When Jim Simon of Worth Magic (before Milson-Worth) created the Astro-Ball Cabinet c. 1965 it caused quite a stir because Jim basically took Phase 1 of Stewart James’ Sefalaljia (which was a ground breaking five phase routine when it appeared in issue 69 of The Jinx December 2, 1939). As Stewart James himself said in an interview with Jeff Busby in 1987: “I expect the originality in that version was the use of a cocktail glass.” Ouch!
I think that Stewart James would be happier with Ottavio Belli’s routine because he has really amped up the handling and by giving up the ability for the cabinet to be minutely examined (it is clearly empty so why push it!) allows you to perform the transposition twice without any reset. If you watch the video you almost can’t imagine it works the same way as the standard Astro-Ball Cabinet. Ottavio is very fluid with the props and when he performs the transportation into the glass the second time it is all over for the normal handling.
A beautiful cabinet with a great routine and this item is quite rare – so what more are you looking for 🙂
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