With all of the specialty decks and different cuts or finishes on cards that are available to magicians now, what’s your favorite deck of cards?
For me, the best will always be a deck of Bicycle playing cards from the Cincinnati factory! You can’t beat them, they’re the best! Unfortunately they moved to Kentucky in 2009, so it’s been 15 years since these were made. You can still find them, and I actively seek them out when I travel.
What I love about the Cincinnati made cards is that they last a lot longer than the current cards. A deck of the current Bicycle cards will last me about an hour, where the older stock will last me days!
I’ve quietly amassed a large box of them. If they’re still sealed, then 98% of the time they’re perfect! Occasionally a sealed box will have some sort of moisture issue, but that’s rare.
I never pay more than $3 a box when I find them in out there in the wild (aka a junk shop). You can find these decks on ebay for about $5 a deck plus shipping, which I think is way to much.
If you find a deck, buy them and you’ll remember why these cards were soo great!
Over on TikTok I post vintage magic tricks and a recent one that I did was Nick Trost’s Gemini Cards. Also, if you’re not following me over there please do, I’m at: https://www.tiktok.com/@louiefoxx
Gemini Cards is an Out of This World style of card trick. Here’s what it looks like:
The trick is great, and a fooler. I was trying to think of what it could be done with that aren’t playing cards. Here are some ideas:
Cards with pictures of: -Red/Black socks -Cats and dogs
However I don’t want to use things that are pictures drawn on playing cards. So other objects that are “card like” in their natural state.
Here are some ideas: -paint swatches -number flash cards: evens and odds match each other -photographs (maybe of my dog and cat) -postcards: I have custom made “postcards from home” that I use for a torn and restored postcard routine. I could use those and postcards from exotic places.
I think that the Gemini Cards definitely has potential, just not sure how to use it!
When I was at the a booking conference last week, I took a coupe of pictures of a music duo that was playing. The guy in the center was playing way too far forward, and was in the dark.
In the picture it looks better than it did in person, in person he was totally in the dark! You can see the difference in the next picture when he took a few steps backwards.
Being in the “hot” area makes a huge difference. Many years ago comedian Jim Wiggins (RIP) gave me a talk about making sure that I was in the light and how much of a difference it makes. I do my best to try to stay in the light, and it always helps if there’s an act before you that you can watch were they’re lit and where they’re in the dark!
Last night I got home from another booking conference and saw some amazing acts!
One of the helpful things about going to these conferences and seeing all the other acts showcase is that you kinda know where you are in the pack. You can gauge whether you’re a top tier act, or whatever.
It’s also inspiring to see people do their best 15 minutes of material! I totally recommend checking one of these out if you get a chance, even if it’s just to watch acts!
Last week I performed at a comedy club in Wisconsin. I reached out to my opener and offered to trade him something from where I live for something local to the him. He said yes, and here’s what we swapped:
I brought him a couple of bags of Tim’s Cascade chips which are a pacific northwest thing and they make strange flavors and he brought me a couple types of cheese curds from Wisconsin!
If you’re travelling and have a local opener, reach out to them and offer and exchange, it’s a fun ice breaker, but it also get’s you the good version of the local thing!
Since I make a Take Up Reel, I’ve become a pseudo expert about reels in general. One of the challenges with reel is that because they can be expensive, it’s hard to know if one is right for you. Today I’m going to show you how to make a simple locking reel. This reel isn’t something that I would use for a show, it has a big flaw, but it’s something you could use as a “proof of concept” to know if you should invest in a better quality locking reel.
Step one: Buy a reel that you can unscrew. This will typically be a “key reel” and not a “badge reel”.
Step two: unscrew it and take it apart.
Step three: Drill a hole in the cover of it and holes on the spindle that match up with the reel.
Step Four: Reassemble the reel.
Step Five: Bend a paperclip to make the “lock”
Step Six: Tape the paper clip in place
Step Seven: Put sponge under the paper clip
Step Eight: Test it!
The design flaw with this reel is the paper clip. Ideally you want a spring steel, however since this is a proof of concept reel, and not something you should use in a show the sponge under the paper clip will work.
There you go, it’s a locking reel that you can make for under about $15!
When the travelling Oddities and Curiosities Expo was in town I popped by to check it out. I’ve performed at the expo in the past, and swung by to say hi to some friends.
Magicians can learn a lot by watching sideshow acts. It’s a very similar build through routines. A magician has to show the box is empty before you can make something appear, and a sword swallower has to show the sword is real before they swallow it.
You really should check out the Oddities and Curiosities Expo when it’s passing through your town, you can learn a lot!
A couple of months ago I was contacted by a state run veterans home to perform for their group. They were super upfront with a very low budget, and for veterans, I’m OK with that. I consider this type of gig “volunteering”, however every time you volunteer, there has to be an exchange of some sort. Otherwise you’ll frequently be treated as a volunteer and not talent. They’ll change dates or times or scope of work on you at the last minute or worse without letting you know! Once they are invested in the show, they stop treating you like a volunteer.
Once I agreed to the show they emailed me a lot of paperwork to do to get paid a fraction of the fee that I would normally get. One of these things involved me setting up an account as a vendor, waiting 7-10 business days to get a vendor number, then once I get that number I need to send it into the veterans home. This wasn’t simply a fill out paper work and send it in. It was send it in, then wait and follow up about the status of my vendor number, then I needed to forward that. Sure that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s work that takes place over multiple days…and that’s assuming they are no delays or problems with my paper work. All of the following up is on ME to do. I have to remember to check the status in a week, I need to make calls if there’s a delay.
Oh, then they say that I submit an invoice the day of the show and they mail me a check. So for me when that happens, they get moved into my “payments not made” system and I automatically have points in time that I follow up to figure out the status of the payment.
In my experience the only payments that are mailed to me that I need to chase are from low paying gig. Rarely (I can only think of once, and it was a crazy circumstance with the organization) do I ever have to hunt down a check 30 days after a gig at my normal rate.
I was told that all of this was mandatory. The paper work, the sending of the check after the gig. Here’s what I emailed them:
Within an hour after sending that email they replied stating that they would like to book the show and they’ll have cash waiting for me.
It’s crazy how mandatory, and the only way we do it can change.
Here’s advice to anyone who is trying to get a performer for lower than their normal rate or a charity, or whatever: Make it easy for the performer! I’m not going to do more work for less money…and the more work which isn’t even the fun part of the gig!
Oh and in a fun side note, in the time between when I sent the above email and when they replied, I booked a gig for another date at my full rate. This communication was that I answered an incoming email with a price quote and needed info to book the gig. They replied with the info. I replied with a square link and they paid it! It took about 10 minutes start to finish to book and get paid for a gig at literally 10 times what I was getting paid for the veterans home!
Don’t let people make it hard for you do be nice to them. Once they make it more work for you to do a discounted show, lay out what you’re willing to do and be willing to walk away from the gig!
I was watching Tom Papa’s latest Netflix stand up comedy special and he uses a technique called a “call back” a couple of times. If you don’t know what a callback is, it’s where you reference something that was said or happened earlier in the show.
There really are two kinds of call backs, planned ones that are scripted, and unplanned ones, that are spontaneous. Both are great, but the unplanned ones are the best. They are an “inside joke” that exists only with that audience.
For example at a comedy club a couple of months ago, a lady was clapping by tapping two chicken wings together. I mentioned it and it became something that I referenced a couple of times in the show that got a big laugh. Those tell people that they’re seeing a show that’s unique and that’s really one of the draws as to why people come out to a live show, to hopefully something that will never happen again!
