seattle – MagicShow.Tips

Learn To Play With Others…

Later today I’m performing in a magic show with three other magicians. Personally I like performing in shows that aren’t solo shows. However I’m amazed at how many magicians say that they don’t perform with other magicians. Honestly, I’m shocked that a magician wouldn’t be in a show with other magicians. I think there are … Continue reading “Learn To Play With Others…”

Honestly, I’m shocked that a magician wouldn’t be in a show with other magicians. I think there are a few reasons for this, the main one being ego. A magician doesn’t want to be on a bill with someone better than them. To grow as a performer it really helps to work with other acts, especially ones better than you and get their feedback.

One of the top reasons that magicians say they don’t perform with other magicians when they post about it on the internet is they don’t want their material stolen. This cracks me up. It’s very rare that the people that say this have anything worth protecting from being stolen. I think they say that as a cover for their insecurities about their show.

My advice is to go out and perform, make friends with performers, get feedback, your show will grow because of it.

Michael Carbonaro LIVE

Last night I went out and saw Michael Carbonaro at the Moore Theater in Seattle. It was a great show, and I highly recommend checking it out. The show was a great showcase for his personality, and all of the tricks were solid! I’ve always said one of the things that takes you up a … Continue reading “Michael Carbonaro LIVE”

I’ve always said one of the things that takes you up a level as a performer is tightness. How you get from one thing to another, and Michael did it expertly. There were no slow spots in the show, or down time.

Eliminating downtime between tricks makes your show a show, and not a collection of acts. It’s not easy to come up with transitions that make sense, but the work is worth it!

Local Magicians…

Last night I was at a comedy show and one of the comedians asked me if I knew a local magician. I said yes, and they had mentioned they were chatting with them earlier today. One thing that came up was the magician said they had a hard time with the local magic crowd. Right … Continue reading “Local Magicians…”

Right now in the Seattle area we have a pretty active magic scene. There are three national magic clubs, then a weekly magic meet up that’s not affiliated with any club. In addition to that there are a couple of monthly “magic open mic” type shows.

The magician that thinks the local crowd doesn’t support them, doesn’t go to any of these magic clubs or hangouts. This magician frequently tries to get other magicians to hang out, HOWEVER it’s done in this way, “Let’s hang out. Come to my show on Thursday, and we’ll hang out afterward“, and then there’s a link to buy tickets.

If you want to meet the other local magicians, why not come out to one of the eight magic events that happen each month. The whole “buy a ticket to my show to hang out with me” thing makes me not want to hang out with this magician.

There are a lot of local magicians who have worked hard at building a magic community in Seattle, one that doesn’t require buying a ticket to a show. In fact all of them have a component that’s free (i.e. you could attend and never pay a dime).

The moral of the story is when you support the magic community, it will support you.

Go See Shows!

One thing that’s important to me is to support magic, and variety performers. Whether it’s a local or nationally touring show, I always try to go out and watch. I do this for a couple of reasons, first of all when I was a kid it was a pain to go see shows. I had to hop a bus and travel all day to see a show at a library, or sneak into a casino to see an act. Now it’s much easier, but that struggle to see shows when I was younger placed value on these shows.

Another reason is to support the performing scene. When I go to shows it does it in several ways. First my ticket helps support the performer. Secondly and more importantly the other performers (especially newer performers) see me at these and we can chat and it builds some community.

It can be hard when you are a newer magician to get into the “circles” of people that have more experience. When I go to these shows I get to chat with them one on one. Now I’m not saying chatting with me is a big deal (it’s not, trust me), but for someone just starting out it give me a chance to get to know them.

The other night Penn & Teller were in town performing. My family went out and we hung out with a lot of the local performers, it was a great night and a lot of fun. Not just the show, but the fellowship with the other performers.

Louie

evaporation Trick at a Festival

Here’s an unknown magician using my Evaporation trick at a street festival: If you have any pics of you using the trick feel free to send them to me! Louie

Here’s an unknown magician using my Evaporation trick at a street festival:

If you have any pics of you using the trick feel free to send them to me!

Louie