Forgetful Yogi Bear by Warren Hamilton, Ronald Haines, Alan Milan

Forgetful Yogi Bear was devised by Ronald Haines and Alan Milan and built by Warren Hamilton c. 1962. It is their version on the classic Forgetful Freddie routine created by Milbourne Christopher c. 1951, featured in Hugard’s Magic Monthly (June 1951 page 801). Freddie was was first marketed by Bev Taylor’s Town House Magic.

Forgetful Yogi Bear is an adorable looking creature and unlike the original Freddie is instantly recognizable and this helps make the effect even more meaningful to the audience. With Yogi they have also added a selected card appearance too to add a little more to the final reveal of Yogi’s head returning.

I believe these were pulled fairly shortly after production began due to copyright infringement of the Yogi character.

Effect: The Basic Forgetful Freddie routine:
The performer shows a cut-out figure of a small boy. He tells a tale of Forgetful Fred, the boy who is so forgetful he sometimes loses his head. The head is lifted off and wrapped in a handkerchief. A member of the audience holds it. The performer explains how embarrassing it was for the boy to walk around with no head.

Finally his mother had a brilliant idea. She blew up a balloon and tied it on his shoulders in place of his misplaced head. The only trouble was that his friends started to call him Balloon Head. This is more than any small boy should be made to stand so the magician says that he will solve the problem. He takes hold of a corner of the cloth that covers the head and whisks it out of the spectator’s grasp. Instantly the balloon breaks and the head is back on Forgetful Fred’s shoulders.

Put out by Ronald Haines, and as near as I can recall, the price is $11. Alan Milan and Ronald Haines cooked this up and introduced it at the recent Columbus Magi-Fest. You are no doubt familiar with the English trick in which the figure of little “Forgetful Freddy” for­gets his head, which is replaced by a blown up balloon; the head vanish­es from a “Devil’s Hanky” and re­appears with the explosion of the makeshift “balloon head” on Fred­dy’s shoulders. These boys have tak­en a large figure of the well-known Yogi Bear and made up the effect, with all necessary rights., etc., and it gives such a tremendous lift to this “already-good” effect for the kiddies that you will want it the minute you see it. Apparatus is very well made and decorated, and is easy to present.

(John Braun – Linking RIng, March 1962)
Text Source: Milbourne Christopher – Hugard’s Magic Monthly, 06/1951 #801

Found something wrong? Help us improve things by clicking here!