The magic review site Magic Orthodoxy has a blog about getting started performing magic for people you don’t know. It’s called Talking to Strangers and I was a guest on it!
You can listen to my episode on Spotify at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7nX5NWXTQ2TmoX52uyPjhj
and you can watch it here:
Hope you learn something from my past experiences!
-Louie
For a show I’m doing in a couple of months, I needed a way to force a number (really a position in a row of things). I didn’t want to use the Hot Rod Force, and my normal default is the Quinta Force, but I wanted to try to figure out something new.
My idea was to put a die in a film can and have someone shake it, and that would force the number.
First of all, I didn’t want to use a die that’s missing a number, and you eliminate numbers as they’re rolled. I’ve seen too many shows where that method is used, and it takes forever to get the last item eliminated, as that number just doesn’t come up.
Other methods I didn’t want was to use a die that’s all the same number or a magnetic die. My goal was to try to come up with a NEW method before I resorted to old methods. Even if I don’t use the method I came up with, it’s fun to try.
Here’s what I came up with:
I think this method had potential. Is it a lot of work to accomplish what a magnetic die could do? Yep.
Is the method interesting? Yep!
-Louie
A while ago, I made a set of natural shells and then made a silicone mold of them. I used that mold to make a bunch of resin shells for a shell game workshop. One of those resin shells recently got 3d scanned and I’ve started printing them!
These are a great beginner set or set to throw in your backpack to carry around and not beat up a nicer set.
You can find or more or order a set at:
https://www.magicshow.tips/shell-game/
-Louie
On this episode, we welcome Quantum Tease PhD. We talk about her life growing up in Belgium and why she decided to go to Scotland to get her PhD.
We learn that their college offered a comedy class, which led them to many creative outlets, including comedy, music, producing, and burlesque. We discussed their move to Seattle and how it was the perfect place for her to expand across all those outlets. A great conversation with a fantastic performer.
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Here’s a “touch the screen” style magic trick for Valentine’s Day. You have a list of five words in this order:
Kiss | Heart | Love | Roses
“These are all things that I can give my wife“
They touch one of them and spell that word, JUMPING, one word per letter. They can move back and forth, but once they hit an end (kiss or roses), they must turn around and go the other way.
They do that, and if they follow directions, they will be on either the world Kiss or Love.
Eliminate the word ROSES. What’s left is:
Kiss | Heart | Love
“Valentine’s Day isn’t about exclusion, so we’ll still use roses. Spell that word, jumping one space per letter.“
When they do that, they will be on the word Heart.
Eliminate the word LOVE. What’s left is:
Kiss | Heart
“Spell the name of person you love, jumping one word per letter.”
At this point, they could be on either Kiss or Heart. For this example, they are on Kiss. You call attention to an envelope that’s been on the table the whole time.
“In this envelope is what I gave my wife on our first Valentines Day Together”
This is a multiple out at this point, the envelope has two openings with each option on its own side. You simply remove the matching prediction and the two prediction are:
“Tickets to KISS!”
There you go, a fun magic trick for Valentine’s Day!
-Louie
My favorite playing cards are Old Stock Bicycle Playing Cards from Cincinnati. As I travel I find sealed decks in junk shops and always try to buy them. Sometimes people want way to much for them, but usually I get them for about $2 a deck, and never pay more than $3. Over the years I’ve filled a bin of them!
These decks faro beautifully out of the box! They also last longer than the Bicycle Cards that are currently sold. I don’t use these for shows, they are for practice / play for me. When I have a good deck, I’m more motivated to practice than with a deck that’s inferior.
For shows I use new decks, these are good for about an hour (or one set), which is fine because so many cards will get destroyed in that set that I replace the deck each set.
-Louie
The book Mr. Fingers: The Magic of Irv Weiner came in the mail the other day and I’m excited to start digging through it!
I’ve done Irv’s Red Tape Thumb Tie in my show for a while and have read many other the booklets of his routines. Somehow books that I’m excited to read show up when I’m not in a position to read them for a while. I’ve gotta finish up reading The Bat, which I’m almost done with and have a few projects in the workshop to finish up before I can start this book.
Once I get into it, I’ll write a review.
-Louie
On my Facebook page I’ve started posting OUT OF CONTEXT VINTAGE MAGIC ILLUSTRATIONS. These are pictures from old magic books that I’ve come across that without context look strange. Here are the ones I’ve posted so far:
I normally post these on Sundays on my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/louie.foxx/
Pop over there, all of these are public, however if we’re not friends, shoot me a friend request!
-Louie
I’m still working through The Bat magic magazine and I can across this notice about a magic show:
It’s crazy how bad this magic show must have been that the local magic club had to take out an ad to say they had nothing to do with it! It’s also a flash back to a time when magic clubs were bigger and had some more “influence”.
Today most magic clubs struggle with getting/keeping members.
-Louie
I don’t think I wrote a post about seeing the That’s Magic at the White Rabbit Theater in Reno. This is an illusion show presented by Kaileigh and Chase Hasty. I saw the show with 17 magicians!
They do a great job with the magic show. It’s a fairly standard magic show, but they have some original “bits” with the effects they do. Chase does a great job of being in the moment during the show. With a seven day a week schedule, I’d imagine it’s easy fall into being robotic onstage.
The show is more than illusions, Chase shows he has some skill doing ball and card manipulation and Kaileigh does the aerial silks, so it’s not just “store bought” stuff, which I appreciate!
The show uses a lot of lighting cues, which really adds to the theatricality (Is that a word?) of their magic show. Lighting cues really make a show feel bigger. At some point, I should find someone to write some basic ones for me to use when I work in theaters. Just one or two, so it adds visual texture to the show.
I really enjoyed the show, and it’s worth checking out, there’s a lot you can learn by watching it.
-Louie
