I’m finally back home and I have some video of me doing the trick with the Gozinta Boxes that I had been playing with. The effect is a production of two cups and then liquid to fill the two cups. The beauty of the Gozinta Boxes is the misdirection, you can load anything into them. … Continue reading “Gozinsta-Shot!”
I’m finally back home and I have some video of me doing the trick with the Gozinta Boxes that I had been playing with. The effect is a production of two cups and then liquid to fill the two cups.
The beauty of the Gozinta Boxes is the misdirection, you can load anything into them. The first load, is easy as there’s not heat on it. The second one is still pretty easy to do and the misdirection is still very strong as people are reacting to the production.
The two weeks at the fair have ended. I did over 50 shows and came up with a bit a day for the show. Coming up with a bit a day really helped me build out the show and turn two tricks that were very bare bones into routines that have quite a bit more … Continue reading “Two Weeks of New Bits!”
The two weeks at the fair have ended. I did over 50 shows and came up with a bit a day for the show. Coming up with a bit a day really helped me build out the show and turn two tricks that were very bare bones into routines that have quite a bit more meat on them.
Doing this was a great experience and something that I should be a lot more often.. It is easier to do when you have a run of a lot of shows .
I think every time you go out to do shows, trying something new is a good idea. Whether it’s a line, or body position, or whatever. That’s how you grow your show, trying new things. If you aren’t trying something new, you’re just treading water.
When I’m on the road, if there is a magic show in the city I’m in, I always try to go out and see it. A couple of nights ago I went out to see a show and it was fun. One of the things that I noticed sitting in the back is visibility, what … Continue reading “Clothes Make the Trick”
When I’m on the road, if there is a magic show in the city I’m in, I always try to go out and see it. A couple of nights ago I went out to see a show and it was fun. One of the things that I noticed sitting in the back is visibility, what popped and what didn’t.
One of the performers did a rope trick, it was a good solid rope routine. However the performer was wearing a light grey jacket and the rope was white. Whenever the rope was in front of his jacket, I couldn’t really see it. I should add that the lighting was horrible. The venue had a stage, but it was only light by the normal lighting in the ceiling, no lights specifically on the stage.
This is a good reason to watch video of yourself perform, so that you can see what is visible and what isn’t. Typically I wear black shirts when I perform at fairs because none of my props are black, so that makes them stand out in front of me.
Watch a video of yourself and see what you can see and what disappears!
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about an idea I had for the Gozinta Box magic trick. The idea was that you produce two cups from the boxes, then for the finale you open the boxes a final time and pour out liquid to fill the glasses. I picked up a small set of … Continue reading “Gozinta Boxes…”
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about an idea I had for the Gozinta Box magic trick. The idea was that you produce two cups from the boxes, then for the finale you open the boxes a final time and pour out liquid to fill the glasses. I picked up a small set of the boxes earlier this week and have been trying it out.
The first challenge was that the set was so small that finding a cup that fit in them was virtually impossible. Luckily I managed to find something that was cup like to fit into the boxes. With the first challenge out of the way, I needed to try to the trick to see if it actually played well.
It does play well, just not HUGE. I think part of it is scale, the boxes and cups are tiny. Right now I’m producing about two thimbles full of liquid, with is virtually nothing. With a larger cup, one that’s close to a shot glass size, I think it’ll play much better.
Yesterday at the fair a friend of mine watched me show and said he felt like the fishing pole breaking needed more than me just reacting. It needed a joke with a couple of tags. I think he’s right. Currently it breaks, I react and we move on. A verbal joke will get a little … Continue reading “Another Joke…”
Yesterday at the fair a friend of mine watched me show and said he felt like the fishing pole breaking needed more than me just reacting. It needed a joke with a couple of tags. I think he’s right. Currently it breaks, I react and we move on. A verbal joke will get a little more time out of it and make it more worthwhile to carry around.
Here’s what I started saying after I react to the broken pole:
“That’s the last time I buy a fishing pole on Tinder”
Not the best joke, but maybe I could tag it with:
“I should have gotten the one on Plenty of Fish”
The fishing pole doesn’t really serve a purpose other than it breaking right now. I need to remake the reel so that it has a bigger center, so that the few turns that actually happen move in a few feet of yarn. Luckily it’s a prop that doesn’t take up a lot of space in my case.
Across from my stage at this fair is a firefighter booth. I know the people that are there pretty well, and they know me and my show pretty well. Yesterday they made a suggestion to my show, and it turned out great. In the show I tell a kid joke. It’s not something I’m proud … Continue reading “Advice From Everywhere…”
Across from my stage at this fair is a firefighter booth. I know the people that are there pretty well, and they know me and my show pretty well. Yesterday they made a suggestion to my show, and it turned out great.
In the show I tell a kid joke. It’s not something I’m proud of, but it fits in the spot in the show. The firefighters suggested that I put in a rim shot after the joke. I downloaded a rim shot and play it after the joke. It got a good response.
I think the rim shot acknowledges that I understand it’s not a good joke. I’ve only done it a couple of times, but I think it’s going to be a keeper. My only worry is that it makes the street joke feel cheesier…
One of the things that’s driving me nuts about this trick with crackers is it makes a mess in my table top box. There’s crackers crumbs everywhere inside it. Then they get stuck to thinks like the rubber balls I use for the three ball routine. It’s not the idea situation. While brainstorming with a … Continue reading “Small Bits Help!”
One of the things that’s driving me nuts about this trick with crackers is it makes a mess in my table top box. There’s crackers crumbs everywhere inside it. Then they get stuck to thinks like the rubber balls I use for the three ball routine. It’s not the idea situation.
While brainstorming with a friend yesterday, he suggested that I put the crackers into a card box. I like the idea, and I can get about seven crackers into a card box, and that’s enough to do the trick. With seven crackers there’s enough to do the trick.
Seven crackers are wedged in there pretty good. I pull out one cracker, then dump out the remaining six crackers. It makes more sense than just pulling out the crackers and illustrates the idea of what’s going to happen more than just bringing out a handfull of crackers.
One of the two new routines I’m working on this week is my cracker routine. It’s a card trick with a cracker and it’s got a long way to go, but made some huge strides. Basically it’s card trick with saltine crackers. One of the things that it’s lacked is an ending. The other day … Continue reading “Seal It Up!!!!”
One of the two new routines I’m working on this week is my cracker routine. It’s a card trick with a cracker and it’s got a long way to go, but made some huge strides. Basically it’s card trick with saltine crackers. One of the things that it’s lacked is an ending.
The other day I was having breakfast with some other performers at the fair and we were brainstorming and one of them suggested that at the end the signed cracker reappear inside a sealed cracker packet. I liked the idea, but didn’t think I’d be able to come up with a loading system that would work using the limited tools and materials I have with me.
Luckily I kept my eyes open and saw a pie lid that worked perfectly for what I wanted to do. I built a cracker packet loading device and I’m happy to report that the loader is working great!!!
One of the new bits that I added to the show this week was a fishing pole that the reel popped off when someone tried to turn it. It began as an accident when a kid broke my fishing pole, and I decided to turn it into a bit. What I did was epoxy magnets … Continue reading “Keep on Tweakin’”
One of the new bits that I added to the show this week was a fishing pole that the reel popped off when someone tried to turn it. It began as an accident when a kid broke my fishing pole, and I decided to turn it into a bit.
What I did was epoxy magnets to the reel and pole, so when the kid cranked them, they came apart. It was a quick and dirty fix and lasted several days, but last night a kid dropped the reel when it came apart and the magnet popped off. I liked the simplicity of a magnet to make it work, but I didn’t like that the reel didn’t turn at all.
Right now I’ve got the glue drying on the second version of the reel. This one is going to be attached by a snap. I went to the local Walmart and picked up a the biggest snap I could find and epoxy’d it in place. Hopefully the snap will allow the reel to turn a couple times before it pops off . We’ll see how this turns out…
This one new thing a day for the show is a lot of work. Yesterday’s bit where after I give the kid a dollar bill and then give them a tax form to fill out played great and is a keeper. It also makes the trick more magically sound. It gives me a reason to … Continue reading “Results of the Tax…”
This one new thing a day for the show is a lot of work. Yesterday’s bit where after I give the kid a dollar bill and then give them a tax form to fill out played great and is a keeper. It also makes the trick more magically sound. It gives me a reason to reach into my case, where before I was just fiddling in my case.
Today’s bit is a joke. I have a kid draw a picture of me. A joke from the other day was that I show a picture of the last one that was drawn, and it’s a stick figure wearing a dress. That gets a laugh. Today’s addition to that bit is a verbal joke. I’m going to say, “this is like in that movie titanic. Jack, I want you to draw me like one of your french girls”. I’m thinking that will get a laugh.
All in all the routine is making progress, and I’m happy with how it’s grown in 6 days. It’s amazing when you put in the work how much a show can grow, and how quickly it can happen. It just takes a little bit of focus…and a lot shows!
