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Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
Found this in You Tube: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello doing a television skit with the Multiplying Bottles. This was before any of you were born. as television was not available until the 1950's, and only in what we referred to as Black and White television. Color was not introduced until the 1960's.
Enjoy this classic in magic with a very unique presentation from this famous comic duo. |
bubbles New user The 5th Dimension 99 Posts |
Great clip! Thanks for sharing.
Do you know if Abbot and Costello had a history in magic before hitting it big as tv/film comedians, or was this a one off skit? |
Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
Abbott and Costello were Vaudeville performers for years, had top billing and created their own routines.
Like many vaudevillians they could change with the times and inventions of the times. They went on radio when it was offered to the masses, then appeared on television, and even had their own shows in Radio and Television. It was hard work, as the performers did not have writers like today. They had to do everything from the sets to routines. They could fall back on their years traveling the Vaudeville circuit. With ever changing skits and routines to stay at the top. Just like Ade Duval did with his silk magic act. It paid off to have tip billing on the Markey at theaters, and that gave you at least an interview with the bookers for Radio and Television. The history would be, they visited a magic shop to get new ideas for a Vaudeville act. |
Obviously Regular user 186 Posts |
EXPOSURE! These guys are like the prototypes for Penn and Teller.
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AllanK Loyal user Australia 212 Posts |
Thanks for the memories, Bill. That clip is from the Colgate Comedy Hour and dates back to 1954. You can see them perform the same routine (Passe Passe Bottles) in their movie Lost in a Harem from 1944. I have all their films on DVD - it's very hard to find Lost in a Harem on You Tube. You are absolutely correct, Bill - they used the same routines right throughout their careers - from Burlesque to Vaudeville to Radio (The Kate Smith Hour) to movies and finally in their 50s TV series The Abbott and Costello Show.
I have always enjoyed watching comedians use magic props in their movies. My all-time favourite is Jerry Lewis's The Geisha Boy. Count the Abbott's props in that one! Jerry used to do some cod magic in his stage act in his later years. Allan |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Quote:
On Dec 12, 2020, Obviously wrote: Why do you think there is exposure? They didn't show how what made the effect work and added their own bit of comedy.
Where the magic begins
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Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
The laugher and applause you hear in the video above are real. They did not use canned sound tracks back then, wasn't invented yet, most likely.
I posted this video to show all you members, there is more then one way to present the Multiplying Bottles. Get an assistant or if you have a family, have one of your kids seek in and cause some trouble by moving a bottle or a glass. Have the wife, come in and take a bottle, and say, something like there's that dinner wine I been looking for". Go for the laughs, but make it Magicial. |
Pop Haydn Inner circle Los Angeles 3691 Posts |
This is actually not Multiplying Bottles. It is the Passe-Passe Bottle invented in the 1870s. The theft of the bottle by an assistant was a standard part of the routine.
The Multiplying Bottles was created using three sets of Passe bottles in 1917. |
Sh9bum9 Regular user 109 Posts |
Thank you so much for sharing!
Decisions determine destiny. Thomas S. Monson
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Topper2 Regular user 126 Posts |
Quote:
On Dec 15, 2020, Pop Haydn wrote: Yes that was the standard Passe-Passe bottle routine using three bottles with the sucker finish. The only difference from the old routine I remember was the bit where the bottle was lifted up from off the glass thus totally exposing the trick; I don't think that was standard practice and I don't think it improves the routine. As I recall the extra bottle was just lifted out of the tube, but I could be wrong as it was so long ago since I last saw it being performed. |
Ruppenthal Regular user I'm busy, so I only have 104 Posts |
I love watching these guys perform. Thanks for sharing, Bill. Great stuff!
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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Boxes, tubes & bags » » Bud Abbott and Lou Costello performing the Multiplying Bottles (9 Likes) |
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