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REVIEW - MAGICSEEN MAGAZINE

THE HOBSON EGG BAG

The high price of this item might lead you to believe that you are

getting something extra special with this Egg Bag set and in some ways you are. Jeff Hobson is one of the world? ?s most experienced

entertainers and he has created an egg bag design which seeks to get round some of the potential problems sometimes associated

with this classic prop in order to give you the best chance of creating the perfect egg bag illusion.

So, what are the differences between the JH egg bag and all the

others? Firstly the size. The bag is wider than it is long, which is the

opposite way round from other bags. The reason is so that you can hold the top of the bag with both your hands with the fingers

inside and still leave enough room for a spectator to slip their hand

into the bag in order to pull it inside out. Secondly, the colour. This bag is bright red on the outside, to ensure that it shows up on stage, and black on the inside, as this is the very best colour to mask the bulge of the egg when it is secretly in the internal pocket. Thirdly, the material. Rather than have the bag made of slick thin material, the JH bag is made of a more bulky cloth which is easy to handle but which prevents any tell tale sign of the egg being inside when the bag is supposed to be empty. Fourthly, the secret pocket opening. Although this is cut diagonally across one bottom inside corner, the shape of the cut away is curved rather than straight. Jeff says he feels this makes it easier to get the egg inside and also makes absolutely sure that the egg will always be visible in the bottom of the bag when it falls out. Fifthly, the egg. Is it extremely light and made from a bright white hard resin material. It moves move around well inside the bag as required but because of the very light weight, no movement can be seen through the cloth.

Now on to the routine. Jeff explains that he wants you to create your own presentation and patter rather than copying his. He then goes on to run through the handling required for his routine. This is very simple and unlike many other routines, Jeff does not try to overprove that the bag is empty. This shows someone who knows that in a commercial show things need to move on at a reasonable pace and that there is no value in having twelve different ways of showing the bag is empty when two or three will do. His routine is essentially the same set of moves repeated twice. The second time he likes to apparently get the spectator to reproduce the egg from the bag, which gives plenty of opportunity for you to develop lines and gags with the assisting spectator.

Compared to the other egg bags we have reviewed in this

article, this one is the most thorough. It's a well designed bag and a routine which is very commercial provided that you can put enough of your own patter and personality into it. I still feel that the price is rather high and that you are being made to pay perhaps for the fact that Jeff Hobson? ?s name is on this product. However, if you are serious about putting an egg bag routine into your stand up or stage act, and are prepared to put in the time to create your own presentation, this is probably the one you should invest in.

STAR RATING: !!!!!