I Practice With Good Tools…

A couple of nights ago I was hanging out with a couple of magicians and one of them asked if the rumor about Bicycle Cards that are sold are Costco was true.  If you don’t know,  the rumor is that the Bicycle Cards there are “seconds” and not as good as ones you’d buy elsewhere.  … Continue reading “I Practice With Good Tools…”

A couple of nights ago I was hanging out with a couple of magicians and one of them asked if the rumor about Bicycle Cards that are sold are Costco was true.  If you don’t know,  the rumor is that the Bicycle Cards there are “seconds” and not as good as ones you’d buy elsewhere. 

I think that the cards at Costco are the same ones you’d get elsewhere.  I also think that Bicycle’s standard card has become junk over the last 15 or so years. I use them, but I only use them at gigs because a deck of cards at a gig lasts me about an hour.  After an hour the deck is missing so many cards it’s not usable.  

After a Bicycle deck is broken in, I don’t think they handle well.  So personally I buy higher quality cards for my own non-show use.  I find that I practice more frequently using better decks of cards.   Here’s the current deck I’m using:

I know that 90% of the “higher quality” cards are printed at the USPCC, however I’m pretty sure they are not printed on the standard stock.  Having better tools that last longer gets me to practice more.  I’m learning moves I’ll never use, but it sure is fun!

Local Magicians…

Last night I was at a comedy show and one of the comedians asked me if I knew a local magician. I said yes, and they had mentioned they were chatting with them earlier today.  One thing that came up was the magician said they had a hard time with the local magic crowd.  Right … Continue reading “Local Magicians…”

Last night I was at a comedy show and one of the comedians asked me if I knew a local magician. I said yes, and they had mentioned they were chatting with them earlier today.  One thing that came up was the magician said they had a hard time with the local magic crowd. 

Right now in the Seattle area we have a pretty active magic scene.  There are three national magic clubs, then a weekly magic meet up that’s not affiliated with any club.  In addition to that there are a couple of monthly “magic open mic” type shows.  

The magician that thinks the local crowd doesn’t support them, doesn’t go to any of these magic clubs or hangouts.  This magician frequently tries to get other magicians to hang out, HOWEVER it’s done in this way, “Let’s hang out.  Come to my show on Thursday, and we’ll hang out afterward“, and then there’s a link to buy tickets. 

If you want to meet the other local magicians, why not come out to one of the eight magic events that happen each month.  The whole “buy a ticket to my show to hang out with me” thing makes me not want to hang out with this magician. 


There are a lot of local magicians who have worked hard at building a magic community in Seattle, one that doesn’t require buying a ticket to a show.  In fact all of them have a component that’s free (i.e. you could attend and never pay a dime).  


The moral of the story is when you support the magic community, it will support you.  

Are You Working Hard Enough??

Some magicians take pride in not breaking a sweat while they perform.  I used to be very physical in my show, then slowly over time I stopped moving around in my show.  I stood there and did what I needed to do, and I didn’t break a sweat.  This year I performed at GrapeFest in … Continue reading “Are You Working Hard Enough??”

Some magicians take pride in not breaking a sweat while they perform.  I used to be very physical in my show, then slowly over time I stopped moving around in my show.  I stood there and did what I needed to do, and I didn’t break a sweat. 

This year I performed at GrapeFest in Texas and saw an act that changed my mind and made me move around a bit more when I perform. The act played saxophone and while he didn’t move much, he was dripping with sweat.  As an audience member watching him, I got the feeling that for the 50 minute set, he put his entire life into that saxophone!  

So how does one do card tricks or tell stupid jokes with energy?  I think something that Tony Clark said in a lecture 25 years ago is the secret to doing this: 

“When you move, you move with purpose”

That’s something that has stuck with me ever since I heard him say it.  Don’t pace the stage, but when you move you put energy into it.  And it’s directed, so it has purpose.  

I also remember hearing an interview with Jerry Seinfeld where he would hear comedians tell  each other to “go on stage and have fun”.   Jerry’s position was that you shouldn’t be having fun on stage, you should be working your ass off.   

So your homework is to work harder when you are performing. 

An Ending to a Gag…

If you’ve ever seen my magic lecture, there are a couple of main points to it. First is to take what you are doing a step further.  The second is to put endings to things. This blog post covers both of them.  I’ve always liked the Fifty Two on One gag card.   If you don’t … Continue reading “An Ending to a Gag…”

If you’ve ever seen my magic lecture, there are a couple of main points to it. First is to take what you are doing a step further.  The second is to put endings to things. This blog post covers both of them. 

I’ve always liked the Fifty Two on One gag card.   If you don’t know what this is, it’s a card with all the cards on its face.  

How you use it, is you set it face down as your prediction.  You ask someone to say any card, let’s say they name the King of Diamonds.  You say, “your card is right here” as you turn over the card and point to the king of diamonds.  

Funny gag, but it really needs a punch to it.  How can we turn the gag into a trick?   We could glue a king of diamonds onto the back of the card, and put our prediction in an envelope and force the king of diamonds.  Now we get the gag, followed by turning the card over to show you knew their card. 

That’s a good trick.  It’s been done, but still a decent card revelation.   Let’s take it up a notch:

By using a flap card we’ve added a magic trick to the revelation.  Honestly I don’t know if this is better than just turning the card over, but it’s certainly a lot more magical!  

Also by using the flap card for the change, we’ve added an ending to the trick AND taken it a step further.  This is actually something I’ve wanted to make for a long time and just finally making one.  I’ll try it out sometime soon and see how it plays.  



Louie

Impromptu Show…

I’m still reading John Carney’s book Magic by Design.  I wrote about in previously in this blog post.   I’m really enjoying this book and I like his approach.  In the beginning John say’s that these are his theories and whether you follow them or not, at least they made you think about why you do … Continue reading “Impromptu Show…”

I’m still reading John Carney’s book Magic by Design.  I wrote about in previously in this blog post.  

Magic by Design by John Carney

I’m really enjoying this book and I like his approach.  In the beginning John say’s that these are his theories and whether you follow them or not, at least they made you think about why you do the stuff you do. 

In the book he mentions having an impromptu show you can do.  Not just a few impromptu tricks, but tricks that you’ve practiced and know inside and out.  Material that’s you treat like the stuff that’s in your show, you know the script, you can do the sleight of hand under fire.  

If you’ve hung around me, you know I have a 3 trick show on me at all times.   These are three tricks that live in my wallet and are good go.  I started doing this after I had read Ken Dyne’s book The Impromptu Mystifier.  

You don’t have to do the three tricks just because someone asks,  like some sort of trained monkey.  However when you need them, you’ll be good to go.  My impromptu set will play close up or in a cabaret setting.  


The moral of the story is: you are a magician, you should be able to amaze anytime!

Repeat Engagement…

Last night I performed at a gig that I’ve been performing at for something like 17 of the last 20 years.  It’s now getting to the point where people who were kids when I first started doing this gig are bringing their kids to the show!   While I was setting up the show a kid … Continue reading “Repeat Engagement…”

Last night I performed at a gig that I’ve been performing at for something like 17 of the last 20 years.  It’s now getting to the point where people who were kids when I first started doing this gig are bringing their kids to the show!  

While I was setting up the show a kid that was probably 10 years old comes in and asks if I’m the magician.  I tell her “yes“, then she proceeds to start grabbing all of my props.  I tell her, she can look all she wants, but she can’t touch anything.   Her reply was, “why can’t I touch?”  This is not the first time I’ve played this game with a kid, so I simply say, “There’s a lot of breakable things in my show and if anything gets broken before the show I can’t do the show.”  That answer satisfied her and she left.  

I knew she was going to be someone I’d have to keep an eye on during the show. 

Once showtime hit, this girl wouldn’t shut up.  She was playing with some sort of toy, not directly engaged in the show, but constantly yelling out things.  I’m not going to engage with a kid where there is nothing to be gained.  She wasn’t invested in the show and there really wasn’t anywhere to go with what she was saying.   I chose to ignore her.  

Instead, I decided to focus my energy on the kids who where paying attention.  I let them shine brighter than her.   I also played a lot more and the show went over great.  I think the silver lining to having to deal with her, is it made me be more present in the show and to mine for gold a bit deeper and I found it!

So the moral of the story is keep plugging away!

Magic Clubs and Newer Magicians…

I love magic, and I love supporting magic.  I support magic wherever I go, by going to see shows, visiting magic clubs, visiting with magicians, and doing good magic.  One thing that gets me about magic clubs is a lot of the “old guard” are so set in their ways they can’t see past their … Continue reading “Magic Clubs and Newer Magicians…”

I love magic, and I love supporting magic.  I support magic wherever I go, by going to see shows, visiting magic clubs, visiting with magicians, and doing good magic. 

One thing that gets me about magic clubs is a lot of the “old guard” are so set in their ways they can’t see past their own biases.  This isn’t good for people newer into magic.  Frequently at one of the magic clubs in my area (there are three) when someone does a card trick an older magician will say “oh god, another card trick…” outloud for every one to hear. 


This isn’t good for magic.  People get into magic for a lot of reasons, and to tell them their reason is wrong hurts magic. It makes it less welcoming for new people.  

Also, the advice that is given to newer magicians is horrible.  One of the worst pieces of advice when someone tries something new is, “stick to the classics, they are classics for a reason…”   Whenever I hear that I want to ask them to take out their phone and tell me what kind of music is on it…is it classical?  Do they use a Acomputer…or stone a chisel (the classic method)?   

Jim Steinmeyer wrote an awesome book called, Allow Me To Give You Some Really Awful Advice.  


 This book should be required reading for all leadership and pretty much anyone giving advice about magic at a magic club.  They should also read Joshua Jay’s article from Magic Magazine called What Do Audiences Really Think.    

Jim and Joshua’s writings confirm and back up with data why 90% of advice given at most magic clubs is wrong.  Magicians need to be out there doing what they love, and innovating, not living in the 1970’s.  We also need to be positive to newer magicians and tell them what they are doing right, not what we like or don’t like.  

How to Be a Professional Magician…

Right now we’re deep into the corporate holiday party performing season. Tomorrow being the second Saturday of December which is the most requested day for holiday parties.   That means if you aren’t working tomorrow you should be.  The number one question I get from magicians starting out  is, “How do I get shows?”  The answer … Continue reading “How to Be a Professional Magician…”

Right now we’re deep into the corporate holiday party performing season. Tomorrow being the second Saturday of December which is the most requested day for holiday parties.   That means if you aren’t working tomorrow you should be. 

The number one question I get from magicians starting out  is, “How do I get shows?”  The answer for me was giving to me when I saw Rudy Coby lecture in the late 1990’s was to constantly be working. 

So how do you do that if you don’t have any work?  Simple, look for it and then take it.  Don’t worry about the money, just take the gig.  

I know this flies in the face of what every magician in facebook groups tell you when they say things like, “you must charge at least $xxx.xx”. You need stage time to get good before you can charge money.  

For me when I was about 19 or 20 I started performing in these late night “after hours” shows.  These would be after the bars closed.  You would work for maybe 10 bucks, however I was honing my craft, developing my style, and most importantly failing!

As a performing, especially when starting out, you need to take risks, you need to push some boundries and you need to fall flat on your face.  This is really hard to do at a $2,000 gig, but it’s easy to do for ten bucks.  

Another venue I started performing at when I was first starting out was retirement communities.  I learned that they had a monthly budget for entertainment.  These shows didn’t pay a ton, but there were a lot of them!  

I eventually wrote a book on doing shows at retirement communities. This book covers how to contact them, how to book them and even some tips on doing the gig. You can get more info on this at www.perform4seniors.com.

The key is to simply get out and perform.  When I was starting out the internet didn’t really exist.  Now it’s easier than ever to find an open mic.  A quick search on Craigslist shows several listings looking for performers.  

Go out and do perform!

Louie

Be Self Sustaining…

I love tricks that have unusual visuals.  Here’s one of my favorite “novelty” card tricks that I do:   The problem with it is the recent batch of gimmicks that have come in have had a very short lifespan compared to the ones I was using a year or two ago.  I bought a bunch … Continue reading “Be Self Sustaining…”

I love tricks that have unusual visuals.  Here’s one of my favorite “novelty” card tricks that I do:

 

The problem with it is the recent batch of gimmicks that have come in have had a very short lifespan compared to the ones I was using a year or two ago.  I bought a bunch of them over a year ago and down to my last one.  I have a feeling that the glue that was used had degraded over time and that’s why they gimmicks aren’t lasting as long.

 

Luckily I know how to make this style of gimmicked card.  I started playing with them when I was a teenager when I got the book Gaffed to the Hilt.  If you’ve never made your own gaff cards, the DVD Gimmicked by Andost is a great resource.

I have some time today and am going to make up some of the cards for the hole punch trick.  The main reason I’m making instead of buying is simple, I have one left and they’ve been lasting me 1-2 shows, I won’t have time to order more and have them by when I’d need them.

Making my own makes me be able to operate without being a slave to shipping times.  I’d still rather order them than make them myself, however that’s not an option if I want to do the trick at my gig today and tomorrow.

 

The moral of the story is that if you are going to have a prop that you use a lot of, have a back up, or if it’s like this card that has a limited life buy a bunch of back ups.  Better yet learn to make and repair them!

Louie

Zen and the Art of Stealing Other People’s Material…

A buddy of mine had a trick of his stolen a few years ago.  We know it was stolen because we were in a show with the guy that stole the bit.  Later when we asked him about where he learned it, he openly admitted he saw my friend do it and he started doing … Continue reading “Zen and the Art of Stealing Other People’s Material…”

A buddy of mine had a trick of his stolen a few years ago.  We know it was stolen because we were in a show with the guy that stole the bit.  Later when we asked him about where he learned it, he openly admitted he saw my friend do it and he started doing it.   My friend asked him to stop doing the trick…the guy didn’t.

 

Now let’s fast forward to today.  The tricks originator has recently run into several people who learned the stolen trick from the guy that stole the trick.  That made my friend upset and he contacted the trick thief and asked him to stop doing it and to not teach it to other people.

 

The trick thief’s response amazed me.  Here are some quotes from the thief’s response and my commentary:

 

  • “When I first saw you do this I was inspired”  Great, be inspired to create, not take!
  • “I don’t feel like I would have the right to police what people do and don’t do as far as material.”  Ummm…if you created it and the only reason another person is doing it is because they saw you do it, then yes, you have the right to ask them to stop.  I do understand there’s the independent invention thing, and that does happen a lot, but it’s not in this case.
  • “People do material that I feel I made up as well.”   This is the same as saying, “I’m not racist, I have black friends…”  it’s a way of justifying taking.  Also if you are someone that freely takes stuff, then of course you can’t have a problem when your stuff gets taken.

 

At the end of the day takers gonna take  and there’s really nothing you can do about it.  People who do original material and going to fade away and it sucks when someone takes your bit.  In magic there are a many creators that have stopped performing because of this.  I know of several magic creators that no longer put out marketed material because of it getting knocked off.  They’ve lost the incentive to create.

 

You can justify taking a bit all day long, however in the end it’s only going to hurt the industry as a whole.  Creative acts will stop working publicly, then the well will dry for the acts that only take and not create.  This leaves a industry that will stagnate.

 

How do you get material if you aren’t creative?

Easy, hire a creative person…or actually put in the work and starting writing down ideas.  Either way works and pushes the industry forward.

 

Louie