The daily blog will continue to be updated below this notice.
I’m out of town from July 22nd, 2024 to August 8th, 2024.
No orders will ship or work on orders will happen during this time.
If you need something during this time, contact Hocus-Pocus.com as they normally have most of my products in stock.
The daily blog will continue to be updated below this notice.
-Louie
One of the challenges of trying to relearn to do a street style show is trying to figure out what the show is. Is it a close up show or a bigger half circle show? I really love doing close up magic when roving at a fair, and I’m finding it hard to transition from building a crowd with close up to then turning that group into a circle show crowd.
Part of the challenge is “ego”, I’m finding that I have some fear of losing people and I need to get over that. I’m afraid of failure in this context. I’m pretty fearless on stage with taking risks and trying new things, so I’m not sure why this has gotten into my head. I’m afraid of people leaving. I know that people will filter in and out of the show and that’s just what it is, but I my mind can’t get over seeing people leave.
I did find when I went out to do my “roving” set, if I immediately put up my rope front row, that kept me from doing tabled close up magic, and really helped for me to just do the bigger stuff. I do need to make a judgement call based on how busy the areas that I’m assigned to are at my assigned times as to what will be more effective, close up magic or a half circle show. Sometimes there’s very little foot traffic and I think it feels strange trying to build a big show for the handful of people that walk through the area.
Hoping to get some of my fearlessness back soon!
-Louie
The is the lost live episode from the 2024 Moisture Festival! In this episode Louie chats with four different performers! We chat with Maria Margiyeva, Ricardo Sosa, Richard Hartnell and Steve Owens!
This fun visit with some Moisture Festival favorites!
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While I was in San Francisco at pier 39, I popped by the magic shop. This is one of the last Houdini’s Magic Shops, and is run by Vanishing Inc now. It’s a pitch shop, so they’re really selling starter magic, but since it’s owned by Vanishing Inc, they sell a lot of their products.
With Vanishing Inc having a large catalog of books, the shop was well stocked with those AND playing cards as well!
Personally I like the older style of magic shop where you can dig and find strange things, but that’s probably because that’s the kind of magic shops that were around when I was a kid. Also I’m very aware that I’m not the target customer for this specific magic shop.
-Louie
One of the spots that I stop at when I drive down to California is Jerry Andrus’s grave. It’s in the Jefferson Cemetery in Oregon and it’s only a couple of minutes off of Interstage 5. It’s right about when I need to get out of the car and stretch my legs and walk around for a little bit.
I think it’s important to remember the magicians that came before us. Jerry was lightyears ahead of his time! He was a pioneer of cardistry 40 years before it was popular.
@louiefoxx Cemetery Tour! Looking for Jerry Andrus#jeffersoncounty #oregon #cemetery #graveyard#jerryandrus #louiefoxx #findagrave #townhistory #opticalillusion ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
I think it’s important to remember the magicians who came before us.
-Louie
I just renewed my busker permit for the Pike Place Market in Seattle.
I mainly got the permit to play my hand crank organ, however I may do some magic.
I don’t know how much of a chance I’ll get to busk with it due to my performing schedule and busking is a back burner thing for me right now as it doesn’t pay as much as performing my show pays.
-Louie
I just got back from Tokyo and one of the places I visited was the Magic Shop at Tokyo Disneyland.
One of the cool things about the magic shop at Tokyo Disneyland is that it has a custom Disney branded magic tricks made by Tenyo and a couple of items exclusive to that magic shop.
The one that caught my eye was The Magic Churro!
The Magic Churro is basically the Silver Scepter but with a churro!
The magic shops at the different Disney properties always have a couple of things that feel out of place and Tokyo was no exception.
The Larry Jennings book probably doesn’t sell a lot of copies as these shops are primarily pitch shops, versus shops for someone like me. The guy demoing stuff was great!
If you’re ever at a Disney property that has a magic shop, definitely swing by!
-Louie
When I’m performing a formal show where my show is set up onstage when the audience arrives, I have a backstage set up as well.
These are all the props that end up on my person when I walk on stage. I don’t put these things on until about 15 mins before I need to be onstage. Here’s what you’re seeing:
Sure I could set up and keep all this stuff on me, but I don’t. I’m worried I’ll accidentally turn on my mic, or play music. The other worry is that something will fall out of my pocket or I’ll use the pen and forget to put it back in my pocket.
For me, having all this stuff on a stool or table, then putting it all where it goes at the same time is the most sure fire way (for me) to not forget or lose anything!
-Louie
One of the constant struggles I have with performing is audiences that don’t speak English. I never really learned a foreign language when I was in high school and it’s one of my biggest regrets in life. Since I perform a lot in Southern California and Arizona, being able to speak Spanish would really help me out.
The last year I’ve been working on my Spanish with Duolingo and I’ve gotten to the point where I can pretty much do my close up set in Spanish. It’s not conversational, but I’m able to communicate what I’m doing to an audience who primarily speaks Spanish. This is one of the best decisions I’ve made as far as learning a new skill goes!
If you’re a talking act that only speaks one language, starting learning another language. It will open a lot of doors!
-Louie
Last week my daughter and I drove two and half hours to see Vitaly Beckman’s show. I saw Vitaly’s show about eight years ago at a casino and I liked it then.
I think Vitaly’s show is one of the most original magic show’s I’ve seen in a while! The only thing that was really a an “old plot” was his card in bottle, and it’s still a great routine! He’s got great presentational hooks for his routines and lot of them are about art and photography.
He’s got a really fun way of picking people from the audience, and it’s something I wish I had thought of as it’s fun and confirms the randomness of the selection!
It was also great to see how he uses projection in his show. He had graphics that highlighted the effects he was doing to create a mood. Also the close up camera wasn’t overused and just about everything could be seen without projection if it wasn’t available.
One of the things I like is how he’s adapted playing card moves to other objects, like photographs or drivers licenses. That’s something that makes him stand out, he’s using objects that are way more relatable than cards! It’s super smart! In my virtual shows and a few live show I’ve used Polaroids in place of playing cards. It’s something I really should go back and explore more as it’s a great way to add relatable context to what would otherwise just be a card trick.
I should note that Vitaly’s ending is amazing! He asked to share what it is, but it’s super fun, and amazing!!!
If he’s performing in your area, buy a ticket! I left Vitaly’s show inspired to work harder on my show.
-Louie
