Category: Video

Trick from Ginosko

Here’s a trick from the book Ginosko. It’s called Blackjack for Brother John and it’s a packet trick that has a story that has a very 1980’s packet trick feel to it. That’s not a bad thing, but it feels like something Nick Trost or Emerson and West would have put out with novelty cards.

Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx Blackjack for Brother John from the book Ginosko! #blackjack #cardtrick #magicbook #magic #magictrick #closeupmagic #gambling #louiefoxx #ginosko #idahomagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

It’s a great story packet trick, and you only need four cards to do it with. That makes it impromptu, just pull the cards from the pack and you’re good to go. I would probably palm them out and remove the cards from my pocket, as you start by showing four of the same jack.

I recommend you pick up Ginosko, it’s only $25!

-Louie

Playing BIGGER!

Last week I wrapped up a 12 day gig at the Ohio State Fair. One of the challenges for me was how big the stage was. It was very wide and deep, then the backwall was about 6 feet beyond the end of the stage. That makes a lot of magic hard to focus on. Especially for an act like me that uses handheld props.

Here’s what the stage looks like:

Over the two weeks I learned to play my show BIG using large gestures and working to get bigger reactions out of people onstage. Here’s the highlights of week one:

@louiefoxx Comedy Magic at the Ohio State Fair: Week 1 highlights #ohio #columbus #comedy #magic #statefair #louiefoxx #sizzlereel #familyfun ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

This stage was a fun challenge!

-Louie

Vintage Magic Trick – Carnival Cards by Tom Ogden

This vintage packet trick is interesting, as it feels like Emerson and West’s Color Monte, but with four cards. Here’s what Tom Ogden’s Carnival Cards looks like:

@louiefoxx Vintage Magic Trick: Carnival Cards by Tom Ogden #vintage #magictrick #cardtrick #carnival #magic #louiefoxx #cards #gambling #vintagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

This uses the same move and the effect is very similar, except for the fourth card on the table. I’m curious what came first, it looks like Color Monte was released in 1974 and the Carnival Cards is undated, but based on the packaging, my guess in late 1970’s to early 1980’s.

Here’s the changes that I would make to the Carnival Cards trick:

It’s strange that Carnival Cards uses gaffed cards, because they aren’t needed. I kinda wonder if they were added to make the trick feel more “different” from Color Monte?

-Louie

Vintage Magic Trick – John Kennedy’s Cigarette Thru Any Coin

This is a fun trick that I remember seeing advertised in the 1990’s. It’s John Kennedy’s Cigarette Thru Any Coin! Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx Vintage Magic Trick! 1990’s CIGARETTE THRU ANY COIN by John Kennedy #magic #johnkennedy #cigarette #cointrick #closeupmagic #louiefoxx #sleightofhand #vintage #antique #seattle ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

I thing this trick is interested as there are a couple of methods working at the same time to create the illusion of the cigarette going through the coin. I don’t know if this is an improvement over the traditional method with a gimmicked coin. Kennedy’s method would have you have to do a switch of the larger object, which complicates doing the trick with “borrowed” objects, which makes the trick stronger.

Cigarette through coin is a classic bar trick like coin in bottle where the strength of the trick is that is uses borrowed objects and everything can be returned at the end and handled by the audience, so everything feels impromptu. It’s that unplanned feeling of it that makes the trick hit really hard!

-Louie

Vintage Magic Trick – Jail Bird by Nick Trost

Nick Trost put out a ton of magic tricks in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Today I’m playing with Jail Bird, which is a penetration of a card through a brass fastener.

Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx Jail Bird Card Trick by Nick Trost a Vintage Magic Trick #magictrick #magic #cardtrick #closeupmagic #packettrick #louiefoxx#nicktrost #vintagemagic #antiquemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

The problem with the trick is that in the instructions, you come out with the trick set up and then do the trick. It really needs to be set up in front of the audience and while not hard to do, it’s not in the instructions. I don’t know if that was to make the trick “easy to do” or “self working” or the limitations of trying to keep the instructions to one sheet of paper.

It’s a interesting effect, but honestly I don’t know a context were I would really use this trick as it’s kinda a quick one off sorta thing.

-Louie

Seattle Magic Jam – June 2024

A few weeks ago I organized a magic jam in Seattle and it was a blast! There were a ton of familiar faces and a few new ones. One of the great things about these is that is reminds me of why I got into magic, it’s FUN! A bunch of grown ups can spend the evening playing like children and it’s OK because we’re working!

Here’s some of the highlights of the Magic Jam:

Follow me on social media for more info about upcoming magic jams in the Pacific Northwest:

Instagram @LouieFoxx
Facebook @LouieFoxx
TikTok@LouieFoxx

Hope to see you at a magic jam in the future!

-Louie

Bag of Stuff I Can’t Do

I came up with a fun way to add in tricks that I’m playing with to my roving set at fairs. I have a ziploc bag full of stuff and I call it the “bag of stuff I can’t do“. I let someone pick something out of the bag and I do that magic trick. It’s a fun way to introduce props that don’t exactly fit my style.

Here’s a highlight video from the fair I performed at last week and you can see some of this stuff.

In that video you can see the first phase of the O-Korto Coin Box routine and Circulation or Round-the-square Cards by Pavel. This is a fun way to keep performing fun and fresh for me.

-Louie

Magic Monday in Seattle

Last week I popped by Magic Monday in Seattle. This is a fun magic show, that I think of as a magic open mic. It’s a place for me to work on new material, or knock the dust off of old routines that I haven’t done for a while. One of the fun things about the show is that there’s a huge mix in performance styles, and experience levels of the magicians.

The nice thing about this is after the show we all go downstairs to the pub and it’s a fun little magic jam! I have an idea for the Cards Across trick and I had Ruben Barron show me the one that he does (Las Vegas Leaper), which was helpful to me!

-Louie

Twenty Dollar Bill Switch

Many years ago I made a gimmick that can visually turn a one dollar bill into a twenty dollar bill. I use this all the time promotional videos for events and in virtual shows. A while ago when I was on the road, I tried to come up with a lot of different presentations for TikTok with the one gimmick.

Here’s what I came up with:

@louiefoxx Always Tip The Hotel Staff! #tipping #hoteltips #hotel #tips #magic #magician #louiefoxx #moneymagic #twentydollars ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
@louiefoxx How to make money! #howtomakemoney #makemoney #case ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
@louiefoxx How to make the big bucks! #bigbucks #twentydollars #onedollar #magictrick #louiefoxx #hotelroom #hotel #moneymagic #sleightofhand ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
@louiefoxx Dizzy Dollar Trick! #onedollar #dizzy #moneymagic #magictrick #louiefoxx #dollarbill #numismatics #sleightofhand ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
@louiefoxx Inflation Explained! #inflationexplained #dollarbill #twentydollars #magic #moneymagictrick #sleightofhand #magician #howtoincreasemoney #magictrick ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

Those five tricks are all essentially the same trick, just presented differently to hopefully give them all a different feel. Those five are in addition to how I do it in virtual shows. I think getting a lot of mileage with a single gimmick is a big advantage with social media, where you can get multiple videos out of a single trick!

-Louie

Vintage Magic Trick: Fly Cards II by Aldo Columbini

Fly Cards II by aldo columbini

I was playing with Fly Cards II by Aldo Columbini from 1991. I’m not familiar with Fly Cards I, so I can’t compare the two to talk about the improvements that this one has over the original. The effect is similar to an ace assembly, you have four cards with flies on them and a dozen blank cards. You make put 3 blank cards on each card with a fly. The first fly disappears and reappears in the next packet, so that packet now has two flies. Then those disappear and reappear in the third, so that packet now has three. Finally the three flies disappear and you accidentally tap the fourth packet revealing the surprise ending of four smashed flies.

Here’s a demo:

@louiefoxx Vintage Magic Trick! Fly Cards II by #AldoColumbini #magictrick #magic #sleightofhand #cardmagic #elmsleycount #antiquemagic #louiefoxx #petermaloney #magician ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

What I like about the trick is the progressive assembly, where the flies keep moving to the next packet. What I don’t like is the flies. It’s strange theming, maybe something like honey bees would be better, but then the smashed ending would have to be different as you don’t want to smush honey bees. I think this idea would be interesting in an ace assembly context, however the problem is that I don’t think it would work out as you’re passing off one card as two several times.

It’s a good trick, and I think if someone spent some time thinking of a better theme OR used it as a custom thing for a social media video it’d be useful!

-Louie