outdoor magic show – MagicShow.Tips

Doing Shows in the Rain and Wind

I don’t really perform Halloween shows, normally I turn them down. However I got a call for a unique one that I thought was just weird enough that it’d be fun. It was a glow in the dark Easter egg hunt at a Christmas tree farm for Halloween! It’s all the holidays crammed into one, and so I said sure!

The show was outdoors and my show was after dark and that particular night it was windy and raining, so the show had a lot of challenges. The big challenge was that the wind was blowing from behind and it kept wanting to knock my case over. Luckily I was doing my nest of boxes that night. I use the David Charvet No Assistant Nest of Boxes, and they’re HEAVY, so I put it in front of my case and that solved the problem.

The other problem is the weather turned from summer to late fall temperatures this week. It as tshirt and shorts weather a few days ago, and for the gig, it definitely wasn’t! Luckily in the trunk of my car, I have travel emergency supplies. One of the things I travel with is a bulk pack of hand warmers and they really saved me that night!

The final challenge was selecting material. I looked at what I had and saw what definitely wouldn’t work because it was really windy. I’ve worked in the wind before, and can do my normal show in average wind. I’ve also done my show with 40-50 mile per hour gusts, I just wasn’t expecting that at this particular show. I was only doing 30 mins and packed the 45 min show, so having that buffer of being able to select the 2/3’s of the show that would work best with the conditions was a nice luxury to have.

Despite all of the challenges the show was a lot of fun! I love it when interesting gigs pop up!

-Louie

Six Tips for Surviving Outdoor Summer Gigs

This year I’m performing about one hundred days outside at fairgrounds across the USA. That’s a lot of shows outside! Over the years I’ve learned a few things to make performing outdoors a little easier on your body. This is what works for me, your mileage may vary.

Hydrate: If you’re going to be performing outdoors, you need to hydrate. That doesn’t mean just drinking water during your show, it means drinking water the day before your outdoor gig. You need to start the day hydrated. For me that means drinking at least a gallon of water a day the day before my first day of outdoor gigs and at least a gallon every day I’m in the sun.

A good indicator of hydration is the color of your pee. More info on this is at https://www.healthline.com/health/hydration-chart

Sunblock: Use it correctly. Apply it 15-30 before you’re in the sun. I use one that’s for waterproof or for “sport” due to sweating during the show.

Summer Costume: You need something to wear that’s consistent with your character that is also lighter weight and breathable. One thing that I do is have a version of what I wear onstage for indoor gigs, but had a tailor convert the pants into shorts and cut the sleeves short. It makes a huge difference!

Keeping Fresh: Use a 50/50 mix of water and cheap vodka and put it into a spray bottle. I use this to deodorize my clothes between shows or at the end of the day. More info at: https://thewardrobeguide.com/vodka-spray-for-costumes/

Stay Dry: I keep a hand towel in my case to dry myself off during shows when I get sweaty. A magician dripping with sweat isn’t the best look.

Take Breaks: In between shows I get out of the sun. There’s no shame in sitting for a bit in your car with the AC on to cool off.

-Louie

Making it Rain!

Performing as many shows as I do around the country at all sorts of different venues you encounter a lot of things. I just had a new one, it was a gorgeous sunny morning, but it was raining onstage!

What had happened was it was really dewey this morning and moisture had collected on the underside of the stage’s canopy. The top edge of the canopy wasn’t pulled very tight, so it had little valleys the water could pool on and form droplets that fell down on me during during my show.

It was the strangest thing because the audience really couldn’t see this, so it was something that I had to deal with. I did mention it to the audience, so that they were aware of it. That was it didn’t look strange when I pulled out wet props!

I did have to move things around to keep more water sensitive things dry. For example my notebooks (svenpads) I put another prop over to keep them dry.

This is a case of be ready for anything that can happen when performing. You never know what you’ll be walking into!

-Louie