Tricks – Page 64 – MagicShow.Tips

Every Day Carry…For MC’s

There’s a term going around magic which is called “every day carry” and it refers to what you always have in your pockets. Typically this means whenever you leave the house, it’s in your pockets or on your person. This refers to props that you would use for spontaneous performances. I’m intentionally not using the word impromptu because that usually refers to magic using things you find around you at that moment.

When I host shows, have planned material for known stage delays, like when an act has props or rigging that needs to be set up and I’m aware that I’ll need to kill time.

Then there are unplanned stage delays. These are when a performer isn’t ready, rigging is taking longer than expected, or whatever. For these situations, on my person I always have a a bunch of material on me that I can instantly perform. this is my MC EDC:

I have material of varying lengths and most of the longer routines, like the color changing silks can be broken up into two shorter routines if needed.

If you are thinking of doing any stage hosting, you really should consider having at least a couple of tricks in your pocket that you can use for unplanned stage delays!

-Louie

Marketing Magic Tricks

Frequently in magic groups on Facebook someone will say they want to sell a trick and want advice. There’s a lot of bad advice (in my opinion) that is then given. One of the things is to go straight to Penguin Magic with the idea, however they usually won’t produce your idea, you’ll need to make it and send it to them. Last time I looked into it, their terms weren’t the most friendly to the creator. You were making product, sending it to them and they would pay you as sold.

A better approach would be to go to Murphy’s Magic and pitch the idea. If they like it and want some of it, they’ll be a couple of options, like you could sell them the idea, they could help you with manufacturing, or you could just sell them the finished product.

Of course by that point you should have done your homework and know how much it costs you per unit to make, and how long it takes you to make them in quantity. Also if you’re self producing, you’ll need to be able to fund making the first batch of your trick as most accounts are on NET 30, so you won’t get paid for a month.

Then you need all of your collateral, so ad copy, art, instructions, etc. Usually you’ll have some of this done before you pitch the idea, but not always. For example my Take Out Box was something that was in my show for a while, so I had tons of video of it that I could pitch it with. Once I had interest, then I went out and started getting all of the other stuff in line.

Personally I’ve made a choice to not mass market thru big magic distributers for most of my products. My reasoning is that going direct thru magic shops I’m able to make more per unit and since I hand make almost everything I sell, it makes more sense to sell a few less units, but make more per unit!

Louie

The Professional Magician Podcast

A couple of months ago I recorded an interview with Cris Johnson for The Professional Magician podcast. We were going to talk about more businessy stuff, but we ended up talking about how I work on my show.

When I was starting out, no one ever told me how to work on my show…and I bet if I asked a room full of magicians how they work on their show, the vast majority really won’t have an answer beyond some generic “I practice”.

I came up with a system to working on my show that I call the 6R’s. Each step begins with the letter R. I’ve presented this as a lecture that I’ve presented to groups of performers around the country. A couple of years ago I did one for the virtual KAX Convention and have a recording of it.

If you’d like to learn the 6R’s to working on your show, you can get access to video for $5! Simply use the Add To Cart button below

6R’s To Working On Your Show $5

Once you order, I’ll email you the download info withing 24 hours.

-Louie

Feeling Small Onstage

One of the things that I noticed in the pictures of me performing at the Oddities and Curiosities Expo was how small I looked on that stage!

I’m guessing the stage was 16 -20 feet wide by 8 feet deep. That isn’t that big, I’ve definitely worked on stages that size or bigger. However the pictures I’ve seen really remind me how much bigger props matter.

Yes, you can fill the stage with personality, but you if you’re presenting a magic show and they can’t see the magic, your personality will only carry it soo far. At some point you’ll stop being a magician and become a stand up comic or monologist.

-louie

Oddities and Curiosities Expo

On Saturday I performed at the Oddities and Curiosities Expo in Grand Rapids, MI. This was a fairly unusual situation for me performing as the audience was standing, there was no seats. For me, the challenge was getting people to stand for 30 minutes. A standing audience is very different from a sitting audience.

It was also a family audience that wanted edgy, which is a very fine line to walk during your show. I was able to do a lot of bits that I wouldn’t normally do in my show as they’re slightly too edgy for a general audience, but worked great for this crowd.

This was an audience that was ready to see a show, and there were great audiences, and we packed the space with people standing. If I ever do one of these again, I’d probably take more tricks that have a lot of build up, and a singular payoff, versus routines that have multiple smaller effects.

For example I brought my object in ball of yarn that’s 8 minutes and has a couple of mini tricks before the final trick a the end. I should have done my blindfold which is also about 8 minutes and has a single reveal at the end.

It was a fun show, and I’d do it again!

-Louie

Alex Feldman is AMAZING!

One of the acts that I was most excited to see and work with at the Moisture Festival was Alex Feldman. Here’s video of the act that he does:

The act in the video is great example of taking things one step further, then one step further until you’ve done everything. The audience leaves with a sense that they’ve seen everything and the act has a definite ending.

Alex and I had a blast kicking it around Seattle. One of the things we chatted about was non-verbal communication. I’m not talking about “body language” but giving people instructions without words. We were trying to think of silent mentalism!

I did an interview with Alex for the Moisture Festival Podcast and you can listen to it at:
http://www.magicshow.tips/moisture-festival-podcast/the-moisture-festival-podcast-alex-feldman/

-Louie

Visiting with Paul Draper

Last week I performed in the Moisture Festival in Seattle and had a blast. One of the acts that I worked with was Paul Draper. I didn’t know a ton about him, I think we both did a virtual magic convention together a couple of year ago.

It was a blast seeing him, he’s got a lot of energy onstage and is very likable! Being likeable is 99% of the game!

One night Paul hosted the show I was in and he’s also a solid host, who kept the show moving. This is an important skill when the show has 9 acts plus the emcee!

If Paul is performing near you, check him out, you can learn a lot by watching him!

-Louie
PS I did interview Paul Draper for the Moisture Festival Podcast and you can listen to his episode here:
http://www.magicshow.tips/moisture-festival-podcast/the-moisture-festival-podcast-paul-draper/

Meta Data Photo App…

While I don’t think this is the best idea for magic app, if someone made it, I would buy it. The premise is someone names a place and time and that’s the meta data on the photo. The app would change the meta date for a picture. Ideally this would be a picture that you text someone, but could be on your phone.

I’m going to imagine that it wouldn’t be hard for someone to make an app that does that. You could key in the state and time info when you use your six digit unlock screen.

I don’t think the trick is strong enough for a stand alone trick, but used in conjunction with something else as a kicker to a prediction. Like maybe it’s a confabulation, so the picture is one reveal, and the date and time are another reveal.

-Louie

Stage Make Up

One of the things that I learned to do a couple of years ago was makeup. Coming out of comedy clubs, that’s something that performers really didn’t do. During the 2020’s I needed to learn to do my own make up for a TV show as they couldn’t provide a makeup person per the covid restrictions at the time.

I don’t do much, it’s really to take the shine off, but it makes a huge difference in pictures!

If you don’t know how to do very basic stage makeup, there are tons of books about it and probably a ton of YouTube videos that can teach you. I hired a theater person to teach me a very basic routine. It’s totally worth learning!

-Louie

Wrong Guesses

The other day I posted this video on TikTok:

@louiefoxx Optical Illusion with a ring and some safety pins! #opticalillusion #switchingplaces #weddingring #safetypin #louiefoxx #magictrick #magician #closeupmagic, ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

One of the comments I got was someone trying to explain the trick:

This tells me that going off screen isn’t an unknown technique to people anymore. However it’s now more like a “it went up your sleeve” kinda comment, where it’s an explanation that’s wrong 99% of the time.

What I love about the comment in this particular trick is how far off they person was with guessing. The two pins are super gimmicked, the only thing that’s ungimmicked is the RING!

-Louie