While I was working in Columbus, OH I arranged for the magician’s at the Ohio State Fair to go visit the grave of Howard Thurston!
He’s in the mausoleum at Green Lawn Abbey. This is locked and you need to make an appointment to get into the mausoleum. I sent an email through the website and made an appointment with Kathy.
It was a fun morning trip and Kathy gave a great tour! If you’re in Columbus, you should definitely visit!
-Louie
One day at the Ohio State Fair last week I performed with a bluegrass group and their fiddle player had the best merch display! When closed it’s like a small ATA case, then it quickly and easily pops open and it ready go to.
Here it is open:
The record slides into the case and that flips down and locks in at the merch in the lid. Everything in the base lays flat and he’s set up and packed up in about 90 seconds and it looks great!
Here’s some other views of it:
Did you notice the two arms on the back that slide out to the sides to display more stuff if needed?
It’s a really cool set up!
-Louie
If you read this blog, you know I like playing with old packet tricks. I’m currently at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, Ohio and noticed that Nick Trost lived here when he was alive and putting out packet tricks.
I did a little bit of research and found out that he was buried in St Joseph Cemetery in Lockbourne, OH. I drove out there to try to find his grave and the cemetery was gigantic, so I asked the office for help.
The gave me a map to the location of his grave in the very back of the cemetery. That map saved me hours (days?) of searching and I found him really quick!
It was a nice drive out there and gave me something to do that morning before my shows at the Ohio State Fair.
-Louie
Years ago I took fire out of my show, the reason is that you can’t do it everywhere. And some places that allow you to do it, there’s huge restrictions. A good example is right now I’m performing at a State Fair and there is zero fire allowed. If I counted on destroying a dollar bill by burning it, I would have to cut that bit from the show. I want a show that I can consistently do the same way every time.
Here’s a story about working with a fire act from about a decade ago. I was working with a juggler and whose finale was juggling torches. At his first show at the fair, the fire marshal walked by and saw him with the torches on fire and had a chat with him right before his next show. The juggler needed two “safety” people onstage, one with a bucket of water and one with a fire blanket.
Since this was right before his show, the juggler asked me and another act to help him out, so we did and everything went well…until the juggler’s third show. When he asked us to help again, we both said no. We have other things to do, and while I’m happy to help once, I’m not going to do my three shows a day PLUS being his unpaid fire safety for three more shows. The juggler ended having to cut his finale, and didn’t have a backup plan and ran short the rest of the run.
If the juggler had asked about fire before the gig this wouldn’t have been as big of a problem as he could have packed a backup plan. Sure the fire marshal can be inconsistent when you talk to them, but just making that phone call can give you an idea of whether or not it will be a challenge to get that fire trick onstage.
If you’re show uses fire, be sure to bring a backup plan in case you get shut down!
-Louie
When I’m out doing roving magic and someone wants to show me a trick, I always say YES… as long as it’s an appropriate time. There are times when it’s not appropriate, like it’s a crazy big event and I just need to get to a lot of people, or I have to physically be somewhere else and need to leave.
The magic that people show me now it way better than it was 5 years ago. I had a kid show me David Harkey and Jay Sankey’s East Meets West! This is a pencil thru dollar bill that was cutting edge in the early 1990’s! The kid did it really well!
Another reason to allow people to show you tricks is that it shows you the kind of magic that people who have had a passing interest in magic are exposed to. It’s no longer just the 21 card trick, they’re learning way better stuff, but I’ve also noticed that those people have a better appreciation for magic than the guy in 1997 who showed you the 21 card trick.
-Louie
I’ve been using The Rocket Card Fountain for about 9 months now and I still like it.
I have learned recently that with it being 3d printed, it doesn’t handle sitting in the sun with no shade at 108 degrees during a 45 minute show very well. This is a very extreme situation for it to be in and knowing what I know now, I probably wouldn’t use it if I was in that situation again. What happened is that part that holds the cards warped in the heat and no longer holds the poker size playing cards.
I was able to get it to sort of work by putting it back in the sun and then trying to reshape it. However the fix was simply to cut a deck of cards narrow.
Worked like a charm and the cards shoot out just fine! I’m still happy with The Rocket Card Fountain, but it’s good to know it doesn’t handle extreme temperatures very well.
-Louie
The next two weeks I’m performing at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, OH. On my day off yesterday I drove two hours up to Cleveland, OH to do some touristy stuff. While I was up there I decided to try to find Karl Germain‘s grave at the Riverside Cemetery.
When I got there I did a lot of wandering in the section where it should be, but couldn’t find his grave and then it started raining. Normally I’ll wander until I find the grave, but the weather was bad, so I went to the office to ask for assistance.
While I was in the office I was chatting with one lady and about what I did and the other lady overheard part of the conversation where I mentioned I was a magician. When she heard that she said I should try to find Karl Germain’s grave!
She told me that originally his headstone didn’t have his death date, just the birth year. It was years after his death that the year was added.
The office workers at the cemetery were also amazed at how much some of his props have sold for, like the blooming bush that went for $132,000!
On Saturday I have an appointment at the mausoleum in Columbus to see Howard Thurston!
-Louie
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!
-Louie
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:
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.
-Louie
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.
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