A couple weeks ago when I was in Las Vegas, I visited Trick Supply. One of the tricks that I picked up was Flying Spots by Lubor Fielder. There’s nothing crazy about this trick, it’s a paddle trick that I’m guessing he put out in the 1980’s.
I had an idea with it. Here’s my idea:
I’m not sure where I’m going to go with this, however I do like the look of the googly eyes a lot more than the black spots. Now I just need to write a routine!
-Louie
Magicians love to complain about how no one takes magic seriously as an art. Usually, those are the people who aren’t out there creating art, they’re doing cover band magic. Those are the people who buy a routine and do it word for word.
There’s nothing wrong with buying a routine and performing it. Just like there’s nothing wrong with doing a paint by number painting. If that’s what brings you joy, by all means, do it. It’s just not (in my opinion) creating art.
How do you become an artist? That’s a hard thing to say, and honestly I barely consider myself one and really hate it when I refer to myself as an artist. One place to start is figuring out who you are and how to convey that to your audience.
Do you like movies? Talk about that in your show.
Do you have kids? Talk about them in your show.
Another way is to have a point of view.
Are you Anti Tax? Talk about that in your show.
The more of you and your worldview you put into the show, the closer it starts moving into art.
Also, I should mention, art isn’t just presentation, it can be the sleight of hand.
-Louie
I came across a vintage magic trick that Royal Magic put out called the Devil’s Wand. This was sold as a beginner’s magic trick and looks a lot like the Pom Pom Pole; however, it’s a close-up version. This differs slightly from the modern stage version at the end.
Here’s a demo video of it:
@louiefoxx Magic trick is still great after 75 years! #magictrick #magic #magician #vintage #vintagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
In case you didn’t notice, this is totally examinable at the end! When I first found this trick, I watched a couple of online video demos, and all of them skipped that part. That’s the most interesting thing about the trick! That’s a great feature that no one does anymore. I’m not sure how the gimmick would scale to a larger stage-size pom pom pole, but it’s sure cool for this smaller-sized one.
That’s one of the fun things about vintage magic tricks: you find little things that got left off of the more modern versions.
-Louie
Last week when I was in Las Vegas I popped by the Trick Supply magic shop. I was hoping to catch Eric Stevens working there, but he wasn’t in. I had to settle for Doug Conn working that day and I’m definitely fine with that!
Trick Supply is a great shop, they have a ton of new and older stuff IN STOCK. While I was there, I picked up a couple of older close-up magic tricks. Plus, with Doug and Eric working there, the staff are very knowledgeable magicians! This is worth a stop when you’re in Las Vegas!
-Louie
Last week I was passed through Las Vegas on my way home from a booking conference and performed at WonderGround! This is a magic / variety show that was originally started by Jeff McBride, but is currently run by Will Bradshaw.
I think this was my fourth or fifth time doing WonderGround and it’s always a ton of fun. I ran into a bunch of old friends, made new friends and met people that I only knew from social media.
One of the highlights of the show was running into Richard. He saw my show at his elementary school about 15 years ago and that was his introduction to magic. Now he’s a working magician in Las Vegas!
Wonderground is really three shows: An early stage show, close up show and a late stage show. I performed in the late stage and close up shows.
One of the cool things about this show is that it’s a great audience! If you’re ever in Las Vegas when the WonderGround show is going on, you absolutely should go so it! For a $20 admission it’s a steal!
-Louie
For years, a gimmick I used in my show was the first version that I ever made out of some old plastic packaging and duct tape that I had laying around.
If you want more info on this, it’s for a trick in my 2025 Lecture Notes.
It wasn’t pretty, but it worked and held up for years. There’s still nothing wrong with it, however I decided I was going to up grade it by 3d printing it.
It came out looking great and more importantly working great!
I’m glad I designed it, now if I need another one it’s a simple and quick print!
-Louie
I needed a new prop case cover that would cover the front and sides of my case. I bought a few yards of fabric and got to sewing and this is what I made:
It turned out fine and will get the job done. I think I’ll use this for a bit to see if there are any design changes that need to happen.
-Louie
When I was in Billings, MT I visited the magic club and someone had an Appearing Aquarium. Here’s what I looks like:
@louiefoxx There are only two magic tricks in history that are worse than this one! #magictrick #magic #magician #fishtank #aquarium ♬ som original – 𝑷𝒆𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒔🎵
It seems that the one I saw was a knockoff of a trick called Pisces.
It’s a fun trick to do, but it’s not a great trick. When I posted the video, I thought the title “The 3rd Worst Magic Trick Ever” was a funny title. Now thinking about that, it could be a fun hook for a routine in the show. I liked the idea for that as a hook, and I ended up buying the one that I saw at the magic club.
I think it needs an ending of some sort. Maybe producing a fish bowl, or even something like a gold fish production into a wine glass.
-Louie
Last week we went to see Nate Bargatze at the Moda Center in Portland OR. One of the things that was interesting was how many signs there were for no cell phone use AND people followed the rules!
If you ask people to live in the moment, they are more than willing to! This applies to more formal, ticketed shows than other shows. I think no cellphones is an unreasonable ask for something like a state fair show, where you have a transient audience.
The show was great, but it’s strange seeing a comedian in an arena (over 21k seats), I think stand up comedy is best experienced with 350 people packed into a comedy club that’s got a max occupancy of 283.
-Louie
There’s the old trick in many beginner magic books where you have a dollar bill right-side up. You fold it, then unfold it, and it’s now upside down. I had an idea for that, and something like this has probably been done before.
Effect: You show a dollar bill that’s right side up. You fold it and unfold it, and now it’s upside down. You do it again, but this time you draw arrows pointing up on it. You fold it up again, and this time, when you unfold it, the arrows are pointing down, but the bill is still right side up!
There’s not much to it; it’s just a bill switch and two bills. The second bill has the arrows pointing down drawn on it. Any bill switch should work, but ideally, one that only requires you to fold the bill 2-3 times would be best.
This trick could also be done with the bill turning upside down, but the arrows still pointing up.
This is a fun little kicker trick to the old gag. As I said earlier, something similar to this has probably been done before.
-Louie
