How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

There are some fantastic egg bags out there on the market, I mean some great ones. In a world filled with wonderful bags I found the one that is just right for me. The Hobson Egg bag. Just the bag itself is beautiful. The silk outside makes a snappy pocket square. I wore it as one at a corporate event last night and got several complements on it. Another thing, it is wider than it is long. I have big hands and always had a problem of making the handling look too "fidgety" when I turned it inside out. With this bag my fingers go inside and I can very fairly turn it inside out while showing the inside of the bag at the same time. This thing handles like a dream.

The egg, oh how I love this egg. It is made out of a HARD resin. You could play hockey with this thing and not break it. It is also HUGE. Compared to other eggs on the market this thing shows up nice and it is so big it gives the illusion that there is no way that this thing wouldn't make a big ol' bump in the bag if it was in there. Best of all, you get two of these bad boys.

The handling. Jeff Hobson's handling is a work of art. Remove all the gags and bits he does and just the physical handling is a masterpiece of subtlety. You do not have to prove the bag is empty because you actually show them that the bag is empty. This allows you to get in, get out, get the check, and go home early. Billy McComb always suggested, "If you buy my stuff, try it my way first. I've beaten the routine in for years before I sold it to you."

Taking Billy's advice, I tried it Hobson's way last night at a corporate walk around gig. That is another thing I never would have done with any other bag and routine I used. I never would have done it close up table to table. Hobson's routine is so straight forward that you can play this thing anywhere. It hit these people like a hammer to the forehead. It's a great routine. There are also spots in the routine that scream, insert shtick here. If you are a comedy worker this thing was designed to be a personality piece. I did not use any of Hobson's lines or gags, I used my own. Let's face it, there are probably more lines out there for the egg bag than any other trick in magic. I ran a search on "egg" and "bag" in my joke file and came up with over 500 hits. Remember, chicken jokes come in there, old bag hokes, I mean really think about it, this is a workers dream if you have the routine that allows it.

No more egg under the arm to muddy up the effect for me, this routine is pure effect that hits them hard and has a lot of places to hang your funny.

This trick is going to be a feature for me, I am so sure of that I came home last night and ordered another set bag, eggs, and all. If you find something that works for you always buy two if you can't afford a dozen.

This prop may be pricey compared to some of the others but it is worth every penny, every penny.

WOW!

Best,

Dan-

Thanks for the review.
I love Jeff and I love the egg bag.
I had thought about buying this, but I always wondered if you had to be Jeff to make it work.
If you're not Jeff, is this just another egg bag?
I guess not.
Now you are making me think again.

Randi

Danny's right about the construction of the bag. It makes working the routine so easy, you can really concentrate on the presentation. It's perfect for stage, parlour and walk-a-round. What more could you ask for...

You will not be disappointed with this bag.

Ken

Danny, thanks for taking the time to give us such detail on this!

I just want to mention one last thing and I can't believe I forgot to mention it before. The bag is two toned, red outside and black inside. I know what you are thinking, "So far so what." But I always thought this was a weakness with a lot of bags. If it was the same color inside and out to an audience, a stage audience anyway, they might think you were doing something 'clever' and not actually turning the bag inside out. With the two tone you really SEE the bag turning inside out. Maybe a subtle point, but I think it is one off the things that brings the effect to the next level.

Best,

Dan-

Danny, thanks for your time! Now you made us to think again..... I thought it was just another egg bag but with Jeff's name.

Id think the 2 tone feature gives away how the trick is done.....

Joshua,

I can understand where you are coming from, but the exact opposite is true. I was literally doing this trick right under my helpers nose and had people sitting just a couple of feet away. I repeated the trick for different tables and several people came over to watch twice! I swear, if you use Mr. Hobson's handling there is literally nothing to see. You can't even see the egg in the bag yourself when doing the routine. You use such a light touch (and the reason you can use such a light touch is because of the width and depth of the bag), and the bag is so openly displayed the actual method is the farthest thing from their minds. They think it goes up your sleeve, and they WILL grab your sleeves which is very funny if you play with them.

I had one lady grabbing my arms and I just stopped and looked at her and let her feel away, I then looked at the table I was working for wide eyed, and then back at the lady. People were cracking up. When she finally stopped I looked at the table and said, "Well I wasn't going to stop her, that's the most fun I've had all week!"

As I said, having used MANY of the other bags I can absolutely understand where you are coming from and normally I would agree. This bag is completely different from the materials used, the way it is cut, and the handling, just make it incredibly deceptive. We all know that over the years Mr. Hobson has built a world wide reputation with this trick. He closes his show with it, it is the feature. He must have spent years developing this thing because everything is right where it should be. It is kind of like getting behind the wheel of most high end luxury cars. You sit there and every button, lever, and cup holder is right where you would have put it if you built the car. You think it can't get any better and then on a cold winter morning the butt warmer turns on and you say, "Only a genius would have thought of that!"

The Hobson egg bag is like that. I feel a little silly raving about an egg bag but it's the truth. It is the Bentley of bags.

Best,

Dan-

Sounds cool, although I don;t perform the egg bag for people ( iv practiced it for knowledge sake) I might have to get it for fun.

I have the Hobson Bag and LOVE it. I only have one problem though, and it may just be me, but when I turn the bag inside out the pocket seems obvious to me. I haven't performed this yet because I'm afraid the spectator will see what I'm seeing. What do you think about this Danny?

Interesting to hear you are so happy with Hobson's bag.
I purchased his Great Chain Illusion and found it to be far from what it was pitched to be and was totally disappointed with it.
When I first read the ad for his Egg Bag and saw the price I thought this would be another over priced deal.
I currently use a Tarbel type bag, if you had any experience with this type how would they compare?

If you use Hobson's handling there is absolutely nothing for them to see. No kidding, I was doing it right under people's noses. I did not find the special bit of the bag to be any more noticeable that any other Malini style bag.

Best,

Dan-

WOW, I own a great chain illusion and think it's fantastic. I just did it in a comedy club last week, it got a great reaction. If you'd like to sell yours I'd be happy to take it off your hands. It's always good to have a back up. I'm a full time pro and I know several other full time professionals that use this illusion in their act to great effect. Like the egg bag, it needs the right presentation to really come across.

Best,

Dan-

I've seen this in action and can say that it's the tops!

I loooove Hobson's egg bag, and Hobson's easy handling. I have been using it to close ALL my shows--kids and adults. But since I'm basically a ventriloquist, I make the egg talk during my routine.

Aside from Hobson's, I also like and use the Fabric Manipulation Silk Legacy egg bag.

There are things that working Pro's use, that to many of us seem to be dull or bad tricks. Then we see them use it and go "$%#^&, I could ahve been using this".

The Great Chain Illusion is very effective. I too would be interested in taking it off your hands if you not using it anymore.

I hate you all.
I had totally convinced myself that my egg bag was just fine.
But now you come here writing such a great review and talk me into buying it.
Thanks!! Like I have the money for this.
So I guess I have to eat roman noodles for awhile, because I just bought it.

Randi

Randi,

You won't regret it....

I like roman noodles..

Ken

I'm a big fan of Top Ramen! The chicken flavor is my all time favorite. You won't regret it Randi! Don't hate the playa' hate the game.

Best,

Dan-