Honestly, I’m not sure how I used to do the vanishing birdcage. I think I was very lucky in that years ago it never really hung up on my sleeve in a show. I also think that I’m currently more aware of failure without an “out” in tricks that I do in the show. Billy … Continue reading “No Outs and Snagging…”
Honestly, I’m not sure how I used to do the vanishing birdcage. I think I was very lucky in that years ago it never really hung up on my sleeve in a show. I also think that I’m currently more aware of failure without an “out” in tricks that I do in the show. Billy McComb in an interview on the Greater Magic Video Series says, “…there is no out when the cage is hanging out of your sleeve.”
Currently I’m following Tommy Wonder‘s advice. Every time the cage snags on something, I’m trying to figure why it snagged and what I can do to stop it from snagging. It’s a smart approach, and one that’s a lot of work and will end up with a fairly altered jacket.
In my lecture for magicians, I have too many tricks that use sleight of hand. Yesterday I did a lecture and it hit me that there aren’t really any “self working tricks” that I teach. What I teach isn’t hard, the most difficult thing I do in the lecture is a two ball roll up … Continue reading “Too Hard???”
In my lecture for magicians, I have too many tricks that use sleight of hand. Yesterday I did a lecture and it hit me that there aren’t really any “self working tricks” that I teach. What I teach isn’t hard, the most difficult thing I do in the lecture is a two ball roll up for the three ball routine.
Being aware of this will make the lecture have more value to everyone who attends. Having something you can walk away doing is important for a magic lecture. My thinking when I put together the material for the lecture was that a thumb palm with a thimble is a pretty standard and basic sleight. I always forget that there are a lot of magicians that don’t do any sleight of hand at all. I need something in the lecture for them.
I’ve got a couple more lectures coming up and I’m going to be sure to add something self working to the list of things I teach and talk about!
One of the things that’s driving me nuts about this trick with crackers is it makes a mess in my table top box. There’s crackers crumbs everywhere inside it. Then they get stuck to thinks like the rubber balls I use for the three ball routine. It’s not the idea situation. While brainstorming with a … Continue reading “Small Bits Help!”
One of the things that’s driving me nuts about this trick with crackers is it makes a mess in my table top box. There’s crackers crumbs everywhere inside it. Then they get stuck to thinks like the rubber balls I use for the three ball routine. It’s not the idea situation.
While brainstorming with a friend yesterday, he suggested that I put the crackers into a card box. I like the idea, and I can get about seven crackers into a card box, and that’s enough to do the trick. With seven crackers there’s enough to do the trick.
Seven crackers are wedged in there pretty good. I pull out one cracker, then dump out the remaining six crackers. It makes more sense than just pulling out the crackers and illustrates the idea of what’s going to happen more than just bringing out a handfull of crackers.
One of the two new routines I’m working on this week is my cracker routine. It’s a card trick with a cracker and it’s got a long way to go, but made some huge strides. Basically it’s card trick with saltine crackers. One of the things that it’s lacked is an ending. The other day … Continue reading “Seal It Up!!!!”
One of the two new routines I’m working on this week is my cracker routine. It’s a card trick with a cracker and it’s got a long way to go, but made some huge strides. Basically it’s card trick with saltine crackers. One of the things that it’s lacked is an ending.
The other day I was having breakfast with some other performers at the fair and we were brainstorming and one of them suggested that at the end the signed cracker reappear inside a sealed cracker packet. I liked the idea, but didn’t think I’d be able to come up with a loading system that would work using the limited tools and materials I have with me.
Luckily I kept my eyes open and saw a pie lid that worked perfectly for what I wanted to do. I built a cracker packet loading device and I’m happy to report that the loader is working great!!!
One of the new bits that I added to the show this week was a fishing pole that the reel popped off when someone tried to turn it. It began as an accident when a kid broke my fishing pole, and I decided to turn it into a bit. What I did was epoxy magnets … Continue reading “Keep on Tweakin’”
One of the new bits that I added to the show this week was a fishing pole that the reel popped off when someone tried to turn it. It began as an accident when a kid broke my fishing pole, and I decided to turn it into a bit.
What I did was epoxy magnets to the reel and pole, so when the kid cranked them, they came apart. It was a quick and dirty fix and lasted several days, but last night a kid dropped the reel when it came apart and the magnet popped off. I liked the simplicity of a magnet to make it work, but I didn’t like that the reel didn’t turn at all.
Right now I’ve got the glue drying on the second version of the reel. This one is going to be attached by a snap. I went to the local Walmart and picked up a the biggest snap I could find and epoxy’d it in place. Hopefully the snap will allow the reel to turn a couple times before it pops off . We’ll see how this turns out…
While working on the Object in Ball of Yarn, recently I 3D printed a fishing reel to reel in the yarn. Every time I used it for the first few shows I worked the reel. Yesterday I decided to let a kid reel in the reel. Guess what happened? Within two cranks, the kid snapped … Continue reading “Finding the Silver Lining…”
While working on the Object in Ball of Yarn, recently I 3D printed a fishing reel to reel in the yarn. Every time I used it for the first few shows I worked the reel. Yesterday I decided to let a kid reel in the reel. Guess what happened? Within two cranks, the kid snapped the reel off the fishing pole!
When that happened, I was bummed out, however I’m also smart enough to see the “silver lining” in the situation. When the kid broke the reel, it was funny. My thinking then shifted to, how can I make that happen every time?
This solution was pretty simple. I just epoxy’d a magnet on the pole and the reel. When someone goes to crank it, they come apart. It’s a simple , and effective solution. The bonus is that’s today’s new bit I’m working on for Day 3 of a new bit in the show every day.
About a month ago I wrote about getting bonus tricks out of the tricks you are already doing (you can read the post here). These are little things that frequently happen and when they do, you can take advantage of them. The example I used was having a card selected, top change it, and have … Continue reading “Another Bonus Trick…”
About a month ago I wrote about getting bonus tricks out of the tricks you are already doing (you can read the post here). These are little things that frequently happen and when they do, you can take advantage of them. The example I used was having a card selected, top change it, and have it signed. Most people don’t process that the card has changed, and they remember signing the card they picked, not that the one the one you switched it for.
Using this an idea that was inspired by a trick in the book Be More Funny by Christopher Barnes, I came up with this trick. Someone picks a card (5 of spades) and signs it. You could do a quick ambitious card sequence, then have a card selected from another deck. You say both cards will match, but they don’t, the second card is the 4 of spades. You rip out the middle spade of the 5 of spades to turn it into the 4 of spades. The audience is then amazed that the signed 5 of spades actually turns into a 4 of spades (still signed)
So how do we do this?
I have two methods. The first is simply to top change the card. The second is to use a gimmicked card, this card would be a five of spades, but the corners show the four of spades:
The gimmicked card is better if you want to do a trick with the card before you rip out the center pip and it will reinforce the idea that the card is still a 5 for a lot longer. You’ll have a hard time passing of a 4 as a 5 if they keep seeing the face.
I’m going to try to make up a few gimmicked cards this week and try them out!
Probably more ideas pop for magic tricks into my head while driving than anywhere else. One thing that fascinates me is magic that uses liquid. The main reason is that liquid has a set of rules it has to play by, and the audience understands that. Those rules also make it a challenge, which is … Continue reading “”
Probably more ideas pop for magic tricks into my head while driving than anywhere else. One thing that fascinates me is magic that uses liquid. The main reason is that liquid has a set of rules it has to play by, and the audience understands that. Those rules also make it a challenge, which is why there aren’t a ton of tricks put out that use liquid.
The idea that popped into my head was to have a small set of Gozinta Boxes. These are a nested set of boxes where the outer box will fit inside the inner box. The trick is that boxes are opened and there’s a shot glass inside. You reassemble the boxes in the opposite order (inner box on the outside), then open the boxes again and there’s another shot glass. Both shot glasses fill up the interior of the boxes. You reassemble the boxes with the original outer box on the outside and for the finale, you open the boxes and it’s filled with whiskey, that you pour into the two shot glasses filling them!
As far as method goes, there’s a natural off beat after the second shot glass production that would be perfect for adding the liquid. I was thinking about several ways to seal a load to add into the box, however I think the best and most reliable way would be to simply switch one of the boxes. In theory all of the attention will be on the second shot glass, the production of the liquid is the topper to the trick.
I just ordered a few of the small Gozinta Boxes and will try it out soon!
One of the hardest things to do is to sit down and try to come up with ideas. Your options are too broad, you need to narrow it down and give yourself some rules. Some examples would be doing trick with a dollar bill, or an animation that doesn’t use invisible thread. When I travel … Continue reading “Easy Way To Be Creative…”
One of the hardest things to do is to sit down and try to come up with ideas. Your options are too broad, you need to narrow it down and give yourself some rules. Some examples would be doing trick with a dollar bill, or an animation that doesn’t use invisible thread.
When I travel I make videos of magic tricks using things that I find in my hotel room. Limiting the main prop of the trick to things in the room narrows your focus.
Another way to narrow your focus is to find one of the calendars online that lists all of the national days. For example today is National Coffee Day. You then create a magic trick for whatever today is.
Here’s an example of three tricks that use a coffee cup that I did for the tricks in a hotel video series:
One of the great things about working at fairs is that you have a lot of chances to perform and work on new material. This trick with a cracker that I’ve written about here over the last couple of days has progressed nicely. A big change I made is that instead of making the cracker … Continue reading “Even More Cracker Action!”
One of the great things about working at fairs is that you have a lot of chances to perform and work on new material. This trick with a cracker that I’ve written about here over the last couple of days has progressed nicely.
A big change I made is that instead of making the cracker reappear in an impossible location, I’m restoring the broken cracker. After I catch the cracker and smash it, I’m putting the crumbs into an envelope and offer it to the kid as a prize. I then rip open the envelope and dump out a restored cracker! I’m still doing the restored cracker with the wrong name, but this restoration phase is new.
The other change is that I was doing a pass to bring the signed cracker to the top. Doing a classic pass with crackers is really hard to do invisibly, so I’m doing a side steal. A side steal is sooo much easier with a cracker than a card!
The final change was switching from a Ritz Cracker to a Saltine Cracker. A saltine is less greasy and the signature shows up better on the white cracker.
All of these small changes are starting to add up a bigger results.
