Louie – Page 96 – MagicShow.Tips

Garbage Article on the Vanishing Cage

I’m a nerd when it comes to the vanishing birdcage and the other day I came across an article that was written to promote a magic kit website, so not intended for magicians. This article I’m guessing was written for SEO purposes. What struck me is that I’m 99% sure that this article was written by Chat GPT or something similar. It’s not written how anyone really writes.

Here’s the article:

Today, we delve into the realm of illusion again to explore a classic trick that has mesmerized audiences for decades — the Vanishing Bird Cage. Prepare to be amazed as we unravel the secrets behind this awe-inspiring illusion that never fails to leave spectators spellbound.

The vanishing bird cage magic trick is a masterful illusion that creates the illusion of a live bird disappearing in the blink of an eye and this trick has its roots in the rich history of magic, and its execution requires a combination of skill, precision, and showmanship. It has long been a favorite among both amateur and professional magicians alike.

A magician walks on stage, holding an ornate bird cage with a vibrant bird perched inside. Our cage is displayed to the audience, allowing everyone to see the bird inside. With a flick of the wrist or the utterance of a magical incantation, the bird and the cage appear to vanish into thin air, leaving spectators shocked and eager for an explanation.

While the Vanishing Bird Cage appears pure magic, it is a meticulously choreographed illusion. The cage itself is specially designed with hidden compartments and clever mechanisms. Or concealed elements allow the magician to manipulate the cage, giving the illusion that the bird has vanished.

Timing and misdirection play crucial roles in the success of the trick. The magician’s movements, gestures, and patter divert the audience’s attention from the cage itself, allowing them to precisely execute the necessary sleight of hand. The magician’s showmanship keeps the audience engaged and captivated throughout the trick.

Performing the vanishing bird cage trick requires significant practice and dedication and magicians spend hours perfecting their technique, ensuring their movements are seamless and natural. Mastery of the illusion requires understanding the cage’s mechanics and the ability to perform the trick smoothly without arousing suspicion.

The Vanishing Bird Cage trick is a testament to the power of magic to captivate and astonish audiences. Whether performed on stage or up close, this illusion has a timeless quality that continues to enthrall spectators of all ages. It serves as a reminder that magic is not merely about tricks but about creating moments of wonder and enchantment.

Conclusion:

The Vanishing Bird Cage trick is a classic illusion that has stood the test of time. Its allure lies in the combination of artistry, skill, and showmanship to execute it successfully.

The article is factually inaccurate. What’s interesting about the vanishing birdcage is there are a couple of styles of it, the handheld style and the bigger style that sits on a table. And I’m pretty sure the AI that wrote that article can’t tell the difference between the two.

My advice is learn to write. If you’re trying to publish something for SEO purposes, you could do a better job and put more keywords into the article.

-Louie

Color Match – Figuring it out

After adding a second transmitter to the Anverdi Color Match pens, I’m not having any issues in the show with not getting a signal. This is something that I think that most magicians wouldn’t do because of the cost. It’s literally double what it should cost.

Somehow both sets of transmitters are signaling one receiver, I’m not sure how that’s happens, but it is. I independently tried the transmitter and they are all signaling the same receiver.

This is a good development, however I’d prefer that I have two complete systems running, and not one and half. With two independent systems, I have a backup if the receiver fails.

Hopefully this is the solution for me…

-Louie

News Highlight Reel!

Last week I was performing at Montana Fair in Billings, MT. One day the news was there taking video for their fair highlights. This is always tricky for me as if I don’t talk to them, they will always use a super wide shot that’s out of context and makes no sense. In a highlight reel, stuff doesn’t need a lot of context if the content is chosen correctly.

What I do is try to talk to them or whoever the media coordinator is and do staged video where I act like I’m performing for a crowd and we put the camera onstage to get video that’s better framed and I use tricks that you don’t need much context to understand what’s happening.

Here’s the video from last week:

Whenever possible I try to show or tell them what I’m going to do so that they know what to expect and can put their camera in a good spot. I will also tell them the bad spots to record from if there are any.

-Louie

Dealing With Interruptions

Last weekend I had to deal with a crazy interruption during my show. It’s something I’ve never really had to deal with during a show. Independent of the fair that I was performing at was an airshow….and my show was the same time as the Blue Angels!

There’s really not much that I can do, the planes are loud and let’s face it, way more exciting than my show. I made a few jokes about, and stopped the show while they were performing, that’s really all that I could do.

“That’s the most expensive opening act I’ve ever had!“

It was only two days of an eight day gig, so there were plenty more shows to do without conflicting with the air show!

-Louie

Anverdi Color Match…UGH!

Well, I had the Anverdi Color Match fail at every show yesterday, and one show all five of the pens didn’t work! The show where they didn’t work, I got a constant 5 buzz on the receiver. I’m lucky that I have an out for this trick that I can use as the method and can instantly switch to my out as the main method in an instant.

That really saved my butt!!!

That also inspired me to actually put the second set of transmitters into one set of pens.

In my hotel room right now they are working at about the same time. As is, they don’t trigger at the exact same time, like a promystic set does, they’re a little bit off. I think I need to designate a primary receiver and if I’m not happy with what that is sending me or need to verify it, then I pay attention to the second one.

We’ll see how this works…

-Louie

The Pole!

One of the things that’s a challenge when performing at fairs is when there’s a visual obstruction right in front of the stage. A couple of weeks ago the fair I was performing at had a tent that the stage and audience seating was under, but it had a support pole directly in front of the stage.

Before I go any further, I will say that I will take an audience with shade and a visual obstruction over an audience in the sun with a clear view every day!

The challenge with the pole in front of the stage is that no matter what, someone’s view is going to be blocked. In my morning shows, which are slower, I pack everyone to one side of the audience and that solves the problem. Later in the day when it’s busier, that’s not really an option.

After years of trying to come up with ways to deal with this, I think I’ve finally figured out what to do with it. My solution is to accept that it’s there and simply do my show as if it’s not there. That’s really the only thing you can do. Once I mentally decide that the pole is part of my life for 45 minutes, it’s much easier for me to not pay attention to it and just do my show.

If you have a solution that works for you, let me know, I’d love to hear what you do!

-Louie

Using Time Wisely!

When I’m out performing at fairs in the summer, I can have a lot of down time in between shows. I try to be productive during those times. Last week I bought a ton of clocks and spent some time between shows gimmicking them!

I ended up being a photo opp for all the other performers as it looked like I had a little sweat shop going!

Using that bonus time I have during the day frees me up later in the day to do other things!

-Louie

Improvised Storage!

This week the stage I’m performing on has a dressing area off to the side of it. I’ve been using it as storage for my show props overnight. I don’t just leave my props set up overnight because the dressing area is a tent. I pack the show back up, but leave the cases in the dressing area.

Since the fair is still open after I’m finished for the day, and no one is really patrolling the dressing area when the fair is closed, I lock up my gear.

I’m using a bicycle cable to lock my gear to one of the tent posts. Sure, someone could probably cut the cables or locks, but I’m guessing the average person doesn’t bring cable cutters to the fair!

This gives me a bit of peace of mind and keeps me from having to lug my gear across the fairground at the beginning and end of day.

-Louie

Getting Better With Anverdi Color Match

Well, it looks like a few things are starting to come together with using the Anverdi Color Match! The last few days I’ve had 100% success rate with all the pens giving me a signal.

One of the things that I have changed is what I tell the person from the audience to get them to exaggerate their initial motion with the pen. I tell the to, “Take a pen, hold it up and show it to the audience“. That seems to get them to make a larger motion that’s more reliably triggering the pen.

I do need to rewatch the instructional video, I seem to remember seeing something about the receiver being able to tell you if a pen is low on batteries. I could be remembering wrong, but hope that’s a feature that exists!

-Louie

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Kermet Apio

Today’s guest on the Moisture fest podcast is hilarious comedian Kermet Apio. We discuss how he got into comedy, what his kids think of his career and how he ended up winning one of the most prestigious, comedy competitions in all of North America.

We also discuss how a comedian might prepare for performing at the Moisture Festival and the differences between it and a comedy club audience. A great conversation with one of the great comedians in the northwest.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS