Video – Page 54 – MagicShow.Tips

An Ending to a Gag…

If you’ve ever seen my magic lecture, there are a couple of main points to it. First is to take what you are doing a step further. The second is to put endings to things. This blog post covers both of them. I’ve always liked the Fifty Two on One gag card. If you don’t … Continue reading “An Ending to a Gag…”

I’ve always liked the Fifty Two on One gag card. If you don’t know what this is, it’s a card with all the cards on its face.

How you use it, is you set it face down as your prediction. You ask someone to say any card, let’s say they name the King of Diamonds. You say, “your card is right here” as you turn over the card and point to the king of diamonds.

Funny gag, but it really needs a punch to it. How can we turn the gag into a trick? We could glue a king of diamonds onto the back of the card, and put our prediction in an envelope and force the king of diamonds. Now we get the gag, followed by turning the card over to show you knew their card.

That’s a good trick. It’s been done, but still a decent card revelation. Let’s take it up a notch:

By using a flap card we’ve added a magic trick to the revelation. Honestly I don’t know if this is better than just turning the card over, but it’s certainly a lot more magical!

Also by using the flap card for the change, we’ve added an ending to the trick AND taken it a step further. This is actually something I’ve wanted to make for a long time and just finally making one. I’ll try it out sometime soon and see how it plays.

Louie

Be Self Sustaining…

I love tricks that have unusual visuals. Here’s one of my favorite “novelty” card tricks that I do: The problem with it is the recent batch of gimmicks that have come in have had a very short lifespan compared to the ones I was using a year or two ago. I bought a bunch … Continue reading “Be Self Sustaining…”

I love tricks that have unusual visuals. Here’s one of my favorite “novelty” card tricks that I do:

The problem with it is the recent batch of gimmicks that have come in have had a very short lifespan compared to the ones I was using a year or two ago. I bought a bunch of them over a year ago and down to my last one. I have a feeling that the glue that was used had degraded over time and that’s why they gimmicks aren’t lasting as long.

Luckily I know how to make this style of gimmicked card. I started playing with them when I was a teenager when I got the book Gaffed to the Hilt. If you’ve never made your own gaff cards, the DVD Gimmicked by Andost is a great resource.

I have some time today and am going to make up some of the cards for the hole punch trick. The main reason I’m making instead of buying is simple, I have one left and they’ve been lasting me 1-2 shows, I won’t have time to order more and have them by when I’d need them.

Making my own makes me be able to operate without being a slave to shipping times. I’d still rather order them than make them myself, however that’s not an option if I want to do the trick at my gig today and tomorrow.

The moral of the story is that if you are going to have a prop that you use a lot of, have a back up, or if it’s like this card that has a limited life buy a bunch of back ups. Better yet learn to make and repair them!

Louie

Play Around…

When I’m out performing mingling magic (aka roving close up) I frequently throw something into my pocket that’s not part of my normal set. It could be a full trick, gimmick, prop, or whatever. A couple of nights ago I put a pair of blank dice in my pocket. Years ago I published a … Continue reading “Play Around…”

When I’m out performing mingling magic (aka roving close up) I frequently throw something into my pocket that’s not part of my normal set. It could be a full trick, gimmick, prop, or whatever.

A couple of nights ago I put a pair of blank dice in my pocket. Years ago I published a trick with blank dice in the Linking Ring Magazine. Basically the gist of it was someone selected a card. They rolled the blank dice, told you the number they rolled, and you dealt down the number they rolled. The selected card was at the number. This is based on an Eddie Fields trick that uses a name.

Here’s video from the first table I did it at the other night…it’s been years since I did the trick:

After I did the trick in the video above, I realized it needed another phase. For the next phase I added this trick that’s part of my normal card set, but using the “rolled” numbers instead of any number:

Now I’ve got a little routine…but it needed an ending. So I’m ending it with a third phase where they shuffle the cards, roll again and deal down to that number. This time the card is not there. It’s folded up in my wallet.

I like that in this routine, each time the card is found it’s in a different state. First it’s face down, next it’s face up and finally it’s folded up. By the end of the night it went from OK to pretty good!

So the moral of the story is don’t be afraid to play around!

Louie

Subway Stradivarious or Bucket Drummer

A few years ago the Washington Post did an “experiment” where they had a concert violinist play a Stradivarius for people in the subway (You can read the article here). This recently popped up again on my Facebook feed and and I have some thoughts on it. Here’s the video: You can be the best … Continue reading “Subway Stradivarious or Bucket Drummer”

Here’s the video:

You can be the best musician, play the best instrument, but that doesn’t mean you are the right person for the job. Street performing is a skill, just like playing in a theater is a skill, and those skills don’t necessarily translate. I bet the guys paying drums on a $2 bucket were making a lot more than him.

So why didn’t the violinist build a crowd?

Years ago I was told by Tom Frank that before picking a spot to busk, you look the people’s feet. Are the fast or slow? The violinist picked a commuter spot. Not a good choice and any experienced busker probably wouldn’t line up for that pitch.

Look at the location, you really can’t build a crowd without completely blocking the foot traffic. It’s essentially between two doors. If someone wanted to stop and watch, it wouldn’t be comfortable. They’d have people walking in front of them, or into them.

They also picked doing it at “rush hour”…guess why they call it rush hour? People are in a rush! You’ll do better before or after rush hour when people have more time.

Based on a Q & A I read from the author of the article, that place normally doesn’t allow street performers, so they had to get special permission for it. So the place didn’t have a street performing culture, which is another big factor.

Look at the successful street performers, where do they go? Do they go where business commuters go, or do they go where tourists go? Spoiler alert, they go where tourists or people not on business are. Those people have more time. I’m very curious how well the violinist would have done if you put him in a place with a street performing culture?

Even if you gave him a good time at a good spot, he wouldn’t have done as well as the guy playing the bucket on his first time out. He’s playing “ambient music” versus “interactive music”. Ambient music people walk by, stop for a bit, toss a buck in the violin case and go about their day. Interactive music would be he says hi people, has little “bits”, sees a guy wearing a band shirt, calls attention to it and plays the hook from one of that bands songs. It’s a different style of performing, you can’t do you “theater act” as is on the street and expect the same results.

I guess the takeaway from this is that if you are moving venues as a performer, you should expect a learning curve!

Louie

Inventing a Trick That’s Already Been Invented

I always try to keep up with the new magic that’s out and came across this trick: To me this guy was inspired by David Copperfield’s license plate trick, without the kicker of the appearing car. This is a more practical way of doing the trick for 99.9% of performers and a smart method. … Continue reading “Inventing a Trick That’s Already Been Invented”

I always try to keep up with the new magic that’s out and came across this trick:

To me this guy was inspired by David Copperfield’s license plate trick, without the kicker of the appearing car. This is a more practical way of doing the trick for 99.9% of performers and a smart method.

Whenever I see a marketed trick I try to think of ways I can make them unique to me. I do two things:

Think of a different method: A new method can lead to a trick that feels different to the audience.
Think of a new presentation: A completely different presentation will give you a unique feeling trick.

So what would I do with this trick (keep in mind this is trick is already a variation of an existing trick)?

Let’s start with method. Instead of using a flip chart, why not use the TOXIC force? Now you’ve eliminated the flip board and a visual, so the trick now won’t look like the trick above. Now you’ve got two tricks that simply just license plate predictions.

Next let’s get into presentations. The video doesn’t really have a presentation, and it’s been soo long since I’ve seen David Copperfield do his, that I don’t remember what his was, we have a pretty easy starting point. Since we’re using a calculator, you could talk about buying a car and how they talk about all the numbers.

Now that we’ve got a method and a presentation, there’s one last hurdle, getting a license plate that has only numbers and no letters. A google search showed me that all modern plates have both numbers and letters, so buying a used plate on ebay won’t work. However another search showed me that you can have custom “novelty” plates made!

Now we’ve got the routine, the props and method…we’ve got a brand new trick, one that’s unique!

Louie

Always Bring It!

I was chatting with Jeffrey Tam in Las Vegas about performing on Fool Us. He was saying that going on the show just to get on TV isn’t why you should go on that show, you should go on the show to WIN! I totally agree with him, that’s the goal, if you just want … Continue reading “Always Bring It!”

One of the things that drives me nuts is when people go on TV and do sponge balls. That footage isn’t the best simply because bookers, especially bookers who deal with good talent have seen it. That video footage does nothing to help you get gigs above local level. Sure it may help you be “king of the birthday parites” but it won’t help you make the move to children’s festivals, or performing arts centers.

What video of your show makes it unique? Recently I was on a local TV show and I did material that set me apart from other magicians in my market!

The moral of the story is when you are on TV, don’t waste it on doing stuff that will just be white noise to bookers.

Louie

Always Have a Trick in Your Pocket…

One thing that I often hear magicians say is that they never perform for people unless they are paid. That’s bunk. Personally I usually have a deck of cards in my pocket, not because I want to show people tricks, but it allows me to practice when I have unexpected downtime. Stuck in the … Continue reading “Always Have a Trick in Your Pocket…”

Stuck in the drive thru line at the bank…I can bang out a few practice false shuffles.

Recently I was picking my agent up at the airport in Billings, MT and her checked luggage as well as about 30 other people’s luggage were left behind in Seattle. That meant a long wait (over 2 hours!) to file their baggage claims.

She had taken my banner as “carry on” to the plane. So I popped up the banner and did a show for the people waiting!

It really made a difference in the people’s day! Also the trick that I’m doing in the above video was published in an issue of Vanish Magazine from a couple of months ago.

In addition to a deck of cards that’s usually in my pocket, I have an impromptu show that lives in my wallet. This show is short at about 15 mins, but it’s got a beginning, middle and end. This isn’t just a series of tricks, it’s a show. I highly recommend you have show you can do from you wallet. It doesn’t need to play for 500 people, but a good, solid 10-15 mins of close up. The book The Impromptu Mystifier is what got me to put this show together and in it the author gives a great frame work for how to structure the show.

I’m not saying you should force your magic on anyone, but you also never know when you’ll be in a position to perform.

Louie

Finally Seeing an Act!

When I was a teenager I remember in a issue of Magic Magazine (I think), I saw a picture of Mondre performing. The picture has stuck in my head for over 20 years. Last week I was able to work with Mondre at Wonderground in Las Vegas! I had a blast hanging out and chatting … Continue reading “Finally Seeing an Act!”

I had a blast hanging out and chatting with him.

I also love that his act didn’t disappoint me. I’ve seen many shows that I read about as a kid and when I finally see it as an adult, the show is a clunker. Here’s a video of Mondre that I found :

This also brings me to something that I think is lost on kids today, which is seeking out shows. When I was a kid there was no youtube, I had to actually ride the bus for hours to see a show. When seeing a show it had value and a lot of it. I really took in the show, it wasn’t just something that was happening in the same room as me.

My advice to anyone who wants to be a magician is to go out and actually see shows! Go see any live show, not just magic, not just national acts…go see every single show you can!

Louie

Be Content Creator, Not a Content Consumer

Right now we live in a world that needs content. With YouTube, Facebook, etc the amount of content that gets consumed is amazing. Sure you can go on Instagram and do the snapchange and do alright, but that’s all it will be in just alright. We’ve all seen it… So the trick is to … Continue reading “Be Content Creator, Not a Content Consumer”

So the trick is to create content, how do you do that? One easy way is to create around topical things like news, or a holiday. For example the other day President Trump said the reason we’re having out of control wild fires is that we aren’t “raking the forest“. That was my starting point for this quick trick:

I have less than an hour into the trick, and most of the time was spent driving to the hardware store and back to make the appearing rake and then walking to and from the park to record this.

Here’s an example of some content I created based on a holiday a couple years ago:

It’s not hard to create this way. The downside is that when you do this stuff has a shelf life. Material based on the news is a few days to a few weeks. If you create content based on a holiday, you’ve got a week, but you can recycle it every year or every few years.

So go out and think of a trick!

Dusting Off Tricks

I’ve been fascinated by the Any Card at Any Number trick since I was a teenager. I’ve developed and published several methods of doing it. I was going through an old notebook and found this version that I was doing in the early 2000’s This version has a few interesting things going for it, … Continue reading “Dusting Off Tricks”

This version has a few interesting things going for it, like the imaginary deck premise and that’s it’s pretty easy to do. It also have a few things not going for it, like having to use the “magician’s choice” force for the suit selection, the deck can’t be handled by the spectator and it’s uses for another trick and very limited (but not impossible).

This version I call the Imaginary Card at Any Number and will be published in an upcoming issue of Vanish Magazine. Hopefully someone will use the trick as a jumping off point for their version of the trick. For me the method for this trick had me work to eliminate the weaknesses and come up with a better versions. My current version doesn’t have the weaknesses of this trick.

Louie