Ok, first of all I have this realy big talant show with a big stage! I wanted to perform the zombie ball without the cloth(yes there is a way) but i'm not sure how big the ball is and if you can see it from far away. EDITED Exposure is not allowed, and yes you did expose part of the secret to the Zombie ball, I have it. Should I get the ball from Penguin and not use the cloth and how big is the ball in relationship with a basket ball? please share your posts and your ideas.

Sorry, this has nothing to do with your question, but don't you all figure there'll be a sudden rise in the number of magicians doing Zombie Ball routines after the success of recent movies like "28 Days Later" and "Dawn of the Dead" ???

Do they have Zombie Ball performances in them? I always love magic in movies.

Anyone like the single card production Bullseye (Colin Ferrell) does in Daredevil?

You asked what size the ball is, think of a large softball.

About 6 mo.s ago when I was a real begginer I went to a magic shop and the guy did the Zombie for me. I had to have it. I'm glad I got it. People just love it. It's not hard to do with a couple of weeks practice and it really packs a punch. I bought the ball and got the black silk from a fabric shop. Much cheaper that way. I recommend it.

Um, yeah........ that would be called the Okito Floating Ball or the Don Wayne Floating Ball . Zombie with no cloth is pointless.
Don't be fooled into thinking that they won't see "it" just because you are wearing dark clothing and performing against a black backdrop .
A stray beam of light or a flash from a camera is all it will take to bring disaster. You would need to have total control of the lighting over the stage area and the audience area to pull this off , and it would probably be too dim to really see much .

If you have enough control over the lighting in this situation to attempt a black art Zombie then you certainly have enough control over the lighting to do the Don Wayne or Okito floating ball.

There is a quickie way to adapt a zombie ball into an Okito style ball at the end of the book Further Tips on Zombie by Neil Foster and Joe Karson (published by Abbott's Magic Co. , do a Google Search . Some other dealers stock the book Further Tips on Zombie . )



Morrisey Magic makes a 5.5 " inch diameter Zombie ball. Very visible.
The previously mentioned Don Wayne Floating Ball is 8" inch diameter . You can make a pretty decent floating ball out of a styrofoam ball (8" inch) , the kind with the smooth surface, not the rough surface sort of styrofoam .

See this web site for styrofoam balls and also large , metallic looking Christmas tree ornaments (6" inches and larger) that are actually light-weight plastic:

http://www.barnardltd.com/$spindb.query.listall4.tdview

Even the more porous , rough surface styrofoam balls can be used if you seal them first with an acrylic spray lacquer , then paint with metallic finish paint, then a final coat of clear acrylic lacquer.

david oliver uses a zombie ball the size of a basketball. its huge man. then he ends his zonbie routine by levitating it back to his case bare handedly its crazy.

I won my talent show last week using the Zombie Ball in one routine. It's a mystifying trick if you pratice it.

do you guys know of any good teaching videos for the zombie ball?

Tim Wright has a Zombie Ball DVD out, also Jeff McBride teaches it on his Stage Magic series, don't remember which volume though.

VHS or DVD's with teaching on Zombie -----


Dirk Losander's The Zombie Ball

Tommy Wonder's Visions of Wonder Vol. 2

Tim Wright's Zombie Video

McBride On Stage Vol. 3


Losander's is a very classical zombie routine . He shows you how to really get the illusion of the floating to work , plus shares his method for reconfiguring a standard zombie gimmick so it is easier to manipulate the ball with very little movement of the hands/wrist .

Tommy Wonder's teaching on Zombie on Vol. 2 of Visions of Wonder series is brief , but packed full of good information . He does not perform Zombie on the DVD , but spends some time talking about the proper floating technique, the acting to put it across, the proper type of cloth to use , as well as showing two different improvements to the zombie gimmick . Similar to Losander's approach . Actually it was Tommy Wonder who first influenced Losander on peforming the Zombie and improving the handling of the gimmick . Lately Wonder and Losander have teamed up to release a new version of zombie called
Animated Sphere . It is a major reworking of the basic zombie gimmick idea .

Tim Wright's is a different flavor from Losander's or Wonder's . His is more of a comedy routine , but in the teaching portions of the tape he offers much valuable advice on how to convincingly animate the ball and give it a personality . Also discusses cloth use and gives a killer method of introducing the gimmick and ditching the gimmick so that you end totally clean . Tim Wright's routine is online (performance only, not the teaching part .)

Mcbride also has solid teaching on using a standard zombie . He shows some very showy, theatrical moves , including the way to do the zombie finale where the ball visibly turns into a bouquet of flowers .

If you can afford to get only one , I would say get Losander's because of the improved gimmick set up that he shows and because his basic routine shows how to properly handle the ball and cloth so that it really looks like it is floating . This routine by Losander is online in a couple of places (performance only, not the teaching part of the tape) There are also online clips of Losander performing his Deluxe Floating Table and Ultimate Floating Table that are excellent to study for his pantomime .

You'll have to Google for all this since it's not permitted to post links.