Pictures – Page 28 – MagicShow.Tips

Straitjacket and chains escape

For a few gigs this summer I’m going to be doing the straitjacket wrapped in 50+ feet of chain escape. One thing I started doing about a 8 years ago when I first started playing with the straitjacket and chains was take off the crotch strap.

Here’s before and after pictures of the straight jacket:

I realized that no one knows the crotch strap is missing if it’s not there. I discovered this when I was visiting the Oregon State Museum of Mental Health about 10 years ago. There was a straitjacket on display and it didn’t have a crotch strap and the information placard said that they weren’t used as a restraint, but to keep people from unconsciously doing self harm, Like thru scratching themselves.

Most people rely on the crotch strap as the main point of humor in their routine. I decided I didn’t want to do any crotch strap jokes, so there’s no loss there. Sure my routine may be funnier, but it’s not what I want to put out there as my art.

-Louie

My 2024 Summer Library Show

Each year I do a unique library show. Sometimes material gets cycled back into the show, but it must wait till the third year (two years off) to come back into the show.

Here’s this years set list:

If you look at the set list, there’s one spot where there’s three tricks. I could do: Dad jokes, mind reading or shell game. The variable there is if I can use a TV in the room, I do shell game. I there isn’t a TV that I can use, then I do either my Dad Jokes trick or Wayne Dobson’s Spectrumlist with the librarian doing the trick.

Here’s what this year’s case set up looks like:

This is a pretty quick set up for the show about 30 minutes right now, but it will be 15-20 minutes after a couple of shows. I have about 4 extra tricks that I’ve packed with this show to make sure I have enough material. After this week of library shows, the set list will be locked in and I’ll ditch the extra material…well, I’ll keep one extra bit.

-Louie

New Addition to Library Shows!

Last summer when doing library shows I noticed that probably 95% of the library shows that I did (indoors) had a TV screen in the room that I did my show in. So this year I planned a trick (actually two and a half tricks) that could use the TV as projection for close up magic.

There’s really not much to my set up, it’s an iphone with a camera app, an HDMI adapter and and HDMI cord. This very basic set up allow me to do the two full trick and one revelation with the screen.

In the beginning of the show during my warm up I do my ambitious card that uses projection. Then later in the show I do my Russian Shell Game routine and finally I use it for the reveal of my nest of boxes routine.

It’s working great and every library I’m doing (indoors) this summer has a TV in the room for me. I do have alternate material in case I can’t do use the TV for whatever reason. I’ve only done it once (so far), but it plays great for those routines and I’m glad I’m using something that’s already in the room!

-Louie

Magic Shop Fires

Within the last 12 month’s there have been three fires at magic shops. Last summer there was the fire at Steven’s Magic Emporium. Then this month there was the fire at Vanishing Inc‘s warehouse and the fire at Magic Shop San Diego.

These could be completely unrelated incidents, or there could be a link. I have zero information about any of these fires, but I wonder that with more and more magic using Lithium Ion batteries in the trick or in the packaging (like Murphy’s Anverdi Color Match package) that these could be the cause. I have zero evidence and this is just my personal theory as to a possible cause. It’s too much of a coincidence to have three of the few remaining magic businesses in the USA all have fires in the last 12 months.

It’s good to hear that no one got hurt in the fires and hopefully all of the businesses will make a full recovery!

– Louie

New Sound System

Earlier this month my decade old Sennheiser wireless mics died and I needed to replace them. I ordered the Sennheiser AVX system, but sent that back as it didn’t work for what I needed. The AVX has an auto gain level, which tries to keep your sound level. While in theory this is a good idea, it ends up ducking and messing with my voice too much to where I keep cutting out. I sent the AVX back for a refund.

I ended up ordering the Sennheiser G4, which is the current version of the Sennheiser G3’s that I had previously had.

This bonus is this set came with the “brick” which can be plugged into a handheld mic to turn it into a wireless handheld mic. I guess if I really wanted to buy another receiver, I could run my music through the brick.

There’s a reason why the Sennheiser G3/G4 are the standard for variety acts. They’re reliable, they’re easy to use and they’re durable!

-Louie

Vintage Magic Trick: The Shaggy Dog Tale

Here’s a vintage magic trick from the early 1980’s by Emerson and West. It’s Larry West’s The Shaggy Dog Tale.

Like all the Emerson and West packet tricks, there’s a story line for the trick and the art reflects that. Here’s what the routine looks like:

@louiefoxx Vintage Magic Trick! Emerson and West's The Shaggy Dog #magictrick #cardtrick #vintage #1980s #magic #shaggydog #emersonandwest #louiefoxx #packettrick ♬ original sound Louie Foxx

Here are the changes I would make to the trick:

Honestly, it’s a trick that’s theming didn’t age well and the trick isn’t that good of a trick without the punchline at the end…which isn’t a great punchline by today’s standards.

-Louie

Mainstream Article on Suspension of Disbelief

About 6 months ago I was approached by Sorbet Magazine to write a little essay about the suspension of disbelief and how it applies to magicians. The article was based on a blog post that I had made here a long time ago that one of the editors had found. I rewrote and expanded it to fit what they wanted and it just got published in their magazine!

To be 100% honest, when I was contacted by the magazine, it felt like a scam…who would pay me to write a mainstream magazine article?! I did it anyway as if it was a scam, at least I would have practiced writing for someone else and hitting a word count with a non-magician target audience.

When I was finishing up the article, I was sharing an AirBnB with Dennis Forel and he helped me tweak my 5th grade, public school writing style into something a bit more grown up.

Here’s the original 3 paragraph blog post that the article was built on:
https://www.magicshow.tips/magic-show-tips/suspension-of-disbelief/

This is a fun thing to have out there in the world!

Now onto the next thing…

-Louie

The Mobius Rising Card – Review

Last October I started working on a rising card routine for stage and it’s coming along. The routine is that two cards are selected, returned to the pack and the deck is put into a glass. The spectator holds the glass and the first card appears on the top of the deck in the glass, then the second card rises out of the deck.

One of the challenges is that when I’m out performing at fairs the traditional rising card weight method gimmicks doesn’t last long. I think the heat and dust are what make them less reliable after about a week. In my search for a better way to do it as I like the trick, I came across The Mobius Rising Card.

This is essentially the same as the weight gimmick, with a few improvements…but I think that’s what has fixed the gimmick for how I work it. First the weight is heavier, which will help the cards to keep rising after there’s a bit of gunk in it. Then the “string” which pulls the card has been replaced by something else, and I think this is a BIG improvement as it distributes the weight better and allows the gimmick to be thinner. They are selling the trick on the gimmick being only six cards thick, and for my routine that’s not something I need. I’m not complaining that the gimmick is thin, but since this isn’t a close up routine I’m working on, it’s not something that’s a huge factor for me.

I’ve only used The Mobius Rising Card for a handful of gigs so far and I really like it over the classic construction of the weight version of the rising cards. It’s actually an improvement, and not just another way to make the weight work.

If you do the rising cards, and are looking for a more reliable version of the weight, I like this one!

-Louie

Another Visit to the Magic Garage!

When I’m in the bay area, or near it I always try to visit the Magic Garage! It’s always the great to visit and chat with Will Chandler and he also makes an amazing Old Fashioned!

What’s fun about the Magic Garage is that it’s got magicians who hang out there who do all sorts of magic. From close up to parlor to illusions and magicians of every skill level!

I love hanging out here and chatting magic! It’s one of my favorite spots that I pop into!

-Louie

Wireless Mic Dropping Out…

Last week at the fair my good wireless mic system stopped working and I was using my back up wireless mic system. When I used it the first day it was intermittently cutting out, so I switched to the sound company’s wireless handheld and that was doing the same thing. That told me it wasn’t a hardware issue and I finished the day using their wired handheld mic.

Overnight the sound tech did some research and learned that vertical metal poles (especially aluminum poles) can affect how wireless mics work. At the stage the wireless receivers were on the other side of a stage wall that was made up of vertical poles!

We moved my wireless receiver to the stage side of the poles and everything worked perfectly! I’m glad that he did some extra research to figure out why it was doing that and now we both know how to solve the problem in the future!

-Louie