In a couple of months, the Portland Magic Jam is happening. I’m not able to go to many magic conventions due to my performing schedule, but this one I’m currently available for! I just registered for it!
They’ve got a great mix of performers/lecturers for this convention. If you’re in the Portland OR area, or looking for a reason to visit, this is a convention worth checking out!
Details at: www.portlandmagicjam.com
See ya there (unless work comes in)!
-Louie
There’s a great little card trick that I think is a George Sands thing and more recently popularized by David Williamson. You and the audience have four cards each. They follow along with you, turning cards over, and you always end up with all your cards facing the same way, and theirs don’t.
The instructions that I learned from said to give them the cards to do the last phase. The problem I had with this is that you’re handing them a packet that secretly has a card reversed. Most of the time, the spectator would expose that reversed card. My solution to this was for me to hold the cards in one hand and they perform the action. That keeps the cards squared, and the secretly reversed card a secret!
Here’s what it looks like:
This is a trick that isn’t part of my normal work, but it’s a fun thing you can do for a group that they all get to do. What I don’t like about it is that the spectator doesn’t “win” and I haven’t figured out a way to make that happen. In David Williamson’s version they do win and it’s great!
-Louie
In January, I have two magic lectures: one was last week, and the other is in just over a week. I usually don’t do many of these, as my performing schedule is busiest during the summer, when the magic conventions happen.
I had a blast at the one last week for the Portland Society of Magicians. Here’s a peek at what the 90 minute lecture looks like in 60 seconds:
If your local magic club would like a lecture, feel free to contact me and we can try to make it happen!
-Louie
PS: you can get the lecture notes here:
http://www.magicshow.tips/lecture-notes-2025/
Saturday night, I did my magic lecture for the Portland Society of Magicians. This was the same lecture that I did for the PCAM magic convention a few months ago.
This lecture is mostly platform/stage material, however there is a lot of stuff of use to close up performers. In the lecture I talk about how I create original magic, and ways to make magic your own. It’s always fun to share my “art” with other magicians!
-Louie
PS You an get the lecture notes at: https://www.magicshow.tips/lecture-notes-2025/
In the June 1946 issue of The Bat magic magazine, there’s a trick called Puff by Frank Chapman. The effect is that you have a small piece of paper that you roll into a tube. You blow through the tube, and a ribbon comes out. That’s it. I think the effect can be changed a little bit to make it better.
First of all, why produce a ribbon? Ribbon isn’t valuable or interesting. The only reason I can think of is to do a trick with the ribbon.
Second, why not add a layer to this? Right now you snuck ribbon into a tube of rolled up paper.
Here’s my idea to address those two things.
Effect: You show a small piece of paper that has the colors of the rainbow printed on it. Someone picks a color; you then roll the paper into a tube, and that color confetti flies out.
Needed: A piece of paper with a rainbow printed on it. This would be the six color rainbow. The colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple in that order. You’ll also need a thumb tip with a small hole at the tip and some yellow confetti.
Set up: Put the confetti into the thumb tip. The thumb tip starts on your thumb, and you’re holding the piece of paper.
Working: Show the paper and force the color yellow using the “hot rod force”. Roll the paper into a tube around the thumb tip. Lift the tube with thumb tip to your lips and blow through the end with the small hole. As the confetti flies out, put the thumb tip on your other thumb as you unroll the paper.
That’s it. Super easy, not much to it, but the trick is better. The force of a color makes it a bit more of a head scratcher. The confetti falling is visually interesting, and no one expects you to scoop it up and do something with it. Confetti falling is a period, not a comma.
-Louie
Recently, I bought an old box of magic props from the late 1950s/early 1960s, and it contained some 65ish year old flash paper. People frequently ask in magic social media groups, “Does flash paper go bad?” Well, let’s find out!
I’m amazed that it worked as well as it did and that it didn’t burn my fingers!
I think the issue that people have with flash paper is that they store it wet for safety, which is absolutely what you should do. Then dry out what you need to use a few days before you need it. That said, I think the paper sitting wet in a sealed bag over time will deteriorate. That takes years, and you really should be buying decades worth of flash paper at one time. It’s something you really should be buying a few months supply at a time. I personally wouldn’t want to store a ton of it at home.
Be safe.
-Louie
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:
That’s not a lot, and nothing it too ambitious. The big one is still going to be reading more.
-Louie
It’s new year’s eve, and I’m at home! I’ve been on the road a lot this year and decided to not seek out work for tonight. Most new year’s eve gigs are train wrecks, and I try limit the ones that I do to ones that are First Night Festivals, or things where I’ll be done by about 10pm. I want to be home or at the hotel before the event turns into a drunk fest and before all the people who were drinking are on the road.
That said, when I was younger, doing new year’s eve gigs used to be a nice part of my income. It was one last good paycheck for the year. Then new year’s eve for me transitioned to doing alcohol free events around the country. For me this was an excuse to travel on someone else’s dime. And that brings us to now, where I’m happy to stay at home!
There’s nothing wrong with going out there and getting the money.
To everyone out there working tonight, have fun, be safe and get paid!
-Louie
Here’s a quick little mindreading trick that I came up with a few years ago.
Effect: You ask someone to think of one of the following Christmas things:
Gift – Stocking – Candy Cane – Santa – Snowman
You then tell them letters in the word they are thinking of, then finally the word!
This is a simple progressive anagram. There’s really not much to it, you follow the card below:
I remember the word NASM for the flow of the letters named. Then, for the order of the items, think of a “Gift left in a stocking, which is a candy cane from Santa.” Then if it’s none of those, it’s a snowman.
There you go, some propless mentalism for your family gathering.
-Louie
In the first volume of The Bat magic magazine there’s a fun little close up trick. It’s the Color Changing Toothpick by Jack Vosburgh.
It’s a nice, simple little trick. The plot is clear, and it’s not hard to do. It’s something that I’m going to file in the back of my head for impromptu situations. In the video above, I colored the toothpicks with markers, so that’s something that could easily be made at a restaurant with a Sharpie marker.
This is what I love about going through old books or magazines, there are little tricks like this that people should still be doing.
-Louie
