Making Videos More Watchable

When putting out videos whether it’s social media videos or promo videos for my shows or magic products, one thing I try to avoid are things that can cause the viewer to click away. I’m not an authority on this, but I’ve noticed that using less copyrighted music seems to give me less ads on my videos. That’s the last thing you when someone is watching you promo, them having to get through an ad!

One of the ways that I do this is with music where I license the rights to use, so there’s no copyright issue that YouTube or whatever then tries to monetize. The service I use is Envato Elements and it has a HUGE catalog of music that you can sort by length, style, beats per min and even by instruments!

Another thing that I do on my booking website is that my videos are hosted by JWplayer. This allows me to host videos and not have YouTube put ads on it or “suggested videos” at the end of it. In fact I have the video on my booking website to play “suggested videos” of mine in a specific order if someone wants to keep watching more than my general sizzle reel!

I think that paying for a service like JWplayer is totally worth it as after my promo I don’t have to worry about YouTube suggesting a competitor’s video!
-Louie

Working Onstage

Years ago I heard Jerry Seinfeld in an interview talk about how comics say they should have fun on stage. Jerry’s thought was you shouldn’t have fun, you should be working your butt off onstage. What I think he was getting at was that there’s actual work at being a comedian. There’s a lot more than simply going up there and having fun.

I totally agree with him, you should always be working onstage, that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun or play while you’re up there. Sure there are some acts where looking like having fun isn’t what they’re going for, but the majority of acts aren’t that.

One thing I try to is to look like I’m having fun, and it’s usually easy because I am having fun.

Stage magic


The audience can feel it when you’re having a good time!

shadowgraphy hand shadows

Working your ass off on stage can be fun!
-Louie

First Batch of Take Out Boxes

The first batch of my Take Out Box has arrived to Hocus-Pocus in Fresno, CA!

Louie Foxx's Take out box

The Take Out Box is a chinese style take out box that allows you open it up and show it empty and then produce, vanish or change items from it!

I use this trick at the beginning of my school assembly show to produce a tennis ball. This then leads into my tennis ball manipulation routine.

I’m really proud of creating the Take Out Box. It reminds me of the old Davenports Demon WonderBox, but with a more organic, real world look to it!

-Louie

Manufacturing Magic Tricks

One of the things with marketing magic trick is figuring out the most efficient ways to make them in bulk. Making a single prop is pretty straight forward, you go step by step. When making in bulk the challenge is how many steps per unit do you do before you move onto the next unit.

Louie Foxx's Take Out Box

For something as simple as opening up these Chinese food take out boxes for my Take Out Box trick, I found that doing it in two steps was the fastest and easiest for me. This all goes back to sleight of hand, and the idea of economy of motions.

What’s the most efficient way to move a card to the top of the deck? Is it a pass where you’re moving half the deck or the side steal where you’re only moving one card? A lot of times the situation, your skill level and confidence with the move will dictate which is more efficient.

-Louie

Let Them Have Their Moment!

Recently I saw a show and a performer did a trick with a Rubik’s Cube. The trick was good, the routine was good, but there was a bump in the road. The person that was brought onstage knew how to do a Rubik’s Cube and that led to some awkward moments where the performer didn’t really know what to do.

The performer handed a mixed cube to the person from the audience and asked them if they could solve it. The person from the audience said, “YES” and started to speed solve it. The performer stopped them from doing the solve and moved on with the routine.

Personally I think the performer missed a great moment where the person from the audience could have really shined! Let them have their moment, and celebrate it! Once they get the glory you can move on with the routine. Being a generous performer, you get all credit for what the person from the audience does, plus the credit for whatever it is that you do!

let them shine!

-Louie

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Live at the 2023 Festival with Amazing People

This episode recorded LIVE at the 2023 Moisture Festival features all of the people that make the festival AMAZING! We chat with volunteers, drivers, security and even the legendary Rubber Chicken Man!

You’ll love getting to know the Moisture Festival family!

Thriving From Exposure

How to Benefit From “Exposure” Gigs

One of the thing that drives me nuts on social media are magicians complaining about people asking them to do gigs for “exposure”. The people are super offended that someone asks, however that’s the way that charities operate, by donations. You are a business, and they ask businesses for donations, you should be flattered that they consider you a business!

I will agree that the promise of exposure is usually an empty promise as they think you’ll do all of the work to get the exposure. It shouldn’t have to be that way and it doesn’t have to be.

A long time ago I did an “exposure gig” and was passing out my cards, etc and after the gig they had a meal for me. It was the volunteer meal, not what people attending the gig were served. Everyone was eating steak and salmon and they gave me a ham sandwich and bag of chips. That’s when I decided that was never going to happen again.

The next day I wrote up a document and converted it to a .pdf that details exactly what the charity has to do if they want me for free…but beyond that, how they have to treat me.

Now when they call me for “exposure gigs” I tell them that I would love to help them out and I’ll send them a .pdf to see if we’re a good fit. The majority of the charities that contact me after seeing the .pdf tell me they can’t do what I’m asking for, and that’s fine. It’s putting into their head what exposure actually is. The few that accept my terms are exposure gigs where I actually get exposure and a ton of it that translates into paid gigs!!

Instead of being offended, spend an hour and write up what you think is a fair trade in terms of promotion. Then when they ask, say “yes”…on your terms!

-Louie

Want the Charity .PDF?
Save yourself some time and use the one page .pdf that has my expectations for “exposure” gigs as a starting point!

For $5 I’ll email you my expectations .pdf and you can use that as the template for what you send out to help you survive exposure gigs!
Buy Now

-Louie Foxx

Magic With Recycled Materials

A couple of days I was doing my morning writing and my brain had stalled out and was really having a hard time, then I noticed a cardboard tube on the table. This is a small tube that is in the center of the bags for our dog’s poop.

I’ve spent a couple of days brainstorming ideas with the tube, here’s my favorite:

I like it, the thing I want to change is instead of a wooden dowel inside, I think I want to use a metal rod. Using a metal rod will help with the switch as I can use a magnet as a hold out.

-Louie

Every Day Carry…For MC’s

There’s a term going around magic which is called “every day carry” and it refers to what you always have in your pockets. Typically this means whenever you leave the house, it’s in your pockets or on your person. This refers to props that you would use for spontaneous performances. I’m intentionally not using the word impromptu because that usually refers to magic using things you find around you at that moment.

When I host shows, have planned material for known stage delays, like when an act has props or rigging that needs to be set up and I’m aware that I’ll need to kill time.

Then there are unplanned stage delays. These are when a performer isn’t ready, rigging is taking longer than expected, or whatever. For these situations, on my person I always have a a bunch of material on me that I can instantly perform. this is my MC EDC:

MC every day carry magic

I have material of varying lengths and most of the longer routines, like the color changing silks can be broken up into two shorter routines if needed.

If you are thinking of doing any stage hosting, you really should consider having at least a couple of tricks in your pocket that you can use for unplanned stage delays!

-Louie

Marketing Magic Tricks

Frequently in magic groups on Facebook someone will say they want to sell a trick and want advice. There’s a lot of bad advice (in my opinion) that is then given. One of the things is to go straight to Penguin Magic with the idea, however they usually won’t produce your idea, you’ll need to make it and send it to them. Last time I looked into it, their terms weren’t the most friendly to the creator. You were making product, sending it to them and they would pay you as sold.

A better approach would be to go to Murphy’s Magic and pitch the idea. If they like it and want some of it, they’ll be a couple of options, like you could sell them the idea, they could help you with manufacturing, or you could just sell them the finished product.

Of course by that point you should have done your homework and know how much it costs you per unit to make, and how long it takes you to make them in quantity. Also if you’re self producing, you’ll need to be able to fund making the first batch of your trick as most accounts are on NET 30, so you won’t get paid for a month.

Then you need all of your collateral, so ad copy, art, instructions, etc. Usually you’ll have some of this done before you pitch the idea, but not always. For example my Take Out Box was something that was in my show for a while, so I had tons of video of it that I could pitch it with. Once I had interest, then I went out and started getting all of the other stuff in line.

Louie Foxx's Take Out Box

Personally I’ve made a choice to not mass market thru big magic distributers for most of my products. My reasoning is that going direct thru magic shops I’m able to make more per unit and since I hand make almost everything I sell, it makes more sense to sell a few less units, but make more per unit!

Louie