Comedy Levitation Combo

Old Music Hall “Comedy Levitation” &

“Jake the Peg” Combo...

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Introduction

Some of the very best stage & comedy material available has its roots in The Old Music  Hall & Vaudeville Shows, and  many ‘Comedy  Performers ‘over the yearsrealised the potential and comedic value of these simple but extremely funny routines  by working them into their shows and creating some wonderful signature performances that we can still laugh at today...

Comedy Levitation

This is a real old classic comedy ‘walk on’ Gag that began life in the Music Halls and can be used as a fabulous ‘opener’ for a compare or ‘Stand Up’ Comedy Magic Show...The Magician appears to float across the stage but the audience can sense that something is not quite what it seems and their suspicion is soon confirmed when the sheet accidently falls off revealing the two sticks... Tommy Cooper used this in his TV Show to great success.

As a Walk On Gag, ‘Off Stage’ you hold the ‘comedy legs’ out in front of you at shoulder height, get your assistant to throw a large cloth over the legs and around your shoulder so only your head is sticking out...making sure that the cloth hangs down to the floor. You now walk out in front of your audience and at the same time allow the sheet to fall off the legs in front of your audience, exposing the comedy legs for everyone to see...

In its original format as a Music Hall Classic, an assistant is lying down covered with a sheet. The Performer folds down one end of the sheet so the assistants head is showing...Now fold back the other end of the sheet so that their feet are now also on display. You now wave your hands over the assistant and command him to rise. The assistant start to float upwards horizontally...Suddenly the sheet slips off the assistant’s body and drops to the floor, exposing the fact that he is standing on the floor holding the ‘comedy legs’ out from his body with the shoes fitted on the ends. Your Assistant should be lying on a Settee with their feet on the floor over one end of the settee...when he floats up off the settee it will be with a forward and upwards motion. As he apparently floats forwards away from the settee the performer can accidently step on the bottom of the sheet which should be large, and as the assistant moves away the sheet will be drawn of his ‘body’....

*We do not supply the Sheet, Socks or Shoes for this effect

“Jake the Peg”

"Jake the Peg" was a fictional three-legged man, the subject of a song performed by Rolf Harris, released as a single in 1965.

The song was adapted in 1965 from a version performed by Frank Roosen (a Dutch performer in Vancouver, Canada). The original Dutch piece was called Ben van der Steen.

Harris would perform the song with the aid of a theatrical prop leg. Jake wore a long coat that came down to the knees, and apparently had three identical legs. Part of the fun was trying to guess which leg was false, as he kept both hands in his pockets, one of which operated the extra leg. He would walk around the stage putting his middle foot forward, and then his two side feet, and at times would also stand on his middle leg and stick both outer legs out. While he was moving around the stage he sang a song, which told of his life with three legs.

*By using one of the Comedy legs (the lower half), for the ‘Jake the Peg’ Routine you will need a false hand and supply your own clothes to dress up the false leg.

Colin has created this sturdy custom  ‘Comedy Prop Combo’ specifically with these two routines in mind, giving you a purpose made prop that will stand up to the wear & tear of regular performance, which can be used in two different ways...with a solid wooden shoe former which will hold socks & shoes quite firmly,and a means of breaking the prop down into two pieces, this well thought out system allows your to use the lower leg section for the other routine and also means it will pack down to a compact 25” x 10” for easy transportation. In a nutshell you have a throw away gag in the form of a comedy levitation..the routine with the third leg is completely different in as much as it is not a throw away magic trick, in fact far from it!...carefully choregraphed this can make a very amusing routine especially set to music where the audience are never quite sure which is the false leg as they all look the same.

Enjoy!!

Colin Rose