magic show tips – MagicShow.Tips

Magic Uncorked – Feb 2026

A couple of nights ago, I went out to see Magic Uncorked in Portland, OR. This show happens every few months at a wine bar called Ora et Labora. It has close-up magic in the bar, then a parlor-style show in the event space.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to see any of the close-up magic as I rolled in a bit late. I thought it started at 7 pm, not 6 pm, however Jacob Grier showed me a cool card trick in the hands triumph as everyone was moving from the bar to the event space.

The show is hosted by Dave Gregory, who, along with his wife, owns the wine bar. Dave is a great host, and does a trick to open the show and after intermission.

The first half of the show is done by John Stevens. John does a solid show and one of the highlights for me is the version of 100th Monkey he did! Most of the versions of it that I had previously seen fell flat, but not this one! The only other version I’ve seen was the one Darren Brown did at the Cort Theater on Broadway.

This month’s show had Jonathan Molo as the headliner. I’d briefly met Jonathan somewhere in CA (probably Fresno) a few years ago, so I was excited to see his show. Jonathan puts on a fun, high-energy show. The show’s frame is really his family, which is a super relatable throughline!

One thing I noticed was that both John and Jonathan use handheld microphones rather than headsets. More and more performers are moving away from the headset mics. It takes a bit more skill to use a handheld mic as a magician, however, it allows you to have conversations with people onstage and easily get them mic’d.

-Louie

More Snake Basket Work

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!

-Louie

Portland Magic Jam

The Portland Magic Jam in Portland, OR, is coming up, and it’s got a great lineup!

I just found out that I’ll be performing in the Friday night show! I’ll also have a dealer table with some vintage magic, as well as some of the magic tricks that I make.

You can register at https://pdxmagicjam.com/ They also have an amazing refund policy if you can’t make it, so register now if you’re on the fence about going!

-Louie

Talking To Strangers – Magic Podcast

The magic review site Magic Orthodoxy has a blog about getting started performing magic for people you don’t know. It’s called Talking to Strangers and I was a guest on it!

You can listen to my episode on Spotify at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7nX5NWXTQ2TmoX52uyPjhj
and you can watch it here:

Hope you learn something from my past experiences!

-Louie

Dice Force

For a show I’m doing in a couple of months, I needed a way to force a number (really a position in a row of things). I didn’t want to use the Hot Rod Force, and my normal default is the Quinta Force, but I wanted to try to figure out something new.

My idea was to put a die in a film can and have someone shake it, and that would force the number.

First of all, I didn’t want to use a die that’s missing a number, and you eliminate numbers as they’re rolled. I’ve seen too many shows where that method is used, and it takes forever to get the last item eliminated, as that number just doesn’t come up.

Other methods I didn’t want was to use a die that’s all the same number or a magnetic die. My goal was to try to come up with a NEW method before I resorted to old methods. Even if I don’t use the method I came up with, it’s fun to try.

Here’s what I came up with:

I think this method had potential. Is it a lot of work to accomplish what a magnetic die could do? Yep.
Is the method interesting? Yep!

-Louie

3d Printed Shell Game!

A while ago, I made a set of natural shells and then made a silicone mold of them. I used that mold to make a bunch of resin shells for a shell game workshop. One of those resin shells recently got 3d scanned and I’ve started printing them!

These are a great beginner set or set to throw in your backpack to carry around and not beat up a nicer set.

You can find or more or order a set at:
https://www.magicshow.tips/shell-game/

-Louie

Valentine’s Day Magic Trick

Here’s a “touch the screen” style magic trick for Valentine’s Day. You have a list of five words in this order:

Kiss | Heart | Love | Roses

“These are all things that I can give my wife“

They touch one of them and spell that word, JUMPING, one word per letter. They can move back and forth, but once they hit an end (kiss or roses), they must turn around and go the other way.

They do that, and if they follow directions, they will be on either the world Kiss or Love.

Eliminate the word ROSES. What’s left is:

Kiss | Heart | Love

“Valentine’s Day isn’t about exclusion, so we’ll still use roses. Spell that word, jumping one space per letter.“

When they do that, they will be on the word Heart.

Eliminate the word LOVE. What’s left is:

Kiss | Heart

“Spell the name of person you love, jumping one word per letter.”

At this point, they could be on either Kiss or Heart. For this example, they are on Kiss. You call attention to an envelope that’s been on the table the whole time.

“In this envelope is what I gave my wife on our first Valentines Day Together”

This is a multiple out at this point, the envelope has two openings with each option on its own side. You simply remove the matching prediction and the two prediction are:

“Tickets to KISS!”

There you go, a fun magic trick for Valentine’s Day!

-Louie

Old Stock Bicycle Playing Cards

My favorite playing cards are Old Stock Bicycle Playing Cards from Cincinnati. As I travel I find sealed decks in junk shops and always try to buy them. Sometimes people want way to much for them, but usually I get them for about $2 a deck, and never pay more than $3. Over the years I’ve filled a bin of them!

These decks faro beautifully out of the box! They also last longer than the Bicycle Cards that are currently sold. I don’t use these for shows, they are for practice / play for me. When I have a good deck, I’m more motivated to practice than with a deck that’s inferior.

For shows I use new decks, these are good for about an hour (or one set), which is fine because so many cards will get destroyed in that set that I replace the deck each set.

-Louie

Mr. Fingers: The Magic of Irv Weiner

The book Mr. Fingers: The Magic of Irv Weiner came in the mail the other day and I’m excited to start digging through it!

I’ve done Irv’s Red Tape Thumb Tie in my show for a while and have read many other the booklets of his routines. Somehow books that I’m excited to read show up when I’m not in a position to read them for a while. I’ve gotta finish up reading The Bat, which I’m almost done with and have a few projects in the workshop to finish up before I can start this book.

Once I get into it, I’ll write a review.

-Louie

Out of Context Vintage Magic Illustrations!

On my Facebook page I’ve started posting OUT OF CONTEXT VINTAGE MAGIC ILLUSTRATIONS. These are pictures from old magic books that I’ve come across that without context look strange. Here are the ones I’ve posted so far:

I normally post these on Sundays on my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/louie.foxx/
Pop over there, all of these are public, however if we’re not friends, shoot me a friend request!

-Louie