magic show tips – Page 2

Travelling with your Magic Show

When I travel with my magic show, I put colorful zip ties on my show case. The reason is that when I pick up my cases at baggage claim, if my zip ties aren’t on the case, then I know I need to check them.

Recently I flew and when I got my bags my zip ties had been replaced and inside my case was the TSA letter.

This tells me that when I get to the hotel I need to do inventory on my show to make sure that everything made it back into the case.

In the past I’ve had my checked baggage screened by TSA and the forgot to put my two table tops back into my case! It was an ordeal tracking them down and getting them back.

Knowing something is missing before I start setting up the show is a huge help!

-Louie

Vintage Magic Trick: Circulation or Rounding the Squares by Pavel

Here’s a fun little vintage magic trick by Pavel. It’s called Circulation or Rounding the Squares. It’s a novelty packet trick as the cards it uses aren’t p playing cards. Here’s what it looks like, and what I would change about it.

@louiefoxx Vintage Magic Trick by Pavel! #magic #magictrick #cardmagic #pavel #circulation #vintage #vintagemagic #louiefoxx #packettrick ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

The ending is soo much cleaner if you palm off the gimmick, versus trying to hide it in the packet of cards. When I showed this trick to people, I was amazed at how hard the trick hit! I thought it wasn’t going to have much impact, but sometimes my view of the trick can be affected by a method I don’t like and I need to remember that no one sees the method.

-Louie

Perform at the Moisture Festival in Seattle!

The Moisture Festival is of the largest variety arts festivals in the world and happens in Seattle, WA. They just opened applications to perform at the festival.

The festival runs 4 weeks and performers are typically booked for one week. Each show has about 10 acts and the festival is looking for acts that run about 3-8 minutes long, so not full shows. If you’ve got a great act, you can submit to perform at the festival here: https://airtable.com/appmcVuHJRPUIvGo7/shrtXsES3kpQhJKAt

If you want more information or to see who has performed in the past visit:
https://moisturefestival.org/

-Louie

Handheld Microphone in Magic Shows

Over the summer I found myself gravitating towards a handheld microphone in my shows. Using one gives you a lot more power onstage. Also it’s a nice prop to gesture with.

I can do a lot of my show with one hand, and I need to work on using the mic stand. The challenge with the mic stand is being locked to one place with a thing in front of you. It makes moves like Sylvester Pitch or tricks that use magnets challenging.

For my show I’ve been using Nick Lewin’s Ultimate Microphone holder. I have a ton of these, and were used for emergency situations if my headset mic didn’t work, or I couldn’t plug into the venue’s system. This is an easy way to hang a mic around your neck to allow you to work hands free. While a mic dangling isn’t the best way to get audio, it’s better than no audio.

I just ordered a handheld microphone that’s compatible with my Sennheiser receiver.

-Louie

Stand Up Chop Cup

I like the idea of doing a chop cup on stage, but it presents some challenges. The main one is on a raised stage, if you work on a table, and the audience is seated below you it can make it hard for them to see things on the table. My first rule of the routine was that there had to be no table. The next rule was that I wanted this to be a solo trick, so no one from the audience onstage. The final rule was that I didn’t want to (openly) to go my pockets or case during the routine.

The first thing I did was go see what was already out there, however most of the existing routines at some point use a table or pockets. When I mention this to other magicians they always mention Axel Hecklau’s routine, but that uses a table, pockets and a spectator onstage. In the past I had one a Ball and Cone routine for a show, so a phase of the trick was definitely inspired by that.

The routine that I’m currently doing now is my second version of the chop cup that follows the three rules above.

I’ve been doing this a bunch this summer and it’s going well!

-Louie

Another TV Spot

Here’s another media spot from the 11 days that I was at the Utah State Fair. This video is a little behind the scenes to getting to the TV station, if you want to just ahead to the media spot, it’s at about the 1 minute mark.

This particular news spot I was supposed to have about 3-5 minutes, however it ended up being less than 3 minutes. My initial interview time was 12:10pm, and when I arrived I learned I wouldn’t be on till about 12:40pm. That told me that I probably would have my time cut short. This particular show was interesting as I really didn’t have any idea how long I was going to do, I really had to read the cues from the host.

-Louie

AI still sucks

A few weeks ago I was on Facebook sharing a post about an event I was performing at. At the bottom of the post was a little prewritten question for Facebook’s AI. The question was “Is Louie Foxx a professional magician?”

Here’s what the answer was:

I find it very interesting that Facebook’s AI couldn’t find any info about me as my Facebook page has my public show schedule on it weekly!

Then the logic of me performing “Magic tricks and comedy” suggests that I’m a local performer doesn’t make any sense. This just another reason why I think AI isn’t quite ready for real life.

-Louie

Vanishing Bird Cage in Real Life!

One of the criticism’s of the Vanishing Bird Cage is that it doesn’t look like any bird cage that exists in the real world. Here’s a bird cage I found at a junk shop:

That’s pretty much what the size and shape of a modern vanishing bird cage. So they do exist in the world!

-Louie

Sharing Offstage Space With Other Acts

A few weeks ago I did a post about working with acts that don’t know or understand backstage etiquette. You can read that post here. In that post I made a graphic about 3 rules to sharing an offstage space with other acts. Well I made that graphic into a reality. I had some cards printed!

These are a great way to passively inform people of how to behave around other people’s gear! If you run into me, I will usually have some one me, if you’d like one, just ask and if I have any, I’ll gladly give you one (or more).

It’s really our job to educate people who don’t know.

-Louie

Spiked Punch!

This morning I had an idea for a trick that I think would be called Spiked Punch.

The effect: You show the audience some art you bought. It’s a cardboard box that has a drawing of a boxing glove and spike going through the box. You pull you the spikes and notice the box is upside down. You flip it right side up and remove a full glass of punch!

The trick’s method would basically be like a sword box, with an added bit which is the gimmick from a Wizzy Dizzy Milk.

I think the addition of flipping the box over adds a layer to the trick. Not sure if an audience will notice or appreciate the flip of the box, but it should make it harder to backtrack to figure out the method.

This is something that I’d like to try to make in the future!

-Louie