The Sponge Balls

Brought to you by The Magic Anachist TheMagicAnarchist.com Effect: The performer plucks a bit of lint off his shirt and by compressing it in his left hand causes it to transform into a red ball. This ball seemingly defies the laws of physics, passing through the pocket, multiplying, and transposing before vanishing as mysteriously as it arrived. Preparation: Have one ball in the left front pants pocket and two balls in the right front pants pocket. A fourth ball is fingerpalmed in the right hand. Method And Performance: With a sponge fingerpalmed in the right hand, pretend to pluck a bit of lint off your shirt. Display this nonexistent lint between your right thumb and index finger. Now, show your left hand empty and pretend to transfer the lint to that hand. Actually your left fingers close around and conceal the sponge which is secretly deposited by your right hand. Patter about how squeezing the lint can cause the molecules to transform and expand. Open your hand to reveal the sponge there. Toss the sponge from hand to hand, ending with it in your right hand. Now, pretend to place the sponge into your left hand but actually retain it in the right in finger palm position. If you don't know a false transfer see Afterthoughts at the end. Your left hand, which supposedly contains the sponge, goes into your left pants pocket. Talk about how the sponge can actually pass through solids unimpeded. Your left thumb and index finger squeeze through the material as the right hand comes over and places the sponge into the trough just created. The left thumb and index finger pinch the cloth around the ball concealing it within its folds. With the right hand cupped below the fold to catch the ball, slowly release your grip with your left thumb and index finger allowing the ball to come into view. It really looks as if the ball penetrated the pocket. The right hand now displays the ball as the left comes out of the pocket. However, the left hand finger palms the ball in the left pocket before coming out. So, you are displaying one ball with the right hand and have another secretly concealed in the left hand. The right hand now comes over and places its ball directly on top of the ball in the left hand. In the same action, both balls are raised as one then placed down on the left palm so they are side by side with the right index finger pushing down

on both in the middle. Now by "sawing" back and forth with the index finger and slowly releasing pressure, you can create the illusion of splitting one ball into two. Display a ball at the fingertips of each hand. Say you'll show the spectator something really cool. Have the spectator extend a hand, and place the ball in your left hand into their hand with the instruction that they hold it tightly. Now execute a false transfer with the ball in your right hand so it appears to go into the left. Say you will cause their ball to vanish and join yours. Instruct them to open their hand. Of course their ball is still there. Pick it up, and in the process load the ball in your right hand behind it so the two balls appear as one. Stare at the ball in mock surprise. Place the ball/balls back into their hand again telling them to hold tight. In fact, it's a good idea to have them turn the hand palm down lest they open the hand prematurely and ruin the surprise. Say you'll try the reverse, to make your ball join theirs. Make a pass over your left hand then open it to reveal the ball has disappeared. Instruct them to open their hand -- slowly so the balls don't spring out and end up on the ground--and they will see they now have both balls. Say that you actually have another ball which you made earlier and have been hanging on to. Reach into your right pocket and finger palm one of the balls there and bring the second out at the fingertips. Place the ball at your fingertips into your left hand, then pick up the two balls off the spectator's hand, loading the ball in your right hand behind them. Say, you hang on to these two. Place all three balls back into their hand again having them hold on tightly. Toss your ball back and forth ending with it in the right hand. False transfer to the left and cause the ball to apparently disappear. Have the spectator open his hand to reveal all three balls there. Say that as long as you have three balls here you might as well play a little game with them. Pick up one of the balls off the spectator's hand and place it into your left hand, secretly adding the ball concealed in your right hand in the process. Pick up a second ball off the spectator's hand and place this ball also into the left hand. The accompanying patter is, One, two balls go into my left hand. Show your right hand empty then pick up the last ball and pretend to put it in your right pants pocket, actually retaining it in fingerpalm. Say, and the third goes into my pocket. Ask the spectator how many balls are in your left hand. No matter the answer, open that hand to reveal three balls. Position the balls on the spectator's hand and say you'll try again.

Repeat the above procedure exactly up to the point where the third ball goes into the pocket. This time really leave the ball in the pocket. This allows you to show your right hand empty as it comes out of the pocket, something you couldn't do the first time. Again ask how many balls in the left hand. Again open the hand to reveal three. Say you'll try this one more time. Pick up the first ball but instead of actually placing it into the left hand, false transfer retaining it in the right. Pick up the second ball and again execute a false transfer, keeping the ball in your right hand. When you deposit the third ball in the pocket, you actually dump all three. Ask the spectator how many balls are in the left hand. He will most likely say three. Open your hand to reveal no balls. Take your bows and move on to the next routine. Afterthoughts: If you are a beginner to magic check the Gear page for a booklet on sponge ball magic that will teach you the fundamentals. I have been performing with sponge balls for over twenty years and they never fail to get a good reaction. For the money and amount of practice involved, which isn't much, sponge balls are good solid magic that no close up magician should be without.

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