magic show tips – Page 109

Some Close Up Magic…

The fair I’m performing at this week has me doing street shows. On the mornings of the slower days I’m doing some more close up style magic for people. Here’s a sample of what I’m doing:

You can see part of the Horizontal Ambitious Card that I recently started doing. It currently has three phases, ending with the card inside the card box. I’m really having a lot of fun with the routine, as it gives me a lot more room to play with the audience within the trick.

This is why it’s important to keep playing with a trick, even when you it’s a solid trick and your “A” material. If you keep playing you can find new bits or ways to do it. I’m of the mindset that a trick is never finished!

-Louie

Magician Talk…

Every few weeks on one of the social media magic groups someone will post something like, “stop saying, what I want you to do” or something similar. When that’s posted, I usually ask what the original poster says instead and never get an answer, or at least one that’s better than “what I want you to do“.

Last night in the hotel room I had the TV on while I was returning emails and I there was a ghost hunting show on. One guy was inside the haunted house and the other guy was outside monitoring whatever sensors they had and giving the person inside instructions over a walkie talkie.

The conversation went like this:

Outside Guy: “Can you do me favor and stand in the corner behind you?“
The guy inside moved
Outside Guy: “Perfect“

That just confirmed to me that saying the things that a lot of magicians say are sometimes the best way to get a point across. Then at the end the confirmation of them doing the correct task by saying something like perfect or excellent is just how people talk and has nothing specifically to do with magicians.

Feel free to use other phrases, but don’t feel bad if you say the things that some magicians say annoy them.

-Louie

Learning at Open Mic’s

Last night I went out to an open mic at a bar that’s not too far from where I live. I always say that magicians can learn a lot by going to these, not just performing but by watching comics work.

The acts that did the best were the ones that hopped onstage and got into their material. The acts that got up, mumbled, fussed with the mic stand, then 45 seconds later got into jokes were the ones that didn’t do as well.

One comic got on stage and immediately started making fun of a guy at the bar. It turned the audience really quick on the comic. Without liking the comic, you can’t do “insult humor” or roast anyone before you establish yourself so the audience is with you. It was interesting to watch someone make that choice, especially when you only have 3-5 mins onstage. I guess open mics are about taking risks, and that comic definitely took a risk!

If you’re a magician, especially a “comedy magician” you should pop into these every now and then.

-Louie

New Book Delivery Day!

It’s always a fun day when I get new books in the mail! I got The Bammo Flim Flam Conglomeration and The Comedy Helpline.

I’ve been a fan of Bob Farmer’s ever since his Flim Flam articles in Magic Magazine. The other book was is comedy magic tips from many different magicians. I’ve started the Bammo Flim Flam book and I’ve already got a bar bet I’m going to try out!

-Louie

Magic Jam and a Coin Trick

One of the things I love when I’m home is being able to get together with other magicians.

While magic jamming with Jonathan Friedman and Chris Beason, we came with with this strange little coin trick:

It’s not really practical, but a fun little magic trick for a video.

-Louie

Spirit Rapping Hand

A few months ago I bought a cool looking vintage spirit hand and planned to use it to make a mold to make my own spirit hand.

I didn’t have any pigment for my resin, so my hand came out looking like a zombie hand! The original one would have come with a gimmicked board to make it move. I gimmicked mine so that is doesn’t need the board.

It works, and if I make another one, I’m probably going to go for a less dead looking skin tone!
-Louie

Masters of Illusion – Cracker Card Trick!

My segment on Masters of Illusion aired last night, but I didn’t get to see it until this morning as we don’t have cable anymore. It was a good segment and that got me about 2 1/2 minutes of airtime, which is great!

If you missed it, here it is:

The normal routine runs 6-8 minutes, so there’s a lot of stuff that got cut out of the routine to tighten it up for TV.

Here’s a bit of the story behind this routine:

Way back in 2019 I went to Holbrook AZ to perform my magic show at the Navajo County Fair. My bags were overweight, so I left my cards at home, thinking I could get them in Holbrook. When I got there I couldn’t find playing cards anywhere in town! I wandered the stores looking for something “card like” that I could use instead of cards. A box of crackers caught my eye. Over the week I developed a card trick that used crackers instead of cards!

You can also search the tag: Cracker on this blog for more info about the routine.

hope you enjoy it!

Louie on Masters of Illusion Tonight!

The episode of Masters of Illusion that I’m on airs tonight at 9pm (8pm central) on The CW Network!

I should have the video tomorrow to upload, and have some comments on…
-Louie

Strange Vanishing Birdcage Proportions

I found a Vanishing Birdcage on eBay that I don’t have in my collection. I don’t know who made it.

This one is interesting because of its dimensions. Its 5 x 5 x 5 inches, so a square. For perspective, my Owen Vanishing Birdcage is 5 3/4 x 5 x 5, so a rectangle.

Riser / Summers baby lindy vanishing birdcage, owens challenge cage, and maker unknown vanishing birdcage — *Left to Right: Baby Lindy – Unknown Maker – Owens Challenge Cage*

What I find strange is the square dimensions make cage look smaller and not really give you any advantage as the cage collapsed is virtually the same size as the Owen cage.

The amount of bulk reduced in your sleeve after the vanish is negligible, and it’s only one bar shorter than an Owen Challenge Cage.

What is interesting is the weight of the cage. I compared it to my Baby Lindy and Owen cage and this cage is 20% lighter than the Riser/Summers Baby Lindy Vanishing Birdcage and about 2/3’s the weight of the Owens Challenge Cage.

The lighter weight is the only advantage for this cage, however I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t have made it a bit wider or shorten it’s depth to give it that rectangle shape to reduce bulk.

I’m glad to have it in my vanishing birdcage collection!
-Louie

Hat Coil preparation

I’ve got a few summer camp shows this week. Yesterday I mentioned that I use a Hat Coil in my summer camp show.

Last night I was getting them ready, so here’s how I prep them. I start by removing the inner brown cardboard from the hat coil. Then I take a bit of the middle and I crumple it into a ball. That ball then gets shoved into the middle of the hat coil. That makes it easier to pull out when I’m ready to produce it.

Next I cut off some of the outer layer and throw it away. I use tape to secure the end. The reason that I do that is because the hat coil slows down a lot towards the end and the last bit just takes forever. By cutting off a little bit is makes it a little punchier:

It takes about 10 minutes to do 7 -10 of them, so it’s pretty quick.

Now I’m good to go for the week!

-Louie