Louie – Page 264 – MagicShow.Tips

My Office Today…

On social media there’s a thing where performers post pictures of where they are performing and caption it “My Office Today.” What cracks me up is once you are performing long enough you tend to know how often people are actually working and in what kind of venue they are normally working. I’m not sure … Continue reading “My Office Today…”

On social media there’s a thing where performers post pictures of where they are performing and caption it “My Office Today.” What cracks me up is once you are performing long enough you tend to know how often people are actually working and in what kind of venue they are normally working.

I’m not sure why people who barely do shows feel compelled to post the one event they do a year in a cool place and try to make it feel like that’s what they do every week. I have a buddy who opens for a fairly big name music act and he rarely posts these, and he’s in cool theaters every week.

I think it comes down to hype, they want people to think they are working. There’s nothing wrong with only doing a few gigs a year and there’s nothing wrong with posting pictures of cool places. However I think there is something wrong with people trying to play it off like that’s the type of venue they frequently perform at.

If someone only posts pics of cool venues in December, that means they don’t do them very often.

TLDR: Be better than the hype!

The Value of a Magic Jam…

Last night I put together an impromptu meet up for magicians and it was a lot of fun. There are a lot of magicians I know that say that they “don’t hang out with magicians“. If you choose to do that, that’s fine, and usually the reason they say they don’t is something stupid like … Continue reading “The Value of a Magic Jam…”

Last night I put together an impromptu meet up for magicians and it was a lot of fun. There are a lot of magicians I know that say that they “don’t hang out with magicians“. If you choose to do that, that’s fine, and usually the reason they say they don’t is something stupid like not wanting their material stolen. I’ve found that 90% of the people who are worried about their material being stolen, are the people who really shouldn’t worry about it.

When you get together with other magicians there is a lot of learning that can happen. It’s the “jamming” aspect of it that’s the greatest value. You see someone do something and you play off of it. Will the majority of stuff that comes out of these every see a real audience? Probably not. Flexing your creative muscles will help you out!

Here’s some video from last night:

Some interesting things happened, and most of all you are building a community of magicians!

Sit or Stand?

Last night I went to my local magic club and during the part where people perform tricks I noticed that some people sat and other people stood. This is a small thing, but an important thing when it comes to actually doing the trick.

If you are sitting when you do the trick, but practice standing, you’ll have a hard time as the range of movements in your arms is limited by the table top. If you practice sitting and perform standing, you upper body will now slouch.

Going from sitting to standing I think it an easier transition to do. However I recommend practicing to perform standing. Here’s why, you are more visible standing, and it’s more versatile. When you aren’t bound by a spot to sit, you can choose where you are going to do your magic trick.

I guess the main advantage sitting gives you is lapping, where if you are going to do that then YES sit. However if you do a more formal show, you should consider a more formal approach and do it standing. A great example of this is Shin Lim’s act:

Everything that would have been done sitting 20 years he’s doing standing and it really plays a lot better.

TLDR: Perform standing, unless you have a very good reason why to do it sitting.

See Shows!

If you know me, you know I frequently go out to see performers. I think it’s important to support variety acts, and it’s always inspiring to see good acts. I performed at an arts festival earlier this week and I went out and watched a bunch of the shows and had a blast!

I found it interesting that I didn’t see any other acts out seeing shows. This festival was an all day festivals, so there was plenty of time to catch shows. To me the value of these festivals isn’t the paycheck, but seeing, and networking with other performers.

Towards the end of the festival, I had one of the board members pull me aside and mention they the whole board noticed me at shows all day. They thought it was great that I wasn’t just there for my show, but to be part of the whole festival.

I think to grow as a performer you need to be exposed to other acts. Not just magic act, but all variety acts!

Modern Kid Show…

Recently I was performing on the East Coast and had a great time watching John Swomley perform his show for a room full of kids and their families at an arts festival. What I really liked about the show is that it wasn’t based on “look don’t see” type of tricks, where the kids scream … Continue reading “Modern Kid Show…”

Recently I was performing on the East Coast and had a great time watching John Swomley perform his show for a room full of kids and their families at an arts festival.

What I really liked about the show is that it wasn’t based on “look don’t see” type of tricks, where the kids scream and get out of control. That’s one of the things that I don’t like about most kid shows, they are living in the 1980’s where screaming is considered a good reaction.

His show had the kids laughing, not screaming. All of the magic was good, and it makes me happy to see someone doing kids magic correctly! There’s an old saying for kids performers, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.” What that means is how you get to the end of the trick is more important that the trick.

I totally disagree.

The trick has to be good. If the trick isn’t good, then the journey isn’t worth it. For example, if you drive to Disneyland, have a fun and exciting drive, pull into the parking lot, then turn around and go home without ever entering the parks, its’ a bad trip. Same with a kid show the trick has to be good. John’s tricks were good, and the journey was fun.

You may recognize John’s name, he makes a microphone holder called the Gim Crack:

This mic holder is awesome. Personally I don’t use a handheld mic often, but I always have a handheld mic nearby in case something goes wrong with my headset mic. I also always have a Gim-Crack within reach for when I have to use the handheld mic. It’s saved many shows! If you don’t have one, you need to have one in your case!

TLDR: Do a good kid show, and buy a Gim-Crack

Learning Cardistry…

Many older magicians look down their noses at cardistry because it’s “not a trick”. It’s not really a trick, it’s a type of object manipulation, like contact juggling. Honestly there’s nothing wrong with being able to do a fancy cut or two. In the early days of cardistry I learned to do some fancy cuts, … Continue reading “Learning Cardistry…”

Many older magicians look down their noses at cardistry because it’s “not a trick”. It’s not really a trick, it’s a type of object manipulation, like contact juggling. Honestly there’s nothing wrong with being able to do a fancy cut or two. In the early days of cardistry I learned to do some fancy cuts, but haven’t learned to do any new cuts in 15+ years.

I don’t want to become a dinosaur with my skills, so I’m learning a couple of cuts. Here’s the tutorial for the cuts I’m working on:

Why do I think it’s important to know a couple of fancy cuts? Simple, when I talk to young magicians after shows, they all do them. I want to show them that I do have “modern” skill. The next generation of magicians will all know how to do these.

I think as a magician you need to keep up with the kids and don’t let your skills atrophy.

Be Easy To Work With…

One of the things I started doing this years is not letting other acts take advantage of me. What I mean by that is when I’m sharing a stage with another act, I’m very flexible…until they get demanding.

In the past when I would share a stage with another act, I would assume we’re all professionals and you wouldn’t ask for things not necessary. I just worked in a show with an act where we both were doing three shows each alternating every hour, with 15 mins change over time.

I asked if I could keep my gear off stage in a small wing unseen by the audience and in a space they weren’t using. They said, “NO”. That’s fine with me if you need that space, I have no problem keeping my gear in a less convenient place. This particular stage has stairs across the entire front of the stage. They started laying out props on the stairs. I asked if they were going to strike them between their shows. They said, “NO”. I told them they would have to as I use the stairs and I don’t want to dodge their props, and have to worry about stepping on them. They said they didn’t have time to move them, and I told them that “it’s not my problem“.

Now could I have dodged their props as I used the stairs? Yes. Should I have to? NO. In a show like this one I’m entitled to backstage space to store my gear, and in a space that was vacant the whole show. By them not being easy to work with, I instantly became less flexible, while still within what my show was entitled. I didn’t ask for anything more, I simply took what I needed.

Guess what, my show was better than it would have been with me or someone from the audience tripping on their props in the dark. They learned a lesson, that when you are working with other acts, you need to be able to do a full strike in between shows unless you’ve discussed it before with the other act.

It’s being a professional

The moral of the story is be flexible, but don’t let anyone take advantage of you.

Hot New Tricks…

As I get older and more experience as a magician and performer, I’ve realized that 99% of advice given by magician to other magicians with crap. I’ve written about this before, and some advice I saw given out on an internet group recently got me thinking about it.

Someone was asking about where they could buy a trick they saw someone do on TV. Someone chimed in and said something like, “why would you want to do that, someone’s already done it...” I think this is good advice, however it comes from one of the people that preach, “stick with the classics, they are classics for a reason…“, which is horrible advice.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing the new, hot trick. That’s how classics, they have to start out as a new trick. There are many cases where someone has created a method for a trick way better than what you’ve come up with, or had the gimmick manufactured better.

At the end of the day, the person giving the advice is usually someone that in 10 years will be in the same place as a magician as they are now. Looking back at the local magicians that gave me advice when I was a younger magician, I think only a few are people whose advice I’d still consider.

TLDR: Don’t listen to bad advice.

T-Minus 3…

We’re coming into a new year and it’s a time that many people look back on their lives. It’s not just a time of looking into the past, but also making goals for the future. You can do this for your show, reflect on the old, and make plans for improvement.

Here’s how to do it. Watch a video of a recent show of yours and takes notes. What you are looking for are three bits in the show to cut from it. Look for things that no longer fit you, your performing style or society.

When I’m out seeing shows, I frequently see shows where the performer does an outdated line. They’ve probably never examined their show for outdated material, so the joke or bit is never noticed. Sometimes it will be a reference to a product, or TV show. Other times it will be a word that’s no longer socially acceptable. Maybe it’s a youthful reference that the performer told when they were a kid and they’re middle aged now. It could also be a joke or trick that for whatever reason no longer gets the reaction it used to.

Once you’ve found three bits, cut them from your show. Just stop doing them. Now you create new bits to fill any gaps that cutting the bits may have created. Pretty simple. You’ve now “freshened up” your show!

Magic For Kids…

Yesterday I visited a magic shop and while I was there a family came in. A magician that was visiting was asked to show the kid in the family a magic trick. This kid was probably 8 years old. After a couple of minutes of “hemming and hawing” he finally chose a trick.

His indecision came from him not knowing any tricks for kids. His thinking, which he said out loud was “kids brains aren’t formed yet, so they don’t understand magic”.

WHAT?!

That’s true for a kid that’s under about 3 years old. The concept of a secret action for young kids is abstract. However choosing a trick to show a kid is easy. Make something happen that shouldn’t. Take a coin, and make it disappear.

Easy.

When he finally started to do the trick he decided was appropriate to show an 8 year old, he did sponge balls. Great trick and it should have worked. However it fell flat.

It fell flat for a couple reasons. First, he just crapped on the kid’s intelligence. Why would the kid be into it right after he called him dumb? Next, his presentation was basically a challenge. He said things like, “I snuck the ball into your hand”. Now that makes it a challenge and the kid took him up and busted him…multiple times.

A better approach would have been to simply pass on the doing a trick OR stall by saying you are trying to think of your best trick. Then don’t do your trick based on a challenge presentation. Challenge is good for middle or end pieces, not stand alone tricks.