MagicShow.Tips – Page 21 – A daily blog about magic by Louie Foxx

Why Jrod Illusion is an A-hole

Sometimes “working” magicians are pieces of sh*t. I posted a video of a trick with bills on TikTok, and Joe Rodiguez (Jrod Illusions) decides to post how he thinks it works. That’s part of TikTok’s game with magic videos for amateur magicians and I understand that and am OK with that. But when a supposed working magician exposes stuff, it’s makes me want to post on all of their videos how they do stuff. I won’t because that gives them engagement, which is TikTok gold.

OK, so here’s the video:

@louiefoxx The Eighty Dollar Trick! #magictrick #money #twenty #magic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

Ok, you’ve seen the video, now here’s his comment:

Here’s the problem with his comment…he’s 100% wrong. Like a beginner magician should know there are no magnets involved in the trick…and he calls himself a professional. It really makes me wonder about the quality of the material of his show based on the lack of knowledge displayed in that comment. While I haven’t seen his show, I would suspect it’s pretty much garbage tricks done poorly by someone who doesn’t understand magic. I could be wrong, and that’s just my opinion.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on Joe Rodiguez (Jrod Illusions).

-Louie

Red / Black Separation

I’ve always like red / black separation card effects. I think it’s because when I was a teenager I saw a John Mendoza VHS tape where he did a routine called “the squeeze” or something like that. The effect was a deck was shuffled and kept going back to red/black order.

Over the years I’ve done several versions of this in my close up magic. The other night I was playing with a version that I had come up with as an offshoot of something else I was working on.

Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx Two shuffles, that’s all. #cardtrick #magic #cardmagic #magictrick #cards #shuffle ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

Then ending where they separate into suits I like, but not sure that to non-magicians that payoff is any better than just red/black. Also I think it needs three phases. The first two could simply be shuffles into red/black. Maybe the second shuffle is a zarrow and up the ladder cut?

I’ll play with it more and actually try it on someone this week to see if it plays well.

– Louie

David Hoy Biography

When I got married 23 years ago, the lady who ran the chapel mentioned she went to college with a magicians. I asked if she remembered who it was and I got the standard, “You wouldn’t know who it is”.

Then she said the name “David Hoy!”

She told me several stories and one that stuck with me (not sure why) was about David’s cards. He always had cards with him, but no one was allowed to touch them. Everyone knew that. Then one time a new kid saw David’s cards sitting on a table and shuffled them! David blew up at the kid and it was the talk of the campus for a week!

I got her a copy of David’s mass market biography. When I bought one for her, I bought one for me. That was 23 years ago and it’s been sitting on my shelf and I’ve never read it. Well, I’m took it with me on this trip and I’m going to read it!

Hope it’s good…

-Louie

The Card Clothespin!

Here’s a quick little novelty card reveal that I’ve wanted to do for a while, I just never have a clothes pin:

You can download the instructions on how to make the trick here:

The Card Clothespin Download

If you make one, let me know how it plays for you!

-Louie

Flux vs Espionage

About a month or so ago I had a gig where I was booked specifically as a mentalist. I only added one new thing to what I already do and that was ProMystic’s Flux. I really liked what I could do with it, however the problem is coming up with an out if it fails. The solution that I came to was to have two of them.

Instead of buying a second Flux, I picked up Espionage by Iarvel Magic which is about $50 cheaper than flux. Now having used both of them I decided that Flux is the better of the two and worth the extra money.

First of all both do the exact same thing, they detect a magnet. What I dislike about Espionage is that it’s hard to tell if you turned it on while its in your pocket, where Flux will vibrate when you turn it on. Also the range on Espionage was a little bit shorter than with Flux. Those two things are a big deal when you’re out there performing and to me with the extra money.

-Louie

Professional Secrets by Geoffrey Durham

I finally finished the book Professional Secrets by Geoffrey Durham. I don’t know much about Geoffrey, other than this book has been out of print for a while.

The thing that I liked about this book is that it isn’t just tricks, it’s got some of how he got to the tricks and they why he does them the way that he does them.

It’s laid out in a way that I think is similar to the Tommy Wonder books where it goes essay, trick, essay, trick. I really like that format as it helps you get inside the author’s head a little bit more. It also highlights why some seemingly small changes to a standard trick can make HUGE differences.

This book is selling for a couple hundred bucks on the secondary market, however if you can find a deal on it, you should check it out!

-Louie

The Good News Magic Show

Last week I had an ad pop up on my social media for The Good News Magic Show. While there’s no mention of religion in the ad, I did have a feeling that this was going to be a “gospel” magic show.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a gospel magic show, I’ve read about them and maybe seen a magic lecture that had a gospel element to a trick or two, but I’ve never seen a full show out there in its element.

When I arrived it was at a church, so that confirmed what I thought I was going to see. The show was a family show (not strictly a kid show). The format was interesting. The show’s first maybe 15-20 minutes was just magic, then there was a quick bible message. After that each trick had a talking point that carried into the bible message that followed after the trick and tied the two together. For example one of the tricks themes was that a mess was made, then the message was “if your life is a mess, Jesus can help clean it up“. It’s a format that’s similar to what I use in a themed school assembly, except I do the content first, then the trick, so they can see the content in action.

From a show perspective, it was a pretty standard magic show. It was fine, but I’m not the target audience for this show and the audience seemed to like it and ultimately that’s what matters.

After the show we (Luke hammer and me) chatted with Greg for a bit.

The other performer (Tony) in the show mentioned to us he’s more of a “balloon guy” and does magic for the show.

Here’s what I liked and what magicians can learn from shows like this. When Tony and Greg were doing the message part of the show they told personal stories and those were things the audience could connect to. In my opinion that’s what’s missing from most magic shows.

-Louie

Packing a 90 Minute Stage Show

I’m always interested in what magicians shows look like when packed up. Here’s what my 90 minute stage show looks like (when travelling by car).

For this gig I packed everything I needed. If I was flying to the gig I wouldn’t bring many things like mic stands that I use for bases for props. I have the venue provide those. Then there are things like the crank organ that I wouldn’t take if I was flying.

That’s a peek into the trunk of my car!

-Louie

Jazzier Aces

A couple of months ago I published Elmsley Plus count in Vanish Magazine. This is a way to do a face up Elmsley Count and not show the same card twice. It’s a little tweak that will make tricks where you have to pass the first and fourth card of the count as different cards hold up better on video.

A good example is Peter Kane’s Jazz Aces.

@louiefoxx Cleaning up an old magic trick! #cardtrick #magic #magictrick #cards #aces #kings #update #vintagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

If you post a video there and there’s a discrepancy like showing two of the same card when there shouldn’t be two of them, people will mention that in the comments. The routine above passed the TikTok test with no one noticing the method behind the Elmsley Plus count. I think the reason it works is that the count shows exactly what the audience thinks they should be seeing.

Is using a gaffed card to remove the discrepancy in an Elmsley Count worth it? For recorded video, YES! In a live show I don’t think it’s necessary.

-Louie

Shipping Notice: Out of Town

Just a heads up that I’m out of town from today (3/5) until March 13th. During that time no orders will ship or work will be done on orders. If you place an order during this time, in stock orders will ship on March 14, 2025.

Also while I’m away, you can get many of magic products at Hocus-Pocus.com!

The normal daily blog will follow below this pinned post.

-Louie