Sometimes I see people post things on social media that confuses me. I will also agree that I maybe old and not seeing things with a young person’s lens. The other day someone in a magic group asked if anyone still uses a website. What they meant by that is that they only have a facebook page…and that’s how they book all of their work.
I think just having a facebook page is a bad idea for several reasons. First of all you put all of your eggs in someone else’s basket that you have no control over. Second they’re soo much distraction that they can get when looking you up, that you really don’t have their dedicated attention. Finally if your name is hard to spell, or there’s more than one person with your name, it can be hard for someone to find you easily.
Why not just have a domain name you use and have it redirect to facebook? That solves two of the three of the problems of just using a facebook page. If facebook becomes the digital Sears, you can simply point your domain to a new space. You can also pick an easily spelled and remembered domain name that you can give to people.
Having a domain doesn’t solve the problem of distraction. Someone looking to book you will still have all of their facebook notifications on the top popping up.
Domains are cheap at about $20 a year, that’s less than $2 a month. Suck it up and buy a domain.
-Louie
Carry On Magic Show…final?
It’s been a while, but I think I’ve finally got my carry on magic show finished. This is a 30 minute show that fits in a briefcase and could be carry on luggage on an airplane. The case on the stand will go to my right and the applause sign is to my left when onstage.
I think the applause sign is something that adds some physical dimension to the show, so everything in it isn’t a flat handheld prop. The nice thing is while the applause sign is a large prop, it’s hollow, so that I can put things inside of it for travel.
Inside of the case when it’s set up for the show has a lot of free space, so nothing is too cramped inside. I do think I need to find a better way to store the fork and spoon trick, as it takes up a lot of space on the ledge in my case. I think I may make some sort of holder that’s on the inside of the lid of the case.
When the case is packed up, there’s not a lot room to spare:
I’m thinking I’m going to eliminate the stand for the applause sign and put a mic stand mount under it. That way all I can ask the venue for a mic stand and use that. I guess worst case scenario is that if they didn’t have a mic stand, I could simply set the applause sign on a chair or stool.
I’m trying is show out this week at a five day gig that I’m driving to, so I have my normal show with me as well as a backup in case I need it!
-Louie
Short Event Promo Videos…
I think I’ve written about this before, but Hondo’s Flap Cards are amazing! These are essentially cards that change from one card to another. I frequently do quick little videos for events that I perform at for them to use on their social media and I usually use a flap card.
Here’s one I recently did:
What makes the flap card so great is that I can get two changes in very fast while delivering the message. Also it’s a very visual trick that doesn’t have a phase where I have to prove something, like showing a box empty. For me, these cards fit the bill!
-Louie
The Moisture Festival Podcast – Stephon Walker
In this episode of the Moisture Festival Podcast we triangulate locations and interview Stephon Walker aka Swami Yo Mami aka Less S Moore. We talk with Stephon over Zoom and discuss his many characters he has created in his 20 plus years of performing, what led him to create his characters and how his performance at the Kennedy Center was received.
We also discuss the world of pickpocketing, and how one even begins to explore the art of pickpocketing. A first attempt at interviewing where all three people and Stephon was awesome. We hope you enjoy it.
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Large Scale Projection…
In Seattle we recently got our first NHL team, which is exciting. I finally made it out to a hockey game at our team’s first season. At the game for the preshow and the filler during the intermissions, they used the ice as a projector screen
This got me thinking about how to use space like that in a magic show. The rough thing is that in most venues that I would perform in the entire audience wouldn’t be able to see the floor.
They did a bit where they played bingo with specific sections, it was produced well, they lit the four sections that were playing and the bingo cards were projected on the floor.
It was a great use of the ice as a screen and the way they lit the audience made it play well.
I wonder if for a magic trick you could have essentially a bingo card that was projected onto the stage and people stand on numbers. You then have some process to eliminate people and end up predicting the final person standing.
-Louie
Hitting the Road from the Past…
I’m getting ready to head out for the beginning of my “Fair” season of 2022. My first one for this year is also the first one that I had cancel on me in 2020 and it also ended up cancelling in 2021. I recently did an interview with a reporter and did a quick search for the article. It doesn’t look like it’s been published yet, however I did find this one from right before the 2020 fair:
I like how the article does get a little bit of my “flavor” in there about going to ghost towns. It really doesn’t do a lot to put butts in seats, the show description lacks a lot of sizzle. I think it may not have been the writers fault, I may have not told them about the show in a super exciting way.
Reading this makes me remember how important it is for me to convey specific things and emotions from the show. Also, the line about me debuting a trick, I need to sell that a lot more. It’s lacking a ton of sizzle.
The season is just getting started, and I’ll have more chances to work on it!
-Louie
FISM Membership…
This summer I’m planning on attending FISM. I bought my ticket in 2018, so been waiting four years for this to happen. I realized my FISM card had expired, so I renewed it.
The card is less than $15 if you belong to another magic organization like the International Brotherhood of Magicians…and it’s even cheaper if you just want a digital card. It’s an easy way to support a magic organization, and it’s a fun, unusual thing to keep in way wallet.
If you got a FISM card when they started selling registrations for FISM to get the cheaper rate, you should check your expiration date, it’s probably expired.
-Louie
Vintage Magic…
The estate sale that I picked up magic from last week had a lot of magic from the 1930’s. It’s really interesting how magic changes over time and the trends seem to stick for a long time. The 1930’s was the era of everything being nickel / chrome plated!
Not too long after this era, we entered the brightly colored boxes with Asian characters on them. Currently we’re in the time of “everyday props” or props that pretend to be everyday items. However there is some movement to using props that don’t resemble everyday items as a “special” moment in the show.
There are soo many crazy methods to these tricks and soo many of them are over engineered by today’s standards on how to accomplish things. For example this table was used to make glass disappear!
The crazy thing is that the glass isn’t that big, it’s maybe 8-10 ounces! There are better ways to do it…but they’re a little bit harder and not as fun to play with!
-Louie
My Life in Magic – Howard Thurston…
Sometimes the universe hands you a project you never knew you’d be working on. Last week I got a tip about an estate sale that had some magic stuff in it. The magician was named Carroll Wood, and was active in the first half of the 1930’s and was a founding member of IBM ring 59 (Seattle Magic Club). I’ll write another post about Carroll in the future.
One of the things I found for sale was the book My Life of Magic by Howard Thurston. I’ve never read this book so I picked it up.
I just picked up the book to read and noticed something inside the book:
It was signed by Howard Thurston!
This is really cool to me, when I was a kid starting in magic in the 1990’s learning from old library books, there was soo much written about him. The Rising Cards, the Five Card Vanish, the Floating Ball…soo much stuff that really got my imagination going. This was long before YouTube and all I had was pics in books and my imagination.
In the research I did about Carroll Wood and I found out exactly when this book was signed by Thurston, and it’s an interesting story that I’ll write about in the future!
-Louie
Working on Comedy Magic…
A while ago my friend Monty Reed mentioned he was working on some comedy magic, and I suggested we go to an open Mic. Our schedules finally worked out and we went to one last night:
This was Monty’s first comedy open mic, and there are some “rules” that people need to know. It’s always easier to go with someone who has done them before, they can kinda show you the ropes.
There’s nothing crazy you need to learn, however if the concept of “The Light” is new to you, it’s important to know. The light is usually a literal light of some sort, so a flashlight, or phone, but can be something as simple as a someone waving to you or sitting in a chair. It’s a signal that you’re running out of your allotted time onstage. Usually they “light” you when you have one minute left. When you’re new or working on new material, it’s hard to tell how much time you have done and the light is really helpful…if you know what it means!
-Louie