MagicShow.Tips – A daily blog about magic by Louie Foxx

Entertainment Trade Show

Most of my work is booked through trade shows for the industries in which I perform. Many magicians have never been to one of these things where you’re selling YOU, so here’s quick walk through of the trade show before it opened:

You can see there are a lot of vendors and many styles. There are some standard things, like a pop-up banner or a custom backdrop. Also, while most promo now is digital, you need a physical brochure or flyer of some sort to put into the potential booker’s hand. Those are kinda the bare minimum, then people have interesting props on display or screens that play their sizzle reel.

These trade shows aren’t for everyone, as you’ve got to work at them. If you just sit in your booth on your phone, you won’t make any connections.

-Louie

Folded Card Magic Trick

Sometimes I have a great idea, I send it to my workshop group, and they tell me it’s been around for a while. My idea was to do a trick after revealing a card that’d been mercury folded. Occasionally, after the card has been revealed folded, someone will ask if you can fix the card. The idea that hit me the other day that if I drew lines on the back of a card with a white pen, it would look like the creases.

I could then top change the folded card for the card with the lines drawn on it. Then I could wipe the lines off, and the card is flat again!

It’s a great idea. I wish I’d been the first person to think of it. I’m still going to play with the idea.

-Louie

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Thom Wall

On this episode we welcome in juggler and modern day vaudevillian Thom Wall. Thom talks about his life as a performer in Cirque du Soleil and how that drove him to pursue creating a one-man show that he performs on Cruise Ships.

We discuss his upbringing and his exposure to ancient Egypt by his father. We learn about his book publishing business, Modern Vaudeville Press, and why he decided to start his own. A really fantastic conversation with one of the premier comedy jugglers in the world.

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Another TV Spot

Recently, I was invited to be a guest on a local TV show, where I was supposed to do a 20-minute spot. This was a longer form interview type show. I wasn’t doing a 20-minute show for them, but a more informal performance throughout the interview.

Here’s what I packed with me:

This was more than enough material for the gig. However, right before I left for the show, I was texting with some friends, and one suggested that I bring my marshmallow routine, so I also grabbed that.

It was a different mindset coming into this interview, as it’s not a linear show. I had to have a lot of versatile stuff and things that would make sense to do if they came up. It was a lot of trying to guess where the interview would go and plan for that. The nice thing is that I can do a lot with a deck of cards.

I feel like the spot went well, and I’ll post video when they send it to me!

-Louie

Flying Spots by Lubor Fielder

A couple weeks ago when I was in Las Vegas, I visited Trick Supply. One of the tricks that I picked up was Flying Spots by Lubor Fielder. There’s nothing crazy about this trick, it’s a paddle trick that I’m guessing he put out in the 1980’s.

I had an idea with it. Here’s my idea:

I’m not sure where I’m going to go with this, however I do like the look of the googly eyes a lot more than the black spots. Now I just need to write a routine!

-Louie

Magic as an Art

Magicians love to complain about how no one takes magic seriously as an art. Usually, those are the people who aren’t out there creating art, they’re doing cover band magic. Those are the people who buy a routine and do it word for word.

There’s nothing wrong with buying a routine and performing it. Just like there’s nothing wrong with doing a paint by number painting. If that’s what brings you joy, by all means, do it. It’s just not (in my opinion) creating art.

How do you become an artist? That’s a hard thing to say, and honestly I barely consider myself one and really hate it when I refer to myself as an artist. One place to start is figuring out who you are and how to convey that to your audience.

Do you like movies? Talk about that in your show.
Do you have kids? Talk about them in your show.

Another way is to have a point of view.
Are you Anti Tax? Talk about that in your show.

The more of you and your worldview you put into the show, the closer it starts moving into art.

Also, I should mention, art isn’t just presentation, it can be the sleight of hand.

-Louie

Devil’s Wand!

I came across a vintage magic trick that Royal Magic put out called the Devil’s Wand. This was sold as a beginner’s magic trick and looks a lot like the Pom Pom Pole; however, it’s a close-up version. This differs slightly from the modern stage version at the end.

Here’s a demo video of it:

@louiefoxx Magic trick is still great after 75 years! #magictrick #magic #magician #vintage #vintagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

In case you didn’t notice, this is totally examinable at the end! When I first found this trick, I watched a couple of online video demos, and all of them skipped that part. That’s the most interesting thing about the trick! That’s a great feature that no one does anymore. I’m not sure how the gimmick would scale to a larger stage-size pom pom pole, but it’s sure cool for this smaller-sized one.

That’s one of the fun things about vintage magic tricks: you find little things that got left off of the more modern versions.

-Louie

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is my annual posting of my Thanksgiving magic trick:

I think this trick is a good example of theming an existing trick to a holiday.

-Louie

Trick Supply in Las Vegas

Last week when I was in Las Vegas I popped by the Trick Supply magic shop. I was hoping to catch Eric Stevens working there, but he wasn’t in. I had to settle for Doug Conn working that day and I’m definitely fine with that!

Trick Supply is a great shop, they have a ton of new and older stuff IN STOCK. While I was there, I picked up a couple of older close-up magic tricks. Plus, with Doug and Eric working there, the staff are very knowledgeable magicians! This is worth a stop when you’re in Las Vegas!

-Louie

WonderGround in Las Vegas!

Last week I was passed through Las Vegas on my way home from a booking conference and performed at WonderGround! This is a magic / variety show that was originally started by Jeff McBride, but is currently run by Will Bradshaw.

I think this was my fourth or fifth time doing WonderGround and it’s always a ton of fun. I ran into a bunch of old friends, made new friends and met people that I only knew from social media.

One of the highlights of the show was running into Richard. He saw my show at his elementary school about 15 years ago and that was his introduction to magic. Now he’s a working magician in Las Vegas!

Wonderground is really three shows: An early stage show, close up show and a late stage show. I performed in the late stage and close up shows.

One of the cool things about this show is that it’s a great audience! If you’re ever in Las Vegas when the WonderGround show is going on, you absolutely should go so it! For a $20 admission it’s a steal!

-Louie