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Sponge balls: Difference between revisions
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* '''Sponge Balls''' ([[Al Cohn]]): Marketed item, 1944. | * '''Sponge Balls''' ([[Al Cohn]]): Marketed item, 1944. | ||
** ''[[The Chronicles]]'', No. 21 (, pp. 1268-1271) | ** ''[[The Chronicles]]'', No. 21 (1979, pp. 1268-1271) | ||
* '''Clones''' ([[Patrick Martin]]): Marketed item. | * '''Clones''' ([[Patrick Martin]]): Marketed item. | ||
Revision as of 01:40, 23 January 2015
Sponge Balls, made of sponge rubber or polyurethane foam and usually about 2 inches in diameter are a common prop used in many sleight of hand routines.[1]
One of the first routines was published by Jesse J. Lybarger in 1926.[2][3] Also in 1926, Joe Berg introduced his Cups and Balls Routine wherein he made use of balls made of sponge instead of the usual cork. [4]
Al Cohn, owner of The Magic Center in New York City, became known in the early forties as "The Sponge Ball King." He claimed to have invented the sponge balls, and sold his trick starting in 1944. After Karl Fulves ran a detailed description of Cohn's Sponge Ball trick in The Chronicles in 1979, he received a letter from Charles Rose concerning its origin, which stated that, according to Milbourne Christopher, Cohn was probably unaware of Lybarger's previous trick.[5]
Al Stevenson devised a process for making perfect spheres from the polyurethane foam and later Albert Goshman improved the process.
Noted specialists in sponge ball magic are Audley Walsh, Frank Garcia and Frances Marshall.
Roy Benson used sponge balls for his Benson Bowl routine.
Other shapes have also been used including rabbits.
Publications
- The Phantom Balls (Jesse J. Lybarger): Marketed item, 1925. Carl S. Lohrey.[6]
- The Linking Ring, Vol. 5 No. 2 (October 1926, p. 33).
- The Linking Ring, Vol. 23 No. 3 (May 1943, pp. 82-83).
- Sponge Ball Manipulation: Audley V. Walsh, 1936.
- Peter Rabbit Goes to Town! (Robert A. Nelson): Marketed item, 1945.
- J. G. Thompson, Jr., My Best (1945, pp. 182-183).
- Peter Rabbit Hits the Big Time (Daryl): Stephen Minch, For Your Entertainment Pleasure (1982, pp. 11-17).
- Multiplying Rabbits (Albert Goshman).
- Sponge Balls (Al Cohn): Marketed item, 1944.
- The Chronicles, No. 21 (1979, pp. 1268-1271)
- Clones (Patrick Martin): Marketed item.
References
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians by T.A. Waters
- ↑ The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Magic by Bart Whaley
- ↑ Genii, Vol. 64, No. 1, January 2001
- ↑ Routined Manipulation Finale by Lewis Ganson (1954)
- ↑ Karl Fulves, "Reference File," The Chronicles, No. 27, 1980, p. 1328.
- ↑ Advertisement, The Sphinx, Vol. 24 No. 4, June 1925, p. 137.