PYRO-BALLS WITH MATHEMATICAL ARTIST ANDREA HAWKSLEY
Pyro-Balls began as a piece of mathematical art and became a piece of magic. We partnered with mathematical artist Andrea Hawksley to turn her signature 6-card ball design into a kit you can build and perform with.
Each Pyro-Ball is woven from just six playing cards. No glue and no tape, only precise cuts and the geometry of pyritohedral symmetry holding everything together. The kit includes 18 precision-cut cards, enough to build three balls.
The Magic
A borrowed ring vanishes. The Pyro-Ball has been sitting in full view the whole show, and when it’s opened, the ring is inside. A signed card or coin works too. As one line from the routine puts it: “I think your ring has been trying to get warm…”
The Tutorial
The online tutorial walks you through building the ball, the vanish and reappearance, how to fit it into your routine, resets, and patter ideas. One early viewer put it best: “The Pyro-Ball has that rare gift of making the impossible feel inevitable.”
Thank you to Andrea Hawksley for bringing her brilliance to this project. See more of her mathematical art on her website and her YouTube channel.