Pictures – Page 3 – MagicShow.Tips

Back on Land!

Today I wrapped up my contracts on the cruise ship, and I’m heading back home for the holidays.

It’s always great to perform in nice theaters, but even better when I get to perform with stage/tech crews that are amazing! The stage/tech crews on cruise ships work with magicians and variety acts a lot, so they already kinda know what to do with an act like mine.

We’re entering the slower time for performing (for me). One of the things that I want to do is work on the transition from using ShowCues to GoButton for my audio. There’s a bit of a learning curve in the way you interact with GoButton. I’ve been using ShowCues for over a decade, so it’ll take some work to unlearn the muscle memory.

-Louie

Main Theater Shows

Last night was the night for this cruise itinerary that I did my two shows in the theater on the ship.

I had a weird brain fart in the middle of my show where I didn’t know what was next. I quickly figured it out when I glanced at the set list on the back of the pop up bins I keep my props in. It’s been a while since I’ve needed to look at the set list. The main reason they are there is for setting up and for the actual flow of the show while I’m performing.

Today is another day off, and then I’m performing a quick 5-minute act in tomorrow’s farewell show.

-Louie

Getting Props on the Ocean

It’s been a few days since my last show on the ship, my next shows are tomorrow. In my show I use a orange for my drawing routine and a banana for my whip routine. You’re not really supposed to be bringing fruit on/off the ship, so I get those two while onboard.

One of the challenges can be that they’ll have something like bananas all week, but then they’re out the morning of my show, and I can’t get them. Typically, a day or two before my show, I’ll go down and grab what I need and keep them in my room. Then on the day of the show, if they have them out at breakfast and they look better than what’s in my room, I’ll upgrade my oranges and bananas.

This is one of the challenges of performing on cruise ships: if you need something or break something, it can be hard to source it. I try to travel with what I need to fix things or backups. For example, I do Promystic’s Color Match in my show, and I travel with a spare set in case one stops working.

-Louie

Lounge Magic Show

My show last night was on the cruise ship, which was in the lounge. This is a very different feeling from the theater, but a lot of fun and more intimate. On this particular cruise line, I’m supposed to have two different 45-minute shows, so for the lounge, I did the show that I didn’t do in the theater the night before.

This show had a segment of close-up magic with the camera. Usually, I use the camera to enhance smaller things that I hold, but not to show the tabletop. For this show, I did a short sequence on the table top. The rest of the show was routines that played bigger. I remember reading somewhere about making your show big, and it went something like this:

“When it’s close up, go parlor, when it’s parlor, go stage and when it’s stage go stadium.”

I closed the show with my book test, which ended with a two-phase banner reveal. The banner is 24 inches tall and about 20 feet long; it fills the space!

Last night was also the end of that particular cruise’s itinerary. I joined the ship midway through the itinerary, so I had to get up early this morning to clear immigration. As part of this process, because of the manifest I was on, I had to leave the ship for a few hours. I had the honor of being the first person off the ship…exciting!

I’m actually writing the post at a coffee shop before I can get back onto the ship.

-Louie

Embarking and Show Day

Last night I gave my show a quick run trough before I went to bed.

This morning I headed of to the port. I thought the ship would be at the docked across the street from the hotel, but it was the other one about 2 miles away, so I hopped in a taxi and headed over.

My show in the theater was later that night, which makes for a long day! I loaded into the theater and did my tech run-through. Then back to my stateroom for a quick nap, and then to get cleaned up for the show.

As I was heading back to the theater, I glanced at my iPad, which controls the show’s audio. There was a red light where the green light normally is on my media star. I unplugged and replugged the adapter, and it was still red. Everything looked fine on the iPad and the Media Star (aside from the red light), so I swapped out the adapter. Luckily, that was the problem; the adapter went bad. I try to carry backups for things like that, especially if they are small. Having an extra $25 adapter saved the show!

Tonight, I’ve got one show in the lounge. This is a smaller-scale show, and more like a fancy bar gig on land. It’ll be fun!

-Louie

Travelling with a Magic Show

Yesterday was a long travel day, but I made it to the hotel in Cozumel, Mexico. Luckily, the hotel is a block from the port where I’ll board the ship this afternoon.

I’m really loving travelling with my Porter Case. That’s a carry-on-size case that becomes a dolly for carrying other things. You can read my blog post about the Porter Case HERE. In the picture below, which is below the white suitcase. The suitcase has my clothes and personal things, and my backpack has all of the electronics for the show (camera, iPad, etc.)

Another thing that really helps when traveling is speaking another language. I speak a little Spanish, but it really helped me navigate customs when entering Mexico. I’ve done several audio courses in the past without much success, but the daily DuoLingo I’ve been doing for a few years has really paid off. I’m not conversational, but I can communicate, and that’s super helpful!

-Louie

Travelling Magician

I’m writing this post from the DFW airport in Texas. Last night I left Portland at 11:59 pm and arrived here at 5:17 am. With the time change, that was only 3 hours of quality sleep on the plane. Now I’ve got a five hour layover at DFW before my next flight to Mexico for a gig.

I’m not writing to complain; I signed up for this when I took the gig. This is the non-glamorous side of being a travelling entertainer, but it’s part of the job. I’m going to spend today running on fumes, get a solid night of sleep, and then get on a cruise ship tomorrow and rock two shows that evening!

Many years ago I was at Bob Fitch‘s first retreat for performers. Bob was old then (he still is!), and someone asked him how he kept up his energy with all of us during the long days, and he said, “acting”! He’s right, you can act like you got a full night of sleep and aren’t exhausted. Sure, you do eventually need rest, but you can push through a show or two. I’m glad I get a chance to get some sleep before the “work” day.

-Louie

Out of Town Notice

This is a quick heads up that I’m out of town December 10th, 2025 through December 22nd 2025.

No orders will ship during that period or work on products will happen while I’m away. In stock items will ship on 12/22/25.

**The Daily blog will continue to be updated below this pinned post**

Magicians From Last Week!

One of the things that I love about being a performer is the camaraderie that exists. I was just at a booking event and while all the magicians there were competing for the same gigs, we all would help each other out in any way possible!

Many magicians look at other magicians as competition. Here’s how I look at booking gigs: If someone gets a gig that I was also up for, they did something that I was unable or unwilling to do.

I don’t believe that anyone owns a gig. Just because you’ve worked there before doesn’t make it your gig, and no one else can solicit it. Yes, there are inappropriate times to solicit it, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done when it’s appropriate.

Go out there an make some friends with the magicians in your market!

-Louie

Your Act Will Never Be This Edgy!

Right now, one of the trends in magic (that’s not mentalism) is being edgy. Magicians are trying to get away from the cheesy stereotype of a magic show.

No matter how edgy you think you are, you’ll never come close to this description of a magic show from the late 1700s!

That’s crazy! I’d like to know what it actually looked like.

I did have a trick (I think I published it) where I took a tooth out of my mouth, did a trick with it, and then put it back into my mouth, filling the previously empty gap in my smile. It was a weird trick.

-Louie