Solving the Cube…

In my continuing quest to make things play bigger, I’ve finally altered a trick that I used close up to hopefully have it play for a bigger audience. The trick started as Huge Shelley’s iCube trick. The problem with his set up was that I found using my phone as a thumper was unreliable. The bluetooth would drop, or I wouldn’t necessarily be able to feel the vibrations.

I then got a ProMystic MD Mini, which is completely reliable. I just didn’t like the look of the cube, so I put the guts into the shell that came with icube and have a little prop that works great for close up!

The next challenge is how to make it play bigger. Right now the cube is about 3/4 of an each on each side. The obvious way it to scale it up to a bigger cube. For that I picked up a Meffert’s Oskar’s Treasure Cube with is a Rubik’s Cube that had a compartment inside.

I put the MD Mini that’s inside the iCube shell into the treasure cube and secured it with sponge. Now I that can be seen in a bigger venue. The next challenge is to figure out a way to show the selected side of the cube. This was a bit of a challenge because if it’s held up and show by someone in the audience, they won’t necessarily do a good job displaying it.

To solve this, I went with an obvious solution, and that’s to put the die is a box with a lid.

The box was a very quick and simple 3D print to design and it only displays one side. No I can simply ask the person to, “take off the lid and show it to the audience” and there’s no issue with displaying the selected color. As a bonus, if the trick ever fails me, I now have an out. I can use it like the old color block trick where you put the lid on the side!

Gig Requirements…

It was only a matter of time before I got an inquiry for a gig that required me to be fully vaccinated.

Personally I have no objection to getting the COVID vaccine and knew that not having it may affect my ability to work. I got my vaccine the first chance I was eligible to get it. The big thing to consider is time…if you get the two shot version, you’ve got five weeks until you are fully vaccinated. The waiting period could cost you some work if you wait until the last minute to get it.

I’m not a doctor and don’t take this as medical advice, but for me getting the vaccine at the first chance I had was a good business decision!

Soccer Balls!!

About fifteen years ago I attended one of Gazzo‘s masterclasses on street shows. The main focus was on the Cups and Balls, but he also taught the tossed out deck, egg bag and one other card routine. I did his cups and balls routine for a long time, and occasionally still do it.

One of the things that he used in his routine were some fairly unique balls. They were little soccer balls, but they had a texture and density that I had never come across before. The were great and became the standard for many street performers. Unfortunately he hasn’t sold them for years. They feel like something you could walk into any toy shop and buy, however after years of searching I’d never come across them…until recently.

It turns out that I had been looking in the wrong place for them. I found them at the hardware store! I was shopping for something else, and happened to notice them, bought one and it was exactly the same thing!

I wish I was still doing the cups and balls in my main show, as this discovery would have come in super handy a decade ago! The moral of the story is to keep your eyes open, an ideas in the back of your head. As you move through life, look around!

Friends of Magic (The Society of American Magicians)…

There are somethings in magic that confuse me and somethings that don’t. The big one that makes total sense is the decline of membership in magic clubs. There are several reasons why, but the main one is the internet. You can get you gossip, see new tricks, etc online. The second, closely behind the first is most clubs are d*cks to younger people. Old people telling kids who are into flourishes that what they are doing is wrong. It doesn’t matter how you get into magic or what you like, welcome them into the club.

Last night I saw this ad from the Society of American Magicians for the SAM Friends of Magic:

I’m trying to figure out why think selling this is a good idea. It’s all stuff that should be included in your membership! This is like a “light” version of full membership, but being sold as an separate product. Is this trying to generate revenue or increase the Society of American Magician’s membership numbers?

I think it’s ultimately going to do neither.

Releasing New Magic…

take up reel

Recently I released my Take Up Reel through Hocus Pocus and the response has been amazing. Honestly, I thought they would sell two of them, but they are selling as quickly as I can make them!

I just want to say “thank you” to everyone that has supported this magic release. It’s been several years in the making. From the initial development of it to me road testing and tweaking it…to having other people road test it and doing some more tweaking.

Here’s the next batch of Take Up Reels that are going out.

I wish these reels were easier to make, they take about a week from start to finish to make…and I can only do them in small batches.

Here’s some advice if you are thinking of putting out a magic product, actually put in the time to work it out. Don’t rush ideas out to the market. There’s soo much that’s put out that you can tell wasn’t really tested out on audiences in the real world…whether that’s an in person or virtual show.

Double Check Your Props!

When doing the full show it’s easier for me to be set up confidently than it is when doing bits of the show out of the full show context. Last week I was recording some bits for a TV show and it was really stressful making sure that I had all that I needed for each routine.

Unlike a live show, you don’t have the freedom to make a joke and then rummage through your case. Sure on TV you can do reshoots, but doing them because you forgot to set a prop is pretty unprofessional.

I only forgot to set one prop for one routine. It was a dry erase marker, and luckily I had a sharpie in my pocket. I used the sharpie and ruined the prop (or at least made it harder to reuse) but the only person who would know is me!

The Places We’ll Go…

I’m home now from a taping of a TV show in Burbank and sometimes there are moments when I reflect on where my dopy little show has taken me. The picture below was taken as I was about to leave my dressing room at the studio at the end of the day.

After having not really done the show in a year, to having done a few cool shows right out of the gate as things open up. It’s amazing where my stupid little ideas packed into that Pelican 1615 case have taken me. I think it’s important to look at what you’ve done with your art and why you do it. I do it to show people my ideas, and to see cool places. As a kid who never went anywhere, my show has taken me all across North America!

Support the Variety Arts!

In Seattle we have the legendary Moisture Festival, which is the largest and longest running variety arts festival in the world. You may see the posts about the podcast that I cohost on this blog as well. Previously you had to attend the festival in person, but his year they are doing a virtual festival.

The festival runs April 1-4 and you can get tickets at:
https://moisturefestival.strangertickets.com/upcominghttps://moisturefestival.strangertickets.com/upcoming



Each show is different and it’ll be a ton of fun! Here’s the line up:

April 1st: Ron W. Bailey, Manuela Horn, Georgetown Orbits, Roxana Küwen, Mathieu Bolillo, Charly Castors, Christine Lavin, Alex Feldman, Della Moustachella, Leah V. Jones, Avner the Eccentric, Frank Olivier, Bill Robison, Paul Morocco & Olé

April 2nd: Kevin Joyce, Doc Sprinsock & the SANCApators, Pam Severns, Hilary Chaplain, Gazzo, Carla Ulbrich, Benedikt Negro, Al Simmons, Circus Luminescence, Jody Poth, TAQUEET$!, Tempo Turn, Tom Noddy, Mik Kuhlman, Esther de Monteflores

April 3rd: Lindsay Benner, Naked Truth, Jack and Jeri Kalvan, Kenny Raskin, Junior Cesar, Steve Owens, Stevie Coyle, Martin Mall, Miss Ekaterina, Al Simmons, PJ Perry

April 4th: Caela Bailey, Fremont Philharmonic Orchestra, Wang Hong, Unique Derique, Ropeworks Interactive Jump Rope, Mr P.P., Amy G, Sylvia Rose, Mat Plendl, Uncle Bonsai, Michael Paul, Duo Rose, Godfrey Daniels

Quarantining With Props….

Yesterday I mentioned that I’m out of town performing. I had to fly to this gig and it’s been a while since I’ve had to fly. Here’s the gear I use to fly:

The Pelican Air 1615 carries my show props, then the suitcase holds my costumes, non show clothes and other personal items. The particular gig I’m out for right now required me to go from the airport to the hotel and quarantine for two days. Then I have to go direct from the hotel to the gig…in addition to passing several COVID tests over the course of about a week.

This has presented some unusual challenges. Normally I would buy a few of the “grocery store” props once I got to the city I’m performing in. That’s not an option for this gig due to the quarantine. I had carry onto the plane some items that are semi fragile.

One of the hard things was travelling with bananas that I intend to use several days later was finding green bananas (that would be nice and yellow in three days). I ended up having to go to a restaurant supply place and had to buy a box of green bananas!

I could have had the production provide the bananas, however in the past when I’ve had them provided for me, they always give me the worst bananas. Same with the crackers…I rarely get exactly what I ask for. The trick is pretty specific to what I need. For example, I use unsalted crackers as they are easier to write on than salted crackers. I’m just trying to eliminate a headache before it happens.

Three Inches Too Long…

Yesterday I was back home briefly before flying to Los Angeles to record a few routines for a TV show. While I was packing up to fly, I learned that the speaker stand that I’ve been using in my virtual shows as my table base didn’t fit into my case, it was about 3 inches too long! I switched to using a speaker stand early into doing virtual shows because I was able to raise it higher than a traditional magician’s table. That made it easier to frame my face and table in the same camera shot. You can read more about that here:

http://www.magicshow.tips/magic-show-tips/a-sturdy-base/

The solution was pretty simple, I unscrewed the attachment at the top, then cut off a few inches with my Dremel. Also if you don’t have a Dremel or similar tool, you should get one, they are super handy!

While I was out there I also noticed the smaller bar that moves up and down didn’t need to be as long as it was, so I chopped it in half. That will reduce weight for future trips if I fly with this again. Ideally I’ll just use a speaker stand provided by the venue.

Luckily it was a simple solution to shorten the speaker stand. I’ve always said that being a professional magician is 90% problem solving!