By: William Springer
Can someone recommend a good book or site for learning to use sponge
balls?
By: Alain Aslag Roy
Mark Wilson's Cyclopedia of Magic, or the large-book version of that
book. Course in Magic?
By: Kep!
If you're looking for an advanced routine that kills, check out Kenton
Knepper's latest video. The video itself leaves a bit to be desired as
far as production quality (surprising really) but the material is
awsome, and he's a good teacher.
By: Shuja
Kenton's moves are great, but the routine isn't too good. I do a
modified Benson bowl routine. If you do walkaround, I think that the
ball should vanish from 1 spectator's hand and appear in the other's.
By: C. Blum
If you're looking for something to "show" you the basics I'd pick up
25 tricks with Sponge balls video, it's inexpensive and pretty
straight forward. I also second Alain's mention of Mark Wilson's
Cyclopedia of Magic, that should be in every magicians reference
library in my personal opinion.
By: Jon A. Hand
Several come to mind, some harder to find than others:
Sponge Ball Magic by Frances Marshall, about $10 at Magic Inc. (email: magicinc@uss.net -- You'll "talk" with Nora) has routines by "Senator Crandall" and other pros.
Learn Magic by Henry Hay, about $15 used (www.bibliofind.com) has a great chapter on this, plus an excellent thimble routine, and 20 great lessons on magic classics with an emphasis on routining and the acting necessary for good magic.
Pure Magic by Henry Gross (harder to find, but shows up in bibliofind from time to time, in both hardback and paperback, same size pages and photos in both) has an excellent sponge routine and great teaching of many other magic classics, including thimbles, billiard balls, coins, cards, and coins thru table. This and Learn Magic are highly underrated books; get them if you can.
Classic Secrets of Magic, by Bruce Elliott, which I feel belongs in every good magic library, has a great sponge ball routine by Don Alan using sponges, a bowl, and a wand (in the cups and balls chapter, which is excellent coverage of the c/b too). Volume 2 of Ganson's Art of Closeup Magic has some expansion of that routine by other magi, too.
Magic Digest, by George B. Anderson, another highly underrated book of good tricks (aimed at beginners but full of too much good stuff for advanced students to ignore) has a fine sponge routine with a bowl, too, and far too many good tricks to not have it in your library; check bibliofind again.
And finally, Encyclopedia of Sponge Ball Magic by Frank Garcia (I want this; anybody want to sell a copy?) is a good size hardbound book of classic routines and sleights from many performers.
By: Jim W.
I performed the Classic sponge balls routine in a walkaround condition
at a festival this weekend and the crowds ate it up like biscuits and
gravy! In less than ten minutes, I had teenagers crowding around me
with their hands out saying "do the sponge balls, do the sponge balls"
When the balls would 'magically' appear in their hand I would things
like "Dude" and "No way".
A simple routine with simple props such as the sponge balls can really bring the 'wonder' back into magic. When you as a performer see that "WoW look" in your audiences eyes, then it becomes truly magic.
Just thought I would share this experience with all of you.
By: Rob J
I can't think of a more popular effect with spectators than a sponge
ball routine. It is an absolutely perfect opening effect and if it
doesn't break the ice (rare) then the group that you are performing
for are probably in a state of deep-freeze themselves.
I remember reading a quote from Stephen Tucker in Simon Lovell's Magic Menu column, though - "Once one ball has transformed into two in a spectator's hand, the trick is OVER"... In other words, going into a "two in the hand, one in the pocket" routine or something similar is completely futile and an utter anti-climax. You can go one better than this, of course, by transforming two balls into two balls plus a dozen mini balls (or anything else along those lines.)
A tip I learnt from the wonderful British childrens' entertainer Henrique is to get someone to close their hand around nothing while everyone else thinks that you have given them a ball. In other words, perform a false transfer of a ball from your right to your left hand while retaining the ball in your right. Then get the spectator to close his hand around the "ball" which you apparently are holding in your left hand. The language you use should be phrased correctly in order to ensure that the spectator does indeed close their hand. The spectator doesn't usually say anything as they are secretly quite pleased that they know something that nobody else does. (If they DO say something like "you aren't giving me anything" as you feign putting a ball in their hand, you can just act as though the ball vanished in the process of you giving it to them. You can't lose) You are now in the position to make a ball vanish from within someone's hand! I have done this in restaurants and other tables see from afar and become convinced that you are capable of making objects vanish while a spectator is holding them tightly in his hand. The stuff reputations are made of, n'est-ce pas?
By: Mike Brown
I have had some sponge balls laying around for the longest time yet
have never bothered to really do much with them,but I always hear
about how high impact they are and have even seen some great
routines. What I was wondering is their a good video to teach me the
basics of sponge ball magic?
By: Dan Jimmerson
Try the 25 tricks with sponge balls, it's reasonably priced and will
give you all the basic moves.
By: rawdawg
Before you go buy a video with known moves and routines, take the
spongeballs and fiddle with them. Try vanishing them, recovering them,
transferring them, holding out, bouncing them across and anything that
seems completely lunatic. Combine them with other gimmicks or utility
devices, see if you can take advantage of their compressibility(is
that a word?). You are in a great position to create something unique
due to your "untainted" preconceptions of spongeball handling. At
least, I hope you are.
I was once in a position like you, well, still sort of am. I've conjured up a tabled transfer and some steals that I've yet to find a credit for. I'll keep looking.
Imagine, rawdawg, King of Spongeballs.
Oh, how mama would smile.
By: Kaliix
The dog gave you some good advice and if you are the inventive type
then give it a go. I would recommend the 25 tricks with sponge balls
video. It has some good basics and will give you a place to start. I
also own Brad Burts sponge ball video. It's not bad, however it is
rather steep in price ($40) but I use the his vanish from the video
and it really looks good. Even a few people at my IBM ring liked it
(and it's kinda hard to get excited over a sponge ball vanish).
By: Jon A. Hand
There is fine instruction (with either copious photos or excellent
line drawings) in any of these books:
Learn Magic by Henry Hay
Pure Magic by Henry Gross
Magic Digest by George B. Anderson
All of these books are out-of-print, but you should be able to find a copy of any or all of them at http://www.Bibliofind.com
All three have really good sponge routines for newcomers, and dozens of excellent tricks as well. Hay and Gross can be found in both hardback and paperback, but the editions are identical, so save money and get the paperback if you wish. Hay and Gross stress presentation and sleight magic; Anderson teaches bare minimum sleights for anything in the book, but has excellent presentations as well. I know you will like any of these.
By: Doug Atkinson
I have a reference to videos, books, and products with sponge balls at
my website. Go to the magic section, then Magic References, then
Sponge balls..
By: Kevin Wiese
Anyone out there with an opinion on Jon Jensen's Professional Sponge
Ball Tricks Book(s)? I understand this is supposed to be a series of
three books. The first one has been out there a few months. I don't
know if the second has been published yet. Thanks.
By: Ian Richards
The first Jon Jensen sponge ball book covers a number of appearences
and vanishes with a few short routines. The second book is full of
short sponge ball routines, some of which use a thumb tip and/or a
silk. Both of these books are about thirty pages long with clear line
diagrams and concise explanations. I am not sure if the third book on
sponge rabbits is out yet.
By: Doug Atkinson
Kevin,
You can view the contents listing of the first volume at my webpage. I said this about the book in my comments: "Clear line drawings. This is the type of book that would do well with a video to accompany it. Didn't care for the writing style (comments such as "Pretty cool, huh."). In the Ten Count effect, Jensen fails to convey the impact of revealing the ball under the left hand during the false transfer. This natural misdirection is very valuable. Overall, however, this is a good introductory text to the sponge balls, and I will probably end up getting the next two volumes."
By: Dr. Alphis Dinwiddie
The Sponge Book by Magic Inc.
I am wanting to get into sponge ball magic, and not too long ago I read about it [The Sponge Book] at MagicSmith. Is this booklet a good place to start to learn? I saw that it contain several routines/effects, but are all of the moves clearly explained in it? I have had no prior work with sponge balls at all, so I'm starting from the very beginning. I don't really want to spend a lot of money on this, so this book rather appealed to me. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
By: James
It is good enough for a start.
For the price, you have what you need in terms of sleights and general ideas of what sponge ball magic is about. From there, you can develop your own routines (based on your knowledge of Coin magic for instance) and get into more "personal" routines from various authors scattered around the Universal Magic Library.
By: Jon A. Hand
This book is quite good for the money. There are signature routines in
it of well-known professionals, and you can study these to see how a
commercial routine builds to a climax, as well as to learn basic
sponge sleights.
The Mark Wilson Complete Course In Magic has a nice beginning sponge routine in it, and its Cups & Balls routine is good, too.
By: Dr. Alphis Dinwiddie
Thanks for all the help with my previous post. Now I'd like to know
what kind of props I could expect to need to perform the routines in
this book. I mean, what color of sponge balls will I need? How many
will I need? Will I need a purse frame? etc….Once again, any help
would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
By: Kaliix
Having not read the book, I couldn't tell you what props you will need
to perform the routines. That being said, how hard can it be to figure
out. Pick the routine or routines you want to perform and see what
they call for. If it calls for a production from a purse frame then
buy one from a magic shop or get an old change purse from your
mom/aunt/grandmother and remove the material and make one yourself.
Since you may not own sponge balls, they always come in packs/boxes of four (at least that is all I have ever seen), which is usually all you will need for just about any routine (unless you are doing color changes or are producing more than four sponge balls).
As far as color, that is more of a personal choice. I use red. It is the color I started with and the color I prefer. Use whatever color you like best or the one that will go best with whatever you will be wearing or that contrasts with any close-up mat you may use.
You may want to consider something to use as a finale. Either a growing sponge ball (my favorite), a bunch of little sponge balls or something along those lines.
Lastly, you may want to consider to consider the video "25 tricks with Sponge Balls." It only costs $10 and may make learning the sleights easier because you can see what they look like. I still use a variation of the routine on the tape and it has served me well.
By: Dr. Alphis Dinwiddie
Actually, the reason I was asking for this info was because I don't
have a magic shop anywhere close to me so S & H is eating up my magic
spending money. I can't afford to buy a $2 piece of magic [sponge
balls] and spend $4 on S & H. As for the color, yes, I was wondering
for color changes. Also, I wondered how many because it says that
there is a multiball climax which may mean 20 or just 6 balls so I
just wanted to know. Sorry if my persistent questions bother
you. Thanks for the advise on the "25 Tricks with Sponge Balls" video.
By: Kaliix
Your questions don't bother me at all. I just wanted to see you
actually consider what questions you were asking and how you were
asking them. I figured from your post what you were asking and why,
which is why I went into detail about the number of balls in a
package, the climax suggestions, etc.
The multiple ball climax you are refering to comes as a single prop, where you get all the balls you need to produce at the end.
Sponge ball magic can be very entertaining, good luck.
By: Steve V
The balls come in soft and super soft as well as different sizes. The
super soft are nice but get mis-shapen, the top guys I've heard
mention 'em get the regular soft and wash them (some say in Woolite)
first and they are softer but not too soft. For size the 2" seem to be
good because of the size to hand apparence, I also use the smaller
ones.
By: Ian Richards
The Albert Goshman routine in the sponge book uses a purse frame to
initially produce the sponge balls. I second the recommendation of the
"25 tricks with sponge balls" video. For its cost, $10, versus that of
the book, $8, I think that it is better value. While the book has some
classic sponge ball material, the video shows a number of sleights,
both appearences and vanishes, as well as a routine and use of other
props, e.g., ball to cube.
By: Dr. Alphis Dinwiddie
Do you mean that "The Sponge Book" does not teach the sleights
necessary to perform the routines? I guess I don't want to be stuck
with a video that teaches only sleights, or a book that has only
routines. I kind of want a mixture of the two. Thanks for your help!
By: Ian Richards
In my opinion, "The Sponge Book" does not do a great job of 'teaching'
the sleights necessary for the routines. The routines from the book
are quite good. The video does a good job of teaching the sleights,
part of this is the nature of video, however, I do not think that the
routine in the video is the greatest. If you want a book that teaches
sponge ball sleights, "Professional Sponge Ball Tricks Volume 1" by
Jon Jensen is O.K. From the tone of your enquiry, cost is a
factor. Like most things magical, there is no shortage of good
material available on sponge balls. If I was to make only one purchase
on sponge balls I would go with the video.
By: Bailey
I've recently started with sponge balls myself and purchased the "25
tricks" video for them. I think it is a great video for the moves by
themselves, but doesn't have much I would call a routine. I am
applying the knowledge from the video to the sponge ball routine in
the Mark Wilson book to get a complete picture.
By: Kaliix
I don't think the routine on the video is all that bad. I have been
using a slightly modified version of that routine for the past year
and a half and it works just fine for me with great reactions from the
audience.
By: James
I just had a look at the book that I have at home. There are about 13
routines from Goshman and quite a few others.
AS for the props, here is the list of all the props that were used through the book: purse frame, regular balls (lets call them "small", medium size balls, large size balls, a Gimmicked ball that changes into a cube, a small sponge cube, Sponge rabbits (2 large and 4 small), a bunch of very very very small balls for the final climax, -colored balls are good alternative because you can use them for several other things too, like in lieu of size change, you can do a color change etc... I just skimmed through the book, but if I have some spare time later I 'll try to detail a little bit more on a "per-routine" basis ....
By: Ian Richards
I think that the routine on the video goes a few steps further than
necessary. From what I have read and seen, all of the build up in a
sponge ball routine should lead to the sponge balls magically
appearing in the spectator's hand. Once this has happened the routine
should end, as any continuation after this is anti-climactic. Any
other opinions?
By: Jon A. Hand
Order a bunch of stuff from one place, and you get more bang from your shipping buck!
Just checking around:
http://www.daytonamagic.com
These people have the Twenty-five Tricks With Sponge Balls video for
$10, AND they have the Sponge Book with a 20% discount, making it
$6.40. Then, they stock all kinds of sponge tricks in the Accessories
and Closeup sections (example: Goshman Sponge Stars, nice finale
surprise, are 50 cents each). Phone them to ask about general sponge
ball prices in sets which don't show on their web page for some
reason.
Check out your favorite mail order dealers for a comparison shop; I just popped into this one for a sample.
I would suggest that you get these sets of 4, ranging from about $2 a set to $4 a set: 1 inch set, 1.5 inch set, and 2 inch set, all in red. Then, the large ones come in singles, say 4" for a finale, and perhaps that sponge star mentioned above. Get a set of multiplying rabbits (the old 2-dimensional ones are ok, but the 3-D ones are cooler. Goshman Co. makes all sorts of colors for color changes; I have seen pink, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, and even black, and there are probably more that I don't know about! Daytona Magic shows a three color set that transforms into a large tri-colored ball. Choose carefully, and drop about $35 plus shipping to get a big start in sponge magic (video, book, and several sponge sets and a finale sponge)
And don't forget to check your nearest craft store; they have compressed sponge sheets, really thin and about 3" by 5", that can be cut with scissors to any shape you want, then placed in water to expand to full size, and then towel dried for a permanent custom shape. These come generally in a weird yellow for some reason, but they work great. Also, the craft store will have all kinds of sponge shapes in mixed colors (used for painting on t-shirts and craft boxes), which make nice surprise finishes, too, and you can get a bag of 10 or more for a few bucks!
By: Marti
Greetings all! I was just wondering how do you keep sponge balls, or
bunnys, or sponge whatever on you without them getting flat in your
pockets??
By: Ed Gilmore
Prior to use, I revitalize my sponge balls by running cold water over
them (from the tap ), until they are supersaturated, then squeezing
them to removew the water. You will find that the balls have doubled
in size and now compress and expand easier.
By: Michael Kent
I also run them under water to keep them alive. Eventually, the balls
will get out of shape and even running them under water will only keep
them nice for about an hour of restaurant use.
By: Anthony Blake
There are several things I do to keep my sponge balls "alive":
1) I buy my SB's in bulk, a big bag of 50... they're the same Goshman balls but end up being cheaper than buying them by the box... this way I always have fresh balls available...
2) I never buy the "super soft" type... these tend to last less and deform more... I prefer the regular old SB's...
3) I make them softer and more "pliable" by soaking them in warm water and dishwashing soap overnight (a little trick I learned from Burger), it makes them softer and easier to use, removes some of the extra color dye and actually extends their life... later I wringe out the water and spread them out on a towel to air dry... they're usually bone dry within 30 minutes or so...
4) I switch out sets... usually weekly... this extends their life because they're not being "overused"... I also refresh all the balls monthly by using the warm water/soap routine... this gives them new life and cleans them a bit (removes oils, dirt, grime, etc.)
5) Those balls that become "deformed" or slightly compressed go into my "climax" pile... this is the group of balls I use at the end of my routine where a bunch of them appear in the spectators hand... the surprise is in the amount of balls so those that don't fully "inflate" or are slightly deformed aren't as readily noticed... and in fact the deformed balls tend to lead to funny "impromptu" lines as I pick them up a the end of the routine (depending on the audience)...
6) I never throw away old sponge balls unless they are hideously dirty, I often use them to cut up for other gimmicks or ideas...
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