Some 550 years ago, a street magician performs a version of the cup-and-balls while someone (a confederate?) steals the purse of a spectator, who seems determined to see through the trick. But what else is here? Much speculation.
Taking a little break from exploration of the occult this evening:
Do you enjoy magic illusions? Do you, like me, get a kick from the sheer wonderment, the appearance of "impossible" things actually happening? Even when openly labeled as trickery?
The "cup and balls" is a traditional illusion--sometimes employed as part of a scam and sometimes as pure entertainment. The magician makes one or more little balls seem to disappear and reappear mysteriously underneath a set of small cups or apparently move around between them.
It's related but not identical to the "shell game" in which an observer is incited to bet money that after a series of moves, they can point out under which of thee walnut shell a pea must have ended up...only to be consistently rooked of the money.
The cup and balls performer, however, is more likely just to be seeking applause and tips in exchange for the entertainment.
This "cup and balls" illusion has been speculated to date back as far as ancient Egypt.
Alleged "cup and balls" scene from the tomb of Egyptian provincial governor Baqet III, at Beni Hasan, Egypt, 21st century B.C.E. Baqet's tomb art depicts a wide array of pastimes.
The Bosch painting above, however, seems to be the earliest certain evidence. And I find it fascinating.
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Hieronymus Bosch (Dutch, ca. 1450-1516) is best known for his elaborate, surrealistic, disturbing scenes such as "The Garden of Earthly Delights," "The Temptation of Saint Anthony," and "The Ship of Fools." Little is known of his life, but he seemingly headed a workshop in what is now the southern Netherlands, and inspired several others to work in the same vein.
Concerning his painting titled "The Conjuror," here's one interesting essay by Philip McCouat for the Journal of Art and Society, laying out the history of the painting together with a number of open questions and differing interpretations.
Amusing to note: the painting itself has been disappeared...three times, according to McCouat's account.
First of all, the painting as we know it turns out to be only a imitation, not by Bosch's own hand, though believed to be an excellent copy. The original has vanished in the fog of time.
Secondly, the copy that do we know of was disappeared by a pair of thieves back in 1978, reportedly from political motives.
In McCouat's words:
[T]he thieves’ attempt to sell the easily-identifiable painting failed until, somehow, it ended up [under a different cup] in the home of a policeman, who returned it to the museum....
And then, it "disappeared" a third time:
From then up to this day, the painting has remained under lock and key “for security reasons”.
And cannot be viewed.
God is a novelist. WooOOOOooo..…
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In the Good Old Days (like the 1990s!), when I once took an "interest class" in stage magic and learned a few tricks, there was this thing called the Magician's Oath. Before being let in on any of the teacher's secrets, we had to promise we wouldn't reveal to anyone how any of those tricks were done.
Not only were the methods considered trade secrets; tbh, learning how a trick works really does tend to destroy the naive sense of wonder and thereby ruin--or at least irrevocably change--the experience.
Stage magicians, professional or amateur, always had their guilds and clubs and specialist magazines. There were magic or novelty shops where you had to have connections and/or demonstrate your serious intent before you would even be shown certain books or props they might have for sale.
The Net has changed things a lot. Online today, you can find a raftt of videos showing how certain tricks are done and offering tools and further instructions for sale.
For example, on the cups and balls:
(I chose this video btw because it WILL NOT ACTUALLY RUIN the cups and balls for you. Demonstration of that after the video.)
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Now, do you remember all that? Maybe--if you're like me--not quite as well as you thought? If you try the secret move, does it work for you? Not as dead-simple as he made it sound, is it? Or maybe you have more talent for this sort of thing than I do.
And now to prove that even if you fully got the explanation, it isn't ruined.
Footnote: I feel that on video, magic illusions lose some of their impact. Video resolution isn't great for this stuff. These days, we're also so accustomed to illusions created in a studio that our brain more easily shrugs things off. Further, I feel that Las Vegasification reduces the impact, compared with seeing wonders happen in an everyday setting or on a stripped-down conventional stage. But in 2025, this is what we've got.
Cups and balls, another version:
3:43
Not entirely ruined, I hope?
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There are endless other things in the Bosch painting to wonder about.
For instance, on the table there's a tiny frog sitting near the front. If you took a look at the McCouat article, you also know there's a small frog apparently emerging from the "victim's" mouth. What is that about? It is purely symbolic of what happens if you get involved with deception--degradation, poisoning? Is it Satanic? Part of the trick? Putting a frog in the mouth historically has been a folk remedy for toothache and a few other ailments; is there some connection with that?
Another puzzle: the basket at the magician's waist, which appears to contain a small owl. Is the owl another diabolical symbol? A part of the act? In the conjuror's hand resting near the basket, there appears to be something half-hidden. Does the basket have a handle, perhaps? I'd assumed so, but looking more closely at the detail, that seems less certain.
Still, the handle (which might or might not be there), however, reminded me of this bag-with-a-handle:
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For whatever, or not, it is worth. :-)
Bte, did you notice, in the Bosch painting, the conjuror's HAT? Another holdover from forever?
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While we are still talking about deception, you might also be interested in the related "shell game." Here's one contemporary magician's explanation:
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However…
Another reason why showing the method of a trick doesn't have to spoil it: there is almost always more than one way to accomplish it. People who come in thinking they know it all and will recognize the "tell" can find themselves surprised.
Here's another take on the shell game to illustrate (a little longer but worth it in the end):
4:30
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Switching from the subject of deception to the subject of pleasure, I'd like to add a personal take on beauty as an aspect of magic.
And here again, have to apologize for (in my opinion) the absence of beauty in most videos I was able easily to find as illustrations.
Even just a few years ago there were fairly easy-to-Google clips, from handsomely produced stage magic shows, which were dramatic, awesome and sometimes downright gorgeous.
But on the Net, so much content is subject to...vanishment.
And, I suspect, concerns about intellectual property have had their role here. So often now, such magic videos as I can find tend to be ill-lit, with poor sound, too many distractions and/or generally amateurish. And/or are basically sales pitches for cheap effects.
Here, however, for instance is one small magic effect presented in a spare and elegant style. It's just another sales video, for a quick effect of producing some fans from nothing, which is shown four times over in different variations. But it does have a spare elegance that I like very much.
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The content of a trick can also have beauty. What follows is an unbeautiful video but a great illustration of a classic illusion, developed by "Slydini" (1900-91).
Arturo Navarro (if you can hear the audio!) puts on a show of bumbling, saying he barely had a chance to learn the trick from another magician he met in Las Vegas, and is not certain if he remembers what to do, or whether it will work for him.
The best moment IMO, on video, is just at 1:10.
By all means, enjoy all of it, but I like when a rope demonstration ends on that particular note.
5:46
Miraculous wholeness after all.
A beautiful concept.
I just happen to love magic effects where wishes are fulfilled, damages undone, beauty emerges from nowhere, transformations astonish, paucity becomes abundance, and those rare cases where not only is the magic magical, but approaches art.
Even though we know it's illusion, IMO the right kind of magic can leave us feeling that like the world is full of wondrous possibilities. Lighter-hearted, happier, even a bit euphoric. A sort of healing magic in itself.
And again, I'm really disappointed, even devastated, that I can't show you some of the beautiful (and/or dramatically bizarre) performances that seem to have disappeated from the Net in the last 10 years or so.
Especially one that featured an extraordinary woman magician. Women magicians have always existed but as a minority.
This woman was the daughter of a famous magician father of Chinese origin. If I recall she, as part of her Chinese-themed stage show, produced multicolored flowers, giant fans, doves, and even umbrellas out of thin air, in extraordinary abundance. Even online, to watch her was jaw-dropping.
Her style was color-filled and silent, apart from music.
She also had a lovely dance-like turn involving a rice bowl.
Shockingly, I haven't even been able to refresh my memory of this magician's name. My search efforts turned up mostly fictional characters!
But in at least some small token justice to women magicians--who have always existed, but have all too often been vanished from historical memory--here is another unbeautiful, but cute, cup-and-balls:
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And while I'm sorry I can no longer find the woman magician I wanted to show you as an example of beauty, I'm pleased to be able, yes this time, to include a different version of her rice bowl effect, by another top-flight magician, Ben Hart, which also--to my mind--fulfills the wish for magic that is more than just foolery, but approaches art. And in this case, mysticism.
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Hart begins with a story about a river at night, a tale that almost might come from the Argentinian poet and surrealist story-writer Jorge Luis Borges.
Dark waters
3:40
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When things get rough, I try to think: find the magic.
There's almost always something:
...in a bunch of buttercups growing by the road....a note of music...a memory...a lizard poking its head out of a pile of stones, a painting, a kind action, laughter, bright odor of lemon peel, the touch of wind...colors of shadows in a half-darkened room...and above all in the human imagination.
True magic
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Blessed be. :-)
