December 2023 – Page 2 – MagicShow.Tips

Sponge Bunnies

Last year around easter I had the idea to make sponge bunnies out that look like the Marshmallow Peeps.

I bought this pack of them last year and I just got around to trying to make a set. The first step was to make a mold of them.

I started to make the mold using actual Peep’s, but unfortunately it was a failure. I think the sugar or some ingredient of the Peep didn’t play well with the mold material.

I’m going to give it another try, but I think I’ll have to make the Peep’s out of clay and then make a mold of that. Hopefully it will be sooner than another year before I make another attempt!

-Louie

Money Paddle Idea

One prop I don’t really like, but spend way too much time thinking about is the Money Paddle. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be.

Is it an olde tyme drink stirrer?

And if it is, how do you give it context for a modern audience?

One thing that it reminds me of is a strop for sharpening blades.

The strop pictured above is probably 18 -24 inches long, where a money paddle is about 6 inches. That’s a small point to give it context. A knife and a strop belong together, so the props are connected.

I glued some black and white paper to my money paddle and now the next thing is to try to figure out a routine to do with them.

Also on a side note, the only reason I own a money paddle is that some were made out of wood from Houdini’s house in New York. I thought that was a fun thing to own, but since it see it everyday, I want to figure out something to do with it!

-Louie

Blankety Blank Blank Blank by Ken Driscol

Here’s a packet trick that I found in a junk magic bin. It’s a twisting the aces style effect with the backs turning blank at the end.

There are a couple of things that I didn’t like about the trick. The big thing with this style of twisting routine is no one really shows all the backs at first. This is easily accomplished with a Flustration Count and half pass. I think the surprise of the blank cards at the end is more amazing when the audience feels like they’ve seen the 4 regular backs.

-Louie

Chinese Flame Clock

The Chinese Flame Clock is an interesting magic trick. This was invented by Ed Massey and mine appears to have been made by Milson Worth. This style of illusion isn’t really a modern style, however I’m sure there’s someone out there killing with it!

@louiefoxx Chinese Flame Clock! Vintate Magic Trick! #vintagemagic #antiquemagic #vintage #magic #antique #collectiblemagic #louiefoxx #stagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

The trick is really solid, I think it’s pretty deceptive. It’s nothing that I would do, but it’s a great example of creating a method to make an effect happen!

-Louie

Changing Card Tricks

Inspired by Vitaly Beckman’s An Evening of Wonders show, I’m trying to think of ways to eliminate playing cards from my show. Not taking the card tricks out, but trying to figure out other things to use and use them in a context that makes sense. One of the tricks that I do is essentially a card prediction done with jumbo cards and the premise of the bit is the choices that I make in life. I think the trick would work with postcards, and could keep the theme of making choices. With travel postcards from different countries, there is a lot of visual contrast between the cards.

These cards are 4X6 inches which is a little smaller than jumbo playing cards. I needed to commit and buy five sets of them to make the gimmick set of cards or the trick.

Hopefully it works!

-Louie

NW Ring of Fire Magic Club

On Thursday night I made it out to the NW Ring of Fire magic club in Lynnwood, WA. There were about 15 magicians there. It’s been years since I’ve visited this club as it’s over an hour drive (without traffic) for me to get there .

The club president Tony Blei kept things fun, positive and moving along!

While I was there, I won the raffle and my prize were two magic VHS tapes

I don’t have a VHS player, but I discovered a long time ago that the tape can be removed from VHS tapes and they work as hat coils!

It was a fun night and if you’re not going out and meeting other magicians in your area you should! They are a good source of ideas, referrals, and people to cover gigs if you get sick.

-Louie

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Matthew Laslo

On this episode we welcome in the youngest person we have interviewed Matthew Laslo. We learn about how he started in magic, what it was like being the only magician in his town and where he looked to for inspiration.

Moisture festival podcast with matt baker, louie foxx and matthew laslo

He tells us about all the people who has helped him a long the way and some of his great success’s including multiple TV appearances and a crazy trip to China. We also learn how he came to be a part of the touring Broadway style magic show called Shazam. A great interview with a fantastic young performer.

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Vitaly Beckman – An Evening of Wonders!

Last week my daughter and I drove two and half hours to see Vitaly Beckman’s show. I saw Vitaly’s show about eight years ago at a casino and I liked it then.

I think Vitaly’s show is one of the most original magic show’s I’ve seen in a while! The only thing that was really a an “old plot” was his card in bottle, and it’s still a great routine! He’s got great presentational hooks for his routines and lot of them are about art and photography.

He’s got a really fun way of picking people from the audience, and it’s something I wish I had thought of as it’s fun and confirms the randomness of the selection!

It was also great to see how he uses projection in his show. He had graphics that highlighted the effects he was doing to create a mood. Also the close up camera wasn’t overused and just about everything could be seen without projection if it wasn’t available.

One of the things I like is how he’s adapted playing card moves to other objects, like photographs or drivers licenses. That’s something that makes him stand out, he’s using objects that are way more relatable than cards! It’s super smart! In my virtual shows and a few live show I’ve used Polaroids in place of playing cards. It’s something I really should go back and explore more as it’s a great way to add relatable context to what would otherwise just be a card trick.

I should note that Vitaly’s ending is amazing! He asked to share what it is, but it’s super fun, and amazing!!!

If he’s performing in your area, buy a ticket! I left Vitaly’s show inspired to work harder on my show.
-Louie

Visual Obstacles

A couple of days I wrote about the podium struggle at a gig, but that’s not the only challenge at the gig. After I had set up, the event planner filled the front of the stage with prizes.

These were to be raffled off after my show. These create a huge visual distraction and barrier between the audience and me. Also, I was standing when I took the picture, so if you were sitting, you’d be looking up at them and they obscure more of performing area.

Not being able to see the whole performer does make a difference. Bob Fitch once told me “Acting is in the feet“, and while I’m not exactly acting, seeing as much of me helps. This is also why you want to try to avoid doing a low show. If you were sitting on stage left, anything I did that was below my belly button wouldn’t be seen.

You can read a post about removing stage monitors I wrote a while ago here.

During the opening of my show, I do something at events like this that no one thinks of. I ask the audience to turn their chairs so they are facing the stage. You’d think that would be instinct if your chair wasn’t facing the presenter, but hardly anyone does that until you mention it. While there’s that minute of shifting chairs, I looked at someone whose view was blocked and asked if they could see. I pretended to hear them say they couldn’t and I told them I’d fix it and started setting prizes on the floor.

Also I have verbal bits I do while people are moving chairs, so the show has started and was able to do them while moving the prizes.

Ultimately you need to know what you need for the show to work and for it to succeed and do your best to create those conditions. There’s nothing worse than a bad show that’s due to conditions that aren’t your fault.

-Louie
PS the show went great!

Magic Mondays in Seattle

In Seattle there’s a monthly magic show called Magic Mondays. It’s been running for a couple of decades (probably longer) that takes place at a bookstore. This show is basically an open mic for magicians. I always try to do the show if I’m available on the night the show happens. It’s a great place to work on new material for a friendly audience.

alakasam, master payne, eric stevens and louie foxx

Normally the show is hosted by Jim Earnshaw, but he had a family emergency, so I stepped in and hosted the show!

The fun thing about last night’s show was the variety in styles of magic that was performed. This show is the best deal magic show deal in Seattle as it’s FREE! You never know who you’ll see, from beginners, to magician on tour that happen to be in Seattle and have a night off and everything in between!

This show happens the 2nd monday of the month at 6:30pm! It’s totally worth checking out if you’re in Seattle!

-Louie