I needed a new prop case cover that would cover the front and sides of my case. I bought a few yards of fabric and got to sewing and this is what I made:
It turned out fine and will get the job done. I think I’ll use this for a bit to see if there are any design changes that need to happen.
-Louie
Last week we went to see Nate Bargatze at the Moda Center in Portland OR. One of the things that was interesting was how many signs there were for no cell phone use AND people followed the rules!
If you ask people to live in the moment, they are more than willing to! This applies to more formal, ticketed shows than other shows. I think no cellphones is an unreasonable ask for something like a state fair show, where you have a transient audience.
The show was great, but it’s strange seeing a comedian in an arena (over 21k seats), I think stand up comedy is best experienced with 350 people packed into a comedy club that’s got a max occupancy of 283.
-Louie
Last summer I did a show at a summer camp at a child care center. They said they had a large group asked me if instead of one large show, if I could do five short shows. I declined saying that they one show they booked was 40 mins and that’s all the time I have, so they can chop up that 4o mins however they want, and suggested we do one big show (like we originally agreed on). They said how about two 17 ish mins shows because they were such a large group. I agreed to that.
The first show was about 60 kids ranging in ages from about for years old to about 10 years old. I’ve done this a thousand times, no big deal. Then the second group came in and it was four toddlers.
FOUR TODDLERS!
There’s really nothing I can do for a group like this. When the kids are two years old, I’m a scary stranger, unless they have visual cues from older kids that I’m OK and that this is a fun thing.
When booking these shows I’m very clear that the show is written for ages 4 and up, however younger kids can attend with the older kids. Developmentally a lot happens between two and three years AND between three and four years of age.
Here’s a sample of what happens when a kid turns about four years old:
Those are at four years old, imagine what a two year old doesn’t under stand!!!
Well, since they were there and I was there, I just blew through the show. It was a emotionally very unfulfilling, but I got through it. That was rough and I learned my lesson if this ever comes up again to ask the age groups of each group and specifically remind them that I won’t take a group of kids that are all three and under.
-Louie
One thing I don’t like about the chop cup is the metal cup that most people use. It looks classy, but that doesn’t fit the aesthetic of my show. When I did the PCAM convention, I was chatting with James Cielen, and he mentioned the metal cup doesn’t fit. He was 100% right, and I didn’t like using a metal chop cup.
I finally found some time to make my own chop cup out of a coffee cup. I started with two matching coffee cups. The reason I started with two was in case I messed one up, I wouldn’t have to start over. If both turned out, I would have a backup.
I glued the magnets into the bottom of the cups and for what I wanted, I glued them off center. Then I poured some resin inside the cups to make a new bottom and to hide the magnet.
In the picture below on the right, you can see the resin about halfway cured.
One of the chop cups I poured too much resin into and the magnet wasn’t quite strong enough to hold the ball like I wanted it to. The other cup turned out perfect!
Now I need to figure out what I’m going to do with the ball. Is it going to stay a ball or something else? At the very least I think I’m going to switch to a rubber ball. For my Stand Up Chop Cup routine from my 2025 lecture notes I need a ball that doesn’t bounce as the ball gets dropped. I just bought a set of yellow Bounce No Bounce Balls and I’m going to try to put a magnet inside of it.
-Louie
I’ve got the boxes for the Applause Please 2: The Encore from Ackerly Builds and they look great!
I need to add the electronics before I can ship them.
I’ve only got a dozen of them, and if you want one, you can preorder one here:
https://www.magicshow.tips/applause-please-2-the-encore/
The estimated ship date will be November 28th, 2025.
I’d have them ready sooner, however, I’m heading out on the road to perform, so Iwon’t be able to work on them for a little bit.
-Louie
Yesterday I wrote about working on a trick with a wavy arm guy. I don’t have a routine written yet, I’m just seeing if it works.
Here’s a practice video.
One of the things is the explanation with the mic stand. While it shouldn’t be necessary, I’ve been in the audience where similar penetration tricks are performed and they fall flat because not everyone is really spatially aware.
A good example of this is Andrew Mayne’s Razorwire. Here’s the effect:
Unless you show the audience that you can’t simply walk around the barrier, the trick isn’t going to land. Not everyone will understand that you can’t just by looking.
With my trick, it works, the next step will be writing for it.
-Louie
In my show, I use an inflatable wavy arm guy as part of a trick. Really, it’s there to add some umph to the ending. It’s a large prop to carry around, but worth it for the trick. It’s only used for like 10 seconds at the end of the trick, but it really makes a difference in audience reaction.
Since I’m already lugging this thing around, I should have something else to do with it, for a second show. I’ve written a lot of ideas down over the years, but never really taken action on them.
I finally started working on one of the ideas that I like the most. The premise is that my arms are handcuffed together with the wavy arm guy inside the circle created by my arms. I then pass through the wavy arm guy, so I’m standing next to him with my arms free from him.
It’s one of those tricks, like walking thru a sheet of steel, where I don’t think it initially hits the audience very hard. It’s a good trick, but it’s more of a thinker, than something visual like popping a balloon and having a wine bottle appear.
One of the challenges with this will be selling the effect. I’m not 100% sure how to do that yet.
-Louie
When it comes to the Object to Impossible Location type of tricks, I like them when the object never disappears. I don’t like how things like the next of boxes are typically presented. You borrow a watch, the watch disappears, and then you show the box. The audience knows the watch will be in the box. There’s no surprise there, it’s a puzzle at that point.
I’m working on a card to impossible location for my show. The thing about this is that I need to get the card from the person who signed it at the end of the trick, but I want the audience to think that the person who signed it gets to keep it. My solution to this is the card below:
I’m simply top changing the signed card for the thank you card. I hand it to them and say, “This is a thank you for helping me out,” and let them see the card’s face, but not the audience. I tell them they can put it into their pocket and keep it. What that does is make the audience think they walked away with the signed card, when in reality, I have it and can load it somewhere later.
I’ve done this once so far, and it worked. We’ll see how well it works long term.
-Louie
On this episode of the Moisture Festival Podcast we welcome in 1/3 of the Mud Bay Jugglers Doug Martin. We discuss how they got their name, how they developed their own style and the creative choices they made to continue to be so unique.
He tells us about the different incarnations throughout the years and the secrets to keeping a group together for over 40 years. A great conversation with a festival favorite.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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At a recent Halloween event, I was hired to perform at a close up magic station. This was simply a table that kids came by and I did close up magic for them.
This was a fun format to perform in, and with the table, I had more props with me than I would usually for a roving gig. When the crowd grew bigger, I did a couple of bigger tricks.
Another thing you can’t see in the picture is that I brought a speaker with me and used it to amplify my voice. The event was in a noisy gym, so a bit of audio support was nice!
-Louie
