MagicShow.Tips – Page 166 – A daily blog about magic by Louie Foxx

Be Nice…

After my showcase last weekend at a conference, my agent relayed something that was told to her by someone attending. Someone in the audience said they, “I liked Louie because he doesn’t make fun of anyone.“ This is 100% true, however people frequently misinterpret what I do as making fun of people. I never make … Continue reading “Be Nice…”

After my showcase last weekend at a conference, my agent relayed something that was told to her by someone attending. Someone in the audience said they, “I liked Louie because he doesn’t make fun of anyone.“

This is 100% true, however people frequently misinterpret what I do as making fun of people. I never make fun of people, I make fun of situations. I may ask someone why they did something strange, or comment on something that they do, but I never “punch down” to them. I create situations and play within these situations.

That’s the key, is to not “bully” people, but to create situations where your personality can shine. If you are a bully or an a-hole and that’s your instinct, then it will come out and it’s probably something you need to work on internally.

Let Them See You…

At the showcase that I was at last week, one of the performers wore sunglasses while he performed. Personally I think in 99.7% of all instances there’s no reason for a performer to wear sunglasses. The only acceptable reason is for a character thing, like Rudy Coby and that character must be strong. Other than that, you better be a huge celebrity like Metallica…and I’ve seen Metallica twice, they don’t wear sunglasses on stage.

The big thing is that sunglasses block your eyes. When the audience can’t see your eyes, it’s a lot harder for them to connect with the audience. You’ve essentially put up a wall between you and the audience, and you have to break that wall to connect.

If you are wearing sunglasses, take them off and look at your audience. Yes, even if you are outside with the sun in your face.

Bigger Props…

Right now I’m at a showcase for performers and last night a friend of mine performed. He uses larger props in his magic show. He does things like balloon to dove, dove to rabbit and walking thru a plate of steel. It’s crazy how much bigger his show feels than mine does.

Using larger props really fills the stage. In a show like mine, it’s just me and some hand held props. I think that my early days performing in comedy clubs and cabaret shows really molded how I perform. In those venues you really can’t have big props. Even something like a table is a lot of real estate on a tiny stage.

I’ve learned to make small props play larger (usually). For an act like mine, that’s important, keeping the props to a minimum. I want to the show to feel less formal and having large props makes it feel way too formal for me.

Keepin’ It Casual

When I was performing a couple of weeks ago at a fair in California, I had a friend come out and see the show. He’s known me for a while, but never seen the show. His reaction to the show was, “it was just like hanging out with you”. I really liked this comment, as that’s the vibe I’m going for in my show.

The goal of my show isn’t to be a formal magic show, but to be a show where it feels like we’re hanging out. It’s a show like we met at a party…obviously more formal than that as I use props, but not too formal.

Something Special…

When I do roving magic my main tool is a regular deck of cards. The reason for that is you can do a lot just a deck of cards. Also they are larger than a rubber band or a coin and when someone walks by they know that you are doing magic tricks.

When doing roving magic I also try to pack one other thing to perform that’s special. Something that’s fairly unique, so something that they wouldn’t see another magician typically do. Frequently this is the Linking Pins or something I’m working on that uses a unique prop. I save this for special groups that fun to work for.

Last night at a roving gig in addition to my normal card set, I did a trick with a nut and a bolt. Basically the nut and bolt unscrew while covered by a cup, then you repeat it. It’s a great trick and something that I love doing, but more importantly, it feels special. People really seem to dig the special trick, and can feel that it’s not something from your normal set.

Too Hard???

In my lecture for magicians, I have too many tricks that use sleight of hand. Yesterday I did a lecture and it hit me that there aren’t really any “self working tricks” that I teach. What I teach isn’t hard, the most difficult thing I do in the lecture is a two ball roll up … Continue reading “Too Hard???”

In my lecture for magicians, I have too many tricks that use sleight of hand. Yesterday I did a lecture and it hit me that there aren’t really any “self working tricks” that I teach. What I teach isn’t hard, the most difficult thing I do in the lecture is a two ball roll up for the three ball routine.

Being aware of this will make the lecture have more value to everyone who attends. Having something you can walk away doing is important for a magic lecture. My thinking when I put together the material for the lecture was that a thumb palm with a thimble is a pretty standard and basic sleight. I always forget that there are a lot of magicians that don’t do any sleight of hand at all. I need something in the lecture for them.

I’ve got a couple more lectures coming up and I’m going to be sure to add something self working to the list of things I teach and talk about!

Have Deck Will Travel…

It’s kinda amazing what a deck of cards has allowed me to do. I’ve been flown across the country to an hour of cards tricks and paid an amazing wage for it. That and I don’t even think I’m that good compared to a lot of people. So why do people hire me? While I … Continue reading “Have Deck Will Travel…”

It’s kinda amazing what a deck of cards has allowed me to do. I’ve been flown across the country to an hour of cards tricks and paid an amazing wage for it. That and I don’t even think I’m that good compared to a lot of people.

So why do people hire me?

While I do have some technical skill with a deck of cards, I know how to sell it. I can convince you that what you are seeing is amazing, and not just a card trick. I know how to trim the fat off a routine and not bore you.

I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I do for a job!

Listening To My Own Advice…

One thing I love doing is watching other acts and thinking of ways that they can improve. If they are friends of mine and open to it, I’ll share my notes with them. Recently I watched a friends show and they are controlling their music with a smart watch. One of my notes was to get an actual remote, not your watch to run your music.

Using a smart watch to control you music looks bad. It looks like you are constantly looking at the time. Also to use it as a music controller, you need to look at the face of it, you can’t really find the button locations by feel. With a remote like the iJet or Audio Ape you can feel the buttons and use them without looking.

Yesterday I was out doing my flea circus and decided to run it off my apple watch. My reasoning was to simplify a set up and to give it its own dedicated audio set up. This was also the first time I’ve used the apple watch to control music in a live show. It’s clunky as heck when you have to look a the watch and then hit the button.

If you were to use an apple watch, a better system would be to mount it somewhere and push it. Wearing it on your wrist ties up your hands and eyes. It’s easier to glace at your table than it is to glance at your wrist. My advice is to get a remote control unit with buttons you can feel.

Finger Placement…

When doing card sleights, the exact placement of your fingers can make the difference between a good and sloppy move. I was working on a pass with a deck of cards and was having trouble with it. A friend gave me some good advice and said I should hold it more towards my finger tips. Guess what that worked!

Recently I was learning Aaron Fisher’s One Hand Pop Out and that’s another move where finger positions are very important. You can make it happen with your fingers in the wrong spot, but it won’t look as good or work as good.

If you’re working on something and it’s giving you trouble, try changing your finger positions, or revisiting where you learned it to make sure you are still doing it correctly!

No, I Won’t Use It…

When it comes to comedy, one of the things that I hate is when a variety performer doesn’t get a laugh or gets a groan and says something like, “you’ll use it”. I don’t like this for several reasons, but the main one is that it’s really only appropriate at industry events (and barely there). This line is probably the ultimate hack line. It’s a stolen line about how people are going to steal bad material!

The performers recently saw do this line was doing a show for the general public, not at a magic convention. First of all without context, it means nothing and it means nothing to all of the soccer moms in the audience. Where are they going to use it…in their next show?

The other big problem I have with this line is that they imply that I’m going to steal a line from their show and a line that doesn’t get a good reaction. Why would I steal the line that doesn’t work? They are alienating me as an audience member with that line. Sure, you can argue that working for magicians is different from a normal audience, however I don’t agree with that. Magicians will like a good, tight act. A sloppy, hack act they won’t.