Louie – Page 98 – MagicShow.Tips

Let Them Touch the Magic

One thing that I like is having magic that people can touch after the trick has happened! I’m not talking about giving out a signed card after the trick, but when something is altered, them getting to touch and potentially keep the trick in its altered state.

Giving out a signed card isn’t magically altered. This is where something like metal bending is great, they can touch it, keep it and show it to other people and the item is interesting.

For example the end of my card routine I peel the front off the card and hand it to the person. This is way more interesting than simply handing them a signed card. Also 90% of the people then stick that card on their shirt! That gets people at the event talking about me, or at least aware that there’s a roving magician there.

Another example is my Out For Beers trick. This trick starts as a gag with card with a picture of a full pitcher of beer. Then the pitcher magically empties itself. This is something that they keep in its altered state and gets them talking about me to other people at the event I’m at.

Unfortunately in magic there’s not a lot of options for tricks where the item is altered and they can handle it in the altered condition…and even less where they can keep the item!

-Louie

New Banner Art!

I’ve wanted to get a circusy style banner made for my show. I finally had time to chat with the artist and I have a new banner in the works.

This is the initial sketch, so not the final product:

This is going to be printed on a roll up banner, so a little less traditional in that aspect. As a pop up banner it will be a lot more portable and have more uses than one that I have to figure out how to hang on a stage.

I’m looking forward to getting the final art done!

-Louie

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Jeremiah Johnston

On this week’s episode we are joined in person by Jeremiah Johnston. We learn all about his passion of juggling and teaching other people circus arts.

We discuss the different types of object manipulation and how he fused multiple disciplines into his performance. He tells us how he developed his show and the people that helped him along the way. A really great conversation with a very talented performer.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Shot Glass Production

Over the years I’ve always like the idea of the shot glass production. In the past I’ve produced a full shot glass from an egg bag, shoe, and just my pocket. Producing a full shot glass has an nice “wow” factor and is a nice ending when you toast your audience.

About a month ago I had an idea for a shot glass production. I finally was able to figure out how to make the gimmick. Here’s a very rough version of it:

This is nowhere near the final routine, it’s a proof of concept to make sure the gimmick works. However I do like the flipping of the handkerchief during the lime production, I think it adds to the shot glass production.

Now I need to go out and do it hundreds of times to figure out all of the ways it can go wrong!

-Louie

Nothing is Ever Finished!

One thing is that my show and everything in it are always a work in progress. While I do have A material, I still am looking for ways to improve them.

The other day I was thinking about my Straight Suit routine which is a comedy escape. You can watch it below:

I had an idea to simplify the wiring which would eliminate about 4 feet of cords inside of the suit! While this isn’t a huge thing, it definitely is an small improvement. Usually the simpler solution the better!

I just made a new straight suit with the new wiring and am going to take it out on the road to see if it works!

-Louie

Trimming Cards

I really want to be out working on my routine for The (W)hole Thing and with the miscut cards I got from the printer, the set I ordered won’t work. To make them workable, I trimmed 1/4 inch off of the three cards that weren’t miscut and now I have a workable set.

This set works, but I’m not a fan of the card with the red rectangle being off center. However this is giving me a set to work with until the printer sends me cards that aren’t miscut.

-Louie

Making Cards Opaque

The custom set of cards I had made for The (W)hole thing were a bit too thin as well. If I’m backlit, you can see through them. I anticipated this problem and had thought of a plan.

How most playing cards are made is that they have two layers and in between those two layers there’s a layer of black glue. This glue makes it so that you can’t see through the card when it’s backlit.

I’m taking two of my custom printed cards and gluing a layer of black construction paper between them. This makes it impossible for the back image to be visible when I’m back lit AND the three layers makes the cards nice and rigid.

-Louie

Almost The (W)hole Thing…

The custom cards I had printed for my The (W)hole Thing showed up and they miscut one on the cards!

It’s not off center, the card is the wrong size. It should be 8.5 x 5.5 inches, but it’s 8.25 x 5.25. The rest of the cards are the correct size, so this one card is physically smaller than the rest and doesn’t look right.

I just contacted the printed and hopefully they can send me a replacement fast as I’m hitting the road for over a month and I would like to be using them while I’m out!

-Louie

Using the Flic Button

Someone asked me about how the Flic Button works for controlling music. It’s pretty simple, the button has three things is can do which are triggered by a click, double click and press and hold. For me I use those as Play/Pause, Next Track, and Previous Track.

You can use multiple buttons, so I may use a second one for volume and up and down, but for now one is working.

For a simple and cheap audio device for smaller shows, I’m really liking the Flic Button!

-Louie

Hiding the Flic Button

A bit ago I started using a Flic Button to control the audio for one of the shows that I do. It’s working great!

The Flic Button gives me simple play/pause, play next and play previous options. For this show that I’m using it in, that’s really all that I need it for.

I’m playing with doing a lot of other things using the Flic Button and was trying to figure out a way to hide it. I ended up building one into a Sanada Gimmick!

I took the electronics out of the plastic shell it comes in and this greatly reduced the profile of the button allowing it to comfortably fit on the back of the Sanada Gimmick.

This will help me for applications where I need the button in my hand, but don’t want it “visible”.

-Louie