Louie – Page 228 – MagicShow.Tips

Last Show…

Earlier today I did my final library show of the summer. This year I’m performing a lot more in a different market, so only did about a dozen libraries. I’ve got couple of things that I learned about a few of the new magic tricks that I did in the show this summer.

First I learned how to do the Gypsy Thread trick for kids. I had to do some focus group work to figure out why the trick was falling flat. It’s one of those tricks that’s almost too good. The kids thought it was “magnet string” and it just turned back into one piece automatically. To solve this I had a kid hold the string, and it didn’t restore initially. Then later it turned back into one piece.

The second thing I learned is that the big fish production is OK by itself. However if you add the production of a smaller fish before it, the big fish production plays much better!!!

I think a lot of people don’t learn from their library shows. It’s a short term run, and that’s it. Personally I try to have one or two tricks that I can use outside of that themed show, and I’ve got two great ones!

How To Create New Tricks…

It drives me nuts when people say they “aren’t creative like me” or that ” not everyone can create new tricks”. That’s total BS, it’s not that they aren’t creative, it’s that they aren’t motivated to be creative. Just like learning a sleight of hand move it simply takes practice.

The easiest way to start your creative thinking is to read a description of a magic trick and figure out a method. Don’t watch a demo video as what you see can affect what you do. Watching a demo could make try to make you recreate that specific the method, this isn’t what you want to do.

Coming up with your own methods is a good starting point for learning to be creative.

The key to being creative is actually putting energy into it. Sure some ideas pop out of nowhere, some are the result of specific work. I used to set aside 30-45 mins every morning to try to come up with ideas (magic tricks / jokes / etc). The key is to do it everyday, I do it in the morning because if I do it then, it will get done. Be aware that 95% of these ideas will be junk, but you are mining for the 5% that’s good.

Fork Bending and Me…

Earlier this week I wrote about doing fork bending this week at the fair I’m performing at. That fair wrapped up earlier today and in 4 days I went through 72 forks. People really loved the trick, however I’m probably not going to buy anymore forks and routinely do it in the mingling magic show.

Just because it gets a good reaction, doesn’t mean it’s something that I should be doing in my show. This goes against advice that magicians give other magicians. They justify a trick in their show because, “it gets good reactions” or “the audience likes it”. If you made hundred dollar bills appear with most obvious method ever and then gave them to the audience to keep, that’s also get good reactions.

The main reason I’m not keeping the fork bending is that I do not want people to think that I can bend metal by rubbing it, or with my mind. That’s not my character, so it doesn’t fit. I’d rather spend my energy on things that fit my vision for what I do, and not blindly do “what get reactions”. Kicking your helper in the balls also gets a reaction.

Time To Wrap It Up…

Sometimes performing for some people can be a pain in the butt. I’m specifically thinking about a person (usually a kid) that thinks everything is a secret sleight of hand move, and feels the need to tell everyone. When they do this, it really breaks up the show and makes it a pain for everyone to watch.

Here’s an example:

I’m doing walk around magic and have a family stopped and ready for a magic trick. The kid excitedly points out that I’m hiding a deck of cards in my hand. I then tell the kid, “I’m not hiding, I’m going to do a card trick, and they are required to do a card trick”. The a moment later after someone has signed the card he tells every that he, “sees that”. I ask what he sees and he replies, “you put that in your pocket”. I ask what and he say he saw me sneak the marker into my pocket. He tells me the marker, I explain that it was no longer needed and I was putting it away. It continues like this until I leave.

I finished the card trick and wrapped it up and started to leave. When I did he mother told me, “they’re a rough crowd”. I wanted to tell them they weren’t a rough crowd, her child was simply an idiot, or an a-hole. I’m sure there was a larger issue at play with the kid, however it’s a teachable moment for the mother and child. She simply could have explained that’s he was interrupting the show and he needed to shut up

However she didn’t, and I finished the card trick and left.

Doing A Trick I Don’t Like…

Earlier this week I was cleaning up and found a bunch of forks that I had bought for a fork bending idea that I had. I had gone to Costco and bought a ton of these forks to work out the routine. I’m trying to use up stuff that that’s just taking up space in … Continue reading “Doing A Trick I Don’t Like…”

Earlier this week I was cleaning up and found a bunch of forks that I had bought for a fork bending idea that I had. I had gone to Costco and bought a ton of these forks to work out the routine. I’m trying to use up stuff that that’s just taking up space in my office, so I took the pack of 48 forks to the fair that I’m working this week.

The fork bend that I created and was working out is the first on on this video:

I published it in Vanish Magazine earlier this year. If you’re interested in learning about it, you can find it there.

What I’ve been doing this week at the fair that I’m performing at is simply putting about 10 forks in my pocket when I go out to do my roving set. Personally I’m not a huge fan of the fork bending, it doesn’t really fit my style of performing, but people really like it.

I think people relate to it because they know what a fork is and how durable it is. When it starts bending they immediately know what’s happening is “magic”. I’m getting great reactions from it, but just because people like it doesn’t mean it’s right for me or my vision for what I do.

I Don’t Get It…

For some reason this week magicians on the social media have been sharing videos of themselves doing the linking ring trick. What I don’t get is why is everyone proud of their linking rings…especially when 99% of them are not their routines. There are a few routines that are truly unique, like the Viktor Voitko’s … Continue reading “I Don’t Get It…”

For some reason this week magicians on the social media have been sharing videos of themselves doing the linking ring trick. What I don’t get is why is everyone proud of their linking rings…especially when 99% of them are not their routines.

There are a few routines that are truly unique, like the Viktor Voitko’s Flying Linking Rings:

There are some great presentations, like Whit Hayden’s or Tom Frank’s routines. However when you are doing those routines, unfortunately you really can’t add much new to them, and still do the routine.

So why are people sharing them?

I’m not sure, my best guess is that it’s a way to get praise for putting in the least amount of effort. Let’s face it, the linking rings isn’t the hardest trick to do from a technical standpoint. Sure there are some quiet links, but for the most part palming a card is more difficult. The real challenge with the linking rings is to make them relevant to the audience. Unfortunately most of what I’ve seen this week has failed at that.

What Me Worry…

It really cracks me up when magicians worry about exposure of tricks where the method is technological. The “exposure” they are worried about is when this similar tech becomes used in applications for the general public. A good example is someone makes a die that you assign tasks to, and have an app linked to it. You put the side up when you are working on that task. The app knows what side it up and tells you how long you devote to each task. This is essentially a tech that’s been used for magic for a long time.

I think there are two reasons that people that are upset with magic tech becoming everyday tech. The first is that when it’s magic, it’s a niche market and very specialized, so it’s expensive. These people are upset that the value of their investment has been decreased. The second reason is that these people aren’t willing to put in the time to learn to do it any other way (i.e. Sleight of hand).

Here’s a good example, many people make a little cube that has different colors on all of the sides. Due to the tech, you always know what color is on top. However if you are aware of a similar device to keep you on task at work, then the impossibility of the trick is diminished. How can you do the same trick?

Here are two ways:

1. Instead of the cube, they write down a color on a business card and put it in their pocket. Using standard mentalism techniques you can easily know their color.

2. You put a prediction on the table. The pick a color on the block and it’s covered up so you can’t see it. You turn over the prediction and it’s the color they picked. Methodwise this is simply using the block to tell you what color was picked, then you use nailwriter for the prediction.

Both methods will have the same impact as just using the tech, but won’t become obsolete when the magic tech becomes everyday tech. The moral of the story is to go out and learn some sleight of hand.

Sometimes You Have To Compromise…

One of the things that I’m proud of is that when I do kid shows, I don’t really do any standard kid show tricks. There are no sucker tricks, or “clown props”. My show for kids is fun and funny, but the most important part is that the show is amazing.

That said, this week I’m making a compromise with my inner artist. I’m making a deal for cash. I’ve taken on a run of shows and two of them will be for groups of kids ages 2-3 years old. You can’t do magic for them, the concept of magic doesn’t really exist for kids that young. I’m dusting off my old Tipple Topple Wand, Nest of Wands and other clowny props for these two shows.

Unfortunately these two shows were part of the contract and if I wanted the contract, I had to take them. The compromise that I made was going against what I want my show to be for 10% of the shows, but for the other 90% I get to do share my art my way.

Is it worth it? I think so.

I Don’t Get It…

Frequently I’m befuddled about why magicians love to do “throwback” acts. Not period shows like at a Ren Faire or Civil War Reenactment, but recreating things like the medicine pitch, or the riverboat gambler. Most modern audience have no idea what they are. They may be aware of them from brief little scenes in movies, … Continue reading “I Don’t Get It…”

Over the years I’ve worked with many people that do a Medicine Show Pitch. I’ve never seen one that the audience was super into. I worked with one the other night, and while the act was fine, it didn’t resonate with the audience because they don’t know what it is. No one ever gives a historical background on it before they start doing the pitch.

That’s the problem with the Medicine Show Pitch, people have to figure out what it is. Also people don’t know that there really isn’t a payoff, it’s just a lot of unusual, olde tyme talk. A simple introduction about what it is would help a lot. Something like, “A hundred years ago, adoctor would roll into town on the back of a horse drawn wagon, or wood paneled station wagon. He’d be selling a medicine that would cure everything. It would cure the common cold, it would cure ricketts, it would cure social media addiction. By the time you realized that what he sold you didn’t work, he was long gone. This is the 1912 version of the guy on TV selling Sham-Wow’s“

Now there’s a little bit of context to what’s happening. The audience doesn’t have to figure out what the hell you are doing and it’s historical place. Context is KING!

All Sizzle, No Steak…

About a week ago I wrote a blog post about working with a guy that did a superhero character. His show was an “anti-bully” show and unfortunately it really couldn’t hold an audience at a fair. I’m sure there are venues where it can hold an audience, like at a church youth group for younger school age kids, but not at the fair.

The show had a great costume for the main performer, and all of the other performer’s costumes were really an after thought, and not much energy was put into them when compared to the main performer’s costume. Consistency across the board with your props or costumes really makes a difference. Think about having a brand new suit, and wearing old faded, scuffed up shoes with it, that just doesn’t look right.

The anti bully, superhero show had a video intro, which really didn’t make sense. They were lugging a big TV and screen for a 30 second intro that didn’t add to the show. It’s a prop that felt like they bought simply because they had seen other shows that used video intros. To me it felt like the kind of intro that church’s use for kids youth groups for programs that they buy. Many summer bible day camps have themes and some makes and sells “canned” camped, where the church gets everything they need from videos to props, to decorations. This intro felt like it was trying to be that.

The show felt like it had a lot of energy put into things that didn’t matter, where the energy should have been put into the content of the show. I’ll write about what was actually in the show another day. My theory is you should build the substance first, then put the fluff around it later.