Jumbo Coins Thru Table

Sometimes I see a trick and I’m not sure how I feel about it. The effect is a coins through table, but with jumbo coins.

Watch the video:

From a magician’s standpoint the jumbo coins add difficulty. From a non-magician standpoint, I’m not sure if it enhances the effect. Sure, everyone knows that doing sleight of hand with a 3 inch diameter coin is much harder than with a 1 inch diameter coin. That difference is something that doesn’t really matter in the moment, unless you sell the trick as a “try to catch me” sort of trick.

Also, why jumbo coins?

I get that it’s a coin trick made bigger, but wouldn’t drink coasters work instead of the jumbo coins. Now you have a trick with a natural object that belongs on a table.

I think the effect in the video is very well done, however not sure how I feel about the trick.

-Louie

Vintage Magic Trick – Destiny Deck by Nick Trost

The Destiny Deck by Nick Trost is a fun little routine that has a few effects that happen one after the other. Here’s what the trick looks like:

@louiefoxx Vintage Magic Trick! Destiny Deck by Nick Trost! #magictrick #cardtrick #vintagemagic #cardmagic#nicktrost #louiefoxx #dice #closeupmagic #antiquemagic #antique ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

What I’d probably do to change the trick is eliminate the dice and have people hold up fingers for their number. That frees up some pocket space and the trick will still work. It’s a fun trick to do, the only problem is the reset and because of that it’s something that I really won’t carry with me. However I did have fun doing it for a couple of days!

Also it looks like Abbott’s Magic has a few left in stock: https://abbottmagic.com/shop/ols/products/nick-trost-destiny-deck

-Louie

Paper Magic!

There have been several viral videos on social media of a guy doing floating paper at a coffee shop. His name is Arnold Drake World and the coffee shop he’s at is the one attached to Powell’s Books. When I was there over the weekend, I caught him doing his thing!

It was cool to see this live!

You can learn more about him in this news article.

– Louie

Media Spots and Magic

Not all media spots are rockstar spots. Here’s one that I did, and it was fine:

I should have cut out the multiple force and maybe just started with the card selected. I was very rushed for the trick, and while I think it played OK, it would have been better if I did it slower.

One thing I did do before we started was that I told the reporter that I was going to ask them to draw something on a card. I wanted them to think of something simple to draw so we didn’t waste time for them thinking of a card.

If you’ve never done a live, on location TV spot, they can be very challenging. You get a general idea of how much time you have, but that can quickly change and change during the media spot while you’re performing and you have no idea. Before live media spots, I always try to come up with a signal for the reporter to give me when I need to wrap it up. There’s usually a producer talking in their ear telling them how much time we have or don’t have left.

These live spots are fun, but also very challenging!

-Louie

Indian Magic Show

One thing that the internet has ruined is the regional styles of performing. When I was a kid, in the USA you would see different styles of performing on the east and west coasts or even different trends/styles within the same state.

Someone shared a video of a magician from India and the style is very different from what’s performed in the USA. For example there was a piece that I’m assuming was a patriotic piece that ended with an enemy impaled on a giant drill while flags were waived by the military.

magician from india

You can watch full video here:

There are a couple of acts that potentially used without permission of the creators, so there’s that. It is great to see things that look different from what in the USA can be cookie cutter magic shows and magicians. For all I know, this is what a normal theater show looks like in India and it’s a cookie cutter show there.

-Louie

Magic DVD’s on the road

Sometimes before I go on the road I pick up a couple of magic DVD’s to watch. I have a USB connected DVD player, that I can use to watch these DVD’s on. The silver lining to DVD’s is that they are super cheap right now as everyone is getting rid of them.

This week I took the International Magic Presents: The Jim Cellini Lecture.

THe Jim Cellini Lecture

This summer I’m working on my street style show, so watching this DVD is helping me learn instead of just watching netflix in the hotel. I’m trying be a good steward of my down time.

-Louie

Something from the East by Haruhito Hirata

I came across the book Something from the East by Haruhito Hirata in a box of magic stuff that I had bought recently. There wasn’t a lot of stuff that I liked in the book, but one thing did catch my eye. There’s an oil and water trick in there that has a slightly different mixing procedure that most.

Here’s what it looks like as written:

@louiefoxx Card trick from Japan! #cardtrick #magic #japan #magictrick ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

I like the two columns of cards and then mixing them one at a time. I don’t like how much process and how confusing the whole routine is. I also don’t like that you can’t show the second packet at the end.

I tried to streamline the effect to make it less confusing and here’s what I initially came up with:

@louiefoxx Replying to @Voyager Jim ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

It’s not the best, but I think it’s better.

I do have two more versions that are inspired by Haruhito’s routine, and I’ll post about them later. These two version are very different in method, but keep the two columns of cards.

-Louie

Play-Duh

Hocus-Pocus in Fresno put out a prop called Play-Duh. This is a snake can that’s built into a Play-Doh style can. I wrote up the routine I’m doing with it here: https://www.magicshow.tips/magic-show-tips/play-duh/

I’m using the Play-Duh props in my library and summer camp shows. The fair I was performing at last week I did the routine for some kids between shows.

here’s what it looks like:

It’s just a solid, fun routine.

-Louie

Let Them Show You a Magic Trick!

Whenever someone finds out that I’m a magician and asks to show me a trick I always say yes. I’m amazed at the amount of magicians that hate being shown tricks. By saying “yes” I’m promoting someone’s enthusiasm (and my own) for magic.

The quality and variety of tricks that people show me are way better than a decade ago. I think YouTube has helped people learn more than just the 21 card trick.

By saying yes, I met a guy that could do a tabled faro shuffle with a beat up deck and he helped me learn to do it. The other day one I saw a coin trick that I’d never seen before and it was cool!

@louiefoxx Mad skill! #cointrick #juggling #coin #stunt ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

This is how tricks used to move around, person to person.

-Louie

My First Vanishing Birdcage

When I was a teenager I was given a La Galeria -The Gallery of Merlin  vanishing birdcage that had a couple of broken bars. I used that for a long time and struggled through the broken bar occasionally snagging on my sleeve. Then about 12years ago I had someone fix the bars, and I used that cage until I got an Owen vanishing bird cage.

Recently one of the La Galeria -The Gallery of Merlin  vanishing bird cages popped up for sale and I bought it!

La Galeria -The Gallery of Merlin  vanishing bird cage

The solder and rivets on the bars of this one appear to be in much better condition that the one I’ve have for 30+ years. I’m happy to add this to my collection and can’t wait for it to arrive!
-Louie
Click here to learn more about the vanishing birdcage!