A little while ago I picked up a magic box with props from the 1960s. Here’s what was in it:
One of the interesting things was the Joseph Silk Gun:
Here’s a video of one of them in action:
The Joseph Silk Gun isn’t something that I’d use in a show, but it’s a very cool prop!
-Louie
Saturday night, I did my magic lecture for the Portland Society of Magicians. This was the same lecture that I did for the PCAM magic convention a few months ago.
This lecture is mostly platform/stage material, however there is a lot of stuff of use to close up performers. In the lecture I talk about how I create original magic, and ways to make magic your own. It’s always fun to share my “art” with other magicians!
-Louie
PS You an get the lecture notes at: https://www.magicshow.tips/lecture-notes-2025/
Recently, I acquired a 60+ year old box of magic tricks. I’m guessing this belonged to Portland, OR magicians Duane Duvall. One of the things I think is interesting is looking inside the working cases of magicians. How did they keep their props in the case during their show?
Here’s a look at the case from the 1960s:
Simple solutions to holding things on the lid and around the inside of the case.
-Louie
In the first volume of The Bat magic magazine there’s a fun little close up trick. It’s the Color Changing Toothpick by Jack Vosburgh.
It’s a nice, simple little trick. The plot is clear, and it’s not hard to do. It’s something that I’m going to file in the back of my head for impromptu situations. In the video above, I colored the toothpicks with markers, so that’s something that could easily be made at a restaurant with a Sharpie marker.
This is what I love about going through old books or magazines, there are little tricks like this that people should still be doing.
-Louie
Years ago, I wrote down an idea for a variation of an old juggler’s trick. The original trick was to balance a golf ball between two golf clubs, so that it makes a sort of T shape.
My idea was to do it with pool balls and a pool cue. Here’s what it looks like in my garage:
It seems like jugglers aren’t as into changing props for tricks as magicians are. No juggler has done this (as far as I know), and to me it seems like a logical variation of the golf club trick.
I got to try it out at a show the other day and it went great!
I think this is something that I’m going to work more on. The trick is there, now it just needs a routine.
-Louie
In the second issue of The Bat Magazine from 1943 there’s a packet trick called Ah Nertz. Packet tricks didn’t really exist at that point, there were things like 3 card montes or tricks with the four aces, but nothing like post 1960’s packet tricks.
Here’s Ah Nertz as written:
If you think about the effect, this is an early version of twisting the aces.
I wanted to update the trick with a few modern moves, so here’s what I came up with:
One thing that the original lacked was showing all the cards going the same way. To do that I added a modified DM Move/2 for 4 Count. I also wanted a reveal of the one the upside down cards, but where you see all of the cards. That was accomplished with an Elmsley Count.
Here’s a walk through of the updated version of Ah Nertz:
What I think is interesting is that in theory you could theme the trick very easily with customizing the last card. It could be a trade show trick, “all the options for buying X got your head spinning…”. Or a story could easily be attached to it, like a kid who always felt different. Then the reveal on the final card ties it all together!
I think this trick’s premise is one of the hidden gems in The Bat magazine!
-Louie
Yesterday was the end of one cruise itinerary and the beginning of another. It looks like my theater shows this week are on the 18th, so I have a few days off. One of the nice things about doing a show later in the cruise is that no one knows that I’m the magician, so I can be anonymous on the ship.
I brought an old magic book, well bound version of The Bat magic magazine.
This bound version covers the years 1943-1945. There are some interesting things in it, and a lot of patter that doesn’t hold up in modern times. I’m going to try to make some videos of some of the tricks that I have the stuff to do or make.
I did find time to make a video using my Meta Glasses. I like the idea of performing into a mirror so the audience can see both sides of the trick. Here’s a four ace assembly:
I’m going to play with this framing a bit more this week with my free time. I like the concept for social media videos.
-Louie
One of the card routines I do for impromptu situations is a revelation of a selected card three times. There’s really not much to it, and I’ll give sources for what they are below, but first, here’s what it looks like:
Let’s start by me saying that in the video above, I messed up the second card revelation, but that’s OK because it still worked. The three revelations are:
1: The (Piet Forton) Pop Out Move
2: Daryl’s Hot Shot Cut
3: The old trick where you sidejog the top card and drop the deck.
It’s not a crazy sequence, but it has a feel of build with the diminishing hands for each revelation.
Have fun with this!
-Louie
Most of my work is booked through trade shows for the industries in which I perform. Many magicians have never been to one of these things where you’re selling YOU, so here’s quick walk through of the trade show before it opened:
You can see there are a lot of vendors and many styles. There are some standard things, like a pop-up banner or a custom backdrop. Also, while most promo now is digital, you need a physical brochure or flyer of some sort to put into the potential booker’s hand. Those are kinda the bare minimum, then people have interesting props on display or screens that play their sizzle reel.
These trade shows aren’t for everyone, as you’ve got to work at them. If you just sit in your booth on your phone, you won’t make any connections.
-Louie
I came across a vintage magic trick that Royal Magic put out called the Devil’s Wand. This was sold as a beginner’s magic trick and looks a lot like the Pom Pom Pole; however, it’s a close-up version. This differs slightly from the modern stage version at the end.
Here’s a demo video of it:
@louiefoxx Magic trick is still great after 75 years! #magictrick #magic #magician #vintage #vintagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
In case you didn’t notice, this is totally examinable at the end! When I first found this trick, I watched a couple of online video demos, and all of them skipped that part. That’s the most interesting thing about the trick! That’s a great feature that no one does anymore. I’m not sure how the gimmick would scale to a larger stage-size pom pom pole, but it’s sure cool for this smaller-sized one.
That’s one of the fun things about vintage magic tricks: you find little things that got left off of the more modern versions.
-Louie
