When I was in Nashville recently I saw a ton of bands whose names I can’t remember. One of the bands playing at a bar that I stopped in was this one:
Their name was one the screens behind them. This is something that’s easy for you to do with your show. Put your logo on to a flash drive and keep with with your show gear. Now anytime there’s a TV in your performing area, plug in the flash drive and pull up your logo.
Personally I think having your logo on a screen is more modern than having a sign on our table. It also adds a touch of “production” to your show. This is a super easy way to get them to remember your name!
I did a test show of my 2025 summer library show. My show is themed around colors, with an emphasis on the colors of the rainbow. Here’s my view of the show when set up:
The Milson Worth Silk Cabby is something that I put in the show for the color blue. The effect that happens is that “my grandma’s scarf” stretches from about 9 inches to 20 feet long while in my grandma’s scarf box. This prop is an outlier in the show as I don’t use magic prop looking things in the show.
After doing it in the show, it really doesn’t feel right as a prop in the show. I think I may just use a double walled bag. The bonus of that is that it will reduce bulk and weight that I need to move around. The downside is that I don’t get to use a fun, vintage magic prop in my show.
For me a test show about a month before the summer library season is really helpful to identify things that don’t work, or I don’t like in the show. Once the season starts, I don’t have a lot of time to build or find a new prop to replace something that isn’t playing how I hoped it would.
One thing I’m not against is doing a show for free, but there needs to be a reason. I’m not talking about shows for charity, but shows that are ticketed, but there’s no pay. I look at these as a chance for me to break in new material and I don’t do my A material, I do things that I’m working on. The only exception to this is if it’s a favor to a friend.
A little while ago a show producer posted a “casting call” in a performer’s group. Here’s the form you had to fill out to audition to perform for free:
First of all, if there’s an audition for a free show, I personally stay away from it. There’s zero reason to audition to not get paid, unless there’s some other form of compensation from the gig, like them providing high quality video/pics of the act.
Next they are asking for experienced performers to do this gig for no pay. The schedule of the shows taking place on Saturdays kills any opportunity to take paid gigs on that prime night for actual paid work.
The super crazy thing to me is that they want 7 rehearsal days…for a FREE show! Then another six days for the shows, for a total commitment of 13 days with zero compensation. The gig is selling tickets, but they aren’t even kicking in for gas or meals for the performers.
Say NO to predatory gigs like this.
This is worse than the charity gig that asks for show in trade for exposure. You can easily leverage those shows into something that’s a win-win. This show is taking advantage of people who need stage time.
Is getting to do an act that’s not even YOUR act worth it?
You’re filling someone else’s pocket with your art.
Recently I hit the road for a short three day run of out of town shows that were done by car. Then I flew out out of an airport a few hours from home to another gig on the other side of the country. That meant that I had to leave my car parked at the airport with a lot of my show gear in the car.
When I do this I lock all of my gear to the car. This isn’t going to stop someone that REALLY wants to steal it, but it will make it harder! If someone’s going to a quick “smash and grab”, then they’re not getting anything. I want to make them work to steal my stuff.
Once everything is locked to my car, I then cover everything with a black sheet.
The black sheet combined with the tint on the windows makes it hard to see anything in the trunk of my car. While this doesn’t make it 100% invisible, it does a really good job of hiding my gear and definitely gives me some peace of mind that I at least tried to deter people from breaking into my car.
Magician’s can learn soo much from watching a drag show or professional wrestling. Those two are very similar, every act has a “hook” and they play things BIG! Big gestures, big personalities and they take time to connect with everyone in the audience.
The host of this show did some crowd work and they were really quick on their feet with jokes based on what the audience was saying. This is a place where many magicians could learn something. Most magicians the moment the person from the audience gets a big laugh the magician shuts them down. In my opinion that’s the wrong approach, you should let that person shine! That’s also why people go to live shows, to see a unique show that no one else will ever see!
Go out and see a professional wrestling or drag show. Watch how big they play everything with gestures and how they engage a crowd. Watch how they look at the whole audience. There’s a lot to learn!
Performing as a magician with a full magic show (versus an just an act) can be a very solitary job. Most of the time you’re working alone. You do that corporate gig, school assembly, birthday party as the only performer at the event.
Then there are other gigs that bring entertainers together, things like fairs and cruise ships will have multiple performers with shows at the same time. Recently I performed an a ship that had three guest artist magicians, one staff magician and a production show that featured a lot of magic! It was basically a magic convention. Add in some musicians or comedians and it’s quite a group!
One of the fun things about working with other entertainers is just sitting around a sharing stories. Anyone who has been a performer for any length of time has stories of crazy gigs! Honestly its sitting around and “cutting up jackpots” (carnival slang for telling stories) and having a bunch of laughs is good for the soul.
I’ve mentioned it before, but I don’t understand it when magicians say they don’t hang out with other magicians. It must be a lonely like out there for them!
People always ask me where I find all of the vintage magic stuff that I own or sell. Some of it comes from conventional things like digging through bins at magic shops or magic auctions. Then the unconventional things like garage sales or whatever.
I just paid $15 for this box of magic and I’ll pick it up later today. I just happened to be doing a show in the town where it is.
It looks like mostly junk from the picture, but at $15 for the whole box, I’m willing to lose that on the very low odds that there’s something worthwhile inside.
Personally I really like the excitement of not knowing what’s in the box! It’s like searching for treasure. I will say that I have no problem throwing away the junk, and I think that’s where a lot of magic collectors go wrong, they keep everything even the junk and end up with a garage full of crap.
Personally I’m a collector, not a hoarder…despite what my wife thinks!
For a few years now I’ve had trouble with the middle finger on my right hand. Sometimes when I bend it, it gets locked bent. Obviously having my fingers work is important to a magician. It’s been really bad the last few months, so I finally went to the doctor to have it looked at.
The doctor said it’s Trigger Finger and referred me to a hand specialist for the next steps. He said that the treatment is typically some sort of physical therapy and maybe an injection or two.
I really wish I had gone in over a year ago when it was clear that this was a chronic thing and not a one off sort of thing. Taking care of my hands should be a priority of anyone that’s a magician!
In Portland OR there’s the legendary Powell’s Books. They have new and used books and their magic section always has something of interest to me! Last time I was there I picked up the book Magic in Theory by Peter Lamont and Richard Wiseman.
This book is interesting in that it breaks down magic to step by step actions and explains those actions. I’m only on about page 50, so that’s what I’m getting so far.
This book isn’t specifically written for magicians, so it’s a bit clunky as they try to not reveal methods. I think the book would be better if it was written for magicians, or for non-magicians, but trying to straddle that line I feel makes the book not quite hit as hard as it could. There’s great information in it that’s dumbed down so low that I think magicians would gloss over some of the authors observations.
It’s a good read and a deal at what I paid for it as a used book. So far, it’s worth a peek if you can find a cheap copy!
