering the same thing...If I get a green light that these guys are on the up and up the silver cups will be mine...oh yes they will be mine.

Jim Riser · Postby **Jim Riser** » May 18th, 2003, 10:47 pm

FYI - In September, 2001 I was in contact with Brett Sherwood regarding the development of these cups. At the time he was trying to contact and get approval from the Dai Vernon Estate. He really appeared to be trying to do it all correctly and bring out a quality product. He had run a sample set for sale on ebay and Busby had it terminated. He was very concerned about "rights". My guess is that he is probably OK and that his ad has appeared before he has managed to get his marketing/sales/distribution infrastructure (web site, etc.) in place. I'd be a little patient. My guess is that he will be responding here soon.
Jim

Magic Randy · Postby **Magic Randy** » May 19th, 2003, 10:13 am

Following is an email sent to from David Ben on this subject. He said I could post his email.

================================================
Dear Randy:

I worked closely with Brett Sherwood in obtaining the endorsement of the Dai Vernon Estate for the cups. The cups are extraordinarily beautiful and functional. (I showed them to several magicians who attended the opening of my show, The Conjuror, in December, 2002. All were impressed by the cups.)

I take Brett Sherwood as an honest and hardworking magician. If I had any doubts about his ability to deliver on this product, I would not have presented the cups to the Dai Vernon Estate for consideration.

As I am not online to post this reply on the forum, please feel free to post it there for others to see.

David Ben

Lisa Cousins · Postby **Lisa Cousins** » May 19th, 2003, 10:21 am

Well, that seals it. They will be Glenn's...oh yes they will be Glenn's.

Michael Edwards · Postby **Michael Edwards** » May 19th, 2003, 2:23 pm

Which means Brett will have only 999 sterling sets remaining....

Guest · Postby **Guest** » May 19th, 2003, 3:19 pm

Make that 998....

Michael Edwards · Postby **Michael Edwards** » May 19th, 2003, 3:59 pm

OK, I'll admit it...997.

Magic Randy · Postby **Magic Randy** » May 19th, 2003, 6:03 pm

Could be 996

Does anyone have an email address for Brett?

Randy

Jim Riser · Postby **Jim Riser** » May 19th, 2003, 7:25 pm

OK, cup fans;
I just received a selection of images from Brett showing his new cups in all of their glory.

I'll try to get these compressed and posted on my "Selecting a Set of Cups" web page late this evening. Check after 11 pm Tucson time.

I do not think there has ever been a more beautiful set of cups offered to the magic fraternity. I strongly suggest wearing a bib to catch the drool when viewing these cups.

I'll get them up as soon as I can.
Jim

Magic Randy · Postby **Magic Randy** » May 19th, 2003, 8:52 pm

Jim Risers page is up. If you want to see these cups, Jim has some nice pictures and commentary.

http://www.jamesriser.com/Cups/SelectingCups.html

Jim also gives Bretts email address.

Randy

Bill Duncan · Postby **Bill Duncan** » May 19th, 2003, 9:39 pm

I don't perform the Cups and Balls but I have an old set of Rings And Things cups that I use for practice. The Cups and Balls teaches so much about magic that you don't need to perform it to learn from it.

That being said...
Oh My God! These cups are amazing.

Brett Sherwood · Postby **Brett Sherwood** » May 19th, 2003, 9:53 pm

My friend James Riser brought my attention to this forum. Because of my busy career traveling my web site is not yet on line. I was taken by suprize by the early mailing of Genii (great job on Genii's part, but unexpected on mine). Never-the-less, my web site is scheduled to be up and running by June 1st. I actually began receiving phone orders on May 15th from Genii! For those interested, orders can be left at the phone number on my cup ad in the June issue of Genii. Alternatively, it is easier and quicker to write all the standard credit card info on a fax page with your full name and address, but wait for my voice prompt guaranteeing you are at the correct answer machine in England, before sending off your important information.
Thank you for all your interest in my cups--it is very much appreciated after all the time and work gone into this project. Check out James Riser's excellent web site to view photo's of my 3 different cups until my own site is on line in June.
Cheers,
Brett Sherwood

Magic Randy · Postby **Magic Randy** » May 19th, 2003, 11:01 pm

OK, I ordered mine. Should be here in 4-6 days.

I'll give everyone an update as soon as I receive them.

Randy

Chris Bailey · Postby **Chris Bailey** » May 22nd, 2003, 2:51 pm

They're beautiful. So beautiful that I wouldn't want to bang them up. So I don't see myself spending $1000 for something to decorate my bookcase. If they were $500 I'd bite.

Glenn Farrington · Postby **Glenn Farrington** » May 22nd, 2003, 4:43 pm

Originally posted by Lisa Cousins:
Well, that seals it. They will be Glenn's...oh yes they will be Glenn's.

Oh yes...they will soon be mine. You should take up mentalism Lisa...er...I mean knee-hi.

Glenn Godsey · Postby **Glenn Godsey** » May 22nd, 2003, 9:17 pm

Originally posted by Glenn Farrington:

Originally posted by Lisa Cousins:
[b] Well, that seals it. They will be Glenn's...oh yes they will be Glenn's.
Oh yes...they will soon be mine. You should take up mentalism Lisa...er...I mean knee-hi. [/b]

Yes, this is wonderful of you, Lisa. I will never forget it.

George Olson · Postby **George Olson** » May 23rd, 2003, 8:31 am

Actually, what Glen meant was when he said, "they will be mine" -- he meant all 1000 of 'em. (Pete Biro on George Olson's computer about to head out to pick up Whit Haydn and head to Kramiens "Big Top Ranch."

Stay tooned...

Guest · Postby **Guest** » May 23rd, 2003, 6:12 pm

Am I missing something? I would handle these silver cups with the lightest touch as if they were truly ancient cups. So why the concern about their ruggedness?

My wife will not understand but I am ordering a set. Any ideas on how to hide the CC charge (;-)

Bill

Dustin Stinett · Postby **Dustin Stinett** » May 23rd, 2003, 7:37 pm

Originally posted by wcb39:
My wife will not understand...

"Magic" and "spousal understanding" is an oxymoron.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » May 23rd, 2003, 8:05 pm

Dustin,

That is the truth! I am sitting here gathering some goodies to sell to offset the oncoming pain
(;-).

Bill

Brett Sherwood · Postby **Brett Sherwood** » May 24th, 2003, 1:23 pm

:whack:
As promised I wanted to be the first to let you all know my wesite is now up and running.
www.SherwoodMagic.com
Let me know what you think.
Thanks for the interest,
Brett Sherwood

Jim Riser · Postby **Jim Riser** » May 24th, 2003, 5:35 pm

Michael;
It seems to work perfectly for me (as much as I have tested). Try:

http://www.sherwoodmagic.com/

Sometimes the newer sites require the "http://"
Jim

Brett Sherwood · Postby **Brett Sherwood** » May 24th, 2003, 5:44 pm

Michael,
You will need to allow time for your server to reload. I had the same problem on aol and had to wait an hour or so, but I was already online. Check again I think you will be pleasantly surprised?
Best,
Brett Sherwood

Guest · Postby **Guest** » May 24th, 2003, 6:47 pm

Brett's site worked instantly for me. I am also elated to be receiving #26 in silver. Will let everyone know my assessment.

Bill

Michael Edwards · Postby **Michael Edwards** » May 24th, 2003, 7:24 pm

Thanks, Brett. It works perfectly now. The site looks great (and, of course, so do the cups). :)

Magic Randy · Postby **Magic Randy** » May 24th, 2003, 7:53 pm

Mine have made it from England to the USA. Currently they are at JFK. Still have to travel to LA. Hopefully they will not spend the weekend in the city that never sleeps.

Randy

Sean Macfarlane · Postby **Sean Macfarlane** » May 24th, 2003, 9:30 pm

Damn.......these are a must have. I have one question though. Doesn't silver tarnish quite easily? Do they need regular polishing?

Brett Sherwood · Postby **Brett Sherwood** » May 25th, 2003, 5:04 am

After doing some research regarding sterling silver tarnishing - here is what I pleasently found out.
TARNISHING:
"The best way to minimize tarnish is to USE YOUR STERLING! Constantly using your sterling pieces keeps them bright and shiny. If you use your sterling regularly, you will only need to polish it twice a year, at most".
I found this article very interesting and I will include a complete 'care for my cups' section on my website very soon.
Thanks for introducing the topic.
Brett Sherwood

Magic Randy · Postby **Magic Randy** » May 28th, 2003, 8:48 pm

I started this thread and want to answer my own question. Can anyone vouch for Brett Sherwood Magic?

Yes, I can.

After spending the holiday weekend in New York, my cups arrived in LA today. Im now the proud owner of serial number 30 of 1000. Yes, I ordered the practical cups, if you can call solid silver practical.

First let me give you my first impression of the cups. Wow. The pictures on Bretts website (also on Jim Risers site) do justice to the look, but that only shows the image, not the feel. The cups look beautiful, but feel even better. For anyone worried about these cups, dont. They are as thick and heavy as you would ever want, especially for a spun cup. The only way you could get anything more solid would be to machine it out of a solid block of silver. Im convinced they would not look as good if that was how they were produced, to say nothing of the cost of the material.

How was it dealing with Brett? Great. I think he was not ready when the Genii ad came out, he must have made his marketing and sales support plan based on the old Genii publishing schedule. Now June means before June. Anyway, thats another story. Brett is ready now and you should feel secure ordering from him. He is very responsive via email, will answer your questions, and keep you informed. His web site is now up. He is trying to anticipate our questions and posting the answers to FAQ on the site. Im sure this will become more complete over time.

So, how were they delivered? Can you feel comfortable that these precious cups can make their way across the pond without being damaged? Brett must have stayed up nights worrying about this. Let me explain his solution.

- Each cup is individually wrapped in a plastic bag.
- The three wrapped cups are stacked.
- The wrapped & stacked cups are wrapped in plastic again.
- The double wrapped stacked cups are in their carrying bag.
- The double wrapped & bagged cups are wrapped again in bubble wrap.
- The triple wrapped & bagged cups are put inside plastic tubing (like a large PCV pipe), which is further secured.
- This securely wrapped set of cups is now packaged in a box filled with popcorn like packaging material.
- The box is then securely taped up.

So, dont worry about the cups being damaged in shipment, Bretts got that worked out.

Glad I ordered mine. Even happier now that I can see and feel them.

Randy

Guest · Postby **Guest** » June 1st, 2003, 10:34 am

My Brett Sherwood silver cups arrived today and as I told Randy they nearly took my breath away. Even my wife was impressed. For those of you who enjoy elegant props these are truly the Rolls-Royce of cups.

Michael Edwards · Postby **Michael Edwards** » June 2nd, 2003, 10:19 am

My set (#8) arrived this morning. Let me just echo a few points that have already been made. First, the cups live up to their billing...both in terms of their look and feel as well as their handling. Second, Brett Sherwood was a delight throughout the process. He was open, helpful and thoroughly professional. :)

Lisa Cousins · Postby **Lisa Cousins** » June 2nd, 2003, 11:36 am

Originally posted by Oscar Wilde:

I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my Brett Sherwood cups.

Yeah, Oscar's original "post" said "my blue china," but believe me, if Oscar were alive today, and a magician, these cups would be his mark.

If you get these cups and put them on a shelf, unable to live up to them, the hypnotic spell they cast will make you visionary and indolent. Far better to avoid the risk and keep them in continuous use, even at the expense of all other magic and vacuuming.

Living up to my Brett Sherwood cups,

Lisa

Glenn Farrington · Postby **Glenn Farrington** » June 2nd, 2003, 3:28 pm

Yeah...what she said.

Glenn Farrington · Postby **Glenn Farrington** » June 2nd, 2003, 3:39 pm

Oh...my god! I got the cups today. As I took them out of the box, and I'm pretty sure I've even read someone else reporting this...my wife said, "They're beautiful". MY WIFE SAID THAT!!!! ABOUT A MAGIC PROP!!! I kept looking around for the pod...this couldn't really be her???

They are gorgeous! Worth every freaken penny. Ok...I could have done without the surprise $33.15 cents my postman charged me for a customs duty (Brett where did that come from???)

I got the silver ones. I had to polish them already because my tears of joy would have ruined them. I have noticed something very cool about them. If you pick up the middle one (yeah figure that one out) and hold it up to your ear...you can hear Vernon doing a wand spin by the ocean.

Pete Biro · Postby **Pete Biro** » June 2nd, 2003, 6:29 pm

Crimeny Glenn you live at the Ocean.. you can hold a bicycle up to your ear and hear the surf!

Michael Edwards · Postby **Michael Edwards** » June 2nd, 2003, 7:54 pm

Gee, Glenn, seems like you could have just installed Brett's cups onboard rather than all those computers. ;)

Now that I've had a couple of hours to work with these cups, here are a couple of additional observations. 1) Don't let appearances fool you. While their beauty is undeniable, these are not cups that have to be handled with care. They are sturdy, tough and should stand up to most performing conditions. (A note to Tom Frank: no I didn't try your wand crash test on them. I'll leave that up to you). 2) They are a bit larger and heavier than the standard Paul Fox/Danny Dew sets..certainly heavier than my PF/DD silver plated set. They take a larger load...and because of the higher second bead have more room between nested cups. This does change the feel a bit, making the cups -- which do not wobble -- feel a bit more loose than the standard PF/DD sets. Of course, all spun cups differ a bit...but this is more the result of less cup sitting under other cup when nested than the precision of the spinning. 3) As Randy has noted, Brett has taken great care in packing these cups for shipping. The $75 shipping charge covers this and got the cups from the UK to me in Washington DC in five days. But as Glenn points out, there's another $33 or so in customs charges.

I'm not sure, Lisa, what living up to a set of cups means...but the look of these cups just cries out for a story of beauty and intrigue. Damn, next thing I know you'll be turning me into a Mystery School kinda guy :D

Pete Biro · Postby **Pete Biro** » June 2nd, 2003, 9:16 pm

Too late now as mine are due any minute... but he could have put a lower value on them and sent them as a gift, or as a sample. :D

Guest · Postby **Guest** » June 3rd, 2003, 7:50 am

Happy owner of set #11 here. Got 'em on Sunday. Holy mackeral. These are the cups I've always wanted ever since I was a kid and saw Vernon's in The Dai Vernon Book of Magic.

As others have said, Brett was a pleasure to do business with. Friendly, responsive and informative.

I think he got the design perfect. They seem to look smaller than they are due to the shape, which, to me, both feels and looks good. Big attic space, big load space. Stack solid with only a small amount of play. They feel solid, sturdier than I expected. This is definitely a user's cup. And of course, drop dead gorgeous. Even the bag is good quality. The spinning and engraving have little irregularities, but I guess that's part of them being hand-made instead of cut by a machine. They only caveat is that the balls are practically weightless, unusable for me personally, but I have other balls that'll work for now. Maybe Jim Riser will make the perfect ones (hint, hint). I asked Brett about this and he said he's working on a better set of balls as well as a wand to complement the cups, but there wasn't time to get them finished when the cups were done and the orders were coming in.

I've fooled around with the cups over the years, but never made it a standard part of my repertoire because I never had a set I really liked. Always some shortcoming in terms of ball size, load size, aesthetics, something. Now I'm working on a brand new routine, up all last night working on it, inspired by these cups.

My two cents.

Best,

Geoff