Double Dribble by Rubber Chicken Depot

“…this is ingenious and uses a totally new principle to magic. … Very practical and highly recommended.” Phil Willmarth, The Linking Ring

Effect: Steady yourself before you read any further. The expensive and angle sensitive “Basketball from Briefcase” is a great effect . . . but it just got better. You get the effect without the problems . . . you can use almost any case, there are no angle problems, ready to perform in seconds, and you can produce TWO of these full-size, authentic balls from a standard briefcase! If one was a good effect, then imagine the look on the audience’s face when you pull out another!

The balls are gimmicked and entirely self-contained (no need for gas or aerosol). Roll them, spin them, shoot them . . . you just can’t bounce them. Do it anytime during your show or as a running gag. Several presentations included. You provide the case, we have the balls.

Sometime in the late 1970’s I performed on the Cabaret Show at the I.B.M. convention in Houston, Texas. Howard Flint was also on that show. Howard’s opening trick was a killer. He walked out on stage carrying a thin executive-style briefcase. He placed the briefcase on a table, opened it, and removed a regulation size bowling ball. He rolled the ball off stage. The bowling ball was real.

Kevin James adapted the Flint method for his trick Bowl-a-rama. Stephen Knowles, Cliff James, and Tom Vorjohan have used a different method for Double Dribble. In this effect, the magician walks on stage carrying an ungaffed briefcase. The case is placed on a table. The case is opened and the magician removes one (or two) full-sized Rawlings All-Star basketballs.

The method for Double Dribble is clever and allows you to use any briefcase. The effect is completely self-working. However, I see a big problem that you need to consider before you invest in this effect. For a moment let’s talk about the production of a large object from a small container. My friend Mac King does this type of production near the end of his act. Mac takes off his shoe and turns the opening of the shoe toward the audience revealing an enormous rock that completely fills the shoe. The audience response is subdued. He tilts the shoe, allowing the rock to hit the floor with a resounding thud. The audience explodes. Why the delayed reaction? Until the rock hits the floor the audience is not convinced that it is a real rock. We prove the solidity of a rock (or a bowling ball) by allowing it to hit the floor. The sound of that impact establishes the fact that the rock is real. So, how do you establish that a basketball is real? You bounce it. This is the big problem with Double Dribble – you cannot bounce the basketballs. You can spin them, you can roll them, but you can’t bounce them, and to me this makes the production a gag rather than a truly amazing magic effect.

You should also be aware that you’re not going to be able to get much else in your briefcase after you’ve stuffed two basketballs in it. This means that you’ll be bringing out a case just to do this one effect. Double Dribble is clever and easy to do, but I would suggest you seriously evaluate the drawbacks before you purchase.

(Michael Close – Magic Magazine, February 2001)
Text Source: michaelclose.com – click for details

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