Frank makes some pretty great stuff, the Kozmo Servante is B-E-A-utiful! But at over $400 it's way out of my price range at the moment, even his less expense servante is more than I have the money for. So I'm putting together my own servante and table as well, I think I'll take a small tote bag and sort of modify it to my needs. I'm wondering if anyone out there has made their own servante before and has some advice to share?

I made Ross Bertram style servante for my close up pad, but for this application, I think you're in uncharted waters.

Enjoy the ride!

Greetings and Salutations Mac,

You have to ask yourself, what do I want the servante to do? If you want to organize, operate, and transport your show in it, then find the $400 or the $150 and give it to Frank because it will be money well spent. I can now build a great table top (IMHO), but the time, money, and frustration I spent on my first half-dozen tables would have probably been better spent giving money to Frank for a table top and practicing and rehearsing my magic. That's why I have purchased good pouches from Frank or have had pouches made for me.

That being said, if you want a servante to simply ditch your used magic into, just about any bag will do.

I use a waiter's apron, one of those three pocket jobs, with the two center seams removed, making for one big pocket, that I have hanging off of my tray jack stand. I got the apron at a restaurant supply store for, like, $9. The pouch holds a small handful of spare, back-up, time-extender tricks, some business cards, a bottle of water, and my final hat load. The only thing in it that has to be readily at hand is the hat load, and that's not a problem as the load sits on top of everything else.

I've tied the apron strings to fit across the braces of my tray jack, and, for me, it works great.

But you still have to ask yourself the question, what do I want the servante to do? Then ask what will accomplish that. I don't own Frank's Kozmo servante. But, if I wanted to operate out of a servante and have the convenience of having just one bag to tote to and from my pitch or show, I would certainly give it or his smaller bag all due consideration.

And, honestly, and I'm not promoting Frank here, but by the time you get done experimenting with tables, stands, pouches and servantes, unless you are a handy craftsman, you will be time and money ahead by giving Frank, or any reputable maker, money for a table top, servante and pouch.

That's my $.02 (USD) worth. YMMV

Joe Zeman aka
The Mage Ulysses

I have made a bunch of servantes... The one I like the best is a sholder bag a got from the Gap. I purchased some plyable metal "things".. from the home depot they are about the size of a ruler... and are used for roofing I think. I covered them in felt and then hand sewed the felt to the left and right hand sides of the bag. This allows me to have the bag stay open anytime I want by adjusting the plyable metal on the sides. After that I bought some snap buttons from a craft store... and attahedthem to my traystand and sholder strap... so the sevante stays attahed to my tabel. Here are a couple pics..

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i80/La......0795.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i80/La......0793.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i80/La......0790.jpg

You may want to look up "trunk organziers" as well.

Shawn

Put the money out there and buy from frank at the ambitious card. you will be much farther ahead in the long run. over time you will spend much more on several sub par attempts and when you do buy from frank you will think to yourself I wish I did that sooner. Trust me I have been down that road myself.

Nice idea, ShawnB. Thanks.

Joe,

I'm only using the servante for holding my hat load and a space to hold a few small props. I know there's no substitute for good quality but for now I'll just have to make my own. I'll experiment using the waiters apron as I have one myself from a brief stint as a server. I'm concerned about its ability to hold the weight of a melon and also how, if at all, do you keep it in "open" position.

Shawn, I really like your idea! good you PM me a few more details, specifically the metal "things" from home depot, and how bout a couple close up pictures of how it's attached to the stand.


One day I hope to buy one of Frank's beautiful bags but for now I'm broke and making due with what I have.

Thanks for the help guys!

Mac

I have made several servantes. I also have several that were made during the early 1900's. The easiest kind to make is a bag servante. You make a rectangular frame of wire and sew up a cloth bag -- use something soft but durable. Then you sew that to the frame. The frame will need some kind of rods or supports that hold the loaded servante in place. I have made them on swing arms, so I could move them in and out of play.

There are also shelf servantes, box servantes that have a side open toward the performer. Try looking at some old magic books like Modern Magic.

Mac... Glad you like it. I will hit you up, with details and more pics... I am traveling the next couple days.

Shawn

I'll be coming up with a smaller design as well. Mostly the same just Servante Jr.

Using your own handmade stuff can give you ideas for how you want yours to be designed. We also do a lot of custom work these days so if you eventually have specific needs let me know.

BTW, let me point out that I have one of Frank's street worker's servantes. It is an excellent product, and it will do exactly what you need for it to do. However, there are other styles of servantes that do different things.

Greetings and Salutations Mac,

It looks like you've got some good leads. My final load is a Magic Eight Ball, but all of the "extras" in the pouch add up to about a decent melon, I suppose. While you have other directions to look at, when I first read your reply, I was thinking something as easy as properly bent coat hanger would do the trick.

And Frank, I thought your $150 servante looked good, if I would go that route. What are the dimensions, and are there any details on the Servante Junior?

Joe Zeman aka
The Mage Ulysses

Jim Cellini's Servante and Table was nice.

Joe I like the bent coat hanger, good thinking.

It also comes in handy for those little hecklers...

Maybe a taser that looks like a Harry Potter style wand....

Hey Mac,
I made a larger table because I needed a larger working surface for the shells, cups & anything else I use, Thanks to Gaddy for all of his help. I think Gaddy's ols posts are still up in a different thread. It turned out great, nice pad under the red billiard table cover.
I was using one of Frank's custom pouches but when he came out with the Table servante, had to have it and it's already paid for itself 3 times over.
I use them all of the time.
My advice is don't go cheap and waste your money, go for what works and Frank's stuff works.
Bill

There are some smal "cheapos" on the market for 20 bucks or less, like these:

http://www.thetrickery.com/full/Magic-Tr......ervante_

Right now it appears that they're out of stock, but maybe later.

Sir Richard.

Not to bag on Dean, because he does some great work and has some great products ont he market. But his servants are not that great. Simply 2 small peices of felt with two peices of plyable metal inside.

Not so much a bag as it is a plyable cloth... If you are looking to ditch half dollars off of the edge of you close up mat this product will work well.

Anything more you may be in trouble.

Shawn