Have Deck Will Travel…

It’s kinda amazing what a deck of cards has allowed me to do. I’ve been flown across the country to an hour of cards tricks and paid an amazing wage for it. That and I don’t even think I’m that good compared to a lot of people. So why do people hire me? While I … Continue reading “Have Deck Will Travel…”

It’s kinda amazing what a deck of cards has allowed me to do. I’ve been flown across the country to an hour of cards tricks and paid an amazing wage for it. That and I don’t even think I’m that good compared to a lot of people.


So why do people hire me?


While I do have some technical skill with a deck of cards, I know how to sell it. I can convince you that what you are seeing is amazing, and not just a card trick. I know how to trim the fat off a routine and not bore you.


I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I do for a job!

Listening To My Own Advice…

One thing I love doing is watching other acts and thinking of ways that they can improve. If they are friends of mine and open to it, I’ll share my notes with them. Recently I watched a friends show and they are controlling their music with a smart watch. One of my notes was to … Continue reading “Listening To My Own Advice…”

One thing I love doing is watching other acts and thinking of ways that they can improve. If they are friends of mine and open to it, I’ll share my notes with them. Recently I watched a friends show and they are controlling their music with a smart watch. One of my notes was to get an actual remote, not your watch to run your music.


Using a smart watch to control you music looks bad. It looks like you are constantly looking at the time. Also to use it as a music controller, you need to look at the face of it, you can’t really find the button locations by feel. With a remote like the iJet or Audio Ape you can feel the buttons and use them without looking.


Yesterday I was out doing my flea circus and decided to run it off my apple watch. My reasoning was to simplify a set up and to give it its own dedicated audio set up. This was also the first time I’ve used the apple watch to control music in a live show. It’s clunky as heck when you have to look a the watch and then hit the button.


If you were to use an apple watch, a better system would be to mount it somewhere and push it. Wearing it on your wrist ties up your hands and eyes. It’s easier to glace at your table than it is to glance at your wrist. My advice is to get a remote control unit with buttons you can feel.

Finger Placement…

When doing card sleights, the exact placement of your fingers can make the difference between a good and sloppy move. I was working on a pass with a deck of cards and was having trouble with it. A friend gave me some good advice and said I should hold it more towards my finger tips. … Continue reading “Finger Placement…”

When doing card sleights, the exact placement of your fingers can make the difference between a good and sloppy move. I was working on a pass with a deck of cards and was having trouble with it. A friend gave me some good advice and said I should hold it more towards my finger tips. Guess what that worked!


Recently I was learning Aaron Fisher’s One Hand Pop Out and that’s another move where finger positions are very important. You can make it happen with your fingers in the wrong spot, but it won’t look as good or work as good.


If you’re working on something and it’s giving you trouble, try changing your finger positions, or revisiting where you learned it to make sure you are still doing it correctly!

No, I Won’t Use It…

When it comes to comedy, one of the things that I hate is when a variety performer doesn’t get a laugh or gets a groan and says something like, “you’ll use it”. I don’t like this for several reasons, but the main one is that it’s really only appropriate at industry events (and barely there). … Continue reading “No, I Won’t Use It…”

When it comes to comedy, one of the things that I hate is when a variety performer doesn’t get a laugh or gets a groan and says something like, “you’ll use it”. I don’t like this for several reasons, but the main one is that it’s really only appropriate at industry events (and barely there). This line is probably the ultimate hack line. It’s a stolen line about how people are going to steal bad material!


The performers recently saw do this line was doing a show for the general public, not at a magic convention. First of all without context, it means nothing and it means nothing to all of the soccer moms in the audience. Where are they going to use it…in their next show?


The other big problem I have with this line is that they imply that I’m going to steal a line from their show and a line that doesn’t get a good reaction. Why would I steal the line that doesn’t work? They are alienating me as an audience member with that line. Sure, you can argue that working for magicians is different from a normal audience, however I don’t agree with that. Magicians will like a good, tight act. A sloppy, hack act they won’t.

Great Visit!

The other day I visited a magician friend who isn’t doing too well from health standpoint. I drove several hours each way to visit him. It really lifted his spirits, we had a good time jamming and laughing. If you know another magician that’s not doing well, pop by and visit them. One of the … Continue reading “Great Visit!”

The other day I visited a magician friend who isn’t doing too well from health standpoint. I drove several hours each way to visit him. It really lifted his spirits, we had a good time jamming and laughing. If you know another magician that’s not doing well, pop by and visit them.


One of the things we chatted about was my silk and coathanger routine. This is something that I’ve been working on all summer and have hit a wall. The problem I’m having is that the trick gets stunned silence. Each phase adds to the stunned silence. The problem is getting a reaction out of it that’s not silence.


My friend who is known as a close up guy, but has amazing knowledge of stage magic gave me a great suggestion. He said the trick is lacking the release of tension. Instead of looking for a finale to the trick, blow it off with a laugh. Now I just need to figure out what that blow off it and to try it.

Gozinsta-Shot!

I’m finally back home and I have some video of me doing the trick with the Gozinta Boxes that I had been playing with. The effect is a production of two cups and then liquid to fill the two cups. The beauty of the Gozinta Boxes is the misdirection, you can load anything into them. … Continue reading “Gozinsta-Shot!”

I’m finally back home and I have some video of me doing the trick with the Gozinta Boxes that I had been playing with. The effect is a production of two cups and then liquid to fill the two cups.


The beauty of the Gozinta Boxes is the misdirection, you can load anything into them. The first load, is easy as there’s not heat on it. The second one is still pretty easy to do and the misdirection is still very strong as people are reacting to the production.

Two Weeks of New Bits!

The two weeks at the fair have ended. I did over 50 shows and came up with a bit a day for the show. Coming up with a bit a day really helped me build out the show and turn two tricks that were very bare bones into routines that have quite a bit more … Continue reading “Two Weeks of New Bits!”

The two weeks at the fair have ended. I did over 50 shows and came up with a bit a day for the show. Coming up with a bit a day really helped me build out the show and turn two tricks that were very bare bones into routines that have quite a bit more meat on them.


Doing this was a great experience and something that I should be a lot more often.. It is easier to do when you have a run of a lot of shows .


I think every time you go out to do shows, trying something new is a good idea. Whether it’s a line, or body position, or whatever. That’s how you grow your show, trying new things. If you aren’t trying something new, you’re just treading water.

Clothes Make the Trick

When I’m on the road, if there is a magic show in the city I’m in, I always try to go out and see it. A couple of nights ago I went out to see a show and it was fun. One of the things that I noticed sitting in the back is visibility, what … Continue reading “Clothes Make the Trick”

When I’m on the road, if there is a magic show in the city I’m in, I always try to go out and see it. A couple of nights ago I went out to see a show and it was fun. One of the things that I noticed sitting in the back is visibility, what popped and what didn’t.


One of the performers did a rope trick, it was a good solid rope routine. However the performer was wearing a light grey jacket and the rope was white. Whenever the rope was in front of his jacket, I couldn’t really see it. I should add that the lighting was horrible. The venue had a stage, but it was only light by the normal lighting in the ceiling, no lights specifically on the stage.


This is a good reason to watch video of yourself perform, so that you can see what is visible and what isn’t. Typically I wear black shirts when I perform at fairs because none of my props are black, so that makes them stand out in front of me.


Watch a video of yourself and see what you can see and what disappears!

Gozinta Boxes…

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about an idea I had for the Gozinta Box magic trick. The idea was that you produce two cups from the boxes, then for the finale you open the boxes a final time and pour out liquid to fill the glasses. I picked up a small set of … Continue reading “Gozinta Boxes…”

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about an idea I had for the Gozinta Box magic trick. The idea was that you produce two cups from the boxes, then for the finale you open the boxes a final time and pour out liquid to fill the glasses. I picked up a small set of the boxes earlier this week and have been trying it out.


The first challenge was that the set was so small that finding a cup that fit in them was virtually impossible. Luckily I managed to find something that was cup like to fit into the boxes. With the first challenge out of the way, I needed to try to the trick to see if it actually played well.


It does play well, just not HUGE. I think part of it is scale, the boxes and cups are tiny. Right now I’m producing about two thimbles full of liquid, with is virtually nothing. With a larger cup, one that’s close to a shot glass size, I think it’ll play much better.

Another Joke…

Yesterday at the fair a friend of mine watched me show and said he felt like the fishing pole breaking needed more than me just reacting. It needed a joke with a couple of tags. I think he’s right. Currently it breaks, I react and we move on. A verbal joke will get a little … Continue reading “Another Joke…”

Yesterday at the fair a friend of mine watched me show and said he felt like the fishing pole breaking needed more than me just reacting. It needed a joke with a couple of tags. I think he’s right. Currently it breaks, I react and we move on. A verbal joke will get a little more time out of it and make it more worthwhile to carry around.


Here’s what I started saying after I react to the broken pole:
“That’s the last time I buy a fishing pole on Tinder”

Not the best joke, but maybe I could tag it with:
“I should have gotten the one on Plenty of Fish”


The fishing pole doesn’t really serve a purpose other than it breaking right now. I need to remake the reel so that it has a bigger center, so that the few turns that actually happen move in a few feet of yarn. Luckily it’s a prop that doesn’t take up a lot of space in my case.