Tag: close up magic

Upside Down Bill Gag

There’s the old trick in many beginner magic books where you have a dollar bill right-side up. You fold it, then unfold it, and it’s now upside down. I had an idea for that, and something like this has probably been done before.

Effect: You show a dollar bill that’s right side up. You fold it and unfold it, and now it’s upside down. You do it again, but this time you draw arrows pointing up on it. You fold it up again, and this time, when you unfold it, the arrows are pointing down, but the bill is still right side up!

dollar bill magic trick
dollar bill magic trick

There’s not much to it; it’s just a bill switch and two bills. The second bill has the arrows pointing down drawn on it. Any bill switch should work, but ideally, one that only requires you to fold the bill 2-3 times would be best.

This trick could also be done with the bill turning upside down, but the arrows still pointing up.

dollar bill magic trick

This is a fun little kicker trick to the old gag. As I said earlier, something similar to this has probably been done before.

-Louie

Slippery Cards Gag!

When I open a new deck of cards and have them shuffled by someone in the audience, 90% of the time they will comment that they’re slippery. That’s where this gag comes in.

slippery cards magic trick

When they comment on the cards being slick, I take out a little caution sign and set it on the table. That gets a laugh, and it’s a gag that will introduce the prop. I like using a gag to introduce a prop, another example of this is my Bodega Coin Tray. Also, when you use the prop for a gag, it serves a purpose and is less suspect later, since the audience thinks it’s already fulfilled its role.

What happens is that during your card tricks, at one point, the signed card appears under the little sign (like card under glass). Then later, you say the card is under the sign, but it’s not; however, the sign has changed to say the name of their card! Then, a moment later, the signed card has reappeared under the sign again!

slippery cards magic trick
slippery cards magic trick

I’m having a lot of fun with this little prop!

-Louie

Magic Special from 1978!

Growing up in magic in the 1990’s there wasn’t a lot of ways to watch performances of magicians. You either had to go to a show, or catch one on a TV show when it aired. That really limited me to watching modern performers, or older performers who were past their prime at a magic convention.

This is a great video from 1978 of many performers who I had read about while they are still in their prime!

This was a lot of fun to watch and I’m glad I stumbled across it!

-Louie

Magic TV Appearance

A couple of weeks ago I was on a local TV show to promote National Magic Week. It was a fairly quick appearance and I did one trick which was a card trick, and you can see it below:

The trick uses The Fortune Teller prop for a routine that’s in my 2025 lecture notes. What I like about this prop is that people react positively when it’s introduced, and it’s got a nice three-hit punch at the end of the trick!

When doing TV appearances, I try to do one trick with big impact over multiple tricks. It makes the appearance cleaner. I also did have other stuff in my pockets if I needed to fill time!

-Louie

Ace, Two, Three, Four to Four Aces Trick

Recently, I posted a trick where four aces turn into an ace, two, three, and four. That trick felt like it needed some sort of kicker ending, like the cards having a different colored back or something. Well, I tried making the cards work backwards, going from an ace, two, three, and four into four aces and that fixed the problem. The trick feels complete at the end.

Here’s a demo of the trick:

There’s only one move in the trick, which is an Ascenio Spread. That move is repeated, so it’s not very hard.

This is the better version of the trick.

-Louie

Dan Harlan’s The Scoop

Awhile ago I picked up The Scoop by Dan Harlan for a show that I’m going to be doing in the spring/summer of 2026. It’s been sitting in my office and on Halloween I had an idea, here’s what it was:

@louiefoxx Magic trick for the trick or treaters! #magictrick #halloween #icecream @Tillamook @TWIX ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

I really like the idea as a quick thing to do for trick or treaters, as it’s not really a long trick, it’s more situational magic.

Well, just now when I went to get a link for the trick, I noticed that Dan had the same idea for Halloween!

It’s a great prop, and I’m glad I had it laying around as was able to do this for Halloween!

-Louie

Magic Show Station

At a recent Halloween event, I was hired to perform at a close up magic station. This was simply a table that kids came by and I did close up magic for them.

close up magic station
close up magic station

This was a fun format to perform in, and with the table, I had more props with me than I would usually for a roving gig. When the crowd grew bigger, I did a couple of bigger tricks.

Another thing you can’t see in the picture is that I brought a speaker with me and used it to amplify my voice. The event was in a noisy gym, so a bit of audio support was nice!

-Louie

Aces to Ace, Two, Three and Four

A while ago I described a four ace trick where and Ace, Two, Three and Four turn into four aces. You can read about how it works here:
https://www.magicshow.tips/magic-show-tips/the-1-2-3-4-ace-trick/

I also just made a video demo and tutorial of the trick that you can watch here:

What I like about this is that there’s really nothing to it, just an Ascenio Spread and an open displacement of two cards.

-Louie

How to be a Good TV Guest

When I visit a television show, I try to be a good guest. Last week, I visited Everyday Northwest in the Portland, OR area to promote National Magic Week. Before the interview, they give out a sheet with the show’s timing and some of the questions that they’ll ask you.

Once I got the sheet and saw the questions, I started writing my answers in my notebook. The act of writing them down puts them in my head, and I fumble a little bit less when saying them. It’s like a mini rehearsal for me.

Also, when I see the questions, I try to write some jokes. In the interview, I’m asked “how magicians celebrate National Magic Week” and I have an answer with a joke. That’s part of the effort I put into these media spots: I try to be prepared and offer them more than just flat answers.

If you do a TV spot, make it a unique experience; don’t just rehash what you’ve done a million times.

-Louie