Tricks – Page 126 – MagicShow.Tips

Making a Set List…

Frequently I’m amazed when newer performers mention they have a 60 minute show. That’s a long time to do a show, I’m calling BS on a lot of them. They may have 60 mins of material, but usually it’s not a 60 minute show. I’ve got tons of material and have been been in magic a long time, but barely have a 60 min show.

What’s the difference between material and a show? Material is what you can do, but a show has texture and flow.

So, how do you put together a show? I start by writing out a set list, a list of tricks and how long they run. After the name of the trick, I write how long the routine runs and an “A” or and “S”. The “A” means someone from the audience helps me onstage and the “S” means that it’s done solo, with just me onstage. Sure there are tricks where I’m the only one onstage, but I use someone from the audience who stays seated, I consider those tricks to be solo tricks.

First I arrange it set list of the routines that I want to do. Here’s an example of what a short show set list would look like:

cup – 2 mins – S
hoop – 3 mins – S
Card to Pocket – 5 mins – A
Whip -6 mins – A
Straight Suit- 6 mins – A /S (This uses someone on stage, but they return to their seat about halfway thru the routine)

The next thing I do is try to arrange them into an order that alternates solo and audience. Here’s what the revised list would might look like:

cup – 2 mins – S
Card to Pocket – 5 mins – A
hoop – 3 mins – S
Whip -6 mins – A
Straight Suit- 6 mins – A /S

Next I look at the type of trick, luckily this particular set let isn’t super magic heavy, it’s more skill demonstrations which makes the next part easier. The goal is to no have two of the same type of effect next to each other. So if I had a “Bill To Lemon” in the list, I’d try to not put it next to “Card To Pocket” as both are teleportation type tricks.

Personally I have no problem putting things with similar props next to each other. For example I could put Card to Pocket and Tossed Out Deck next to each other. The effects are different and they both add different textures to the show.

That’s a general outline of how I put together a set list for a show. There are other factors that come into play. For example some tricks work better deeper into the show once the audience gets to know you, and so me tricks are openers or closers. In the set list above my two routines that use the audience are the Card To Pocket and the Whip routine. In theory I could swap the two tricks positions, however the whip is a big build up and it works better when the audience knows me. The card to pocket has a lot more magic that happens and works better for an audience that’s just getting to know me. Other considerations is how messy a trick is, or if it needs to be preset.

Once you have your set list, you can start to work on the flow of the show. You can then reveal things about yourself, add in call backs or put in something to tie it all together to start creating a show.

Large Three Shell Game…

One of the silver linings of the current “social distancing” is that I’m able to get work on some of my back burner projects, things that I aren’t a priority, but would like to get done. In the past, I have made a couple of giant shells for the three shell game out of a resin, but used a casting method to where the shells weren’t uniform. I’ve wanted to make a set where the shells inside and out were more uniform.

Yesterday I 3D printed a giant shell which will be the original that the other shells will be made from.

The next step is to make a silicone mold and cast them in resin. I’ll probably put a magnet in them so that they handle more like a chop cup than a shell game set.

Catch your whale

Right now we’ve all found ourselves with a lot of extra time. I’ve been using mine to try to catch my “Great White Whale” of tricks I’ve always wanted to create. This trick has been in my head for over a decade and a lot of things had to come together to for it to happen.

Here’s the trick, and be sure to watch the whole thing:

I’ve been fascinated by the idea of using a nested replicas of the main prop as a final load ever since I read Gary Oullett’s cups and balls routine in his Fulminations column in Genii magazine. Then about 10 or 15 years ago I thought about applying it to the shell game. The hurdle was getting shells to nest and enough of them.

Then the breakthrough came when I got a 3D printer. I could print the shells, however the problem was they didn’t look like shells. They looked like plastic things that kinda looked like walnut shells. A friend of mine sent me a link of how to make molds and I tried to learn off of youtube videos with limited success. I ended up taking a 4 hour class on making molds and resin casting that really helped speed up the learning curve.

I kept making baby steps to get towards the end result and finally got there. I’m not done yet, ideally in the future I’ll have some shells that look a little bit better, but for now I have a workable version of the trick!

Fix It!!!

When someone puts out a magic trick, there are two ways the creator does it. One is how they do it and the other is a dumbed down version for people who don’t want to practice. Personally when I put out a product, I put out what I actually do and use (at the time of putting it out). That way it’s a release that I know inside and out.

A great trick that came out a few years ago, but has mixed reviews is called Split.

The effect is you have a twenty dollar bill and it visually rips into two ten dollar bills. This is a great trick, but the main complaint I saw was the gimmick was obvious. The problem that people weren’t able to see past was that it was designed to be done with non-US currency. The money in other countries is more colorful and the designs hide the gimmick better.

For me it took about a minute of looking at the gimmick to solve the problem. Here’s my gimmick:

Basically I moved the gimmick from the middle of the bill to the edges. There’s a lot more printing to hide it on a US bill.

Then there was a corner of the old bill that was slightly visible when I was doing mirror practice. I covered it with the corner of a bill that matched what it should be. This was a small thing that really wasn’t an issue, it just sorta bugged me.

When you get a trick and you think it doesn’t work, before you write a bad review, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Was the trick designed with European money, or created by someone that’s left handed, or whatever. You many not work exactly as the creator, and you need to be able to adjust.

Dropping Triumph

Right now I’m reading the book FASDIU 2 by Paul W. Cummins. FASDIU stands for From A Shuffled Deck In Use. The material in this book is all on things using a deck with no set up and no gaffs. I’m really liking the book so far much of the material is the kind of magic I like to do.

I really like the first trick in the book, however this blog post is about the trick called A Total Triumph which is based on a Steve Reynolds trick. In this trick right before the reveal of all the cards going the same direction except for the selected card, you need to get rid of a reversed card on top of the deck. I thought that the old “drop the deck and the top card flips over” thing would solve this.

Here’s a quick demo used in a different context of the idea:

The move makes more sense in the context of the A Total Triumph trick. I’m unaware of anyone using this move to clean up a reversed card in a deck. I think it’s interesting to use a card reveal as a clean up.

Magic Shop Jam!

On Friday of last week I pitched in and helped out at Market Magic Shop in Seattle for a couple of hours. A couple of magicians came out and we jammed a bit, it was a lot of fun! One of the things that we were goofing off with was pressed pennies. Here’s a trick … Continue reading “Magic Shop Jam!”

On Friday of last week I pitched in and helped out at Market Magic Shop in Seattle for a couple of hours. A couple of magicians came out and we jammed a bit, it was a lot of fun!

One of the things that we were goofing off with was pressed pennies. Here’s a trick with one:

It’d be an amazing giveaway if you had your own custom penny made, or better yet a quarter and did the trick and gave them away. The initial cost would be crazy, but would be a giveaway that they’d keep!

Lip Bomb!

A couple of months ago I recorded my Coin in Chapstick magic trick and haven’t looked at it. I’m glad I finally did, the trick looks great! My only problem with it is that it doesn’t really have a place in my show. I did a blog post about it awhile ago about how just … Continue reading “Lip Bomb!”

A couple of months ago I recorded my Coin in Chapstick magic trick and haven’t looked at it. I’m glad I finally did, the trick looks great! My only problem with it is that it doesn’t really have a place in my show. I did a blog post about it awhile ago about how just because it’s an everyday object doesn’t mean it’s right for your show.

You can watch my trick here:

The trick would be better suited as a “street magic” type video than it would in formal show. I’ll probably write it up and publish it in Vanish Magazine.

Try Another Way

There’s a classic beginner’s card trick where a card is selected and returned to the deck. You then drop the deck onto the table and their card appears on top of the deck. The working is simple, you control the card to the top of the deck, sidejog it and drop the deck onto the table from about a foot up. The air hitting the sidejogged card will flip it over as it falls. It’s a great trick.

My problem with the trick is that I’ve never had more than about a 50% success rate with it. I’m not sure what I’m doing right or wrong. The other day I was killing time between shows and figured out a way to get a 100% success rate with the trick.

Here’s what I came up with:

Doing the trick this way is a lot harder, but works every time. What I’m doing is a one handed top palm as the cards are dropped to the table. The palm is something I could already do, so adding it to the trick was no big deal. If I didn’t already do the palm, I probably wouldn’t learn it for this trick…however I would recommend learning that and I consider it something every magician who does card tricks should be able to do.

If you’ve got a trick that doesn’t work (technically) for you, start to explore other ways to do the trick. I’m pretty sure someone has to have come up with my solution to the flip over card trick before, however it solved a problem for me.

Topical Magic

Right now it a time for topical magic with the current hysteria about the COVID-19 virius. Stores are sold out of face masks and hand sanitizer. Here’s a couple of ideas for someone to run with:Paper tear to face mask (surgicial style): Make like a traditional hat tear Homemade Hand Sanitizer: put ingredients into a … Continue reading “Topical Magic”

Right now it a time for topical magic with the current hysteria about the COVID-19 virius. Stores are sold out of face masks and hand sanitizer.

Here’s a couple of ideas for someone to run with:
Paper tear to face mask (surgicial style): Make like a traditional hat tear

Homemade Hand Sanitizer: put ingredients into a dove pan and out comes a bottle of hand sanitizer

Homemade Hand Sanitizer 2: Pour ingredients into a cup and out comes a bottle of hand sanitizer. Use slush powder.

Would be easy to do…and probably get you some instagram heat. I’d do it, but no where in my town has masks or sanitizer in stock.