Tricks – Page 20 – MagicShow.Tips

Buying a Mentalism Show

I was chatting with a hypnotist friend of mine, who is also a good magician about the new wave of mentalists. These are people who see mentalism as way to “fame” or at least gigs. Many of them are from non-magic styles of performance (like burlesque, or actors) that think they can simply buy some props and do a mentalism show. The sad thing is that they pretty much can and will do fine…until something goes wrong. Their show is literally controlled by a computer chip

I’ve worked with a many of these acts and what they lack is that they’re not passionate about magic or mentalism. They’re not passionate about magic/mentalism, they just know the prop they bought. When that electronic prop doesn’t work, they’re screwed. They don’t have a back up plan.

Someone who loves magic/mentalism knows four different ways to get out of an electronic trick when the gimmick fails or has planned for failure with back up methods.

A good example of this is when I used to do the lottery prediction using Ceseral CUPP. My prediction was two phase, the first was a decent trick and the kicker was the lottery ticket. The reason it was two phase was that when doing the trick if the lottery ticket didn’t print or was a misprint, I simply stopped after the first phase. No one knew the lottery ticket was going to happen, so if I didn’t do that part, it felt like the trick was complete. The first phase of the trick was bullet proof, and really couldn’t fail.

This is where being a student of whatever art you’re doing makes a huge difference! Put the time in!

-Louie

Remote Control Chattering Teeth UPGRADE!

Last year I added an ankle switch to a set of my remote control chattering teeth. That allows hands free operation of the teeth. I’ve used them all summer and they’re working great!

Here’s a quick demo of them:

@louiefoxx I put an ankle switch into a set of Chattering Teeth! #magic #joke #dentist ♬ original sound Louie Foxx

When my summer season ends in a late September, I plan on making a batch of them for sale. Keep an eye out for them!

-Louie

Charles T. Jordan Collected Tricks

A few weeks ago at the Potter and Potter auction of Kreskin’s stuff, I picked up a copy of Charles T. Jordan Collected Tricks! I think that it was the cheapest thing that sold at the auction, and luckily I didn’t pay too much more that the going rate for the book, and this one has Kreskin’s autograph on the inside cover!

This book starts with the “controversy” about the tricks published under Jordan’s name. You can read a little bit about it here: https://www.conjuringcredits.com/doku.php?id=misc:charles_jordan_controversy

I’m only a few tricks into the book and the third trick involves a deck of cards and a rubber band. This is one of the tricks where the method is way better than the trick. It’s fun to do, but the trick is just OK. It’s a card that disappears from half the deck that’s got a rubber band wrapped around it and it appears in the other half of the deck. There are better ways to do this, but they aren’t as much fun to do!

Also this book covers much more than the Dover book of Jordan’s card tricks. I’m excited to have this book and to work through it!

-Louie

Making a Snake Basket…

In the past I’ve tried to learn to use an Arduino to control motors, servos, etc. It was challenging as I never learned to do any programming in high school. None of the books really helped me figure it out. I was working with Greg Tarlin (juggler/puppeter) in the summer of 2024 and we were chatting about it. We worked together again a few months ago and he talked me through the very basics of it, but having a human tell me stuck more than a book.

I took a basic Arduino project kit on the road with me and have been working through the projects, and I’m understanding the code more and more.

The first real project I want to make is a snake basket. I want to combine the two “modern” snake baskets from my teenage years which were Terry Lunceford’s Viper Pro and Collector’s Workshop’s Khyber Kobra.

Here are videos of both of them:

What I want to do is have the snake rise out with the wrong card, then go back into the basket. Then a few cards shoot out of the basket a couple of times, and finally the snake jumps out.

I’m not sure that I want to do it with a snake, I was thinking of having an octopus or Kracken in the container. It sticks out a tentacle or two and at the end doesn’t jump out, but the tentacle reaches out quickly. Not sure if that will work, but it’s not a snake….

-Louie

The Crated Coin by Mark Strivings

Recently I came across The Crated Coin by Mark Strivings. This is a coin flip routine where you play “heads and tails” with the whole audience.

I’ve been playing with this premise as part of a larger routine. I’ve played with several other versions of the trick, however the main problem I have is dropping the coin. Mark’s solution, which he says is based on a Gaeton Bloom thing is to have the token put in a case and shaken. That makes it incredibly difficult to drop the coin. You are in 100% control of the result of the flip.

This also has the bonus of the sound factor of the token being shook inside the case. I’m a fan of this method!

-Louie

Magic Show Script Writing…

Every year in my library show I try to have at least one trick that has a life larger than that show. Something that I’ll try to put into my main show. One of the new routines that I have been doing in my library shows uses a Cootie Catcher/Paper Fortune Teller.

This routine has been doing well, and it’s a great little solo routine that’s compact a trick that packs flat, but because it’s a three dimensional trick that moves, it has a bit more visual texture than a flat prop.

There’s not a ton to the routine that I’m working on. It’ll hopefully have 6 laughs in two minutes. I’m always looking for solo tricks that I can do without someone from the audience onstage.

-Louie

Vintage Magic!

Magicians always ask me where I get a lot of the vintage magic props. I seek them out while I’m travelling. When I was performing in Napa, CA I found someone with a box of magic from the 1970’s. Here’s a quick video of it:

@louiefoxx Hunting for Vintage Magic Tricks #magictricks #magic #treasure ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

Honestly, this box was just “meh” for me. There’s one thing that I want for my personal collection.

I am kinda excited to try to 3d print the gimmicks the two die boxes. It shouldn’t be too hard and they’re not complex shapes. The challenge will be making the hinge for the yellow die, but even that shouldn’t be too difficult.

For fun, I had AI make me a painting of the magic props on the desk of my hotel room.

Both Sides of a Magic Trick

I was playing around with some ideas of tricks to record with my Ray Ban Meta Glasses. One of the neat things is that if I do a magic trick to a mirror, you can record both sides of the trick simultaneously.

Here’s my attempt at doing that:

@louiefoxx Backstage at the magic show #cardtrick #magic #mirrior ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

I think it came out well and is a good choice of trick as both sides of the card change, so there’s a good reason to show both sides of the cards!

-Louie

Vintage Magic Trick: Nick Trost’s Cardcentration

Today’s vintage magic trick is Nick Trost’s Cardcentration. The effect is a prediction of which card out of 8 that someone will pick, then there’s a kicker ending.

Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx Vintage Magic Trick: Nick Trost’s Cardcentration! #cardtrick #magic #magictrick #vintage #cardmagic #louiefoxx #nicktrost #closeupmagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

The effect of this trick is great, the method is garbage. There’s no reason for the envelope, you put a card into it, then immediately take it out. This trick would be equally as strong if you did the hot rod force, Quinta force, or the PATEO force. Sure, there’s nothing to sell if you don’t have a gimmick, but those would be superior methods.

I will say that of the three times I did this trick, only once no one asked to look at the envelope after the trick. That confirms to me that it’s the weak spot in the trick. Sure I could have come up with a reason or way to justify the envelope, but I try to do these tricks as written up in the original instructions to preserve what the creator intended.

-Louie

Evaporation – Milk!

In my show the Evaporation gimmick that I use in a milk bottle. Really it’s a Sunny D bottle that has a milk label that I printed out on it. Recently while I was performing in Wyoming I found this milk bottle:

This is my dream bottle for a milk bottle for my Evaporation trick. The only problem is that it’s a unicorn. What makes this bottle perfect for milk is that it’s smooth, which makes it easy to clean and it’s clear, so the liquid is very visible. Unfortunately I’ve spend too much time trying to track down more of these bottles and all the ones I can find are frosted and not clear. With a frosted bottle it’s hard to see the liquid inside.

Normally milk is in a frosted or opaque bottle as light isn’t good for milk. That convinces me that these were an error at the place that makes the bottles. Unfortunately I won’t be able to offer these for sale to magicians as there’s only two and I’m going to be using them. However if you want my standard Evaporation that’s gimmicked for milk, shoot me a note and I can make you one.

-Louie