Zombie ball
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The zombie ball is a magic illusion in which a metal sphere on a small pedestal is covered with a silk cloth, and appears to levitate upwards carrying the cloth with it. The magician continues to hold two corners of the cloth. The ball dances and seemingly moves of its own accord.
Routines can involve the magician letting the cloth hang down and the sphere sitting on the top edge, the sphere seemingly floating down behind the magician and back up, appearing behind his arm, and floating so high up the magician has to stand on his tip toes to pull it back down.
The ball then returns to its stand and the cloth is removed.
The effect was invented by magician Joe Karson, in the 1940s.
The usual way this effect is done is with a rod that clips to the finger, and is hidden from view by the cloth. By simply moving his finger (generally his thumb), the magician can achieve an almost lifelike reaction from the ball. There are several popular moves where the ball appears on the edge of the outstretched cloth, or it levitates upwards under the cloth. All these take a great deal of practice to make it look as though the ball is floating and to time the movements with the music.
This effect can also be done with invisible thread. It is rigged onto two sides of the ball and through the cloth and attached to the performers pants. By moving the cloth the ball will start moving around like it is floating.
A very little used variation is that of a magnetic object (MO), and the cloth conceals it. The sphere has a magnet of opposite polarity in the back, into which MO is inserted. The finger holding the MO is kept behind the cloth, and controls the ball. The effect relies more on the magician's puppetry skills than anything else, and requires much practice for an effective illusion. To make the ball seem as if it is levitating, the magician must make sure he keeps it in the same position in space when he moves his hands, and keep his hands still when the ball moves. This makes the ball seem independent from the magician. The magnet gimmick has a few variants. One is a bent version allowing the cloth to hang down over the ball and seemingly elliminating the possibility of a magnetic object connecting the hand to the ball.
