MagicShow.Tips – Page 224 – A daily blog about magic by Louie Foxx

Let it Die…

One of the hardest groups to work for is middle school aged kids. They don’t have the life experience that someone a bit older has, but are too old for the reference that elementary school aged kids would get. I work for them like I would for a group of adults, I’m just aware that … Continue reading “Let it Die…”

One of the hardest groups to work for is middle school aged kids. They don’t have the life experience that someone a bit older has, but are too old for the reference that elementary school aged kids would get. I work for them like I would for a group of adults, I’m just aware that some of my material will fall flat.

I do my best to cut material that won’t work for that age range, however there’s some stuff I need to leave in. For example I need to move something from one thumb tip to another in my show. I cover this by reaching into the bin on my table and taking out a W-9 Tax Form and there’s a joke about it. This bit has to be there, otherwise I’m just reaching the bin, shuffling around and coming back out with my hands empty. This makes the trick a lot less deceptive.

In the show that I did for the middle school group, I did the bit and had to let it die in front of the audience. I had no choice. I did present the bit with much less emphasis than I normally would. This played more like a throwaway gag for the few adults in the room. The trick otherwise played well. Being aware of what will work for an audience and what won’t puts you way ahead of the game!

Work on Your Origin Story…

My big project right now is co-hosting a podcast for a variety arts festival where we interview the performers and the people behind the scenes that make the festival work. One thing I’ve notice when interviewing performers is some are good interviews and some are more challenging interviews, and I can predict who will be … Continue reading “Work on Your Origin Story…”

My big project right now is co-hosting a podcast for a variety arts festival where we interview the performers and the people behind the scenes that make the festival work. One thing I’ve notice when interviewing performers is some are good interviews and some are more challenging interviews, and I can predict who will be which.

Before someone comes in for an interview, we do research on them. We read their “offical bio” as well as try to do some digging for some other things about them that might be out there. Usually the more someone has out there, the better the interview is. If there’s just one bio that’s repeated around, they’ll be a harder interview. This is simply because they haven’t told their story very often. They haven’t learned the punchlines of the story, or what parts are interesting and what isn’t.

The one question that stumps people that haven’t told their story is, “How did you get to (name of city they live in)?” If you can’t tell me that is a direct way that’s interesting, you don’t know your story. Personally this is a story I tell on stage and it’s got a lot of laughs in it. Your story doesn’t need to have laughs, but you need to learn to tell it and take out all of the BS and make it interesting. This is a common question, and it’s also one that’s easy to shoehorn into any interview if it’s not asked. Take a few minutes, write it out and figure out what’s important and what isn’t.

After The Force…

The other night I finished up reading After The Force by Ron Frost. I think it’s important to keep learning. There are tons of magicians I know that don’t learn magic for fun. They only learn something when they have to, which I think is the wrong approach. I think that magicians need to keep … Continue reading “After The Force…”

This book’s title is a bit misleading, I expected just endings to card tricks. The first part of the book teaches you how to force cards in a variety of ways. I agree with Ron’s assertion that the Classic Force is the best force. Then he teaches you a lot of tricks that uses forces, but in the context of the whole tricks. It’s the trick start to finish. Not that it’s a bad thing, I just thought it’d be something a bit different.

I’m glad I read the book, and worked through the stuff in it, however I don’t think anything from it is moving into my working set. It’s not that the stuff is bad, it’s just not for my show. There is one move in the book that will move into my “toolbox” or moves that I use when a situation calls for it. The big thing is to keep educating yourself on techniques and grow as a magician.

Podcast Guest Tips…

Yesterday I wrote about learning to be a good guest for doing media spots. Today I’m going to give you some tips to being a good guest on podcasts. Here’s a quick bit of background, I co-host a podcast called the Odd and Offbeat Podcast and also am the co-host of the podcast for the soon to be released Moisture Festival, which is the largest variety arts festival in the world.

My role as co-host of the Moisture Festival Podcast is to interview performers from around the world. One thing that has surprised me is how many don’t know how to be interviewed. Here are a few tips to be a good podcast guest:

Speak into the microphone and stay on the mic.
Come prepared. Ask if they have sample questions, or write out some questions and have answers to these. Even if these questions never come up, you’ve put thought into the interview and that will show in the final product.
Don’t think you are interesting, plan to be interesting.
Arrive a few mins early to chat with the host(s). That will allow you to relax a little bit and get all the awkward chit chat out of the way.
Don’t speak with your hands. On a purely audio medium, no one listening can see you. Also when you talk with your hands, you will be whacking stuff like the table and the mics pic all of that up.
Before the recording ask if things can be edited. Especially if you are telling a story and accidentally whack something with your hand, can you start over and have them edit the part with the distraction.
Answer questions and don’t ramble. If you are asked a question and you don’t want to answer it, tell them that. Don’t ramble a “non-answer” for two minutes.

Of all of these, the big one is to stay on the mic! When editing an episode, if I have to go in and bump all of your audio and no one else’s audio, that’s a huge pain in the butt. Hopefully you can go out and be a better podcast guest!

Learn To Be a Good Guest…

Every performer if they end up having a bit of success will end up being interviewed at some point. Many of those interviews will be either on video (like local TV news) or audio (like a podcast). Personally I do a lot of shows where I have to do media as part of the contract. … Continue reading “Learn To Be a Good Guest…”

Every performer if they end up having a bit of success will end up being interviewed at some point. Many of those interviews will be either on video (like local TV news) or audio (like a podcast). Personally I do a lot of shows where I have to do media as part of the contract. When you do media spots, you can tell who has done them before and who hasn’t.

Learning to be a good guest on these programs is something that takes a little bit of practice. The easiest way to get that practice is to go on podcasts. Talk to you friends who have podcasts and be a guest.

The nice thing about podcasts is that they are pretty low pressure. Things can be edited, and if your just doing your buddy’s podcast there aren’t as many people listening as who would be watching a local news spot. Learning to be interviewed early on in your career will help out later.

Adding an Ankle Switch…

Currently I’m using Audio Ape to run the music to my show. I really don’t care that people know or are aware that I’m using a remove control, versus a sound guy running the music. I keep the remote on my belt and push it as needed. Pretty simple.

Lately I’ve been thinking about adding a ankle switch to one of my remotes (I have two). Essentially what this will do is allow me to play music without having to push a button with my hands. For me there are a couple of moments where I want a sound cue, but my hands are full and hitting the cue can be a bit awkward.

Yesterday I added an ankle switch to both of my Audio Ape remote controls. It was super easy to do, especially after I found this tutorial:

One of my worries about altering a remote to run off an ankle switch was that I would no longer function as a remote and that I’d need a magnet to run that button. I was surprised to learn that the remote functions normally as well as functions when run with a magnet!

Hold on a Moment…

About a week or so ago I saw a local magic show in Seattle. The show was good and one of the performers asked me for some notes on his performance. The thing I told him, and this is something that I consciously have to do in my show is to pause to display the prop after the magic has happened.

In my show I do a trick where a drawing disappears and reappears inside a ball of yarn. When the drawing comes out, I unfold it and show it to the audience. When I show it, I pause and silently count in my head from one to three. This lets people process what they are seeing.

One of the challenges as a performer is that you know what it happening, so your brain doesn’t need to process what it’s seeing. The audience needs a few beats to figure out what’s going on. Simply holding a item for a dedicated amount of time makes a huge difference in audience reception!

Look at Your Show

It’s the last day of January and I’m reflecting back on what I’ve learned so far in 2020. One thing is that you need to listen to your audience. I have two bits in the show that have gotten unexpected reactions that were unfavorable. Instead of the usual laugh the got a sort of “woah” and pull back from the audience. Both of these bits got this reaction at different shows in very different venues.

There are a lot of performers who will brush off these reactions and attribute them to “snowflakes” in the audience. I think this is the wrong way to go. Personally I needed to try to analyze why the audience reacted the way that they did to see if they were over reacting, or if my jokes were becoming dated. The last thing I want to do is use a joke that was OK to say, but over the years society has moved on and the joke is no longer appropriate.

After looking at both of the jokes in my show, I’m keeping one without altering it. The other one, while I think is OK, I’m going to play around with rewriting it. The problem is that the joke gets misunderstood and that audience projected something that’s not in the joke into the joke. I also feel that the negative reaction I got had more to do with the specific situation of the show than it did with the joke.

More on Projection…

Yesterday I wrote about using projection in my show. The key is to enhance the live action, not to replace viewing it from the stage to the screen. Basically the idea is to have the action happen live on stage and visible to the audience, but then using the screen to verify or highlight smaller details.

A good example of this would be a Signed Card to Pocket. The main props which are cards are large and can be seen in a large theater. The signature or specific card number is smaller. Having a screen to project the signed card onto will make the effect play larger.

My idea for working solo is to have a dedicated table with a camera on it and then the projector and screen. In a lot of venues I won’t need to provide the screen, as they will have one already, or I may be able to directly project the image onto a wall behind me. Projecting onto the wall as needed is the ideal situation.

Using Projection…

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about using projection in my stage show. I’ve been looking at how other magicians and performers are using it. It’s something that can make a lot of difference in how visible something is. For magicians, David Copperfield was the first that I was aware of to use in it his four ace routine. Currently using video is pretty common.

The best use of video that I’ve seen so far is Darren Brown in his Broadway show Secrets. Most people when it’s used, it feels like you are either watching the screen or watching the performer. When Darren did it, it felt like your attention wasn’t torn between two places. You were watching him perform and the video enhanced it.

That’s what I’m going for, using video to enhance what’s happening. Projection would be used for showing the signature of a card, but not the whole card trick. I think when the action happens on the table and the only way you can watch it is through the screen, then it stops enhancing the live show and becomes the audience watching TV.