Pictures – MagicShow.Tips

Waiting for the Sound Guy…

The sound guy is late getting to my stage, so I took a picture of my audio set up, just waiting for the XLR cords to plug into their PA.

I use three channels on the soundboard. One is for a handheld mic, the next is for my headset mic and the final is for my music.

Here’s a breakdown of the gear that I use:
Sennheiser G4 camera mount wireless mic packs.
Mogan headset mic (not shown)
Shure SM58S handheld mic
LTI laptop di box
MediaStar
Iphone 7 with showcues
Lightning to USB adapter

That’s what I use for my audio.

One of the important things is the handheld mic that has an on/off switch. The reason for that is so the sound person can leave that channel on during the show, and I flip it on or off on the mic. If it doesn’t have a switch, the sound person will mute it on the board when it’s not in use, then have to turn it on when it is. That can give a bit of lag where they have to realize it needs to be on and then physically have to turn it on. I don’t like that, I prefer the mic to be on when I need it to, and to avoid the awkward moment of someone talking into a mic that’s muted.

So, that’s my audio gear.

-Louie

Mike Gallo’s The Ball and Vase

When I was a teenager I came across a copy of Michael Skinner’s Intimate Magic book. In it he teaches his legendary Ball and Vase routine. Basically it’s uses the basic ball and vase trick that comes in most beginners magic kits and turns it into a solid magic routine.

Then there’s Mike Gallo’s The Ball and Vase routine, which I think I’ve encountered decades ago, but never really did. I recently found the set for the trick with instructions and learned it.

Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx You wont believe how cool something so simple can be! #simple #cool #magictrick #ball #what #magic #magician #louiefoxx #michaelskinner #mikegallo #easymagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

This trick is fun to do, and I think it’s better than the original Skinner version of the trick. With it having no gimmicks aside from an extra ball, it’s really practical. The only problem for me is that it doesn’t quite fit my close up performing style. also it requires a table, and all of my close up had to be able to be done without a table. Sometimes the non-tabled version of the stuff I do will lack a phase or uses the audience’s hands as a makeshift table. Unfortunately, neither of these is an option for that.

-Louie

Don’t Be Tacky

Recently my wife and I went to a concert in the park in the town we live in.

The thing that drew my eye was that the band had a guitar case open for tips.

Personally I think this is tacky. I know what things like concerts in the park pay and they don’t need the tips. Watching the show, the amount of tips they got was negligible, when split over 4 people, maybe $15 bucks per person. Yeah, I get that that’s gas money…or you could charge what you need to make for the gig!

Another option would be to get some merch, sell stickers, CD’s or whatever.

How does this apply to magic? Simple, if you’re getting paid, don’t solicit tips.

-Louie

Quit Complaining!

One of the things that really bugs me are magicians that complain about people stealing their tricks or ideas when they don’t take the most basic steps to protect them.

There are basic ways to protect your ideas, for example my school assembly show is called Incredible Idioms®. I really like the title and would be bummed if someone took the title, so awhile ago I filed the trademark for it. Last week that trademark was approved!

Filing a trademark is super easy to do and not that expensive. It’s around $250 to do it and you can do it yourself, the USPTO.gov website has tons of tutorials as to what you can and can’t trademark as well as how to do it.

Another good resource is Sara Crasson’s book Own Your Magic A Magicians Guide to Protecting Your Intellectual Property, which covers patents, trademarks, and copyrights. I highly recommend this book!

-Louie

Audio Ape Belt Clip

Way back in January of 2020 I made a 3D design for a replacement clip for my Audio Ape remote control and posted a picture of it on Facebook.

audio ape remote control replacement belt clip

Recently this post has had a second life with people asking me if they can get the .stl file. I’ve offered it for a few bucks and what’s funny is everyone expects it for free.

Why would I give them my work for free?

It’s literally a piece of my life that I spent to create this. There’s a cost associated with it AND there’s a reason why they don’t just make their own. It’s either they’re too lazy to do it, or they don’t know how and are too lazy to learn how to use 3d modelling software. Either way, their being lazy doesn’t entitle them to my time with no benefit to me. Also, I should mention that these are the same people who complain about being asked to do free shows!

I did just print out a few of them for a friend of mine who I was working with an noticed he had broken his original Audio Ape belt clip and his replacement was duct tape and cardboard.

If you need a replacement belt clip for your Audio Ape, you can get them at:
https://www.magicshow.tips/audio-ape-replacement-belt-clip-4-pack/

Louie

Vanishing Bird Cage!

I love that there are people who know what I’m into and when they run into thing that they think I’d like, they text me! For example, I collect vanishing bird cages and last month at magic live my buddy Clive Hayward sent me some pictures of a vanishing bird cage that was for sale there.

This cage is unusual, you’ll notice the side bars are attached by string!

I have a vanishing bird cage in my collection that’s similar, however it has metal parts that connect the sidebars to the cage. I’m curious if maybe this vanishing birdcage was a “budget” model of one with metal connectors, or if this was a home repair.

I’m glad this one is in my collection!

-Louie

Stand Up Comedy at a Fair?!

One of the styles of acts/shows that you don’t really see at a fair (aside from grandstand shows) are comedians. I think there are several reasons for this, but the main one is that comedy doesn’t really work before about 6pm and it needs a lot more attention than a juggler or magician.

Last week there was a comedian at the fair that I was at!

The comedian was Dan McGowan, and I was usable to catch his shows his first day, but ran into him at the grocery store that night!

I recognized him because he was wearing the same shirt he’s wearing in the video on his website! We chatted for a bit and he’s super friendly! I came in early to the fair the next day to catch a little bit of his show.

Dan is a solid comic and blended material with going off script and doing crowd work with the audience. Performing a show at 12:30pm is not for beginners, I think this is also another reason that you don’t see a lot of stand up comedians at fair is that the experience level you need to be at, there aren’t a lot of people that can do it.

A huge challenge for Dan was the gap between the stage and the audience. There was gap was huge, so it’s extremely hard to make a connection over that “moat”.

Dan had a lot of obstacles and he overcame them!

Many fairs that I perform at have a gap between the stage and the audience and it’s a HUGE challenge to overcome. Usually what I will do when I encounter this is do in my in the grass in front of where the audience is sitting. Sure, I’m in the sun, but the way I see it, I’m being paid to be there, so I can stand in the sun.

If you’re thinking of performing at fairs, you need to figure out the best way to handle a gap between you and the audience for your show or style of performing

-Louie

Unique Vintage Circus Poster

Magic collectors always ask me where I the stuff for my collection. I do most of it old school style and hunt for it in person. This is a cool find (non-magic) that I found in person by going to a flea market.

vintage Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey circus poster

It’s a circus poster that was in a tube with RBB&B label on it from April of 1978. I’m guessing this was a going away present for the person who the poster was shipped to. He was a Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey circus promotions person. Since it was sent in 1978, I’m guessing it’s that year’s cast that signed it.

Here’s a close up of the signatures:

This is the sort of thing that I seek out, a unique circus poster! It’s the thrill of the hunt that’s fun for me, not simply googling something and buying what comes up.

-Louie

Silk in Selected Balloon

Last summer I started working on a trick where a silk appears in a selected balloon. It worked alright and got decent Reponses from the audience, but it was lacking a lot. Like the point in the routine where the silk disappeared never really figured itself out.

The bigger challenge was that sometimes you could see the silk through the balloon. I tried doubling up the balloon, and that cut down the instances of people being able to see the silk through the balloon by about half, but it was still too frequent. Then I had other things to work on and I really haven’t messed with the routine until almost a year later.

The solution for hiding the silk in the balloon was very simple, I used a black balloon inside a colored one, instead of using two of the same color. Then next challenge was how to suspend the silk inside of the balloon as I didn’t want the silk to fall to the floor. This was very simple, I just used a bit of fishline tied to the end of the silk. This fishline was tied into the knot at the top of the balloon.

Now with most of the technical problems solved, I can get back to work with the routine.
-Louie

Hanging Out

Yesterday I mentioned supporting shows when they are in your area. Another thing that I do is I hang out with magicians that are passing through my area. I hang out with magicians who are in town to hop on/off a cruise ship or have a long layover.

Recently I hung out with Christopher Weed who runs Showtime Magic (in addition to a lot of other things) when he was in Seattle doing a Foam Event.

It was a blast hanging out with him and Cesar. If you see on social media that someone you know is in your area, shoot them a note and offer to meet up. This is how community gets built.

-Louie