Pocket Chop Cup

A chop cup prepared in the sleeve

Julio Montoro uses a coffee cup, cardboard sleeve and sugar packet for appearances and vanishes. The main preparation is in the sleeve and working object, not built inside the cup. Carrying those prepared pieces lets you use a cup of the appropriate format.

The lesson is for in-person performance and covers construction, a return demonstration and signed-packet handling. An arbitrary unprepared cup and sugar packet are not enough.

Materials and compatibility

You need the shown cup and sleeve format, a sugar packet, small magnets, tape and scissors. The example uses Starbucks materials. Another cafe sleeve is mentioned as a possibility, not proof that every size or design works; fit matters.

Magnets are placed and covered in the prepared pieces. A finishing option uses a small piece of material and double-sided tape. These are construction supplies, not a required finished commercial chop cup.

Magnetic strength and correction

Julio tests an arrangement that holds too strongly and corrects it, leaving one magnet at each side of the packet where he had placed two. He explains polarity and demonstrates the revised action.

Object position, adhesion and release movement must work together. The example does not establish one universal magnet count for all strengths or thicknesses; excessive force can prevent release.

Appearance, vanish and return

The tutorial covers inserting the packet, holding its position, using sound and producing its return. Orientation and cover remain necessary; all prepared parts are not freely examinable throughout.

A napkin-ball alternative also needs a magnet inside. The prop may join a chop cup routine you already know, but not every possible sequence is developed here.

Signed-packet application

Julio signs one side and the spectator the other. He teaches switching packets, placing the genuine one at the intended destination and the vanish before the revelation. Pockets and other destinations are load options, not autonomous appearances anywhere chosen without preparation. Secret retrieval during the disappearance display supplies cleanup and connects the mechanism with attention management.

Preparation and practice

Have the prepared sleeve and object, a compatible cup and a surface for the shown application. Practise loading, release, cover and the packet switch if using signatures. Portability means carrying the prepared parts, not dispensing with them.