1
general::
Fail, especially in a public performance; make a humiliating error. For example, Carol really laid an egg last night when she forgot her lines, or, as Variety had it in October 1929: "Wall Street Lays An Egg." The term originated in the late 1800s in vaudeville and was extended to nontheatrical failures in the early 1900s.
American Heritage Idioms
2
general::
Phrase(s): lay an egg
1. Lit. [for a hen, etc.] to deposit an egg. • Old Red stopped laying eggs, so we stewed her for Sunday dinner. 2. Fig. [for someone] to do something bad or poorly; to perform poorly on stage. • I guess I really laid an egg, huh? • The cast laid an egg in both performances.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs