When I travel I try to pop into the local magic shop and support them. When I was in Astoria, OR recently I swung by The Magic Shop and More and hung out with the owner Seth.
While I was there a couple of people walked in and one guy mentions that when he was a kid his neighbor’s dad was a magician. If you perform for the public, you will frequently hear people tell you that they have relative or a connection to a magician. I always ask who the magician is, and many times they will respond with something like, “they’re from a small town, you’ve never heard of them…“. I would say a lot of the time I have heard of them and most of the time I know or have met that person.
When I asked the guy who the magician was, he said BRUCE CERVON! That was a fun surprise and we got to hear a couple stories about Bruce. You never know who you’ll meet and who they know!
Also while I was there, I picked up the Max Malini book. When you visit a magic shop, support them with a meaningful purchase, not just a deck of cards for three bucks.
-Louie
“Also while I was there, I picked up the Max Malini book. When you visit a magic shop, support them with a meaningful purchase, not just a deck of cards for three bucks.”
Yes. Totally agree. Brick & Mortar Magic Shops are dying out and the remaining ones need the support of the magic community. Every magic shop owner will tell you they frequently have guys walk in, ask to see stuff demo’d , then those same guys walk out without purchasing (very likely because they then go buy it from an online seller who has it available cheaper — because the online seller doesn’t have the overhead of maintaining a physical retail space). It’s one thing if you see a demo of a new trick and you decide that it’s just not suitable for your style or you think the method is too obvious or the prop looks poorly made, etc. , but the guys who go hang out at a magic shop and ask to see stuff demo’d so they can see it live , but they always intended to purchase it online are wasting the shop owner’s time and it’s just not right.
That’s exactly right, or hang out all day and buy a $3 deck of cards!