THE
WAY THE BALL BOUNCES
BY
ROGER MONTANDON
A
recent TV appearance of Ray Bolger in which he used the comedy
action of catching an invisible ball in a paper bag reminds me that an
interestlng routine might be developed using this inexpensive, easily
procured prop. Such a routine might start out by
opening the paper bag, raising your right foot a few Inches, and
placing the bottom of the bag on the right foot. It can easily be
balanced there for a few seconds with a minimum of movement of the
right foot and then with a l ittle upward thrust and a hop the bag can
be transferred to a balance on the left foot. Then back to right foot
and then with a greater upward thrust to a balance on the forefinger
of right hand.
Next
pick up a stick (a 3/8 inch dowel rod about 2 1/2 or 3 foot
long works well) and balance the bag on the horizontally held stick.
By moving the stick sharply upward In a slightly semicircular pattern
the bag will make a complete turn and can be caught back in a balance
on the stick. Repeat a couple of times.
Then,
discarding the stick, the paper bag is held at its top edge with the
thumb outside and the fingers inside with the second finger pressing
against the thumb. Pretend to pick up a ball and throw in the air.
Follow Its progress with your head and eyes and
at the moment It should arrive at the bag the second finger snaps off
the thumb (exactly the same action performed when you snap your
fingers) thus making a sound representing a ball being caught in the
bag. Also at the same moment of the snap, lower the hand and bag
slightly to add to the illusion of something having dropped in the
bag.
The
"invisible ballI" is removed from the bag and throws and
catches can be repeated several times by varying the throw such as
throwing over the shoulder, throwing to floor and kicking with
foot, throwing high and
running across stage to catch and, perhaps
as a finale, by throwing out to someone in audience and asking them to
throw back. If you pick a good volunteer you should be able to milk
considerable comedy out of this part. For example, on the first throw
from audience you could dodge the thrown "ball". Pick up the
"ball" from floor and toss to someone else asking for a
"high easy one".
To
tie such a routine in with further juggling you could take the just
caught "ball" from the bag, pretend to pick up two more
invisible ones from your table and pretend to juggle the three by
moving your hands just Iike you were actually juggling three
balls. Stop, look at audience and say, "I forgot you can't see
these". Then pick up three regular juggling balls and start your
ball routine.
You
will want to experiment to find the best bag to use, but in general a
medium size, light weight one is better than the large heavy grocery
sacks. And I don't need to caution you that wind from an air
conditioner or a draft can be detrimental to paper bag balancing!