Pictures – Page 13 – MagicShow.Tips

Sealing My Luggage

When I fly with my show, I always seal the checked cases shut with a zip tie.

This provides very little in the way of security, but it lets me know if my cases have been opened. This is a huge help, because it lets me know if I need to check my cases before the gig. Years ago when my checked show cases were screened by TSA they took out my two table tops and didn’t put them back in. I didn’t realize it until I was at the next gig and it made that show a challenge! It was also a nightmare tracking them down and getting them back!

When I put the zip tie on my checked luggage, I use a fairly thin zip tie. I need to be able to open it without a blade. With a thin one, I can just jam a pen in between it and the case and twist. That will easily break it.

I also use a neon color so it’s less likely it’s been resealed. I’ve had TSA put zip ties on my gear after screening. It’s rare that it happens, but they don occasionally do that. When they done that, they’ve always been white. It’s less likely they’ll have an orange and green one!

When my bags arrive, seeing my zip ties gives me some piece of mind that I have all of my gear!

-Louie

Another Vanishing Bird Cage

My Vanishing Bird Cage collection just grew by another cage. This one popped up on eBay for $35 and I grabbed as soon as I saw it.

Without seeing it in person, I don’t know who made it or if its actually from the 1940’s. However for $35 it’s a gamble I’m willing to take.

Looking at the solders on the “U” joints in the pictures and the dimensions gives me confidence that this isn’t a cage from India, and I’m really hoping what is pictured is what will show up in the mail.

Another clue is in one of the pictures you can see the top of an instruction sheet that says: AN N.M.C. PRESENTATION ROUTINE. That would imply this is a cage that was sold by the National Magic Company.

We’ll see what shows up in the mail. Unfortunately I’ll probably be out of the country performing when it shows up, so I won’t be able to see it for a week or two.

-Louie

Lucky Penny Magic Trick

A trick I’ve been doing as part of my EDC magic is signed penny to key fob. The effect is a signed coin ends up permanently sealed inside of a “lucky coin” holder on your keychain. The nice thing about this is that it’s almost 100% self contained. I have everything I need to do the trick on my keychain, except a marker.

I’ve been using my original first design for a little bit and spent a little bit of time other day tweaking the design. The colors are just what was in the printer and have nothing to do with the design, besides making it easier to tell them apart.

The first redesign was good, the second was better and the third was a huge step backwards. I went back to the second redesign and it was the best of the three. That’s the great thing about 3D printing, it’s easy to tweak designs to get them where you want them!

-Louie

Stage Illusion in Furniture!

The other night I was staying in a hotel and as I was leaving the room I noticed a stage illusion inspired night stand!

I’m not sure why the feet needed the false space, they’re not hiding a lady in there, but the black art is there to hide the lack of gap between the feet. My guess why they have that is a solid base is cheaper to make and more durable.

It’s a great mainstream use of a magic principle!

-Louie

Super Psychic: The Incredible Dr. Hoy

I took the book Super Psychic: The Incredible Dr. Hoy with me on a trip and read it on the plane. I’m not sure what this book was trying to be, was it a self help book, a biography or something else.

The book as a biography isn’t a compelling one, it’s basically David Hoy was born awesome and nothing bad happened to his life. He’s a perfect human who never messed up. To me, that’s not a good biography, I want to read about peoples challenges and how they overcame them.

Later in the book it tells you how to use ESP to meet women, be a better salesman, stop smoking, etc. The stop smoking was the funny one to me as it said David didn’t smoke, so it’s not something he used. Anyway, this part of the book feels like a self help book, except there’s really not much to it.

I have a feeling this was a book that was intended to be a pitch book to sell after speaking engagements. But it also had to look like a mass market book to give him status, which would boost his speaking/show fee.

If you’re really bored and can find the book for a few bucks, I guess pick it up. However I really didn’t think it was remotely an interesting read. It did kill time on the airplane, so there’s that.

-Louie

Looking Sharp!

Last week when I was performing on a ship, my first show on my arrival day. That doesn’t give a lot of time to hang my clothes and get some wrinkles out of them.

That’s where wrinkle release spray comes in! This stuff is like magic, you spray it on your clothes, straighten out the wrinkles and the wrinkles are gone.

I’m sure there are other brands that make it, and I bet they all work pretty much the same. This is great to have with your stuff when you fly, it’ll keep you looking sharp…or at least not wrinkled!

The other thing that really helps is learning how to correctly fold a shirt for travel. Starting of with a shirt that’s folded and won’t get many wrinkles is also a huge help!

-Louie

Driving vs Flying to a gig

Recently I posted a picture of my gear for a 90 minute theater show that I drove to:

and now here’s two 45 minute theater shows AND a week of my personal stuff (clothes, laptop, etc):

When flying to a gig, there’s a lot of things that I don’t bring. For example all of my stuff that has a base can use a microphone stand for a base which the venue can provide. I also have versions of a couple of bulkier props that pack smaller, and that saves a lot of space. Also the flying version of the show is a lot more organized, as space is the most important thing.

-Louie

Professional Secrets by Geoffrey Durham

I finally finished the book Professional Secrets by Geoffrey Durham. I don’t know much about Geoffrey, other than this book has been out of print for a while.

The thing that I liked about this book is that it isn’t just tricks, it’s got some of how he got to the tricks and they why he does them the way that he does them.

It’s laid out in a way that I think is similar to the Tommy Wonder books where it goes essay, trick, essay, trick. I really like that format as it helps you get inside the author’s head a little bit more. It also highlights why some seemingly small changes to a standard trick can make HUGE differences.

This book is selling for a couple hundred bucks on the secondary market, however if you can find a deal on it, you should check it out!

-Louie

Packing a 90 Minute Stage Show

I’m always interested in what magicians shows look like when packed up. Here’s what my 90 minute stage show looks like (when travelling by car).

For this gig I packed everything I needed. If I was flying to the gig I wouldn’t bring many things like mic stands that I use for bases for props. I have the venue provide those. Then there are things like the crank organ that I wouldn’t take if I was flying.

That’s a peek into the trunk of my car!

-Louie

ReaList by Greg Rostami was Down!

If you weren’t aware Inject 2 by Greg Rostami was down for most of January and when it came back up their marquee trick “the Google Peek” wasn’t and still isn’t functioning. One of the workarounds that Greg was pitching was to buy another one of his apps called ReaList and use it with Inject 2.

Well guess what, ReaList was down for a while!

This really highlights why I don’t use magic apps that need the internet. There’s so much out of your control and according to Greg’s statement so much out of the app developer’s control that make apps like ReaList and Inject 2 unreliable (in my opinion). These are all things that there’s really no back up for. Sure you can have an alternate method, but it’s hard to run them at the same time. It won’t work to say, “type this into Google on your phone AND write it on the back of my business card“.

Before using an app, think about is having someone type something into Google really better than writing on the back of your business card? The effect is the same, and one of these methods leaves them with your business card.

-Louie