I've just watched two Americans guys "Penn & Teller" who went to Egypt to find out about the well known "Mahguob Hanafi" famous for his cups and balls routine, if you haven’t a clue who I’m talking about he was known on stage as "Luxor Gali Gali", or should i say cups and chickens, these two guys went in search for family in which they found one of his grandsons I believe who still has the cups that Luxor performed with, they then moved on to a man who swallows snakes an then brings them back up. To finish of there journey they went to a tomb of this guy who was meant to be the first person to sue the cups and balls over 4000 years ago, however the picture that showed this was not clear enough to say they were cups and balls, however they find out that he juggled, so he could in a way be related to magic.
Keep an eye out on "Sky Travel" they will be on tomorrow as well I believe.
Here's the offical report I've found
Penn & Teller travel to the very busy streets of Cairo, Egypt to search for the ancient Gali Gali men. Steamship passengers stopping in the ports of Egypt have long told about the Gali Gali men who came aboard to perform tricks for whatever tips the passengers would give them.
One of the most famous first Gali Gali men seen by a North American audience appeared on the Ed Sullivan show in 1949. Born Mahguob Hanafi in 1902 in Port Said of Egypt, he was better known by his stage name Luxor Gali Gali. His trade-mark trick was the ancient cups and balls believed to be one of the oldest magic tricks in the world. In it he made balls appear, disappear, penetrate through and transfer between three cups. And with a unique Egyptian twist he produced live baby chicks from under the cups! Luxor Gali Gali entertained a long list of famous people including John D. Rockefeller, Aga Kahn, the King of Sweden and the Duke of Windsor.
Penn & Teller look for Karam, a magician who performs in one of the cafes on Mohammad Ali street in Old Cairo. He's rumoured to be a relative of Luxor Gali Gali. After watching some Egyptian magicians perform the Chinese linking rings trick they finally see Karam perform the cups and balls. Karam is so good at performing this trick he even fools Teller.
They travel to Ein Shams the poor residiential district near Cairo where Karam lives with his wife, mother and five children. Karam's mother is a magician too - she performs the egg in the bag trick and presents Teller with the bag as a gift. According to Karam, his grandfather was indeed Luxor Gali Gali. He shows them an old set of cups handed down to him from his father that Luxor used to work with. Although Karam comes from a long line of Gali Gali men he's never performed on the streets - he has a regular stage show.
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