January 2026 – Page 2 – MagicShow.Tips

What’s Wrong With Magicians?

A magician posted these pictures of himself performing as a Chinese person.

Here’s my response to the picture, which I replied to in a private magician’s group, and not on his public, personal FB page:

I really dislike that magicians still think this is an acceptable way to perform. Performing in “yellow face” has a long history in magic and one that needs to end.

Here’s Jack Chanin (I think, and if I’m wrong, let me know) performing in Yellowface (yellowmask?):

These “characters” are outdated stereotypes. Part of the history of yellowface was to portray the Chinese as monsters and to give them frightening physical features. The long mustaches and fingernails, the bright yellow skin color were to make Chinese people look less human.

Why would any performer who knew its history want to continue doing that?

In my opinion, it’s lazy creativity. In both pictures above, the performer is using the Chinese sticks prop; however, that trick isn’t from China! Instead of putting the energy into creating a unique routine, the performer does something that they’ve seen done before. The thinking is that if someone else has done it, then that’s the way to do it.

I’ve personally walked out of several shows when a performer did stereotype material. There is an exception to this, does the performer have a point of view with what they are doing. Is it social commentary, relating an actual experience, or something like that? In all of the exceptions to this that I have seen, the person never put on a costume.

The moral of the story is don’t do stuff like this.

-Louie

Portland Magic Jam!

In a couple of months, the Portland Magic Jam is happening. I’m not able to go to many magic conventions due to my performing schedule, but this one I’m currently available for! I just registered for it!

They’ve got a great mix of performers/lecturers for this convention. If you’re in the Portland OR area, or looking for a reason to visit, this is a convention worth checking out!

Details at: www.portlandmagicjam.com

See ya there (unless work comes in)!

-Louie

Music and Senior Gigs

There are a lot of misconceptions about performing for seniors at retirement communities. One questionable piece of advice is to use big band music. That kind of music is the music that the parents of the people currently in retirement homes listened to. Simple math will show that if someone is 80 now, that means when they were in their 20s, music like the Rolling Stones was popular.

Here’s the music playing in the dining room at a senior gig. Ignore the piano, that’s a resident playing it at the other end of the room.

When the retirement community doesn’t play music from the resident’s childhood, that should tell you something. The community won’t play music they don’t like.

-Louie
PS You can get my book How To Perform For Seniors at:
https://www.magicshow.tips/how-to-perform-for-seniors-book/

Topsy Turvy Cards

There’s a great little card trick that I think is a George Sands thing and more recently popularized by David Williamson. You and the audience have four cards each. They follow along with you, turning cards over, and you always end up with all your cards facing the same way, and theirs don’t.

The instructions that I learned from said to give them the cards to do the last phase. The problem I had with this is that you’re handing them a packet that secretly has a card reversed. Most of the time, the spectator would expose that reversed card. My solution to this was for me to hold the cards in one hand and they perform the action. That keeps the cards squared, and the secretly reversed card a secret!

Here’s what it looks like:

This is a trick that isn’t part of my normal work, but it’s a fun thing you can do for a group that they all get to do. What I don’t like about it is that the spectator doesn’t “win” and I haven’t figured out a way to make that happen. In David Williamson’s version they do win and it’s great!

-Louie

Vintage Magic Props

A little while ago I picked up a magic box with props from the 1960s. Here’s what was in it:

One of the interesting things was the Joseph Silk Gun:

Here’s a video of one of them in action:

The Joseph Silk Gun isn’t something that I’d use in a show, but it’s a very cool prop!

-Louie

The Louie Foxx Magic Lecture

In January, I have two magic lectures: one was last week, and the other is in just over a week. I usually don’t do many of these, as my performing schedule is busiest during the summer, when the magic conventions happen.

I had a blast at the one last week for the Portland Society of Magicians. Here’s a peek at what the 90 minute lecture looks like in 60 seconds:

If your local magic club would like a lecture, feel free to contact me and we can try to make it happen!

-Louie
PS: you can get the lecture notes here:
http://www.magicshow.tips/lecture-notes-2025/

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Stefano Iaboni

On this episode, we welcome international funnyman Stefano Iaboni. We learn about how he learned to juggle on a backpacking trip and how that led him to a circus school in the Netherlands.

He tells us all about how he had to scrape by just to get through school and what his next steps were after he left. We discuss comedy in multiple languages and how he has transitioned to teaching others to find the funny in everyday life. A great conversation with a fantastic performer.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Another Vanishing Bottle Idea

Here’s another idea for the Vanishing Bottle.

Effect: You show a bottle and tell a story about a friend paying you back for a beer. You say, “he paid me back with venmo, but as a joke he said it was for an eggplant.” You put the beer bottle into a paper bag. You snap your fingers and bring out an egg plant! You then crumple the bag and toss it over your shoulder to show it’s empty.

That’s it. It’s a simple plot with an easy presentation hook. It is also a non-standard routine for the vanishing bottle.

-Louie

Coke Bottle Routine Idea

The other day I was thinking about the modern routine with a latex coke bottle where you put the empty bottle into a bag and it comes out full. That’s a great quick flash trick, however what if I wanted to give it a bit more meat.

Here’s the routine:

You have a paper bag on your table.

You reach in and remove a full bottle of Coke. The full bottle of Coke goes back into the bag.

You then hold up an imaginary glass, and grab the bag from the bottom. You tip the bag as you pretend to pour from the bag into the imaginary glass. The bag ends up upside down while you pretend to pout pour the last drop.

The bag is turned right side up and you put the imaginary glass into it.

You then reach into the bag and remove a now empty coke bottle!

Then for the kicker you remove a full glass of coke!

The bag is crumpled and tossed over your shoulder as you hold the glass up and cheers the audience!

The working is super easy. Latex bottle, empty bottle, and a production glass. You should be able to work it out from there.

-Louie

Louie Foxx Magic Lecture!

Saturday night, I did my magic lecture for the Portland Society of Magicians. This was the same lecture that I did for the PCAM magic convention a few months ago.

This lecture is mostly platform/stage material, however there is a lot of stuff of use to close up performers. In the lecture I talk about how I create original magic, and ways to make magic your own. It’s always fun to share my “art” with other magicians!

-Louie
PS You an get the lecture notes at: https://www.magicshow.tips/lecture-notes-2025/