I have a regular malini egg bag I am working on right now, and as a left handed person I do get along with it, but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be easier to have the gimmick on the other side. is anyone using a left handed malini bag or any thoughts on this?

Christof

Contact Fabric Manipulation... I'm sure she's made lefty bags.

I'm pretty sure Bazar de Magia have a left sided bag.

Frank Starsini (on this site) makes great bags. Can probably make 1 for you.

Thank you all for the information. I just saw, that Pauline Tong is offering a left handed bag as well. And that lefty bags exist, ist sort of an answer to my question: It seems, that many magic dealers just sell normal egg bags, so I guess many lefties just use a normal one. But then it seems, I am not the only one who feels not comftorbale with a regular egg bag.

To answer your second part of your question, you would have to work out the handling of the bag routine when handed to the spectator. If the right version tells the spectator to let go of a corner with the right hand, you would tell them to let go with the left hand. It would be more confusing so it would be best for you to re-write the instructions to study the moves for a left hander.

I'm right-handed. After reading this thread, I just realized that I own a left-handed bag! I purchased a Bazar de Magia bag and I really didn't think of it as left or right-handed. However, the Bob White DVD I purchased was filmed using a bag with the gimmick on the other side.

The DVD really confused me for few minutes. After that it was no problem. I'm right handed and it doesn't feel awkward at all. In other words, it's not so much a dexterity issue - more of an instructional issue. I'm guessing leftie magicians must have to deal with this all the time.

Thank you for your answers. I am used to convert right handend istructions, that's no problem.

I just would prefer having my left thumb on the gimmick. So I understand, that this means, the spectator(s) too have to use their left hand to reach for an invisible egg and to get the real egg out of the bag. Konjurer, do you perform a phase with spectators? An no issues with this?

I also am right handed with a left handed bag from Bazar de Magia. I learned the Ken Brooke routine and just reversed everything in the instructions. What hand goes where, what hand the spec uses etc. It was a piece of cake really and didn't feel weird at all.

All Bazar de Magia bags that I've seen are left-handed. I'd be lost if I tried to handle one of those, since I'm right-handed and accustom to right-handed bags.

By "thumb on the gimmick" I guess you mean the phase when you show the spectator inspects the seam, correct?

I have actually dropped that phase from my routine. It's kind of like saying "Now I will take this ordinary deck of cards that are in no way a trick deck. Let's all look really closely at this deck of cards that are in no way gimmicked. I'm not going to give you the deck to look at but look really closely while I show it to you. You can even feel the edge of the deck as I rotate it around in my hands."

Someone suggested to drop the seem inspection and it worked very well. Even with kids that are infernal know-it-alls. There are other ways to drop convincers that the egg has completely vanished from the bag.

I do use two spectators and play one off the other. The routine has to be very scripted or you'll get in trouble going back and forth. I dangle the bag by the upper, right corner using my right fingers. Then reach into the bag with my left hand to perform the "move." So the left hand is usually dropping the egg in and removing it.

Let me look at my script tonight...it's been a while since I performed it.

We certainly can make a lefty bag. My suggestion is not to do that but to just learn the trick the standard way. I'm left handed and never thought twice about the standard bag.

The best thing about learning it the standard way is that you can always buy a standard bag in a pinch if yours rips, which they all do eventually.

There are some good points, that I hadn't considered myself. I will work with the (righthanded) bag I already have. Thanks to all for your help.

Christof

I just bought a Malini bag. Working on the Malini version in Tarbell Vol 5. When I turn my bag inside out, the secret "thing" is on the left. The illustration in Tarbell shows it on the right. I'm just starting, so does it matter that it's backwards? Should I just learn it with this bag the way it is constructed? Thank you in advance for your insight.

The Malini version is not in Tarbell to my knowledge. They show the Tarbell Egg Bag, which is more like the classic Egg Bag.

The late great Charlie Miller was the 1st magician to bring the Malini Egg Bag to the magic community.

Thanks Bill. The Malini Egg Bag is described in Tarbell Vol 5 page 110.

Don't know how I missed it, will have to dig it out and take a look. This is the 1st I have heard of it. You would think others would have noted that it was there all along.

I have to admit I’m still not sure what the construction of a left hand bag entails, or a right hand bag. The routine that came with my bag begins with a right hand palm up move where the participant feels the egg in your right hand palm in the bag. For that, the construction of my bag makes perfect sense for a right hander.

I’ve decided, I don’t care where the thing is, I’ll make it work!

Tarbell mentions marking the bag with a small piece of white thread, so you know which way the universe is always spinning. The small ideas that make a huge difference in performance.

In my research, I found this great video with Jay Marshall. Hope you like it, too—

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNiafQ3fF1E&feature=youtu.be

The only need for a right or left handed bag is for the move when putting the egg in the bag.

As for keeping it oriented correctly, that is built into the bag at the opening of a correctly made Malini Egg Bag.

The Mardo uses a different tell tail method, but both of them work.

How would we have managed to get by all these years without Tarbell?