Pictures – Page 69 – MagicShow.Tips

Alex Feldman is AMAZING!

One of the acts that I was most excited to see and work with at the Moisture Festival was Alex Feldman. Here’s video of the act that he does:

The act in the video is great example of taking things one step further, then one step further until you’ve done everything. The audience leaves with a sense that they’ve seen everything and the act has a definite ending.

Alex and I had a blast kicking it around Seattle. One of the things we chatted about was non-verbal communication. I’m not talking about “body language” but giving people instructions without words. We were trying to think of silent mentalism!

I did an interview with Alex for the Moisture Festival Podcast and you can listen to it at:
http://www.magicshow.tips/moisture-festival-podcast/the-moisture-festival-podcast-alex-feldman/

-Louie

Visiting with Paul Draper

Last week I performed in the Moisture Festival in Seattle and had a blast. One of the acts that I worked with was Paul Draper. I didn’t know a ton about him, I think we both did a virtual magic convention together a couple of year ago.

It was a blast seeing him, he’s got a lot of energy onstage and is very likable! Being likeable is 99% of the game!

One night Paul hosted the show I was in and he’s also a solid host, who kept the show moving. This is an important skill when the show has 9 acts plus the emcee!

If Paul is performing near you, check him out, you can learn a lot by watching him!

-Louie
PS I did interview Paul Draper for the Moisture Festival Podcast and you can listen to his episode here:
http://www.magicshow.tips/moisture-festival-podcast/the-moisture-festival-podcast-paul-draper/

Meta Data Photo App…

While I don’t think this is the best idea for magic app, if someone made it, I would buy it. The premise is someone names a place and time and that’s the meta data on the photo. The app would change the meta date for a picture. Ideally this would be a picture that you text someone, but could be on your phone.

I’m going to imagine that it wouldn’t be hard for someone to make an app that does that. You could key in the state and time info when you use your six digit unlock screen.

I don’t think the trick is strong enough for a stand alone trick, but used in conjunction with something else as a kicker to a prediction. Like maybe it’s a confabulation, so the picture is one reveal, and the date and time are another reveal.

-Louie

Fair Magic Show Set Up

It’s always interesting to look into other magicians prop cases. Last week I did my first fair of the year and here’s what my set up look like.

First the bin that sits on my table:

And here’s the prop case that sits on the floor to my left:

That’s a 45 minute stage show and it all can pack down into the prop case. The fully loaded case is just under 50 pounds, so I can check it on the plane as luggage for no additional fees!

-Louie

Pitata Magic Time Hacker Hack!

The clock routine I’m working on uses the Pitata Magic Time Hacker. It’s no secret how it works and they give it all away on their website, however I have made a modification to the gimmick.

A while ago I accidently broke the pin that engages the clock. When I went to order a replacement, they didn’t have them, just the new gear style attachment that engages the clock. Personally I don’t like the gear as it requires double stick tape which I felt was unreliable after practicing with it.

My solution was to glue the gear with pin from the clock to the gear attachment and it works like a dream!

The nice thing is that it’s easier to detach from the clock than the original pin attachment that came with the Time Hacker trick. This arrangement is easy to change if it gets worn down. I’m glad I stumbled onto this solution!

Also in my routine the clock is “broken” so it doesn’t matter that the the clock is non functional at the end of the routine.

-Louie

Backstage at a Fair Gig

Frequently I get asked by magicians what it’s like to perform at a fair. One of the main questions is about where I keep my stuff and hang out between the shows. Usually there’s some sort of green room, which usually doubles at the storage room for your props.

Here’s the green/storage room from the fair last week.

You can see that every act has their own table and there’s an table for drinks and snacks.

Here’s my table:

I try to keep all of my props set up whenever possible, so that I’m not doing a full set up every morning and pack up every night. I simply move my gear to the green room at the end of the day.

Every fair gig is different, so sometimes your storage is simply a closet and sometimes you have more formal green rooms with couches, microwaves and fridges.

-Louie

More Work on the Clock Trick

Last week I learned a lot about using the Pitata Magic Time Hacker/UTP. For example mine’s range was only reliable within about 10 feet of the unit when using the remote control. This isn’t a deal breaker, but something that is good to know and be aware of!

The bag that I have the clock in has the top edge rolled down, so I can peek inside and see if the hands have moved, this is a bit of security so that I know at least it’s gotten some sort of signal and moved before I take it out. I do still need to figure out some sort of “out” for when it doesn’t work.

I’ve also started a habit of hitting the clear button before I key in the time. The feedback from the clear lets me know I’m in range…or at least gives me the sense of security that I’m in range!

In my opinion, push button electronic tricks are some of the hardest tricks to do! There’s soo much that can go wrong with them, and it’s not like sleight of hand, where you can sleight of hand your way out of a problem! If you just blindly take out the clock and it misses the signal, you’re screwed!

I’ll keep working on this as I really like the routine I’m working on, and hopefully it’s something that sticks in my show!

-Louie

Zoom Recorder as a Mixer

Last week at the fair, their sound system only had one input and no mixer. My show uses up 3 channels, so I was in a little bit of a bind. Luckily I usually have a Zoom Recorder in my backpack for recording show audio and working on The Odd and Offbeat Podcast that I cohost with comedy juggler Matt Baker.

The zoom recorder has three inputs, 2 XLR’s and one 1/8 inch, which worked perfectly for my show’s needs. I then used the audio out to plug into the sound system and it worked great! As a bonus, I was also able to record my shows audio so that I could review it!

I’d never used it as a mixer before and glad it worked out, and now I know that in a pinch, I can use it!

-Louie

Turing Rain into Lemonade

Sometimes where you perform outdoors you’ll have issues with the weather. One night it rained most of the day, and that killed attendance for the shows right after it stopped raining. There was literally no people on the fairgrounds to pull to make an audience, so we used the time as practice time.

The juggler at the fair and I used that down time to work on some lasso tricks:

And since we both had lassos, I was able to try doing two lassos at the same time!

We could have called the show and not performed, however we both got in some fun practice time! I always try to look for spots in my day when I can get in a little bit of practice and a rained out show was a great spot!

-Louie

Working the Work…

In working on the trick with pictures of my cat, that is really just a clock prediction using UTP/Time Hacker this week, I feel like I’m learning a lot.

First of all, I was going to have the cat pictures like a list joke, where there are three pictures and I end up the final one of my cat. It think I only need one picture and that’s of my cat. Initially I was hoping to get 5 mins from the routine, but it’s looking like it’ll be more of a 3 min routine and that’s fine if that’s where the trick naturally wants to land. There no reason to make a trick longer than it needs to be.

The second thing I learned was if you ask someone to give you a random time, they give things like six o’clock, which is fine, but not very interesting. The reveal is better if they are thinking of 6:17 as it feels more impossible.

The final thing I’m coming up with is that this trick needs an out. The first day I did it, it worked great…but the second day it failed both times. I think the fails were user error, so I’ll try to figure it out…

-Louie