We’re at the end of the summer and the Summer Reading Library shows are done. Here’s look at the props that I have on my person during the non-themed library magic show:
And here are the props in my prop bin:
This show had a pretty simple set up, it took about 15 mins to set and strike the show. The non-themed show had elements of other shows that I do, so it was like a “greatest hits” and was fun to do!
-Louie
I’m really enjoying going through Al Leech’s card magic. His card magic is really direct, which I like. One of the tricks in his book Card Man Stuff is called A Quick Theft. It’s a transposition of a card in your pocket and a card in your hand.
Here’s what the original version looks like:
And here’s my version of the trick:
What I did was give the trick a bit of a premise with the coupon card. I also added the force of the coupon card to get the card into my pocket before the actual card was selected. Finally, I changed the card control, to something a bit more direct to get the selection in position for the trick.
I think it’s a better trick now!
-Louie
Oh man, this ad for a magic prop came through my social media feed. It’s a power bank that’s decorated like a deck of cards.
That’s it.
In theory you can use it to secretly charge someone’s phone by touching it to a deck of cards. This doesn’t really pass the “walk to the car test”.
The walk to the car test, is if people on their walk to the car try to figure out how the trick works, can they?
I’m thinking that most people would draw a straight line from the deck of card that the phone was set on top of to the charging of the phone.
OK, here’s the demo video:
If you pay attention to the video, you’ll notice that it only charges 1% more than the phone already had! If I had magic and could charge your phone, it wouldn’t be just 1%!
I think it’s a fun idea for a power bank that’s “on brand” for magicians, just like a tie with playing cards on it. However, as an actual trick, it feels like a money grab versus a good idea for a trick.
-Louie
A topic that comes up every now and then in social media magic groups is what to do when a kid says, “I know that trick”. Most of the advice given views the kid as a heckler and suggests lines like:
“There are thousands of tricks, how could you know”
“I checked the script, and you don’t have a speaking part”
Lines that try to shut down what the kid says.
This happened at a library show recently, here’s what went down:
The kid wasn’t heckling; it was them simply saying that they want to see the trick! In the video, you can hear how excited the kid was when I said I was going to do the trick.
Try not to look at everything a kid says in your show as a heckle, 95% of the time, it’s not, you’re just hearing it that way. You need to step back and really look at the situation.
-Louie
In a box of old magic, I found a couple of card that were see through, but had the numbers and pips printed on them. I think they were from a trick by Astor, but they had no instructions.
Here’s what I came up with:
There’s not much to it. Force the 9 of diamonds, then steal it out of the deck. Simple and direct.
This was the obvious choice for a real world trick. What I really want to do is a snap change so a normal card visually turns clear! I’m working on it, but it doesn’t quite look right yet. This would be a trick for video.
-Louie
You can read a post about creativity and trick development here!
In the past I really haven’t used YouTube, however I’ve started using that platform to post videos of vintage magic tricks and some other magic!
If you’re on YouTube, give me a follow at:
https://www.youtube.com/@LouieFoxx
-Louie
On a leap of faith I bought a box of vintage magic tricks for $25 while I was in California. I didn’t really know what was going to be inside of it, but I figured it was worth the gamble. Here’s what was in it:
There wasn’t one thing that totally blew me away. The box was definitely worth more than the $25 I paid for it, but not a crazy score.
I’m lucky that I was able to fit everything into my suitcase. A couple of the things are going to move to my shelf!
-Louie
Last week, when I was in Chicago on vacation, I stopped at a coffee shop, and noticed they had a magic trick on the shelf!
The coffee shop was called the Two Hearted Queen, so I expected the card on the shelf to be the queen of hearts. Here’s what it was:
It was fun finding a magic trick out there in the wild, just sitting on the shelf.
-Louie
The idea of using a Nest of Envelopes as a running gag with a magical payoff is taking shape. In the first version of the trick, the magic trick was going to be card prediction. Playing cards are uniquely grouped to allow several choices of groups to get to a single card that nothing else I could think of can. Ideally, this trick wouldn’t be a card trick, but it’s looking like it will.
When I first came up with the idea, as a placeholder for the trick, I used an invisible deck. The goal is to have something more original or less common than an invisible deck. Also, the invisible deck is less punchy of a reveal. It takes time and steps to get to the reveal.
What I want is a single card in the envelope. That’s it, the card is chosen (in 3-4 steps), the last envelope is opened, and that’s the card in the envelope! I didn’t have a method, but with the re-release of Phil Goldstein’s trick Shinkansen, that jogged my memory.
A few years ago I made a vintage magic trick video of that trick:
@louiefoxx Is a magic trick from 2002 vintage? #vintage #magictrick #cardtrick #shinkansen #magic #packettrick #cardsacross #maxmaven #wow #louiefoxx #philgoldstein ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
I also made a jumbo version of the trick and did it onstage as a filler piece. Part of the method of the Shinkansen led me to the method I’m going to start to use to do the prediction in Nest of Envelopes!
If you’re a magic creator, this is why having a broad knowledge of magic tricks and methods is a huge help! Part of the method for cards across got me closer to my vision for a playing card prediction!
-Louie
The Jumbo Tom Foolery Transformation is a series of changes of four playing cards. One at a time, the cards flip over, then the backs change color, then the faces change.
Here’s a quick demo of it:
The challenge with this is that you use the same move 13 times in the routine. I think this routine was originally done with poker sized cards, but then someone decided to sell it in jumbo size to have an additional product to sell. The move doesn’t really lend itself to the jumbo cards, especially with the provided thick 8082 Bicycle Cards!
I came up with a different handling, the move still has to be done 13 times, but I think it makes more sense with jumbo cards. Here it is with my move:
While this is a trick I’ll probably never do for an audience, figuring out a better way to do it was a nice way to exercise my brain!
-Louie
