A few weeks ago I organized a magic jam in Seattle and it was a blast! There were a ton of familiar faces and a few new ones. One of the great things about these is that is reminds me of why I got into magic, it’s FUN! A bunch of grown ups can spend the evening playing like children and it’s OK because we’re working!
A couple of weeks ago I had a thought go through my head that was that I’d like to 3d print a new magic trick. It’s been a while since I’ve 3D printed any new magic tricks. I’m not looking for simply printing a trick that I found a model of online, but to design something and print it.
I was reading a trick with pennies in Bob Farmer’s Flim Flam book and that got me thinking of the using a “need a penny, take a penny” trays that many stores have by the cash register.
It only took a few tries to get the size of the tray to what I wanted and two tries to get the gimmick the right size.
This tray solves a problem with trying to borrow coins, as people don’t really carry coins anymore. I ask to borrow some pennies and then say, “it’s OK if you don’t have any” and take out the tray with pennies on it. It gets the tray into play logically and with a laugh.
This was a fun project to make and I’ve been having fun doing the trick!
The O-Korto Coin box routine is a lot of fun to do, however the thing that I don’t like about it is that it uses three boxes (only one lid) and that’s a lot of pocket space and pocket management. In an attempt to streamline it, I’ve eliminated one box and am only using the small box and the Boston Box. This cleans up the pocket management a lot!
The routine plays almost the same as in the O-Korto Coin Box Routine instructions. The middle phase where the coins won’t fit into the box has been moved to the end of the routine. The routine goes:
The coins go into the box and they coins penetrate the hand
The coins go into the box (without lid) and the box penetrates the hand
The coins won’t fit into the box when a spectator tries to put them in
I put the coins into the box – this is a bonus fourth effect
That gives me the same three main effects, but with only two boxes. I’m liking it in my pockets this way a lot more!
I came up with a fun way to add in tricks that I’m playing with to my roving set at fairs. I have a ziploc bag full of stuff and I call it the “bag of stuff I can’t do“. I let someone pick something out of the bag and I do that magic trick. It’s a fun way to introduce props that don’t exactly fit my style.
Here’s a highlight video from the fair I performed at last week and you can see some of this stuff.
In that video you can see the first phase of the O-Korto Coin Box routine and Circulation or Round-the-square Cards by Pavel. This is a fun way to keep performing fun and fresh for me.
One of the coin magic props that I really don’t like are coin boxes, like the Okito Box. I’ve never never really had a way to use one that makes sense for me. Recently I came across an O-Korto Coin Box Routine set. This is one lid and three coin box bottoms. There’s a regular Okito Box, a Boston Box and the O-Korto Box, which is a an Okito Box, but with a thicker wall so that the coins won’t fit into them. This set was an old Paul Diamond set and is quarter sized!
I thew this in my close up case and have been playing with it in my roving close up at the fair. I’m familiar with many coin box moves, so adding this is pretty easy. Just because I don’t do something, doesn’t mean I can’t do them or practice with that prop every now and then.
There’s not much to the routine that I’m doing and it’s basically following what comes in the instructions as far as flow of the effects. I did change a bit of the prop managment as the instructions are written for a performer that’s sitting and I perform standing.
The flow of effects is:
Coins go into box and coins penetrate into your hand
Coins won’t fit into the box when spectator tries
Coins now fit and you put the box without lid on your hand so the coins can be seen, then the box penetrates your hand leaving the coins on the back of your hand
Much to my surprise the part of the routine that’s getting the best reaction is when the audience can’t put the coins into the box. I’ve only read about the small box, and thought it was a dumb effect and I did up until the first time I tried it this week.
I love being wrong and having my opinion changes on things!
If you can find an O-Korto Coin Box set or a small box that matches your Okito box, you should give it a try.
Each year my library show is different from the previous summer’s show. I try to keep things out of the show for 2-3 years before anything can cycle back into the show.
My set list is pretty simple:
Nest of Boxes (warm up)
Eggbag / ball manipulation
Rat trap
cut and restored rope
Dad Jokes (or three shell game if the performing area has a screen)
Last week I popped by Magic Monday in Seattle. This is a fun magic show, that I think of as a magic open mic. It’s a place for me to work on new material, or knock the dust off of old routines that I haven’t done for a while. One of the fun things about the show is that there’s a huge mix in performance styles, and experience levels of the magicians.
The nice thing about this is after the show we all go downstairs to the pub and it’s a fun little magic jam! I have an idea for the Cards Across trick and I had Ruben Barron show me the one that he does (Las Vegas Leaper), which was helpful to me!
On this episode of the Moisture Festival Podcast we welcome Martika Daniels. She tells us about growing up in the Military and how being stationed in Germany exposed her to circus arts and busking.
She tells us how stunts helped her deal with crippling anxiety and depression and how she weaves that message into her performances. We also discuss her new book that is available now. A great conversation with a fantastic person.
Many years ago I made a gimmick that can visually turn a one dollar bill into a twenty dollar bill. I use this all the time promotional videos for events and in virtual shows. A while ago when I was on the road, I tried to come up with a lot of different presentations for TikTok with the one gimmick.
Those five tricks are all essentially the same trick, just presented differently to hopefully give them all a different feel. Those five are in addition to how I do it in virtual shows. I think getting a lot of mileage with a single gimmick is a big advantage with social media, where you can get multiple videos out of a single trick!
I’m relearning to do the strait jacket escape while wrapped in 50 feet of chain. One of the things that I recently figured out, which made me feel dumb that I never realized this before was the chain management.
I used to just throw the chain in the bottom of my case. The problem with that is that it would frequently tangle. I started keeping it on a spool and it makes a huge difference! The spool makes laying it out and cleaning it up really easy!
The locks also are locked to the spool making it an neat and tidy package!
