Rubi Cup by Rúbi Férez

I was intrigued by this the moment I saw it. It’s rare for magic to be invented that plays with senses other than sight. This tool plays with sound. I was incredibly fooled by the wild coin routine Rúbi performed in Chris Ramsey’s Fism 2022 video, and lucky for us, this routine is taught as part of this project.

Let’s talk about what you received. You receive a very nice box that contains a normal metal cup, a gimmicked metal cup, something special to activate and deactivate the noise, two felt pads you can put on the bottom of the cups, three replica morgans, and a two and a half hour tutorial.

The box is very nice, and I always appreciate nice packaging. The cups look gorgeous, and they are great quality. The gimmicked cup rings beautifully and the special activator gimmick works perfectly. The spectator can’t examine the gimmicked cup, but Rubi covers ideas on how to circumvent that. The coins definitely feel like replicas and could probably stand having some sanding and/or aging. But that’s just a personal preference because they look, sound, and feel nice.

The tutorial is clearly produced by Rúbi rather than Ellusionist, so if you’re expecting E’s film-like quality, you may be disappointed, but the shots are clear and everything can be seen and heard, so I have no complaints. It begins with a look at how Rúbi made the promo, then goes over the presentation, the origins of the product, and what you receive. Next it details the mechanism in the gimmicked cup and how to activate and deactivate the sound.

Now we come to the routines. It begins with “Three Coins Out” which is a routine where three coins cleanly travel invisibly from the cup to your hands one at a time. After we see two live performances with real people, Rubi walks you through precisely how the routine works including multiple options depending on your environment. Rubi says this is the routine he has performed more than any other. It is very practical and can be done in just about any situation. There’s also some clever ideas here that allow the gimmicked cup to be handled throughout making it feel like the cup has been examined.

The next routine, “Coin Through” involves a coin going through his arm, through the cup, and through the table. We have a studio performance followed by a detailed explanation. It’s a routine that has a nice flow, and I particularly love the subtlety of having the coin under the cup on the tabletop. It sounds exactly like the coin is covered by the cup and is rattling under the cup on the table top. It’s a nice idea which could be used for many things. As a routine, it’s not my favorite, but if you like the penetration effect, this is a simple and effective version.

Next Rubi teaches some ideas using the cup and a ring, how to “drink” an object, a ring on rope moment where you audible hear the moment the ring jumps onto the rope, using the cup to vanish a die, and using a special ring to do part of the heavy liftingThese are clever ideas, but they are only ideas and not full routines. This just provides a jumping off point.

The next thing taught is how to use the Rúbi Cup as a chop cup. It is very clever and clean. Honestly, it may be one of the best chop cups I’ve seen. It allows you to make the object under the cup appear AND vanish totally under your control. It’s a very clever use of the ungimmicked cup, and this could be worth the price if you’re looking for a good chop cup.

The next routine “Vanishing Coins” sees three coins vanish from the cup one at a time. This uses the gimmicked cup and the normal cup to great effect. This routine is very well structured and the sound illusions created make it seem utterly impossible. This is a thing of beauty. You have to perform it at a table, but Rubi teaches a way to perform it seated (with no prep) and standing where you’ll need to quickly prepare the table for the performance, but Rubi goes over a very simple way to build a gimmick that attaches to any table quickly. For me, this is where the cup transforms from a trick to pure artistry.

The final routine is his Wild Coin routine. Three coins change color one at a time then all three change to different objects at the end. This is another absolutely beautiful and artistic routine. It uses the same set up as the previous routine, but you’ll need some other gimmicks. The clever thing about this is that the structure makes it seem like all three coins have been thoroughly examined and then they visually change one at a time without any need to add anything. The final change of the coins happens without any funny moves and you hear the moment the coins change. They can change into anything at the end—different coins, sand, dice, it’s really unlimited. It’s very fooling and the economy of motion is perfect. It is incredibly magical.

Overall, I love this project and Rúbi has done a fantastic job of creating truly magical routines to go with this versatile tool. I imagine we will see many creative uses for it. It can be used for these auditory vanishes, but it can also be used in more subtle ways, and I think we will see more and more of that as more people get it in their hands. The tool is easy to use, and the routines are pretty easy in terms of the sleight of hand, but it will take practice to get them to the magical level Rúbi has gotten them to. Playing with it is fun, but I personally can’t wait to give the routines the time and attention they deserve to bring the artistry to life.