On this episode we welcome in Sailor St. Claire. We talk a lot about the world of Burlesque and how one comes to become a performer. The different paths they could have taken and how being an emcee is very similar to teaching college.
We also learn about the many different projects Sailor is involved in and they constantly challenge themselves to learn and grow. A great conversation with a prolific contributor to the arts community.
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I love it when I’m performing in the San Francisco area and have a friday night off! Whenever I do, I swing by the Magic Garage and hang out!
One of the unusual tricks we ended playing with was an Eddie Fields card trick where a selected card is found by spelling the spectator’s name. It can be any name, and you don’t need to know it in advance, the best part is that it’s self working!
It’s a ton of fun and a great hangout with other magicians. There are people there with all sorts of skill levels and experiences in magic!
-Louie
Hocus-Pocus in Fresno put out a prop called Play-Duh. This is a snake can that’s built into a Play-Doh style can. I wrote up the routine I’m doing with it here: https://www.magicshow.tips/magic-show-tips/play-duh/
I’m using the Play-Duh props in my library and summer camp shows. The fair I was performing at last week I did the routine for some kids between shows.
here’s what it looks like:
It’s just a solid, fun routine.
-Louie
Some friends and I were texting horrible variation of existing magic tricks. One of my ideas was the “dimmest” D’lite! Then my buddy Chris used AI to make them into packaged magic tricks.
It came out well! He uses AI for his work, and gave me some tips on how to use AI more effectively to create things. I think that effectively communicating with AI is going to be a skill that will be helpful. It’s a modern version of knowing how to use photoshop (which I don’t know how to use).
-Louie
Recently I came across a T. Nelson Downs throw out card! These were used as promo items by the magician, but this particular one was sponsored by Bicycle Playing Cards!
I’m not sure if this was something that would have been given out by Bicycle or just Downs.
I’ve thought about doing a batch of playing cards like this. Not functional cards, but as promotional items that I can autograph after shows. I think it’s cooler than a postcard, and smaller, so I can carry more for the same weight in my suitcase.
It’s a cool piece that’s a great addition to my collection!
-Louie
When I have down time when I’m on the road I pop by junk shops and try to find old magic props or unopened bicycle cards from Cincinnati. Usually I don’t find much, but the other day I found a Deland Deck:
I also found this lid that looks like the top of a dove pan!
The lid was lacking the spring clips inside, so a quick search on Google and I learned it’s the lid from a serving tray. I guess that the dove pan is actually something in real life…well halfway. The metal bowl isn’t something that would have been with it, it would be paired with a flat tray.
I always love finding the real life item that props are trying to mimic!
-Louie
A while ago I wrote a post about me having Trigger Finger, which is a tendon issue in my knuckle. I noticed that it was bad when it was raining, so that means I have an old man super power, my finger can predict the weather!
What can I do with that?
It got me thinking about doing a weather prediction effect. The idea of the trick will be that someone says the name of a city, and I write down what my finger thinks the weather in that city is.
I wanted the prediction to be bigger that something that could be accomplished with a nail writer. After some writing of different ideas, I hit upon using weather icons:
The flow of the effect is:
That’s the flow.
I originally had a step earlier in the process that had me showing all the different possible icons. I decided that’s really dead time, and not needed, because we’re going to go through them later to find the correct one.
The method is really simple, I spent a lot of time writing more complex methods, but this was the most simple and direct method that I came up with.
I tried it for the first time a couple of days ago and it worked! Now to do it more and create a more complete routine.
-Louie
Somehow I got into collecting dead magician’s tie bars! Recently I was visiting with Alan Sands and he gave me one of George Sands tie bars!
If you’re not familiar with George Sands, he created the Sandsational Rope Routine. Most modern cut and restored rope routines are built off of his routine.
Thanks Alan, this will go into my collection!
-Louie
Somewhere along the road I picked up the book Circus Rings Around Russia and recently started reading it. The book is a history of the circus in Russia.
It’s interesting to hear how political the circus was in Russia. Both state run and with views that were anti-government. Performers were essentially blackballed for how they express their political views through their performances.
It’s also interesting that the big pro-government circuses were flops with audiences. I think those shows took away the “heart” of the circus and left the audiences feeling cold.
The author of this book also relates how magicians and the side show are considered lower entertainment than traditional circus acts like trapeze or eve clowns. In the USA magic is a huge part of the circus!
This is a great read and I’m glad I picked it up!
-Louie
For my library and summer camp shows this year, I added a screen to my table.
There’s not much to it. It connects to an iPhone that’s running IQpro and controlled by a Flic Button. The main reason I’m using it is to get used to running IQpro.
I want to be more comfortable using production elements in my show, and obviously the best way to do that is to use them!
-Louie
