Balls to the wall...

Who here does sponge ball magic? Raise your hands. Yes even you there in Nebraska sitting naked browsing the cafe, raise yer hand... ok.. that's enuff put it back down. Eesh.

Where was I?

Ah yes. Sponge balls. So a lot of us do them and like most magic we don't question them. Every supplier of magical crack carries them. At some point we have used them to blow the mind of some random person... and why not? It's in the hands magic. Nothing more powerful. However, how do you justify spheres of squishy material in the mind of non-magicians? Do you even care to? If not, you should.

When I was a pirate character at Six Flags, I used green and said I found them on the bottom of my ship. If it's Halloween, grab some orange ones and say they are pumpkin balls. (Only found on boy pumpkins) I use trite red ones in my normal everyday wear and tear, but I tell people I got them by beating up some clowns. Give them a little bit of truth, they believe a HUGE amount of bullshit.

Let's talk subtlety now shall we? I see a lot of people death grip their balls. (Hey, no snickering) Mike Caveny taught something very interesting in a lecture I saw him do once. After the initial false transfer, press your hand flat against a table (or if you are sans table, lean over a bit and use your leg). This works because people think of a sphere in a 3-D space. However, since sponge can be squished down, it becomes a 2-D object in 3-D space and your hand now appears empty. (yay psychology!) I do this to great avail. It makes it almost impossible for them to re-construct in their mind.

Here is a little known idea told to me a few years back to add to this tirade. I am sure we are familiar with transferring a non-existent ball from one hand to the other before we reveal it to have jumped from hand to hand. However, next time yer oot and aboot, try this: After placing the balls into their hand, have them pass them from one hand to the other. They will keep a firm clamp on the objects in their grasp. When they open up, it is a true shock because they SWORE they only moments ago had (Insert incorrect number here).

How do you end a sponge ball routine? Is it just with four balls and that's it? A little anti-climactic don't yah think? Have them change to something else in their hand. Maybe even a different color. They make sponge words and other strange sponge props. You can even incorporate a weird little routine by good friend Jeb Sherrill where sponge balls are produced from a woman's hair.

With so many options, how can you not be compelled to play with your balls more often?!

More than you already do that is.

Bizzaro.