This packet trick was originally put out by Larry West and Arthur Emerson in the 1970's.   At that time, E&W was producing so many packet tricks that it seemed like they would make a trick for any pictures they could print on a packet of playing cards.  Shaggy Dog Tale took a strong Brother Hamman card effect (in which cards transpose and separate into unequal groups) and changed it into a story of frisky dogs in a hotel, with cartoon pictures of dogs and hydrants printed on the cards.

The effect is this: Magi shows a packet of cards depicting two female dogs and four male dogs, plus one more "hotel detective" dog named Bulldog Drummond.  The story goes that the two lady dogs each took a room at the hotel, and then two of the male dogs went to each room.  (This is done with the cards, so that you have two separate piles of three cards, with the ladies sandwiched between the men in each pile.    (I leave it up to you whether you make "doggy style" jokes or not!)    Of course, the hotel detective cannot abide such promiscuity, so he knocks on both doors.  But when the piles are turned face up, it is seen that one room (pile) has only the two female dogs, and the other pile contains the four male dogs "playing poker". 

It is a strong effect, and good for kids with a tame patter story (definitely leave out the doggy-style joke here), but also fun for adult audiences because the story can have lots of puns and slightly blue jokes.

The vintage E&W originals of this packet trick are really hard to find now, but Hampton Ridge re-issued this effect in 1999, and unlike many re-issued magic tricks, in this case, the cards and graphics are better quality than the original.  

If you have an original E&W version of this trick in your collection, get this newer version to use in your perforrmances, and keep the original for your magic collection showcase.

This Hampton Ridge Hamman Eggs is brand new, with poker sized cards and cute hydrant back design.

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