A little over a decade ago, I released my Snake Wand Surprise. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a comedy magic wand that has a big surprise ending! Here’s what the routine looks like:
After over a dozen years of using it in my shows, there’s really not much about it that I didn’t like. The main thing I didn’t like was how bulky it was. I try to be a one trip from the car to load in and one trip to load out. The larger wand didn’t fit into a case, and it was awkward to move around.
Here’s a comparison between the original and the new one:
The smaller size takes up less space and will fit in more varieties of cases, but still oversized enough to get a reaction when you bring it out! The other thing that the smaller diameter wand does is reduce jams, there’s less room inside for the snakes to get stuck!
One of the most requested products I get from magicians is for me to make a USB-chargeable set of Remote Control Chattering Teeth. There’s a reason that I haven’t made them before, and that’s because I sell what I use. Personally, I prefer using disposable batteries. If I forget to charge them, it’s not a big deal; I just swap them out.
Well, in my show, I’m having more and more things that use batteries that need to be charged. From things like the phone that I use to run the production of my show to mic pack batteries. Charging things is now a bigger part of the end of my performing day than it was a few years ago.
I’m learning to install the battery and charger, and I have my first working set of USB-chargeable Remote Control Chattering Teeth.
The next step is for me to use them so I can gain some confidence with my design. I already noticed one thing to change. I have an on/off button and not a switch. With it as a button, you don’t know if it’s on or off. Going forward, future sets will have a switch!
Last year, I picked up a Chattering Teeth by Doug Malloy (routine by Terry Seabrooke). This is Terry’s routine that I first saw in the mid 1990s on a VHS tape of his called The Vidiot and the basic routine is also in his lecture notes that are still available from Magic Inc for about $6.
I thought the fan in my unit was broken, it had two AA batteries in it, and I changed it to a 9v battery, and it started whirring…but was super loud! I changed out the fan and here’s a before and after video:
I thought the unit I had was unusually loud when I got it, but after posting that video, I have the impression that all of them were pretty loud! This isn’t a knock at the maker, it was made with 1990s technology, and it appears Doug fabricated the fan from scratch!
When I changed the fan, I also added a remote control to it. The remote is two channels, so my remote control chattering teeth and the fan can run off a single remote contol!
Here’s what it looks like:
I’m glad I finally got around to updating the Chattering Teeth prop! Working on this set is actually a stepping stone for a version of the trick that I want to build for myself.
Recently, I was the headline act for a stand up comedy show at a casino. The show had three acts, and an MC who did 15 minutes, a feature act that did 30 minutes, and then the headliner (me) who did 60 minutes.
One of the things that many magicians don’t understand is how to be a good opening act when you’re in a show like this. Magicians think they need to go out there and DESTROY an audience almost with a “try to follow that” attitude, and there are places for that, but as an opener in a comedy show, that’s not your job.
The MC’s job is to warm up the crowd, not to crush. The Opener’s job is to keep the energy going so that the headliner has a hot crowd when they step onstage.
I’m not saying you should intentionally be bad, or not give it your all. The thing is that you’re working within a show and the whole show needs to be successful. If you’re constantly blowing the headliner out of the water, and you’re not moving up to that position, you should look at why you aren’t moving up.
Do you have enough A material to fill the 60 mins?
If not, you should be working on that, and not necessarily doing the stuff you know crushes every time.
Are your first 25 minutes any good?
I’ve worked with tons of acts that have an amazing 5-10 minutes, and they close with that. However, everything before that is pretty bad. They close strong, but don’t move up to headliner because the rest of the show sucks.
Is there some other reason?
Are you hard to work with offstage? Do you follow the rules of the venue? These are all things that can keep you from moving up the ladder to the headline position.
How I Learned The Opener’s Job
Many, many years ago, I had a closing bit that crushed. One day, I was on the phone with my stand up agent, and they told me that they didn’t want me doing that bit as the opening act. It really changed the energy in the room and made it hard for the headliner to follow. The agent then explained to me my role, and once I understood that, it made me work harder as a performer to figure out a more appropriate ending to my show for that venue. More importantly, it made me look at my show and really start working on the steps to move up to the headliner spot.
I should point out that you absolutely should do your best, but sometimes a choice of material that’s better for the show as a whole is the right choice.
One of the things that I see a lot in magic shows is a performer who doesn’t look like they’re having a good time. I get that there are some characters where this makes sense; however, I frequently see it in comedy magic. You absolutely should look like you’re having fun if you’re a standard comedy magician.
The other night I saw The Return of Jackie and Judy, which is a Ramones cover band that’s made up of Fred Armisen and most of the band Sleater-Kinney. One of the things about this show was everyone onstage looked like they were having a blast!
When you’re onstage, in most cases, you should look like you’re having fun! It shouldn’t look like a chore; even doing openly difficult things can look fun, or at least like you enjoy what you’re doing.
One of the tricks that I made for this school assembly tour is a snake box. This is essentially a “snake basket“, however, I’m not using a basket as I think that’s an old trope, and one that kids don’t have a point of reference to. The routine in my show started out as a card trick, but it’s now something more, and something that plays bigger!
I was thinking about Terry Lunceford’s The Viper trick and it’s great. If you haven’t seen it, here’s what it looks like:
It’s a great routine for its time. Personally, I think that trying to use a phobia someone has for a laugh is an older style of performing and not modern. Doing a danger trick is one thing, a French Arm Chopper isn’t a common fear, but snakes are.
My snake basket does have the snake jump out, but with only me onstage, and guess what, it gets a great reaction!
As someone who has an irrational fear of something, I try to show some compassion to people in the audience and not put them in a position where they will laugh at them being scared.
That’s just my opinion. I still think it’s a great effect, just not the part where you jump scare someone in front of an audience.
Here’s a gag idea: You call attention to your glasses and mention that everyone has cameras in their glasses now. You then pull/shake a camera out of the glasses.
That’s it, a quick sight gag.
To do it, the easiest way would be to palm a small camera and produce it. More complex methods would be a camera that collapses. A simple, but pain to make would be a latex or sponge camera.
There you go, if this idea interests you, go out and do it!
I’m still working on my Snake Basket Magic Routine. The basket won’t be a basket; it will be a box. I’ve written on this blog before about why I’m not using a basket for the snake. I want the box to look like a shipping crate, but it also must be light and pack as small as possible. I started with a cardboard frame with gaff tape hinges.
I then covered the middles of the panels with wood patterned contact paper.
Finally I did the corners with a wood patterned duct tape to give it the crate look.
This gave me the look that I was going for without the weight of wood, and it packs flat!
This snake basket magic trick I’m working on feels like a “project car” that’s in someone’s garage that they are constantly working on. It’s something I keep finding ways to improve. The first version is barely finished, and I’m working on a second one!
The big change is that I’m going to move it away from a card trick. I’m going to merge it with Terry Seabrook’s Chattering Teeth Routine. The snake will chew holes in the paper, and the reveal will be when the paper is opened. A paper is physically larger than a playing card, even a jumbo playing card. Bigger is better for a reveal!
Moving to paper also allows me to customize the routine to a show. For example, if I were doing a safety-themed show for kids, the snake could chew a stop sign in the paper. It could still be a card a la the original Seabrook routine, or spots (like on a die) or even the image a piece of art!
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!
