Relf's Rubensteins

This trick combines the carries of Relf's Revenge & Rubenstein's Revenge to create a very carrying intensive trick.

Start with two balls & hold one in each hand. The first part is exactly the same as in Rubenstein's Revenge & the second part is the same as in Relf's Revenge.

Cross your arms over & turn the hand on top so that the palm faces down, the palm of the hand underneath faces up. Imagine a circle in front of you that is flat to your chest like the steering wheel of a car. On opposite edges are the two balls held in your hands. Carry both balls in the same direction around the circle by unwrapping & then rewrapping your arms. Keep the balls on opposite sides of the circle at all times. Turn the wrist of the arm on top to go from palm down to palm up & the one on the bottom to go palm up to palm down as you go.

Now we stop doing Rubenstein's Revenge & go into Relf's Revenge.

When the hand that was on top passes underneath the other throw the ball Under the arm so that it goes over your other arm & will land in the centre of the pattern. Continue the carry with the other arm in an orbit around the thrown ball. When your carrying hand has circled round to a point above the ball in the air stop orbiting & follow the descending ball down into your empty hand.

Now do the same again on the other side. It is quite a bit to remember, say to yourself as you practise, "circle, orbit, down..." obviously the circle is the initial unwrapping & rewrapping of the arms, the orbit is the carry of a single ball around the thrown ball & the down is the following of the thrown ball down into the catching hand. If you have already learnt Rubenstein's Revenge you will have to learn to resist the urge to throw the orbit ball & follow the thrown ball instead. Work on making nice smooth carries using lots of wrist movement.

Now with all three balls start with two balls in one hand & one in the other. Begin with a straight up vertical throw from the hand with two then follow it with a vertical throw from the other hand. The hand that started then throws its second ball under the other arm on the outside of the second throw. At the same time the other arm reaches over & Claw catches the first throw at its peak. Continue the downward motion of the claw catch & scoop from the inside of the pattern to the edge of the imaginary circle. Meanwhile (back at the ranch) the other hand catches the second vertical throw as an Under the arm catch.

As soon as you have both balls in your hands start the two ball carrying pattern you have just practised. Unwrap your arms carrying the balls around the edge of the circle, cross them over again making the under the arm throw with the arm on the bottom. Bring that hand back to catch the third ball, while the other hand orbits around the ball in the air make the catch then scoop & throw it straight up on the other side of the pattern. Then bring the hand back again to catch the orbited ball. Stop by catching the last throw with the hand on the bottom.

You should now have two balls in the opposite hand that you started with. So you are in a convenient position to do the same thing again on the other side. Keep practising each half on its own alternately. You may find yourself falling back into Rubenstein's Revenge, if so go back to saying, "Circle, orbit, down, stop.. circle, orbit, down, stop."

When you think you're ready to try the full continuous pattern..practise the last step some more.

Now when you're really really ready for the full pattern, focus on the moment when you finish the downward carry. You are holding two balls one above the other on the same side of the pattern, the bottom hand is facing palm up & the top hand is facing palm down. On the other side of the pattern there is a ball in the air which is just about to peak. In the previous step you have been letting the ball peak, fall & then be caught by the lower hand. This time when the ball peaks lead into the other half with the hand on the top. Throw the top ball straight up & claw the other ball. Carry the ball across your body between the ball in the air & your other arm. Scoop the ball from the inside onto the outside of the imaginary circle. Unwrap your arms, make the under the arm throw, make the orbit (remember the under the arm throw with the other hand) then the downward follow. From here do the same again.

Try just stringing two halves together, then three, then four & so on.