magic show tips – Page 35

The Moisture Festival

In Seattle we have a variety arts festival called The Moisture Festival that happens every year. I’ve performed at this for about a decade and it’s a ton of fun. What makes it fun is that you get a ton of amazing acts together in one show! Each act does 5-8 minutes each, making it a very fast paced show. I performed in three of the shows on the first week.

One of the great things about these shows is just hanging out with everyone! Everyone’s journey to get on stage is different and we all have crazy road stories! This is one of the gigs that I think are good for my soul. I leave them inspired to be better and with new friends!

-Louie

MAK Magic’s Mint Condition

My best guess is in the late 1990’s MAK Magic put out Mint Condition. This is an expanded shell coin that had the back of the coin on the inside. That allows you to show both sides of the shell when it’s empty.

I’ll admit that when it came out I thought it was a dumb idea. It was an improvement that didn’t really improve how a shell coin is used. For most close up magic, I still think it’s not necessary.

The place where this coin is great it for social media videos. Where is someone knows about a shell coin, it removes that when you show both sides of the coin. Social media is a great place for things that correct little details in magic tricks that are overkill for an in person performance.

The other thing is that I don’t think that Mint Condition was a huge seller, as a there’s not a lot of mentions of it when I do a Google Search and I can’t recall seeing one pop up on a used magic site. I guess them being uncommon is good for people who are using them!

-Louie

A Young Person’s Schedule

I’m getting old! I used to be able to perform all day, I think one time when I was younger I did 6 birthday parties in one day! Unfortunately age is creeping up on me. The other day I did three shows, I did two shows at different libraries that were forty five minutes each, then did a 90 minute theater show!

Here’s what the 45 minute library show and the 90 minute theater show look like when packed up:

And here’s what the three venues look like when set up:

I don’t know what I was thinking when I scheduled them! I also should have scheduled them with some time between them, not with just travel time between them. I could have used a nap between the libraries and the theater.

I need to be better about not pushing myself, and scheduling some gaps in my day if I’m going to do 180 minutes of performing!

-Louie

Reading Glasses

Last week when I was hosting a show at the Moisture Festival in Seattle it was the first time I’ve ever worn my reading glasses onstage! While notes in the picture in this post are a reasonable font size, some of the other notes I were given were written in a super tiny font that I wouldn’t be able to accurately read.

It was strange to wear them as they made everything else blurry that was what I would normally look at. I ended up turning it into a bit with my normal stage glasses which have no lenses and my reading glasses.

I can see good enough to do my show with my stage glasses. The reason they don’t have lenses is that I don’t want reflection on the lenses to block my eyes.

-Louie

Sealing My Luggage

When I fly with my show, I always seal the checked cases shut with a zip tie.

This provides very little in the way of security, but it lets me know if my cases have been opened. This is a huge help, because it lets me know if I need to check my cases before the gig. Years ago when my checked show cases were screened by TSA they took out my two table tops and didn’t put them back in. I didn’t realize it until I was at the next gig and it made that show a challenge! It was also a nightmare tracking them down and getting them back!

When I put the zip tie on my checked luggage, I use a fairly thin zip tie. I need to be able to open it without a blade. With a thin one, I can just jam a pen in between it and the case and twist. That will easily break it.

I also use a neon color so it’s less likely it’s been resealed. I’ve had TSA put zip ties on my gear after screening. It’s rare that it happens, but they don occasionally do that. When they done that, they’ve always been white. It’s less likely they’ll have an orange and green one!

When my bags arrive, seeing my zip ties gives me some piece of mind that I have all of my gear!

-Louie

It’s the Same Trick!

Last summer when I decided to build up my TikTok account, I was told that posting consistently was the key. Posting something everyday is a ton of work and it burns a lot of material. I didn’t want to post just the current new trick that everyone was doing. What I settled on was original material and historical (vintage) material. I’ve been having a lot of fun with the vintage magic tricks! For the original stuff, I’ve found that I can get more mileage out of things if I can use the same trick in different forms.

Here’s an example of a packet trick with cards that I came up with:

@louiefoxx the purple #cardtrick #magictrick #cardmagic #magician #purple ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

And to get more than one video out of it, here’s the same trick done with money:

@louiefoxx What’s up with stocks? #stocks #stockmarket #money #magictrick #magician #magic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

For me this is a great way to get double the mileage out of something! Not only that, but it helps me create magic that’s not card tricks!

-Louie

Getting Called by Security

A while ago I had a gig at a casino and a few days before the show I got an email from the head of security there asking me a lot of questions about my show. This was a very unusual request. I’ve performed in a lot of casinos over the years as an act within a show and as the whole show and have never had security reach out.

The questions ranged from things like logical ones like “is anyone from the audience going backstage” to strange ones like “are you bringing a trap door that any could fall through“.

My immediate thing I offered was to add them as an additional insured to my insurance, but due to the them contacting me a few days before the gig I needed and answer that day, by the end of the business day, which was about an hour after he sent them email to me.

I think this did a couple of things, it put the ball in his court it was time sensitive and I did this in writing, so there’s a record of me telling him. It also said that I was a professional performer.

He got back to me the next day and wanted to set up a phone call for later that day. When we chatted on the phone, I got the feeling that the casino had had a performer in the past who was a “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission” type of performer or non-professional performer and something of the casino’s got damaged.

The other interesting thing of note is that I’m doing this gig with a buddy of mine who is a music act and they didn’t get contacted by security.

Anyway after the phone call he cleared me do my show.

-Louie

Out of Town – Shipping Notice

The normal daily blog will follow below this pinned post.

Just a heads up that I’m out of town from today (3/25) until April 10th. During that time no orders will ship or work will be done on orders. If you place an order during this time, in stock orders will ship on April 11th, 2025.

Also while I’m away, you can get many of magic products at Hocus-Pocus.com!

-Louie

The normal daily blog will follow below this pinned post.

Another Vanishing Bird Cage

My Vanishing Bird Cage collection just grew by another cage. This one popped up on eBay for $35 and I grabbed as soon as I saw it.

Without seeing it in person, I don’t know who made it or if its actually from the 1940’s. However for $35 it’s a gamble I’m willing to take.

Looking at the solders on the “U” joints in the pictures and the dimensions gives me confidence that this isn’t a cage from India, and I’m really hoping what is pictured is what will show up in the mail.

Another clue is in one of the pictures you can see the top of an instruction sheet that says: AN N.M.C. PRESENTATION ROUTINE. That would imply this is a cage that was sold by the National Magic Company.

We’ll see what shows up in the mail. Unfortunately I’ll probably be out of the country performing when it shows up, so I won’t be able to see it for a week or two.

-Louie

Opening Night

A Couple of nights ago it was the opening night of the Moisture Festival. This is a variety arts festival in Seattle that runs four weeks. The opening night lineup was amazing, I was probably we weakest act on the bill!

If you’re in the Seattle area, you should come out and check out a show. Also you’re helping support the over 100 variety performers we bring in from around the world!

-Louie