MagicShow.Tips – Page 10 – A daily blog about magic by Louie Foxx

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.

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

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Jessica Perry

On this episode we welcome aerialist Jessica Perry. Jessica tells us about her early life where she grew up on a sailboat sailing around the world. We learn what prompted her parents to do that and all how her parents used Ariel to keep her busy on long sea days.

We discuss how her mom introduced her to flying trapeze and how eventually she was able to convince her parents to let her go to a circus school. A lovely conversation with one of the best aerialists working today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Don’t Do It!

Oh man, I remember when you had to have an OK act to get work. Here’s a post from a comedian group:

Apparently all you need to get a gig is a speaker and a car! Notice the listing also has not mention of pay for the spot on the show OR the use of the PA. It does mention that they are looking for a host, so typically that’s 15 minutes. That means the comic who does the gig gets minimal stage time AND has to be the sound tech!

Gigs like these unless they are paying a market rate are a horrible idea. I get showing up for stage time. If you’re starting out, stage time is worth more than the paycheck, but if you’re providing sound, you should be getting paid for that. You’re not going to bet a better sound tech by loading in gear for a comedy show. That’s very bare bones audio set up and if you own sound equipment, you can already do that.

Say no to gigs like this.

-Louie

Starcle Idea…

I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this idea. The idea is using the Starcle paper tear where you put a single tear into a folded up piece of paper and you get a circle and a star. My idea is to use a deck of ESP cards and force the circle and star and use the paper tear as the reveal.

OK, I just did a quick Google search and it appears that Eric Mead and Doc Eason published that trick 10 months after Harlan published Starcle, so the idea was pretty much immediately thought of!

I’m using the Starcle paper tear in my library show and the idea is to get a little bit more time out of the routine. I have a jumbo ESP deck kicking around the house, so I’m going to go for that prop. I’m not sure what the premise will be for it as right now the routine is a story about someone that I know. It’ll have to change, but not exactly sure how I’ll frame it.

-Louie

Sound Booth

There are a lot of things that can take focus away from a show. One of them is having stuff happening behind the performer. Recently I worked an event that’s really well run and attended, however there’s one small thing that I’d change about the event. The sound booth is set up BEHIND the performing area and there is no backwall on the stage.

That means the sound guys are clearly visible behind the performer.

Even the most engaging show for the audience isn’t the best show to watch from behind. That leaves a situation where the sound guys are behind the stage, but essentially in the performing area. They don’t necessarily look like they’re into the show, sure they’re working, so they shouldn’t be dancing, but it’s just not a good look in pictures.

If you are setting up an event or have the a voice in the set up, move the sound booth to the side of the stage, not behind it!

-Louie

It’s Got the Mustache!

I’m always hunting for vintage magic tricks and recently came across this Gilbert Mysto Magic Set!

The bad news was that it was incomplete and in pretty rough shape.

It was missing a lot of the contents, but it had the mustache!

While the mustache isn’t rare, it’s a frequently missing piece to these kits. This one priced at $199.95 is about double what a complete Gilbert Mysto Magic Set should cost! I didn’t buy this one, but there’s a lot of old magic out there, you just gotta hunt!

-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.

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

Unusual Vanishing Bird Cage

Here’s a new addition to my vanishing bird cage collection!

This one has the ends of the large bars pointed instead of square. In theory that is going to hang up less than having the ends square.

This is something that I have thought about, but never did to any of my cages. First of all, not all the corners would need to be pointed, just the ones that are on the leading side of the cage. Next, I think that IF this one did hang up on your sleeve, it would really hang up and wedge the sleeve into it making any possible continued yank up your sleeve much harder.

This is a fun cage variation to add to my collection!

-Louie

Evidence of a magic trick

One trick I’m not a big fan of is bill to orange/lemon/etc. It’s a overdone trick and usually it’s not a surprise to the audience when the bill is in the fruit. A notable exception to this is Nick Lewin’s Lemon Aid routine.

I do a routine that uses a dollar bill, but the dollar isn’t the focus of the trick. It felt like it had a loose end at the finish of the trick. One day I had the idea to make the bill come out of an orange at the end of the trick. What I like about this routine is that the bill doesn’t disappear, so it’s not obvious it’s in the orange immediately when the orange comes into the play.

Then I had to deal with how to give the wet dollar to the person. I found some Evidence bags, and wrote a gag with them.

Now at the end of the routine when I give the signed dollar to the person, I put it in the bag and let them keep it! It’s a fun way to deal with the wet sticky dollar and gets me a couple of laughs!

-Louie