MagicShow.Tips – Page 242 – A daily blog about magic by Louie Foxx

Borrowed Item Production Before the Item Vanishes…

There’s a trick I’ve always wanted to do, but it’s never played how I want it to. The trick is object in ball of yarn. Over the years I’ve done it in various form, like coin or dollar bill. I know why it doesn’t play (for me) is that once the coin is gone, it’s … Continue reading “Borrowed Item Production Before the Item Vanishes…”

There’s a trick I’ve always wanted to do, but it’s never played how I want it to. The trick is object in ball of yarn. Over the years I’ve done it in various form, like coin or dollar bill. I know why it doesn’t play (for me) is that once the coin is gone, it’s not a surprise where it will reappear when the ball of yarn comes out.

About a year ago I thought, what if the ball of yarn is being unraveled before the dollar disappears? Would that make it more of a mystery when the dollar is on the end? I think it does.

One hurdle I’ve hit is a presentation one, why are they unraveling the yarn in the first place? I played with it being a race, if they could unravel the yarn before I completed a task, they got the dollar. This felt too manufactured.

Another hurdle is how to make the dollar disappear. I don’t use fire, so burning isn’t an option. I dislike the idea of a shredder because the item doesn’t disappear. Ideally the vanish would be subtle. Like the bill is folded up and dropped in a glass, then after the dollar reappears in the yarn, it’s gone from the glass.

I’m not sure the direction this will take, but I think it’s a great idea.

The Dollar Dilemma…

It’s been years since I really borrowed anything from the audience to use in my show. The reason for that is simple, it’s a huge time suck, with no guarantee. Sure you can ask to borrow a dollar, but that does mean you aren’t going to spend three minutes asking for one and never get one. I wrote about one solution to this the other day and you can read that here.

Another solution that I came up with is to have a two dollar bill. I know what you are thinking, “aren’t those rare?”. The government still makes two dollar bills, I get them at my bank, just ask for them. You are going to set up the borrow a dollar that’s sort of like preshow, but doing it openly in the routine before the one where you need to borrow a dollar, so it’s pre-routine.

The trick before the trick where you need to borrow a dollar bill you need to tell the audience that in about five minutes you are going to do a trick with a dollar bill. If you use your own dollar bill, everyone will think it’s a trick dollar, so you’d like to buy a dollar bill off of someone for two dollar. Bring out the two dollar bill and tell them the first person to offer you a dollar bill when you ask in a few minutes gets the genuine two dollar bill.

Offering to buy the dollar bill I think takes away the fear that you will destroy or somehow ruin their money. Giving someone in the audience something more interesting that a dollar bill and an immediate profit should motivate them to give you a buck.

Mentioning you need to borrow the bill before you actually need it gives people time to dig it up. Also the idea that it someone else could get the two dollar bill gives people incentive to get the money out sooner. You could ask to borrow the bill within the same routine that you need it as long as there’s some set up that gives you something to do while people are getting out the dollar bill.

The big problem I think that magicians have is that they don’t realize how long it takes to actually borrow a dollar bill. They then end up with a dead spot in the show, that’s not just a dead spot, but an uncomfortable dead spot.

Promotional Tricks…

Every now and then I get asked by bookers if I can make a promotional video for their event. Usually it’s me saying hi and doing a quick trick. This works fine, however I’m playing with doing slightly more informational promo tricks. Here’s one I did the other day: It’s decent, it has a little … Continue reading “Promotional Tricks…”

It’s decent, it has a little bit of a surprise and has all of the information. The next one I do, I think it’ll have a trick and have the information text cards as a kicker to it. Maybe something like a four ace production, then the text cards.

I think getting requests for promotional videos specific to an event are going to be more common in the future with pretty much every public event doing promo on social media. I think having a generic sequence you do, but having custom information cards would be the best way to do it.

PreShow for Non Mentalists…

There is nothing worse than a magician asking to borrow money from the audience and then waiting. I’ve experienced this from the stage as the performer and from the audience watching a show, it’s rarely ever fun to watch.

The problem with borrowing money is that it takes forever, and sometimes it looks like someone else is going to do it so you don’t dig. In the best case scenario the performer asks for to borrow a dollar. Someone immediately takes out their wallet, finds the appropriate bill, holds it up and volunteers it. In this scenario it’ll take 8-10 seconds.

In a more common scenario the performer will ask to borrow money. There will be a pause while everyone looks around to see if someone else is offering it. Finally someone will say they have it, then take out their purse and start digging for their wallet. Once they find the wallet, they’ll start digging for a bill. In this more common scenario it’s 90+ seconds to get the borrowed bill. That’s a lot of dead time!

Until recently I didn’t do magic with borrowed money because there’s too much dead time. Now what I do is I put a dollar in my pocket and go out into the audience before the show. I introduce myself to someone in the audience and I tell explain that I need to borrow a dollar from someone in the show, and ask if they have a dollar. I then explain how big of a time suck it is to borrow money, so if they have a dollar can the take it out now and keep it somewhere accessible and to offer it when I ask. If they do not have a dollar bill, I give them the one in my pocket.

Setting up that person to give me the dollar bill really makes a huge difference in the flow of the show.

Production Value

Working more and more in theaters, it has me paying attention to the things that really aren’t possible in non theater shows. I remember when sound became a thing for me, and that was a game changer in my show. Now being able to play with video projection, video and lighting is opening a whole … Continue reading “Production Value”

I really want to add a video element to the show, where I play a video at some point. I’m not sure what, I think I want to do something with my daughter where I talk to her on the screen. I think this would be fun, but it’ll take some work for it to not come off as cheesy. Currently I call my daughter in the show and that works well, but that has a “live” feeling, where with a video I’d be worried it would feel canned.

Having these options opens a world of possibilities for my show. Like being able to do a few smaller tricks for larger audiences. I’ve been doing my mismade bill routine, which isn’t for 500 + people, however it works with the projection screen and plays well.

Working Slow…

Recently I watched Anthony Jeselnik’s stand up comedy special on Netflix. In it he works really slow and really takes his time. I had also recently watched David Hira’s Penguin Live Lecture and on it he talks about using pauses. Last night on stage I decided to experiment and really take my time. I went … Continue reading “Working Slow…”

Recently I watched Anthony Jeselnik’s stand up comedy special on Netflix. In it he works really slow and really takes his time.

I had also recently watched David Hira’s Penguin Live Lecture and on it he talks about using pauses.

Last night on stage I decided to experiment and really take my time. I went at a what felt like a snails pace on stage, in real time it wasn’t nearly that slow.

It really took me out of my comfort zone, but well worth it. I got a lot more applause in the show and better laughs. For me, it’s mentally really hard to pause and wait for a laugh that may not be coming. Waiting for applause is easier, but the waiting for the laugh stresses me out onstage. Waiting is the better choice than just plowing through it and stepping on it.

Unfortunately bad gigs make it hard to do good gigs as they give you bad habits. Things like stepping on a laugh when you are really just trying to get through a rough gig. I think that I need to work bad gigs like they are good gigs and just do everything the way I normally would and almost treat them like rehearsal, and not like trying bail water out of a sinking ship. If I know it’s the gig (and not me), like a horrible set up, or whatever, then just treat it like a rehearsal.

Robotic Patter…

There’s a lot you can learn by watching other acts. Last night I watched a saxophone player do a show. He played two original songs and the rest were cover songs. One thing that I liked was the production value of his show. There were a lot of light cues, which added a lot to … Continue reading “Robotic Patter…”

The show was fun, the one thing I didn’t like was when he talked it sounded too scripted for me. It sounded like he’s done it a hundred times, and he probably has. The advantage of how he talked was it was very slow, thought out and easy to follow. The disadvantage it that it didn’t some off as remotely sincere.

The goal in talking in your show is for it to not sound robotic. For example, he would ask audience for a response and if no one interacted, he just moved on. He didn’t mention that “oh, no one from new jersey” then move on. It’s not living in the moment when the moment pops up that makes your show feel reel. Your response doesn’t have to be a joke, it just need to address whatever happens.

Somewhere there is a balance between being scripted and sounding natural.

Using Magic For Good…

One of the cool things about being a magician, is you frequently have the ability to change someone’s day. What I mean by that is showing someone a little card trick can change their mood. Here’s an example, I was stuck in line that wasn’t moving. Someone recognized me a the magician from the show and we chatted for a minute. Then I offered to do a card trick. Everyone in the line went from being annoyed at a non moving line, to laughing and having a good time. One little card trick changed the mood and experience of 30 people.

Sometimes I wonder why so many magicians say they never do a trick for people outside of being paid. Personally I thinks it’s a very self centered approach. Being willing to do a little magic trick, if very different than feeling like you have to do a magic trick. You can say no, and sometimes you’re asked to show a trick and it’s just night a right situation and in the end no one will really gain any real joy from it. But when you know it’ll improve someone’s day, you should do it!

This is part of leaving your mark on the world. Jeff McBride is really into this type of “giving” with magic. It doesn’t mean doing a show, just a quick thing to make someone’s day a bit more fun! That’s why in my wallet I always have a trick that I can do, that’s a good trick, with a direct plot, but also quick. It’s not a long routine, it’s a quick trick. I actually have a 15 min show in my wallet, but usually don’t do the full thing.

Study Stand Up

Watching other live performers can teach you a lot about performing. I was just watching Anthony Jeselnik’s new stand up special on Netflix, and it was very interesting to watch how he moved on stage.

Anthony moves very little, but it’s very coordinated. His stillness after he delivers a joke helps let the joke land. He also does a lot with his face, how he’ll move his eyes at a punchline. Magicians can learn a ton by watching stand up comedy.

Stand up is probably the most “pure” of the novelty acts. It’s just a person, their thoughts and a microphone. There is nothing wrong with props and a skill. Stand up is simply about selling your personality.

This is a place a lot of magicians miss the boat. They sell the trick, and not their personality. Don’t get me wrong, if you are a magician, then the trick has to be sold and it has to be good, but you must have some personality in there somewhere.

The $100 Peso Bill Switch…

About a week ago I was thinking about the Hundred Dollar bill Switch and what I didn’t like about was that is all of the folding. Yes, the folding does create a magic moment…which is good for live shows, however for social media content or a sizzle reel, it can be too slow. That got … Continue reading “The $100 Peso Bill Switch…”

About a week ago I was thinking about the Hundred Dollar bill Switch and what I didn’t like about was that is all of the folding. Yes, the folding does create a magic moment…which is good for live shows, however for social media content or a sizzle reel, it can be too slow.

That got me thinking of a way to do it visually for video and here’s what I came up with:

I really like how visual and quick this came out. I think that the double change makes it a little bit more of a “head scratcher” than if it was a single change. Also it changing to a foreign currency in the middle gives makes bill change less subtle than if it was just a American bills.

I think the place this trick has in would be in a stage show, as part of a longer routine. Like while you are asking to borrow a bill, and if you use your own, every thinks it trick. You do the bill changes almost as a gag to fill time, while someone is getting their bill out.