Sometimes the “professional sound company” was professional in the early 1980’s! This was the mixer that the sound company had for an event I was performing at recently.
You’ll notice that this mixer has no XLR inputs. Those are the standard inputs for microphones, so this was unusable by me. Of course the sound company didn’t have any adapters to get an XLR to 1/4. I think that this mixer is more for a guitar, than vocals.
So what did I do? I used their corded mic with a Microphone Holder and did the show with no music. Always having one of the Microphone Holders with my gear is frequently a life saver!
The routine starts with a gag, where I ask to borrow 10 pennies from a person in the audience. When they don’t have them, I take out the tray and it get’s a laugh.
I’m just doing a pretty basic routine where three coins are removed and disappear. Then the coins reappear in someone’s hand. It’s a strong routine and plays well. I’m glad I’ve started playing with it!
When you work corporate parties (especially in December) you will frequently encounter a dance floor between the stage and the audience. A lot of performers call this the “dance floor of death” because it’s really hard to connect with the audience when the first row is 30 feet away.
This moat between you and the audience isn’t exclusive to corporate gigs, I recently encountered it at a county fair that I was performing at. Here are two view, one is from the stage looking towards the audience and the other is from the audience looking towards the stage.
You can see my show set up on the stage, and since I was the first show of the day, I left my gear up there until just before I started to “talk up” my show. About 10 minutes before the magic show’s start time, I moved my gear to the floor and in front of the stage. That closed the gap between me and the audience.
Since the audience was seated in bleachers, I didn’t have to worry about people not being able to see things as I wasn’t on the raised stage. It worked out great and I filled the bleachers for both of my shows!
Being on the stage is a power position, but sometimes the floor can be more powerful!
Way back in early June when I was performing in San Francisco I visited Misdirections Magic Shop. Joe mentioned the book Ginóskó to me and said it was really good. I picked it up and finally started going through the book.
I’m only on the third trick in the book and so far I like all three!
The first trick is called Check Yo’ Self and is a production of a deck of card, which I think is fun, but I don’t really have the pocket space for it.
Blackjack For Brother John is the second trick is a packet trick that I’m having fun learning, but it’s not the style. I love learning packet tricks, but I don’t do them. The trick uses four cards, has a fun little blackjack theme and is pretty easy to do. If you’re into packet tricks, you’ll like this one.
The third trick is High Five and a Handshake is one that I really like and while it probably won’t make it into my main close up set, it’s something that I’ve been doing since I read it and it fits my style and gets great reactions! The effect is really simple, the two jokers are put in the middle of the deck and they jump to the top and bottom. It’s got a clear cut effect and David’s routine for it is fun!
Based on the first three tricks in the book, I would highly recommend this book! And at $25, if the rest of the book is junk, it’s still worth it!
Last week I wrapped up a 12 day gig at the Ohio State Fair. One of the challenges for me was how big the stage was. It was very wide and deep, then the backwall was about 6 feet beyond the end of the stage. That makes a lot of magic hard to focus on. Especially for an act like me that uses handheld props.
Here’s what the stage looks like:
Over the two weeks I learned to play my show BIG using large gestures and working to get bigger reactions out of people onstage. Here’s the highlights of week one:
I had an idea to get pics of my show. I told the audience that I’d allow anyone to airdrop me “pictures of my show or their pets” after the show. Here’s what I got:
The first pic is of me that someone ran though a filter to make me old! Then I got a few show pics and two dogs! It was a fun experiment to see if people would send me stuff.
When I do close up I ask people to AirDrop me pictures or video and this is a great way to get those of you doing close up. From a stage context, I’m not sure if it’s as good, but I’ll keep playing with it.
Recently I wrapped up a twelve day run at a fair. I was doing 30 minute stage magic shows. Here’s what my case and tabletop set up looks like:
The show set list is pretty simple:
ACAAN Rope Trick Cup Trick Drawing Routine Tape Measure Prediction Marshmallow, blindfold, or whip and safety pin routines Hoop and Cup
The second to the end position is a variable spot in the set let. It could be one of three routines based on time, how much of the audience are repeat, and general vibe I’m feeling. That variable is great when there are people who just saw the show, you can have a slightly different show for them!
I’m a huge fan of antique magic, and I think when the current young generation of magicians gets old the antique magic trade will have greatly diminish. The kids coming up in magic over the last decade or so are growing up with downloads, so they aren’t connected as emotionally connected physical props.
I recently found a Merv Taylor Glass Penetration at an auction in Indiana and was the winning bidder!
Looking for auction houses that have some magic stuff is one of my hobbies when I’ve got time between shows. The auction house was only a couple of hours away from where I was performing in Ohio! This was a great find to add to my collection!
One of the things that drives me nuts are magicians, or any performer that uses a flag in their show and doesn’t understand the US Flag Code. These are rules that define what a US Flag is, how it should be displayed and handled.
Someone recently posted in a magician’s group of their show and the American Flag in the picture being backwards was all that I could see!
There are a couple of flag code violations in the pictures above. First the flag is backwards, and then there are props on top of the flag. This isn’t a huge deal to most people, but it’s like doing a gospel magic show, but all of your crosses are upside down! It takes virtually the same energy to correctly hang a flag as it does to incorrectly display the flag.
If you use a flag, learn to handle it respectfully!
While I was working in Columbus, OH I arranged for the magician’s at the Ohio State Fair to go visit the grave of Howard Thurston!
He’s in the mausoleum at Green Lawn Abbey. This is locked and you need to make an appointment to get into the mausoleum. I sent an email through the website and made an appointment with Kathy.
It was a fun morning trip and Kathy gave a great tour! If you’re in Columbus, you should definitely visit!
