magic show tips – Page 8

Not a Good Look…

A few months ago I performed at large event where the headliner was a singer. I don’t know much about him, but he has a pretty big following and the event was well attended it.

After the event he posts this on his social media:

I know a bit about the average pricing/budgets for acts who do events like this. I’m guessing he was paid $40k-$50k for the event, which after everyone and expenses are paid out he pocketed $20k-$25k for the single show.

If you’re making that much, why are you begging for money? It’s not a good look, and how much can the begging really generate? A couple hundred, or thousand dollars? It’s a really short sighted move. If I was the booker and I paid you $40k, and saw you were begging for small donations, I’d think twice about paying you that much as clearly you need money and would be willing to work for a lot less.

At least pitch some merch, so it’s a transaction!

Begging for money doesn’t make you look successful, and when you’re positioning your self as successful it doesn’t help that position.

Something I was told by an agent years ago was that she wants to book acts that are successful, and working. She said to never send her an empty calendar, and if mine was empty to block off some dates to make it look like I was working.

-Louie

Fortune Teller Magic Trick

My routine with a folded paper fortune teller has been a stage trick for the summer. A couple of weeks ago I made one that’s for close up and I’m using it for a card trick.

One of the things I wanted to do was a multiple revelation of the selected card on the paper fortune teller.

The first revelation is the a basic, “this is your card”:

The second is a little bit bigger:

And the third is even bigger:

Logically if the first prediction hit, the next two are just the same thing, and really don’t add anything. In practice, when you keep revealing that card, the trick hits harder and harder each time. I don’t know why that is, but it works!

I’m having a blast with this trick!

-Louie

What to Expect at a Media Spot

If you’ve never done a media spot to promote an event you’re performing at, it can be stressful. I made a quick little video that explains how these typically go:

The biggest challenge is the amount of time you’re supposed to do. It’s can be very fluid to where they say you have 5 minutes and it ends up being a 5 second little intro and everything in between. Personally I carry a quick flash trick that only takes a couple of seconds, a modular trick that can run about 90 second to about 3 minutes and a one-ish minute trick. Between those three tricks I can cover most of the time options given.

Hope this helps you out!

-Louie

The Fortune Teller Card Trick

Currently I’m performing at the Utah State Fair until September 14th, 2025. I did a media spot on opening day to help promote the fair. Here’s the quick trick I did:

The full media spot was 4 1/2 minutes and you can watch it here:
https://www.abc4.com/gtu/gtu-sponsor/magic-music-and-memories-await-at-the-utah-state-fair

-Louie

Carry the $10 Adapter

I was working at a fair and there was a local dance group that showed up without any audio equipment. I understand not bringing a PA, but they didn’t bring an adapter to get their phone’s music to the PA. That’s literally a $10 part that’s super tiny and easy to travel with. Because they didn’t have that, they had to do this for their music:

It sounded like garbage and when the dance group is trying to get new students as part of their show, it doesn’t look good.

Personally I travel with all the XLR cords and adapters I need to plug into a standard sound system. Sure there’s the odd time when I run into an unusual sound system that’s really a consumer (back yard) type of speaker and not intended for professional live sound. Those will typically run on 1/4 or 1/8 inch plugs, which I usually have as well.

I should mention that I did have the adapter that they needed, but didn’t let them use mine. I’m not mean, but the first and last time I let a dance group use mine, they took it! That then affected my ability to do my show by helping them do their show. I’ll never let anyone I don’t know borrow things that I need to do my show.

The moral of the story is that if a $10 part is why your show sounds like crap, buy that and carry it with you.

-Louie

Out of Town Shipping Notice

The Daily blog will continue to be updated below this pinned post**

This is a quick heads up that I’m out of town now (9/4)through September 15th 2025

No orders will ship during that period or work on products will happen while I’m away. In stock items will ship on 9/16/25.

**The daily blog will continue to be updated below this pinned post**

Buying a Mentalism Show

I was chatting with a hypnotist friend of mine, who is also a good magician about the new wave of mentalists. These are people who see mentalism as way to “fame” or at least gigs. Many of them are from non-magic styles of performance (like burlesque, or actors) that think they can simply buy some props and do a mentalism show. The sad thing is that they pretty much can and will do fine…until something goes wrong. Their show is literally controlled by a computer chip

I’ve worked with a many of these acts and what they lack is that they’re not passionate about magic or mentalism. They’re not passionate about magic/mentalism, they just know the prop they bought. When that electronic prop doesn’t work, they’re screwed. They don’t have a back up plan.

Someone who loves magic/mentalism knows four different ways to get out of an electronic trick when the gimmick fails or has planned for failure with back up methods.

A good example of this is when I used to do the lottery prediction using Ceseral CUPP. My prediction was two phase, the first was a decent trick and the kicker was the lottery ticket. The reason it was two phase was that when doing the trick if the lottery ticket didn’t print or was a misprint, I simply stopped after the first phase. No one knew the lottery ticket was going to happen, so if I didn’t do that part, it felt like the trick was complete. The first phase of the trick was bullet proof, and really couldn’t fail.

This is where being a student of whatever art you’re doing makes a huge difference! Put the time in!

-Louie

Remote Control Chattering Teeth UPGRADE!

Last year I added an ankle switch to a set of my remote control chattering teeth. That allows hands free operation of the teeth. I’ve used them all summer and they’re working great!

Here’s a quick demo of them:

@louiefoxx I put an ankle switch into a set of Chattering Teeth! #magic #joke #dentist ♬ original sound Louie Foxx

When my summer season ends in a late September, I plan on making a batch of them for sale. Keep an eye out for them!

-Louie

Charles T. Jordan Collected Tricks

A few weeks ago at the Potter and Potter auction of Kreskin’s stuff, I picked up a copy of Charles T. Jordan Collected Tricks! I think that it was the cheapest thing that sold at the auction, and luckily I didn’t pay too much more that the going rate for the book, and this one has Kreskin’s autograph on the inside cover!

This book starts with the “controversy” about the tricks published under Jordan’s name. You can read a little bit about it here: https://www.conjuringcredits.com/doku.php?id=misc:charles_jordan_controversy

I’m only a few tricks into the book and the third trick involves a deck of cards and a rubber band. This is one of the tricks where the method is way better than the trick. It’s fun to do, but the trick is just OK. It’s a card that disappears from half the deck that’s got a rubber band wrapped around it and it appears in the other half of the deck. There are better ways to do this, but they aren’t as much fun to do!

Also this book covers much more than the Dover book of Jordan’s card tricks. I’m excited to have this book and to work through it!

-Louie

Stock Magic Jokes and Gags

Social media has created lazy performers. They crowdsource their research without doing the most basic research first, or worst they crowdsource their show!

Here’s an example of a post recently in a magic group:

First of all…pulling a condom from the ear????? Without context that wouldn’t fly in the USA.

Now let’s get to the meat of what they are saying, they want to put together a list of bits that magicians use. Here’s what’s wrong with that, most of the bits magicians consider “stock” are simply lines that have been stolen over and over again and no one thought to look for the joke originator for permission.

Here’s a publicly posted video from the magician that made that post’s FB page:

Do you think he wrote that joke?

No, he heard someone else say it and he put it into his act. I know the defense is that “it’s so old, no one knows who came up with it“. That’s not true, with a little bit of research the history of that specific joke can be found, it’s a little murky as it has evolved, but some of the history is out there.

That’s all for today, I’ll get off my soapbox.

-Louie