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TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
I originally wrote the notes with buskers/street performers in mind but the concepts apply everywhere.
I began performing this on the "street" in front of kids, teens and adults. I cannot say enough about this trick. Keeps you mobile, packs small, plays big, gets you out into the audience and lots of etc. Here's what my buddy Chet had to say when he read them... Frank, I have to applaud your egg bag routining! As much as I love the effect, almost everyone does it without meaning. Magic without meaning holds NO interest for me or most people and kids for whom I've performed. Magic, on the average, has lost its luster because it is not presented as being useful. Even the great Lance Burton, when I saw him, died with his egg bag routine. The routine had no purpose, and thus no heart. Here you tackle both the usefulness of the effect (actually, you bluff it magnificently, causing the audience to believe they're seeing something with purpose) and add inherent, unforced comedy -- all by making it into a "mini-Vegas." Pure inspiration! I have to bat out a column this week for Solyl's magazine in India. May I please reference (i.e. - talk a lot about) your routine and this post? Is there a URL or book which our readers could reference to see your original words on the subject? Even Johnny Thompson could improve his (admittedly classic and HILARIOUS) egg bag routine by studying your post. -- Chet And here is a link to the notes. I hope you find them useful, if not for the eggbag routine, for some other routine that you do. The notes are applicable almost everywhere, and you'll have an idea from them as to how I try to build my routines, act and choose my material. http://www.theambitiouscard.com/eggbagnotes.cfm I'd love to hear your feedback.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
Hey Frank!
Some EXCELLENT notes and comments on the "little bag & egg"! --THANK YOU! I first saw the egg bag "done" in an old movie in the '40s. It was, in the movie, "done" by an amateur parlor "magician". --YUK! In November 1951, I saw SENOR MARDO perform it! WOW! I bought a Sterling bag the next day. I've used it EVER SINCE! At first, to get comfortable with it, I used Charles' (Mardo) routine. It played fine, but it wasn't "me". I read everything (before VHS and DVD!)available on the basic egg bag. I made some changes,but kept the Mardo idea of vanishing the egg with the bag "inside out" (credited to him in Sterling's catalog). The routine slowly evolved into what I've been doing for almost 50 years. I love it!!! When my original Sterling bag wore thin enough so that you could see thru it(!)I picked up a (slightly) used $50 bag (Busby?)at a ring meeting in Seattle. I had to look it over for several minutes to find the gaff. Oh! the guy I bought it from only wanted $5! Yes! classics are classics for a reason! (In general, classics meet my nine criteria) My pal, the late Roy Kissell, wouldn't do a show without it. Tom Mullica turned a classic into a "new" classic! Tomsoni don't do it too bad, either!!!(hee hee). Jay Marshall and I discussed the egg bag at great length. When Karrell Fox died, I inherited his 3 rings, his INERTIA props, AND TWO NEW STERLING BAGS. (Don't know who made Karrell's, but they're QUALITY!) Now, I have a life time supply! I tried the Miller/Malini bag, but I couldn't handle the switch from Sterling! --Even with Ken Brooke's instructions! Thanks again, for your very worthwhile thoughts! 1
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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jakeg Inner circle 1741 Posts |
I really don't understand the question. What does 'meaning' mean in a magic performance?
(I'm not asking that in a sarcastic way, I'm just trying to figure out what he's talking about.) You link and unlink a set of rings. The balls jump from one cup to another? If I'm reading it right, (and I'm not sure that I am), he seems to be looking for something other than pure entertainment. Isn't that what all of this is about? |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
I don't' think there was a question, was there?
I think 'meaning' to Chet refers to "why are you doing what you're doing, up there". Personally, I don't like to force 'meaning' into what I do. Unless it's well thought-out, it can feel very contrived, pretentious, etc. In the case of this particular routine, there is 'meaning' but it's done tongue-in-cheek, or at least so it seems, at the beginning. 'Meaning' in this case is showing how I can do a vegas-style show with nothing more than a black bag.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
magicgeorge Inner circle Belfast 4299 Posts |
Thanks for sharing, Frank.
I keep returning to the egg bag but can never find my angle on it. I can see how you could get lots from the Vegas Style show plot: Vanishes, Appearances! Live animals! (well if we wait a few weeks) etc There's a few good egg bag routines I've seen, Danny Hustle had written himself a pretty sweet one! |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
I didn't have an angle at first, George. I just knew I wanted to do it and since I was in busking mode, there was no reason not to give it a try.
I think in the heat of battle, wanting to draw more people and get their attention, I started making wild claims to get the passersby to stop and watch. It was a little later that I realized I could use it as a "vegas theme" and just stuck with that premise. I'm pretty sure you know the exact presentation I started with regarding the vegas theme, and it hasn't changed a whole lot since. Just tightened up a little, I guess.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
Gerry Walkowski Inner circle 1450 Posts |
Hey Frank,
Thanks for sharing that. That was great. Your enthusiasm for the Egg Bag comes across in your article. While I don’t use the Egg Bag in every show, my routine has gradually evolved over the years. Some of the clever bits and gags belonged to lesser known magicians in my hometown. Since they died years ago, I saw no harm in resurrecting a line here and a gag there. Just recently I purchased a magic collection and of all oddball things, there was an unpublished Egg Bag routine by a magician who played the big Vaudeville circuits and was well-known in his day for his presentation of the Egg Bag. Although most of his routine is dated, I did find one great line that’s going in my show this week. So even after all these years, I still find myself experimenting and trying to make my Egg Bag routine better and better. Gerry |
randyburtis Inner circle 1256 Posts |
Egg bag is awesome, I have a regular egg version for general shows, a Christmas version and a medieval version as part of a theme show.
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TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Thinking about all the different beginnings, middles and endings and all the unique and odd things I've seen in different egg bag routines helps make it crystal clear how classics (like the egg bag) allow for so much in the way of creativity and varied audiences. It shows how they can be molded to work with so many different acts.
Gotta love a classic, like the egg bag.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
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