Spark of Invention…

This week I’m performing in Minot, North Dakota. I’ve worked out here many times over the years. When getting into town, I drove by a Menards hardware store.

Normally this isn’t a huge deal, but this is the hardware store where I bought all the stuff to create my Evaporation trick! It’s also the store where I bought a lot of the parts for all the previous unsuccessful versions of the trick.

Many magicians think that finished ideas just pop out of people’s heads, and while that does happen, it’s rarely the case. Usually it’s a idea, that eventually after a lot of work gets to the final idea.

The key is to trying to create a new method for a trick is to not give up. I tired many, many bad (in retrospect) ideas for how to make the trick bottle. However each bad idea taught me something, and they all moved me closer and closer to the final goal!

How To Create New Tricks…

It drives me nuts when people say they “aren’t creative like me” or that ” not everyone can create new tricks”. That’s total BS, it’s not that they aren’t creative, it’s that they aren’t motivated to be creative. Just like learning a sleight of hand move it simply takes practice. The easiest way to start … Continue reading “How To Create New Tricks…”

It drives me nuts when people say they “aren’t creative like me” or that ” not everyone can create new tricks”. That’s total BS, it’s not that they aren’t creative, it’s that they aren’t motivated to be creative. Just like learning a sleight of hand move it simply takes practice.


The easiest way to start your creative thinking is to read a description of a magic trick and figure out a method. Don’t watch a demo video as what you see can affect what you do. Watching a demo could make try to make you recreate that specific the method, this isn’t what you want to do.


Coming up with your own methods is a good starting point for learning to be creative.


The key to being creative is actually putting energy into it. Sure some ideas pop out of nowhere, some are the result of specific work. I used to set aside 30-45 mins every morning to try to come up with ideas (magic tricks / jokes / etc). The key is to do it everyday, I do it in the morning because if I do it then, it will get done. Be aware that 95% of these ideas will be junk, but you are mining for the 5% that’s good.



From an Idea to a Physical Trick in Under 18 Hours

Last week I was hanging out with some magicians and while we were jamming we stumbled upon an idea. What we were doing with this idea at the restaurant wasn’t very sophisticated, but we got the general idea down. The next morning I got up and made a quick 3D model of what we wanted … Continue reading “From an Idea to a Physical Trick in Under 18 Hours”

Last week I was hanging out with some magicians and while we were jamming we stumbled upon an idea. What we were doing with this idea at the restaurant wasn’t very sophisticated, but we got the general idea down.

The next morning I got up and made a quick 3D model of what we wanted the trick to look like. I printed it, and it wasn’t quite right. I banged out a Version 2 and it still needed a little bit of tweaking. Within 18 hours of having the idea, and me sleeping about half of that time, I had an ideal working model!

magic trick with keys

In their current form, they look like a Tenyo Magic product and the next step will be to have them made in metal.

Being able to produce these in a physical form tells me a lot about the idea and how it will actually work. Versus it basically dying in a notebook. Knowing how to use a 3D printer is a game changer for magicians!


Ideas Become Reality…

I’ve been keeping notebooks for idea for magic since I was a teenager. Most of the ideas from the early ones are horrible, but every now and then I’ll flip through them and find something interesting. About 10 years ago I had an idea for a trick, but it was missing something that would make … Continue reading “Ideas Become Reality…”

I’ve been keeping notebooks for idea for magic since I was a teenager. Most of the ideas from the early ones are horrible, but every now and then I’ll flip through them and find something interesting. About 10 years ago I had an idea for a trick, but it was missing something that would make it functional.


I was running at the gym and notice something triggered an “ah-ha moment” that made the idea work. When I got home, I created the two parts on my 3D printer and printed them up. Here’s one of them in the CAD Program:

And here’s the other one that’s printed out:

Now that I have these two pieces, I’ve assembled the trick and am happy to report that the trick works!


The sad news is that in the 10 years since I had the idea my performing style has changed a lot and this really doesn’t fit how I perform. However it’s been in my head for so long, I’m going to keep developing it at home and try to figure out a way to make it work.


TLDR: Always keep an eye out for solutions to a problem

Inventing a Trick That’s Already Been Invented

I always try to keep up with the new magic that’s out and came across this trick:   To me this guy was inspired by David Copperfield’s license plate trick, without the kicker of the appearing car.  This is a more practical way of doing the trick for 99.9% of performers and a smart method. … Continue reading “Inventing a Trick That’s Already Been Invented”

I always try to keep up with the new magic that’s out and came across this trick:

 

To me this guy was inspired by David Copperfield’s license plate trick, without the kicker of the appearing car.  This is a more practical way of doing the trick for 99.9% of performers and a smart method.

 

Whenever I see a marketed trick I try to think of ways I can make them unique to me.  I do two things:

 

  1. Think of a different method:  A new method can lead to a trick that feels different to the audience.
  2. Think of a new presentation:  A completely different presentation will give you a unique feeling trick.

 

So what would I do with this trick (keep in mind this is trick is already a variation of an existing trick)?

 

Let’s start with method.  Instead of using a flip chart, why not use the TOXIC force?  Now you’ve eliminated the flip board and a visual, so the trick now won’t look like the trick above.  Now you’ve got two tricks that simply just license plate predictions.

 

Next let’s get into presentations.  The video doesn’t really have a presentation, and it’s been soo long since I’ve seen David Copperfield do his, that I don’t remember what his was, we have a pretty easy starting point.  Since we’re using a calculator, you could talk about buying a car and how they talk about all the numbers.

 

Now that we’ve got a method and a presentation, there’s one last hurdle, getting a license plate that has only numbers and no letters.  A google search showed me that all modern plates have both numbers and letters, so buying a used plate on ebay won’t work.  However another search showed me that you can have custom “novelty” plates made!

 

Now we’ve got the routine, the props and method…we’ve got a brand new trick, one that’s unique!

 

Louie