Tricks – Page 139 – MagicShow.Tips

Another Day, Another Shell Game Move

A while ago I posted a picture of some newly acquired three shell games sets for my collection of them. Michael of Wack-O-Magic offered me a set of clear walnut shells he had made, but never figured out a use for. He sent me the only two sets he had made. This isn’t the first … Continue reading “Another Day, Another Shell Game Move”

Posted by Louie Foxx on Tuesday, February 19, 2019

This isn’t the first set of clear shells, I also have a set of La Maggiore Cristallina shells, which are beautiful! I never really used them much as they don’t fit into the routine that I do.

With Michael sending me two sets, one set went into the collection and the other set sat on my desk for me to play with. Here’s what I came up with:

Staring at the shells led me to some out of the box thinking that gave me another unique shell game move! I think Terry Seabrooke mentioned how he creates with a prop on an old VHS tape. He said, he puts the prop somewhere where he’ll see it all the time, a place where he’ll basically trip over it every day. That makes him think about the prop in short chunks all day.

I think Terry’s method is a good one, it makes you think about the prop, but you aren’t sitting at a desk having a staring contest with it. I know I’ve come up with many tricks simply using stuff that’s within eyesight of my desk.

Plan B Set List…

Yesterday’s blog post had a back up show set list that I would easily fit in my carry on luggage on an airplane. The next step is going to be to put those tricks into a set list for the show. There are a couple of tricks that are similar in effect, so I’ll have to make sure I don’t put those back to back.

Here’s the list of the tricks from yesterday:

-ACAAN
-Card to Pocket
-Card Memorization
-Blindfold drawing duplication
-Book Test
-Cue Card Confabulation
-Coin Under Watch
-Mismade bill
-Color Changing Hank
-Rubik’s Cube trick
-Torn and Restored Newspaper

Right now I know by looking at this list, I’m going to open with ACAAN and close with Torn and Restored Newspaper. ACAAN is an amazing trick, and there’s a decent amount of action right out of the gate, and it uses person, but they don’t have to be on stage…they could be, but don’t have to. I’ve used the Torn and Restored Newspaper as a closer in the past, so I know it will work there.

Right after ACAAN I’m going to do the Book Test, followed by the Rubik’s Cube Trick. These are both tricks I’ve done in that order in the past as warm up for my show at Fairs, and they are a great combo back to back.

Next I’m going to do Coin Under Watch. It uses a person from the audience, and while I coin trick, I can make it play big. After that I’ll do a solo piece, which will be the Color Changing Hank. This has a lot of action, and a lot of jokes.

Now we’re going to get into a mentalism block. I’m going to do the Blindfold followed by my Cue Card Confabulation. The Blindfold routine I do let’s me play with the person from the audience and it’s a longer piece that hits hard! The Cue Card Confabulation is my own creation and it’s just me on stage talking to people in the audience, and it’s joke will build off the strength of the Blindfold routine. The confabulation routine ends with a great surprise!

Next up I’ll do Card to Pocket, the set up to the Card Memorization, the Mismade Bill and then the final part of the Card Memorization. I’m going to use the time during the Mismade Bill for the two people who will help me with the Card Memorization to sort the cards. That will eliminate some dead time.

I’ll play the Card Memorization as the end of the show, and do the Torn and Restored Newspaper as the forced encore with a, “you want to see one more” line. Here’s the set list:

ACAAN
Book Test
Rubik’s Cube
Coin Under Watch
Color Changing Handkerchief
Blindfold
Cue Card Confabulation
Card To Pocket
Card Memorization part 1
Mismade Bill
Card Memorization part 2
Torn and Restored Newspaper

It’s a decent show, not the show I want to do, but it does look solid for an emergency show.

What’s Your Plan B?

Recently I worked with an act and the airline lost his luggage, and he had to perform for two days without gear. He’s a pro, and was really flustered, I think more at how the airline handled the situation than specifically about his missing gear. His shows were great, but it got me thinking about what my backup plan is.

Sure we all can go to the Walmart and put together a show, and I hear performers say that’s their back up plan all time. That’s all good, but whatever is in your “Walmart Show” is material you really need to practice. It should be your “B” show, meaning you do it every now and then. You have jokes and bits, not just do tricks.

This made me think of what I can carry onto a plane, that’s will play big. I’m putting together a list of things so I’m prepared for when this does happen. I also want to do it on my terms, meaning, I have a plan and I’m not scrounging.

The easy starting point is to figure out what card tricks would play big on stage.

1: ACAAN
2: Card to Pocket
3: Card Memorization

These are tricks that have already been in my stage show in the past, so I have good routines for them. These also are very different in texture, they don’t feel like the same trick. Those three tricks are about 12-15 mins. Right away I’m 1/3 of the way to a 45 mins show.

Now to build upon the card tricks to fill in the show. I could add some mentalism:

1: Blindfold drawing duplication
2: Impromptu Book Test
3: Cue Card Confabulation

These three tricks also have different textures and will bring the show to about 30 mins. I can make the the cue cards with the pad of paper from the drawing duplication and I will have the coins from the blindfold, I can use them for a coin trick:

1: Coin Under Watch

I’m going to have to be careful to space out coin under watch and card to pocket as they are both “transportation” tricks. This is not a big deal, I just need to be aware of it. This is going to bring the show to about 33 mins.

There will be room for some small gimmicks, so I can add these tricks:

1: Thumb Tip with mismade bill
2: Dye Tube

Now that I’ve added these two tricks, that puts my show length at about 39 mins. That’s almost a show. Let’s add a couple of small props to the carry on bag:

1: Rubik’s Cube trick
2: Torn and Restored Newspaper

That’s going to bring the whole show to 45 mins.

This show’s carry on list would be:
1: Jumbo deck of cards
2: Regular deck of cards
3: 2 pads of paper
4: Roll of duct tape
5: 2 Coins
6: Book
7: Thumb Tip
8: Mismade bill
9: Dye Tube
10: 2 handkerchiefs
11: Newspaper
12: 2 Rubik’s Cubes

The pack list isn’t very long, and all the props when put together don’t take up much space, and would play well on a stage. All of these are things that have been in my show in the past, so I know the material and have routines for them.

Is this my dream show to do? Nope, but it’ll work in a pinch, and I think it’s a better option than buying some junk at the hardware store and trying to figure out what to do with it!

Nothing New Under The Sun…

One of the things that frustrates me is when people say that they aren’t creative, or that all the good ideas have been had (for a specific trick). Those are both excuses for being lazy. Creativity takes work, it’s not something that magically pops into your head.

Here’s a good example of something new within something old. Bob Sheets has a great move he uses in the Three Shell Game. That’s a trick that’s virtually unchanged since it was created. However, Bob created the “Sheets Aquitment” which I think is revolutionary.

Many years ago I came up with a move for the shell game that uses a finger ring:

While not as earthshaking as Bob’s move, it is still something new for the shell game. My advice is to keep plugging away with whatever trick you love and you’ll eventually leave your mark on it!

Improvised Card Magic

Last night at the Seattle Magic Club, I got talking about “improvised” card magic. What that means is magic where you don’t have a formal plan and kinda figure it out while you are going. I got into doing this style of trick through some books by Justin Higham. It’s an interesting style, and it … Continue reading “Improvised Card Magic”

The 75% Production and The Trick With No Method

It’s an interesting style, and it works out your brain while you perform. In a nutshell, what you are doing it looking for things you can do while you are doing other tricks. Let’s say you are doing Triumph and when you spread the cards at the end, you notice 3 kings together in the deck, that’s something you may be able to use later in an improvised trick.

The key to this is that you don’t always do something. For example, let’s say I have the three kings at the bottom of the deck, but the 4th never comes up, then I don’t do the trick.

While talking to some of the magicians about this style of performing, one commented that it’s probably hard to think that quick. It is, but the more you do it, the easier it is. Also when you remember that no trick is an acceptable outcome, then you can’t lose!

I recommend you check out Justin Higham’s books on this and try it out!

From an Idea to a Physical Trick in Under 18 Hours

Last week I was hanging out with some magicians and while we were jamming we stumbled upon an idea. What we were doing with this idea at the restaurant wasn’t very sophisticated, but we got the general idea down.

The next morning I got up and made a quick 3D model of what we wanted the trick to look like. I printed it, and it wasn’t quite right. I banged out a Version 2 and it still needed a little bit of tweaking. Within 18 hours of having the idea, and me sleeping about half of that time, I had an ideal working model!

In their current form, they look like a Tenyo Magic product and the next step will be to have them made in metal.

Being able to produce these in a physical form tells me a lot about the idea and how it will actually work. Versus it basically dying in a notebook. Knowing how to use a 3D printer is a game changer for magicians!

Do It Backwards!

When I was about 15 years old, I saw John Carney lecture in Minneapolis. One of the things he talked about was doing the pass. He said the best way to create a new pass was to do an existing one backwards. For example a Herman Pass is essentially a Classic Pass Backwards.

Occasionally when I’m jamming with magicians I’ll start to play with a move or an idea backwards and it will yield interesting results. Recently I was talking to a mentalist and the subject of spoon bending came up. I asked him if anyone had done it backwards. What I mean by that is bending the spoon towards the bowl, instead of away from it.

He mentioned that a lot of the optical illusion parts of bends may not work. He then demonstrated the spoon bends that he does, and he was right about them not working with the bend going the opposite direction. However, this playing around with flipping the bend backwards led me to come up with what I think is a new spoon bend!

TLDR: Try doing it backwards!

Collecting Magic…

Do you collect magic? Many magicians are hoarders and have boxes of stuff that they buy and almost immediately gets put away. Personally I actively try to not have too much magic kicking around. This is partially because of space, and partially because when I die, it simply becomes garbage. I do collect things, however … Continue reading “Collecting Magic…”

Do you collect magic? Many magicians are hoarders and have boxes of stuff that they buy and almost immediately gets put away. Personally I actively try to not have too much magic kicking around. This is partially because of space, and partially because when I die, it simply becomes garbage.

I do collect things, however it’s a little different than “hoarding” as it’s fairly specific. I collect three shell game sets. Here’s the current collection:

You’ll notice in the bottom center there is a space with no shells. That’s the shell game set that use when I’m out performing. I use Leo Smester’s shell game, and I highly recommend it. The only thing I changed was I don’t use his peas, I use the Perfect Pea made by School For Scoundrels.

Personally I prefer the “bowl” type sets. I had been doing the shells for a little while and found some little bowls in Chinatown when I was a teenager and started doing the shell game with them. Those bowls broke a long time ago, however ever since then I’ve preferred the bowl style.

Ideas Become Reality…

I’ve been keeping notebooks for idea for magic since I was a teenager. Most of the ideas from the early ones are horrible, but every now and then I’ll flip through them and find something interesting. About 10 years ago I had an idea for a trick, but it was missing something that would make it functional.

I was running at the gym and notice something triggered an “ah-ha moment” that made the idea work. When I got home, I created the two parts on my 3D printer and printed them up. Here’s one of them in the CAD Program:

And here’s the other one that’s printed out:

Now that I have these two pieces, I’ve assembled the trick and am happy to report that the trick works!

The sad news is that in the 10 years since I had the idea my performing style has changed a lot and this really doesn’t fit how I perform. However it’s been in my head for so long, I’m going to keep developing it at home and try to figure out a way to make it work.

TLDR: Always keep an eye out for solutions to a problem

Your Own Versions…

Many years ago I read that Steve Fearson wanted to create his version of classic magic illusions. A quick Google Search and I managed to find the quote: “About 10 years ago I took it upon myself to reinvent 3 of magic’s greatest stage illusions, adapting them so that they could be performed in a … Continue reading “Your Own Versions…”

Many years ago I read that Steve Fearson wanted to create his version of classic magic illusions. A quick Google Search and I managed to find the quote:

“About 10 years ago I took it upon myself to reinvent 3 of magic’s greatest stage illusions, adapting them so that they could be performed in a close up situation. The three illusions were the levitation of a person, the sawing in half illusion and the vanish.”
– Steve Fearson

That’s a quote that stuck with me for some reason. I’ve worked to create my version of tricks that I like. By my version, it’s a reworking of the trick, not simply a different sequence of events. I’ve marketed several of these tricks and am working on a patent for one of them.

I’m writing up my version of the “floating dollar trick”. My main issue with the classic version of the trick, is that if the gimmick breaks, you are toast, the trick doesn’t work…and the gimmick is super fragile. My version has multiple redundant gimmicks. Here’s a demo of it:

I think me not being happy with things how they are, has led me to some interesting solutions to fixing what I don’t like about many magic tricks. In fact some days that’s my creative exercise, taking tricks I don’t like and trying to make a version of them that I do like.

The moral of this post is to customize your magic to fit you and what you need from your gimmicks!