Recently I was jamming with some magicians, and the one tip I want to give younger magicians is that they shouldn’t “hog the jam“. What I mean by that it is to share the time by passing it along, not just showing off the whole time. When you’re younger, I think it’s hard to pass it along if you’re getting positive feedback. However that’s what builds a jam is the sharing.
For me the fun thing about jamming is the sharing and seeing what other people are doing, or working on, not the showing off. I think the difference is that I have regular audiences to get my showing off fix, where not everyone does. People who don’t get a chance to show off their stuff often need a place, I get that, but honestly they don’t need to hog the jam, spread it out!
Tag: magic jam
Mr Smiley gets a hat
With COVID restrictions loosening up, we were able to get in a little magic jam session!
One of the things that we were playing with was some little hats that I found that are being sold as novelty thumb warmers. We combined it with Jonathan Friedman’s Mr Smiley Face trick and here’s the result:
It’s a fun little trick. It’s not the best trick in the world, but a fun little thing.
Starting To Reopen…
With my state finally starting to reopen, I got to do my first in person magic session with a friend of mine! He sent me a text to hop on Skype and I suggested we go to a brewery. Jamming in person is much more fun and productive that over the internet.
The one drawback of meeting up in person is that you don’t have your whole house of supplies to pull from if an idea comes up. For example, let’s say one of us came up with an idea that needed glue, we can talk about the idea, but we can’t try the idea. Over Skype you have more options for things like that.
The BIG advantage of doing a magic jam in person is that you can try things out on people around you. We did some magic for people at tables next to ours. It was from a distance of at least 6 feet, but it worked! People were really into it and I learned a few things I thought were great were just OK.
Magic Shop Jam!
On Friday of last week I pitched in and helped out at Market Magic Shop in Seattle for a couple of hours. A couple of magicians came out and we jammed a bit, it was a lot of fun! One of the things that we were goofing off with was pressed pennies. Here’s a trick … Continue reading “Magic Shop Jam!”
On Friday of last week I pitched in and helped out at Market Magic Shop in Seattle for a couple of hours. A couple of magicians came out and we jammed a bit, it was a lot of fun!
One of the things that we were goofing off with was pressed pennies. Here’s a trick with one:
It’d be an amazing giveaway if you had your own custom penny made, or better yet a quarter and did the trick and gave them away. The initial cost would be crazy, but would be a giveaway that they’d keep!
Bouncing Ideas…
In the past I’ve mentioned that jamming with other magicians is an important part of the creative process. This has benefits beyond just coming up with ideas, you can also learn new techniques by hanging out with other magicians. Here’s a magic jam from yesterday: In the video you may have noticed the Coin in … Continue reading “Bouncing Ideas…”
In the past I’ve mentioned that jamming with other magicians is an important part of the creative process. This has benefits beyond just coming up with ideas, you can also learn new techniques by hanging out with other magicians.
Here’s a magic jam from yesterday:
In the video you may have noticed the Coin in Chapstick that I’ve been messing with. It’s an interesting idea, and it was fun two work out some of the finer details with these magicians. I think the trick got better after getting some good feedback!
Magic Jamming…
One thing that I recommend to all magicians is to hang out with other magicians. Playing around with magic can lead to some interesting results for tricks. Here’s the highlight reel from a magic jam session yesterday: One of the things that we played with was an oversized thumbtip. There was a lot more we … Continue reading “Magic Jamming…”
One thing that I recommend to all magicians is to hang out with other magicians. Playing around with magic can lead to some interesting results for tricks. Here’s the highlight reel from a magic jam session yesterday:
One of the things that we played with was an oversized thumbtip. There was a lot more we came up with using it than what’s on the video. Who knew you could do soo much with a thumbtip without putting it on your thumb. Now the tricks don’t really work in the real world, as you’re using the tip as a prop that’s in view. With that in mind, it’s still a great creative exercise!
End of a Week Off
It’s been a fun week of no gigs, however that’s coming to an end tomorrow. I’m back on the road heading to Arizona in the morning. That means I get to pack up my show and do a lot of prop repairs today…this is the glamorous part of show biz! Yesterday I got to hang … Continue reading “End of a Week Off”
It’s been a fun week of no gigs, however that’s coming to an end tomorrow. I’m back on the road heading to Arizona in the morning. That means I get to pack up my show and do a lot of prop repairs today…this is the glamorous part of show biz!
Yesterday I got to hang out with magicians and jam and socialize! The cool thing about socializing is that when we’re riffing with ideas, fun things pop up. After yesterday I have three “action items” that I can get to work on and start playing around with.
It’s good to have new stuff to do, and that’s what I live for. In my close up set there’s the meat of it which never really changes. Then there’s the fun experimental stuff. This is the stuff that I love to do. Lately I haven’t had any new stuff in my close up set, and honestly close up isn’t as much fun without it.
This week’s shows I’m doing a stage magic and close up magic, so I’ll get to try out some of these new ideas!
It’s a Community…
I’m a frequent traveler around the United States and while I travel I try to meet up with local magicians. I usually do a Google search for the city and the word magician then contact whoever turns up. I’ve met some cool people while travelling. Last week I was in Wyoming and I didn’t find … Continue reading “It’s a Community…”
I’m a frequent traveler around the United States and while I travel I try to meet up with local magicians. I usually do a Google search for the city and the word magician then contact whoever turns up. I’ve met some cool people while travelling.
Last week I was in Wyoming and I didn’t find any magicians on the internet. However while I was in a small town coffee shop, there was a business card board, and I glanced at it and saw a magician’s business card! I gave him a call and we met up.
It was a lot of fun jamming with him, swapping stories of legendary mentalist Bob Cassidy and talking shop!
If you’re a travelling act, look up some local magicians and hang out! It’s good for magic!
One of the tricks I’ve always loved is the Haunted Deck. It’s an amazing trick, the first one I ever bought as a kid was horrible, half the deck was gimmicked, and you were attached to it, so it wasn’t the most practical version of the trick. It worked, but it could be better. This … Continue reading “”
One of the tricks I’ve always loved is the Haunted Deck. It’s an amazing trick, the first one I ever bought as a kid was horrible, half the deck was gimmicked, and you were attached to it, so it wasn’t the most practical version of the trick. It worked, but it could be better.
This is where innovating comes through, there’s are better ways to do the Haunted Deck, and it’s a good thing we didn’t stop at the version I bought as a kid. A similar version is the one popularized by Eugene Burger, which while similar in method, allowed you to use the deck after the trick. This is a huge leap in the method.
Then you have a version using Loops, which allows you to use a borrowed deck, but can be unreliable as the gimmick is fragile. A few years ago I discovered Haunted 2.0, which fit the bill for me. 100% reliable, allowed me to use the deck before and after the trick, it’s great and the version of the trick that I do. However last week at a magic session a friend of mine showed me an impromptu version. It’s at about the 37 second mark of this video:
I think this version looks amazing and the only reason I haven’t switched to it is that in Haunted 2.0 you don’t have to touch the deck, which is one of the strong points of that version.
If we stopped innovating with “good enough” the Haunted Deck would be a trick that I wouldn’t be doing now. So go out there and make good tricks better!
I’m pretty sure I’ve written about his before, and I’ll say it again, we live in an amazing time to be magicians. You can watch videos of old master magicians perform, or the new upcoming magicians on YouTube. You can stream a magic lecture from your favorite magician without leaving your couch. While all of … Continue reading “”
I’m pretty sure I’ve written about his before, and I’ll say it again, we live in an amazing time to be magicians. You can watch videos of old master magicians perform, or the new upcoming magicians on YouTube. You can stream a magic lecture from your favorite magician without leaving your couch.
While all of this is great, I also thing an important part of being a good magician is “jamming” with other magicians. Not just demonstrating tricks, but playing with magic. When you play and start “riffing” with tricks, some amazing stuff happens!
Go out to your local magic club, meet some people and start jamming, you never know when you’ll stumble upon the next big magic trick!