Pictures – Page 2 – MagicShow.Tips

Super Creepy…

When I clean up the office, I sometimes will find things I forgot about. I’m going to give you a bit of a backstory: When I was a teenager I went to Dave Goodsell’s West Cost Wizards Magic Camp. One of the instructors/leaders was Bob Markwood. A few years later Bob went to jail for molesting kids and you can read about his and him continuing to perform for kids as a registered sex offender at: https://www.insideedition.com/5402-kiddie-party-magicians-secret-past

When I was at magic camp Bob always gave me a weird vibe. I remember hearing kids talk about Bob inviting them to the hot tub and then the time he hung out in our bunk and I’m 99% sure he was drunk. I have a picture of him from that night somewhere.

Anyway, after the magic camp ended one of the kids send me a copy of a picture that I was in. On the back he wrote a note:

The “I hope to see you at Bob’s” was something I had forgotten about. Bob had invited us all to his place for a camp “reunion” a few months after the camp hand ended. Seeing that note really creeped me out and I’m lucky at how close I came being in a bad situation with a very bad dude.

-Louie

Ring and Silk

A trick that I love, that you don’t see very often is the Ring and Silk. This is usually a sequence of a silk magically going on and off of a ring. I think this trick isn’t common is that it’s most common method makes it a better stage trick than a parlor trick and definitely not a close up trick.

If you do a search on this blog you can read about my version of a Silk and Ring routine that uses a coat hanger in place of the ring.

A couple of weeks ago when I was performing at the Moisture Festival I got to work with Steve Owen and he did the trick!

I got to watch it the first time on the TV in the green room, then the second time I got to watch it live. One of the cool things about Steve’s routine is that he uses multiple methods. This makes the trick a lot stronger. I think one of the drawbacks of the standard method is that you use it over and over and if someone catches it early on, the routine is no good for them. But mixing methods can cancel out methods.

-Louie

Generic Kid’s Show

Last week I did a library gig, it was my, first one since last summer and it was a lot of fun. They had me doing a show for kids on spring break and had me do a fun, non themed show.

The show has a very simple set up, just a case, banner and my sound system. The show is my generic kid show.

Here’s a peek into the show’s case. That’s a 45 minute show with about 10-12 minutes of additional emergency material. The emergency material is for when the audience is a lot younger than what the show is designed for. I’ll swap in the emergency material for things that aren’t for kids under 5 or 6 years old.

That material for younger kids is considered emergency as my show is sold as for being for school aged kids. If you’ve worked libraries at all, then you know the audience will frequently skew younger than the suggested age range and it’s important to be prepared for that.

-Louie

Cool Moments in the Show

One of the great things about performing at higher profile gigs is that there frequently great photographers there. That’s one of the cool things about performing at the Moisture Festival, they have photographers who are experienced in taking pictures of variety acts. More than just having experience with variety acts, they usually get to see an act multiple times, so they can figure out where the moments are in your show!

Louie Foxx at the Moisture Festival in seattle — Photo Credit: Sanderling Photography

The picture above was taken right after the guy in the middle guessed the girls card! This is a 6-8 minute routine that I do where someone from the audience guesses another person’s card. This used to be a longer routine with three people, but I’ve shortened it to just two and it’s a much tighter routine.

Another change that I made to the routine a few years ago was switching to jumbo cards.

That makes the end of the routine really pop for the entire audience when the card is finally shown!

-Louie

Filling Your Emotional Tank

On Sunday the Moisture Festival wrapped up in Seattle. It’s a four week variety arts festival and it’s a blast! No one there does it for the pay, we all do it to get to see our friends, make new ones and see amazing acts!

One of the perks is hanging out at the meals and “cutting up jackpots” with the other performers. The stories of horrible shows, crazy things we’ve seen and done help fill my soul and get me through the upcoming busy season. It’s nice to bond with people who also share in the unique experience as a travelling variety act!

Remember, it’s not all about the money when you’re offered a gig!

-Louie

Road Hack – Extra Room Security

Sometimes when travelling you end up in sketchy hotels. Sometimes this is by choice when you just need a cheap/close place to crash and sometimes there’s only one place in town. Recently I had a sketchy hotel in a sketchy part of town. Normally I travel with a little door lock that I can add to the door for extra security, but took it out of my bag and forgot to put it back in. This is the temporary solution:

It’s not much, but better than nothing! Stay safe out there!

-Louie

Magic show set up!

My show last week had a pretty simple set up, but I’m still packing a lot more stuff than I need.

I’m trying to have less “emergency” material. Sure having a trick or two in the case is a good idea, but having an extra 20-30 minutes of material is overkill for a show where I’m not really expected to do that much extra time as there are other acts on the bill and I wouldn’t be asked to fill their time if something happened to them. I may be asked to do a show in someone else’s time slot, but that doesn’t require me to have new or different material than my show would normally have.

The lighter I can travel, or the less cluttered my stage set up is, the better!

-Louie

Getting Free Advice!

One of the great things about performing at fairs is working with other performers. Last week I got to work with three other magicians at the event!

Between Glen, Rafael and Terry they gave me some great ideas for my show! When you work with other magicians, don’t look at them as competition, they’re a great resource. For example with the thumb tie routine I’m working on, Glen gave me an idea to change the moment when I link arms with the spectator. The first time I did it as he suggested, it got a GASP from the audience!

I’m always willing to listen to what other magicians say! I don’t always agree with what they say, but willing to listen.

-Louie

Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women

I’m trying to be better about reading books and doing less scrolling though things on my phone. On my recent trip to Japan, I read Ricky Jay‘s book Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women.

It’s a great historical read about some colorful acts and personalities! If you’re into the history of variety acts, it’s worth a read. You can get copies of this book pretty cheap online.

-Louie

Getting Paid to Work on my Show!

Last week I was working with a buddy and one of my creative partners at a fair in Arizona. It’s always great when I do a gig with him because we work on our shows while at the gig!

He hadn’t see me do my linking pin / thumb tie routine before and with his help the routine made a huge leap forward!

If you don’t have a brainstorm group or someone to bounce ideas off, you’re missing out of growing your show quickly. I highly recommend hanging out with other performers that you like or trust and getting their input on your show!

-Louie