Tag: arduino magic

Happy New Year (yesterday)!

Today I’m reflecting on 2025 and it looks like I did 204 contracts last year! Some of those are were multiple show/day contracts, but that’s the easiest metric I have for that. I spent just over a month on the ocean performing on cruise ships and we bought a house.

Last year my new year’s resolution was to read more, and scroll less on my phone. I did that…but I can still be better about that. I have a feeling that “read more” is going to be a perpetual new year’s resolution for me.

Here’s what I’m hoping to do this year:

  • Read more.
  • Learn Arduino, and build a couple projects I’ve wanted to do forever.
  • Add more production (video elements) to my show.
  • Learn Go Button for audio and transition to that from show cues.
  • Put out 3 products for magicians/performers.
  • write better transitions for my show

That’s not a lot, and nothing it too ambitious. The big one is still going to be reading more.

-Louie

Making a Snake Basket…

arduino for magic tricks

In the past I’ve tried to learn to use an Arduino to control motors, servos, etc. It was challenging as I never learned to do any programming in high school. None of the books really helped me figure it out. I was working with Greg Tarlin (juggler/puppeter) in the summer of 2024 and we were chatting about it. We worked together again a few months ago and he talked me through the very basics of it, but having a human tell me stuck more than a book.

I took a basic Arduino project kit on the road with me and have been working through the projects, and I’m understanding the code more and more.

The first real project I want to make is a snake basket. I want to combine the two “modern” snake baskets from my teenage years which were Terry Lunceford’s Viper Pro and Collector’s Workshop’s Khyber Kobra.

Here are videos of both of them:

What I want to do is have the snake rise out with the wrong card, then go back into the basket. Then a few cards shoot out of the basket a couple of times, and finally the snake jumps out.

I’m not sure that I want to do it with a snake, I was thinking of having an octopus or Kracken in the container. It sticks out a tentacle or two and at the end doesn’t jump out, but the tentacle reaches out quickly. Not sure if that will work, but it’s not a snake….

-Louie