Egg Bag

[erdnasephile]

Lewis Ganson published a pretty unique routine in Routined Manipulation, Part II which incorporates the bag through ring proof referenced above. It also has a unique final ending phase where first the egg vanishes and then the bag. The bag is reproduced, but the egg is still missing. The magician peels a drawing of the egg off the side of the bag and bounces it on a fan, where it becomes a genuine egg that is then broken into a glass dish.

[Ted M]

add me to the list of those left cold by paddles and color-changing knives.

How about changing the color of a card, or a ball, or a silk?
Is it the effect of changing somethings color that leaves you cold, or is it just when it's done with knives?

Change a card's identity, and you can win (or lose) a fortune -- meaning suggests itself to the viewer.

Balls are fun objects, and come in many fun colors, some of which have bonus associations with other fun activities. That said, watching balls simply change color gets boring quickly if they don't do something else -- bounce, juggle, multiply, vanish, transform, etc.

Colored handkerchiefs are decorative accessories, so their color is at least intrinsic to their purpose, and they're visually splashy. But again, they get boring right away if all they do is change color.

Color-changing knife routines struggle to do anything other than change color. And nobody ever cuts anything!

I have trouble even identifying the knife object when its blade is hidden. it's just an indistinct oblong thing, and why do I care what color it is? Why not change the knife's smell? Or its temperature? Or some other characteristic irrelevant to its identity as a knife?

If it's a knife and you ignore its blade, you miss the point. Who wants to see lightsaber magic with non-ignited lightsabers?

[Tarotist]

My favourite trick is the Dotty Spots paddle trick. The problem is that you can't get them any more. I now have to make them out of little wooden sticks that they sell at the dollar stores for food decoration purposes. I forget what the hell they are called. I do know the trick is fantastic and gets great reaction despite the fact that it goes against my rule of using objects which look as normal as possible. Paddles look like nothing on earth but I suppose since they can be examined that justifies it. Not that anyone has ever asked to examine them anyway!

[Joe Lyons]

If I wanted to explore the effect further than the Johnny Thompson or Bob White routines, I would probably purchase Encyclopedia of Egg Magic by Donato Colucci and see what I could incorporate to make the effect mine.

[Richard Kaufman]

The Mardo Egg Bag offers a lot of excellent possibilities that the Malini bag does not.

[Steve Hook]

Bill:

I don't think that the Sterling egg bag and Chuck Smith routine have been mentioned.

Here's a little bit of information from Martin's Magic. I've intentionally not mentioned "He who shall not be named", who marketed this particular tartan wool bag.

I bought this (and LUCKILY actually had it delivered!) in I believe the mid-'80s. The pocket is indeed invisible.

https://www.martinsmagic.com/allmagic/utility/sterling-egg-bag-by-jeff-busby/

-- Steve Hook

[Richard Kaufman]

The Sterling Bag is also referred to as the Mardo Bag, and the Tarbell Bag. Lynetta Welch makes these perfectly.

[Tarotist]

I own two egg bags with the identical design. Nothing fancy about them at all. Some would even say they were crude and simple. A massive pocket which is easy to get in and out of. It is the entire width of the bag. They have stood me in good stead for decades. You really don't need anything fancy.

[Richard Kaufman]

If the seam and pocket are in plain view, as they are in the Mardo bag, then it needs to be made perfectly.

[Richard Hatch]

A couple more video performances (in Spanish) that I don't think have been mentioned in this thread:
Juan Tamariz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B4L8pZCyTU
Pepe Carroll:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOEz_0wr09A
Marko from Panama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGHMqp32g_A
Tamariz and Carroll are doing personalized versions of the Ken Brooke Malini routine with two spectators, while Marko performs his with a much larger bag, in one, with no spectator assistance, yet manages to get terrific responses. A lesson in showmanship.

[Tarotist]

I like the guy from Panama the best. Not only does he get lots of laughs he proves that it is not necessary to get people up out of the audience which tends to make the trick longer than it should be, I follow the same path. My own routine lasts five minutes with no audience volunteers and the really smash Benson/Marucci finish.

[atkinsod]

And here is a huge list of egg bag references.

Good timing, as I just updated my Egg Bag reference guide.
Jennifer Myers from Steve Myers Magic wrote to tell me of Steve's custom Malini Egg, Malini Egg bag, and related items he sells (https://www.stevemyersmagic.com).

This prompted me to update my Egg Bag reference guide which hadn't been updated since 2019. The reference guide provides a list of books, magazine articles, videos and products related to the Egg Bag routine. I added over 150 additional book references, over 50 magazine references, and more.
See: https://magicref.net/magref/magegg.htm

The Magic book table of Contents page hasn't had too many updates in the past few months, but I did add a few more books. This page lists the table of contents for over 7000 magic books:
https://magicref.net/magicbooks/index.htm

Hope these are helpful!

Doug Atkinson
https://www.magicref.net

[Q. Kumber]

Here's the only known clip of Irish magician Albert Le Bas performing the Whiskey Egg Bag, a routine he later taught to Billy McComb and Trevor Lewis. Unfortunately the clip is only the very end of the routine.
https://youtu.be/3Cj1ppJpec8

[Tarotist]

I always wanted to see footage of Albert Le Bas. It is a great pity that is all there is of him.

[Hugo Marceau]

I still use the HOBSON Egg Bag on my kid show after maybe 8 years
still a loving piece of magic

[Tarotist]

Here is my version of the egg bag and some other stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNaE-zYQm-g

And here is my version for kid shows. It is done differently here of course. The video quality is absolutely dreadful but at least you can hear me. The video is from about 15 -20 years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHDlm6pIdGY&t=61s