The card revelation that I’m playing with got tested out at the fair, and it’s getting good reactions:
It’s not the most magical trick ever, it’s a novelty revelation. Sure there are layers to it, like showing the backs of the cards, but at the end of the day if anyone wanted to explain it, they’d say you turned the cards over.
I did have an idea this morning that might make it a little more magical. What if I did the turn over of the fan while they weren’t looking. So when the look back at the fan it’s changed to all the same card. I’ll have to try to figure out a moment to flip the fan, so it’s not like I’m intentionally making them look away.
I spent some time splitting cards, so that they fan wouldn’t be super thick and glued them over the existing backs of the cards on the fan, and added a flap card
I’m happy to report from a technical standpoint, the trick functions properly. The next step will be to actually try it for an audience!
Last week I was performing about 45 minutes from Tuscon, AZ in a small town. I saw there was a magic shop in Tuscon, so I made the drive up to William’s Magic. I had heard of Williams Magic in the past, they had a mobile magic shop that travelled the country and went to magic conventions and clubs.
I had a blast chatting with Emory and while it’s mostly a pitch shop, he had a few things that I needed (like a double face deck).
The district that the shop was in allowed walking beers, so it was a rare occasion that I got to have a local beer in a local magic shop!
I always try to be good about supporting magic shops when I travel. If you don’t support them, you can’t complain when they close! -Louie
When you are out performing, I always try to keep an eye out for photo ops. Moments where I can take a picture and it will make good social media content. Once you do this a while you start to have some ones you do often. Things like a dog watching my flea circus or law enforcement playing the three shell game!
Once you have a few “hits” you know what to look for, but don’t get soo blinded by the hits that you aren’t on the look out for new things!
For example the new thing I’m doing where I peel the picture off of the card and stick it onto a kid. This is a great photo op!
When I was younger I used to dice stack and was pretty good at it…but that was 20 years ago. I’ve played with it off and on over the last few decades, but never really worked too hard at in. I’m trying to keep up the skill, and not sure what I want to do with it, but I’d like to get past a bit of the basic skill I’ve retained.
This week at the AirBnB, I put my dice and cup in the kitchen and whenever I walk by it I have to practice!
I have a little three phase routine that I have to do. It’s four dice one at a time, then two pairs of two and finally all four dice at once. If I fail on any of the stacks I need to start over. This should help me get my skills back a little bit. Once I get those stacks consistent, I’m going to start working on some more exotic stacks.
Sometimes I have ideas that I know I’ll never do and just aren’t practical, but I want to try them to see how they actually play out. What I wanted to do was add a FISM Flash to the vanishing birdcage. I recently acquired a FISM Flash in a box of used magic, so I was able to give it a try!
I think it does add something to the effect, however I don’t think what it adds makes it worth all of the extra wiring that’s around your body. It would be good for a short act, or a TV spot, but not as something I’d do in a full show.
I’m probably not the first person to try combining the FISM Flash and the Vanishing Birdcage, and I’m sure most people who have tried it came to the same conclusion, which is it’s just not that practical. -Louie
One of the things I hate is when people tell me they “have a joke that I can use in my act“, then proceed to tell the me the lamest, street joke. I always let them tell it to me, and laugh to be polite, but it’s never a good or original joke.
I recently had a musician working the same event as I was “give” me this joke: You show a beer and say, “I’m going to make this beer disappear” then you drink the beer. It’s a stupid joke because everyone gets to the punchline before you can deliver, that and the payoff isn’t that good. I’m sure some hack comedy magicians will tell me they kill with that gag, and if they actually do, good for them.
One of the reasons I always let the person tell me the joke is you never know what it will spark in your brain. The joke made me think of the old Ever Filling Glass. If you’re not familiar with this, it’s a glass that you drink from and then it’s full again.
Here’s a demo video of it I found:
If you pared that trick with joke, you might have something that has a magical pay out.
You show the glass and a handkerchief. Say “the beer will disappear” and cover it with the handkerchief. Pretend to drink the beer from under the handkerchief and then show the cup almost empty. You then recover the glass, say, “it’s going to reappear…now!” and whisk the handkerchief away to show it’s now full again!
I think this would also work with Mago Murphy’s Appearing Beer Trick, you’d just have to work it slightly differently, starting with the full beer and stealing the gimmick while you pretend to drink it.
I don’t think I’ll ever do this, but it’s an idea…
A couple of weeks ago someone asked me what shell game set I used and why I preferred that set. My working set is Leo Smetser’s Three Shell Game Set.
There’s a lot that I like about his set, but the number on thing is that it’s so easy to carry in my pocket. The trick all fits into it’s metal case which doubles as the “shotglass” that’s used in most routines to double cover the pea.
Here’s a little video I made to tell you why I like this set:
For the pea, I don’t use Leo’s sponge peas. I use the Perfect Pea from School For Scoundrels. That’s by far my preferred pea to use with every set of shells.
A couple of weeks ago, I was loading my street show into the dressing/storage/green room at a fair and had all my gear laid out before packing it into it’s cart.
That’s my street show. There’s not much to it. I have a shoebox with close up magic, but 90% of the time I don’t do any of that aside from the card trick that’s my initial crowd build. I’m not sure why I travel with the close up magic anymore, I think it’s my mental security blanket in case I can’t stop more than two people.
After a street show at a fair a guy asked if he could show me a trick. I always try to say “yes” when people ask me. This guy took a piece of rope that was leftover from my show, and his wife’s ring and made the ring end up in a knot in the middle of the rope!
I’m familiar with the trick, but it’s the first time that I’ve been shown it from someone in the audience! I know I’ve posted this before, but people’s magic trick that they show me have gotten much better the last couple of years!
