Neil Foster's Egg on Fan
If you do a stage act
or a parlor type performance I encourage you
to look at the Egg on Fan. It is a very artistic
effect and can fit in well with a manipulation
performance or as and interlude in a less formal
presentation.
Effect
You tear the corner out of a folded piece of
paper. The paper is opened to show an oblong
shape torn out.
The piece that is torn
is bounced on an open fan. Slowly the piece
grows and expands to the shape of a three dimensional
egg. The egg is cracked open against the side
of a glass to show that it is indeed a real
egg.
Background
While I was taking the Chavez Course from Neil
Foster, we worked on many routines that were
not apart of the actual Chavez course. Much
of the value of attending the school was the
direction you would receive from a seasoned
and consummate professional as Neil.
I have a love for subtle
magic. I like things that happen slowly and
visibly. Something that makes people pause and
think, "am I really seeing what I think I see?"
Egg on Fan is one such piece of magic. The egg
seems to slowly "bloom" in front of their eyes.
They have to think, "Come on! It can't be a
real egg!" Then, crack! You break it open proving
its transformation.
So there I was, at the
Chavez school, telling Neil how much I admired
the concept. Neil said, "Then Frederick (he
always used my full name), you must put it in
your act!"
I don't know if Neil ever
published his handling of Egg on Fan. If he
did, it most likely would have been when he
was editor of the New Tops Magazine. Certainly
he didn't give me a written copy. Nevertheless,
he did share with me his thoughts on it. In
the years that have past, I don't know how much
I've strayed from his handling, but I doubt
very much. If you ever saw Neil work, you know
that he thought of every detail and worked every
angle.
One advantage of this
routine is that it can happen at anytime during
your act. There are no body loads, which is
a big plus to me. Carrying an egg in a ball
dropper makes me nervous! Imagine laying an
egg on stageÖ Literally!
First
Neil was a big advocate of "box tables." This
literally means a box that sits on a table that
you work out of. The box typically is wide but
shallow and doesn't have a top. The interior
is diabolical. Inside are shelves and holders
and partitions of all sorts, to hold all your
necessary props and gimmicks. You can make steals,
and ditches out of the box and just keep your
performance more organized. It makes reset easier
as you can check your compartments and if they're
set, you're ready to go.
After I started utilizing
an assistant in my show, I cut back on my dependence
of the box table. However, I still use the technique
for certain routines. Which brings me to the
Egg on Fan.
This egg on fan routine
requires a number of items explained below.
¸
A real egg
¸ The fake egg
¸ A paper fan
¸ A glass to in
which to break the egg
¸ A piece of paper
The Box
To organize all the properties and expedite
the routine a box table really helps. In later
years I built a box, just for this routine.
Should you wish to, you may do the same. I constructed
mine all from sturdy cardboard. Then covered
it with material, and padded the interior floor
with felt. This is all lightweight for carrying
but holds up to travel.
 |
The box must be long enough to hold
your fan, and deep enough to conceal the
glass (and therefore the egg). The partitions
in mine are as shown. But remember, you
may wish to expand this design to hold
other objects that routine in and around
this trick in your act. |
The Egg
Next you need the fake egg. The fake is a hollow
egg made of latex. It has a sort of valve cut
into on end that allows you to squeeze it flat.
Once released it will slowly reinflate.
I use the Weller egg,
but I understand Joe has a very nice new product.
It is modestly priced compared to the impact
you'll receive from the effect. Visit his website
at StevensMagic.com
The Fan
Obviously, you need a fan. In some of the older
magic texts, they suggest you find a lace fan.
The reason for lace was to due to the old method
of making the egg gimmick. The technique was
to first blow the contents out of the center
of the egg, then dissolve the shell, leaving
the membrane. The membrane had to be kept wet
to avoid it sticking together like a wad of
chewing gum. It was important to use a lace
fan to allow the air to get under the wet membrane
and allow it to expand.
The new latex eggs don't
work the same way, so the lace is not critical.
However choosing a fan is still important and
not easy. They come in many shapes, sizes and
colors. Some personal taste and discretion is
up to you. However, keep in mind that a dark
background will contrast the egg better and
therefore help show the trick farther. Also,
fans have a kind of feminine connotation to
them, so find one that suits your personality
on stage.
Handling a fan is not
as easy as it appears and Neil Foster spent
a good amount of time teaching me to flick the
fan open with clean snap. This does two things;
it really looks good and it really wears out
the fan. So when you find a fan you like, stock
up!
To open the fan properly,
use your first finger to spread the first blade
upwards. Now pinch that blade close to bottom
with your curled index finger and thumb. Swing
your hand up about shoulder height and perpendicular
to audience (so that they will see the full
fan when it opens). Next flick your wrist deftly
and hold only with your thumb and index finger.
The blades should rotate out into a big and
full display.
The Paper
Get a piece of white paper approximately 5 inches
square. Fold in half and half again. Tear the
inner folded corner off. Tear a pie slice shape
out. Discard the torn off piece. This should
make a circle in the center of the unfolded
sheet. With a little finesse, you can elongate
the tear on one side making the hole look egg
shaped.
Fold the paper back into
quarters. Fold the rubber egg into a flat packet
and insert it into the paper, to fill in the
missing corner. Squeeze this into the slit made
in partition of your box to hold the folded
paper and rubber egg. Look at the above illustration;
the folded paper is in the center of the box.
Get Ready
With the rubber egg tucked in the paper and
held in the slit, you only have to lay the fan
in its place, then put the real egg under the
inverted glass (as you saw in the above illustration)
and you are good to go anytime during your act.
Performance
Stand next to the table with the box. Being
right-handed, I stand with my right side to
the audience to face the table. I'll describe
the actions from this perspective.
Reach into the box with
your right hand. Remove the folded paper concealing
the rubber egg. Face the audience. Neil Foster
advised brushing the folded paper across your
left hand twice to indicate the flimsy nature
of paper.
The left hand reaches
into the right palm and grasps the rubber egg.
Mime tearing the corner from the paper and hold
the "corner" (rubber egg folded) up in the tips
of the left finger. With your right fingers
flip open the folded paper, showing an egg shaped
hole.
Quickly refold the paper
and place in back in the box. While your right
hand is in the box, grab the fan. Make sure
that the "corner" in your left hand is always
visible to the audience.
Lift the fan into view.
Turn face on to the audience. On your right
side snap the fan open. Holding the fan at waist
level, bring the "paper corner" to the fan.
Your wrists need to break at an unnatural angle
to unsure that the audience never loses sight
of the "corner." That is essential to the preceding.
You must never cover the flattened rubber egg
from their gaze.
Next is the wonderfully
slow transformation of the apparent paper corner
to a three dimensional and then solid egg.
 |
Place the "corner" into the center
of the fan. I often keep my left index
finger on it as I make sure the audience
sees the flat object on the fan. Now remove
your left hand and bounce the egg on the
fan. There is a technique to it. Make
a tossing motion with your right wrist
and at the same time swing the fan toward
the right while breaking your wrist and
back again. (My illustration may help
explain.) You don't just bounce straight
up and down, you actually are putting
a spin on it. This rotation helps the
rubber egg inflate and the motion helps
hide the rubber look of the partial egg
shape. |
This technique takes a
certain amount of practice. You don't want the
egg to be flung out to where you can't catch
it or have to chase it. With practice the egg
stays in one plane and merely spins in the air.
Eventually the egg will
fully take shape. You can stop bouncing. The
egg can be rolled slightly on the blades of
the fan, if you are careful. But freeze for
a moment and let the beauty of the effect sink
in for the audience. We will soon prove to them
what they think they see, but let them think
of it firstÖ No need to rush.
Once again, keep the fan
waist level. With your left hand reach into
the box and bring out the glass/cup. Beware:
As you reach in with your left hand, your right
may dip and that rubber egg will roll right
off onto the floor. It will bounce and clearly
NOT be a real egg! This is overcome with practice
and confidence.
| Bring the glass up, swinging your
body a little to the right. You want to
roll the egg off the fan and into the
glass. Make sure the audience can see
the egg at all times. (See illustration.)
|  |
Once the egg is in the
glass, snap the fan shut with one hand. This
also takes practice. The technique is to flip
your hand palm up with enough momentum to carry
the blades back to a closed position.
 |
With the closed fan held in the crotch
of your thumb, replace the fan in its
resting place. Notice the elegance of
Foster's routine. It is logical that the
right hand must let go of the fan to break
the egg. Plus, it is in the economy of
this necessity, that the real egg is stolen.
In my illustration you can see how the
fingers of the right hand are free to
grip the real egg. Indeed, it is almost
hard not to grasp it! |
Leave the fan behind in
the box, and bring the real egg out concealed
in your right hand. Reach into the glass with
your right fingers. Again this very natural
action does the work. Simply add the real egg
onto the rubber one. The rubber egg will quickly
deflate. As you scoop the two eggs out, the
rubber is pinched off into a kind of finger
palm. You may now display the real egg between
your forefinger and thumb.
The audience generally
doesn't expect what comes next. Turn your hand
palm down and crack the shell on the edge of
the glass. Lift as high as you can (without
splashing) to show the contents of the egg drip
into the glass. Drop the shell on top and transfer
the glass to your right hand. Press the rubber
egg against the outside of the glass and your
palm. This will camouflage the rubber egg perfectly.
You can now show both hands apparently otherwise
empty and in a natural applause cue.
After the applause, use
both hands to lower the glass into the box (this
time face up). Having a hand towel in the box
is a wise idea as you may have egg guts on your
hands! Talk about wanting to end clean!
