Yesterday I posted about my simple camera shutter that I use to keep my camera from having TVs or projectors time out due to no signal when it’s not in use. In the video below you can see the projector in use at a comedy club gig:
All of the sound/tech people on the little tour of comedy clubs I just did were amazed at how simple of a solution the little 3d printed cover was!
I feel like I should mentioned that both times I’ve flown with the iphone with the camera cover in my backpack, TSA took it out for additional screening. I guess it looks strange on the Xray.
In using projection at my shows over the summer I learned that some projectors or TV’s will “time out” and turn off if they don’t think they’re getting a signal. The camera I use has a black out option that I used to use, until I learned that the black out can be interpreted as no signal and the TV or projector will go into sleep mode.
To solve this problem, I 3d printed a simple camera cover for my iphone and glued it on.
This is a very simple, low tech way to solve the problem. The camera is still sending a picture to the screen, so it won’t got into sleep mode.
For these shows I didn’t want to run the camera through my laptop and use my Media Star to control it. That’s way too much set up and gear for a library show.
About a month ago I was told that Walmart had bricks of bicycle cards for $14! It turns out these are a clearance item, so once they’re gone, they’re gone. I’ve been buying them up whenever I find them on my travels.
There are still some out there at Walmart’s, but I’m finding them less and less now. If you go looking, they usually be with the playing cards OR in the clearance section of the store.
Just a note, if you’re going out looking for them. I found a box that was still labeled at $29, but I took it to the register and when I scanned it, it came up at $14. So if you see the higher price, it should ring up at $14!
Today’s vintage magic trick is Twisting the Jokers by Ronnay. This trick is very much the vibe of the golden age of packet tricks. It’s a trick where the four cards turn over one at a time, then turn into a different value. During this time that plot was done a ton of different ways, and here’s Ronnay’s version:
The provided patter is garbage, it feels like rip off of the standard Six Card Repeat patter. The problem with this trick’s patter is that it uses a lot of industry terms that make it feel really clunky.
From a technical standpoint this trick is fine and it logically flows, but with a modern trick like NFW which is easier to do and much cleaner, Twisting the Jokers is obsolete…but these types of tricks were steps on the ladder to get to tricks like NFW and they have their place.
I’ve been doing my version of the Multiplying Coin Tray for a while now. I call it the Bodega Coin Tray. It’s gone though some tweaks over time with the design of the tray, but am loving the current version!
The full routine starts with a four penny trick, that has a few phases to it. Then I do the coins to spectator’s hands. It’s a great sequence and using the tray that looks like a “need a penny” try from a corner store allows me to get the tray into the routine with a joke. Then doing tricks where the tray isn’t the method takes heat off of the tray when I use it for the method.
I have an introductory price on these now through the end of september 2024. The normal price will be $25, but I’m offering them at $20 right now, with free shipping in the USA!
The sound guy is late getting to my stage, so I took a picture of my audio set up, just waiting for the XLR cords to plug into their PA.
I use three channels on the soundboard. One is for a handheld mic, the next is for my headset mic and the final is for my music.
Here’s a breakdown of the gear that I use: Sennheiser G4 camera mount wireless mic packs. Mogan headset mic (not shown) Shure SM58S handheld mic LTI laptop di box MediaStar Iphone 7 with showcues Lightning to USB adapter
That’s what I use for my audio.
One of the important things is the handheld mic that has an on/off switch. The reason for that is so the sound person can leave that channel on during the show, and I flip it on or off on the mic. If it doesn’t have a switch, the sound person will mute it on the board when it’s not in use, then have to turn it on when it is. That can give a bit of lag where they have to realize it needs to be on and then physically have to turn it on. I don’t like that, I prefer the mic to be on when I need it to, and to avoid the awkward moment of someone talking into a mic that’s muted.
Recently my wife and I went to a concert in the park in the town we live in.
The thing that drew my eye was that the band had a guitar case open for tips.
Personally I think this is tacky. I know what things like concerts in the park pay and they don’t need the tips. Watching the show, the amount of tips they got was negligible, when split over 4 people, maybe $15 bucks per person. Yeah, I get that that’s gas money…or you could charge what you need to make for the gig!
Another option would be to get some merch, sell stickers, CD’s or whatever.
How does this apply to magic? Simple, if you’re getting paid, don’t solicit tips.
One of the things that really bugs me are magicians that complain about people stealing their tricks or ideas when they don’t take the most basic steps to protect them.
There are basic ways to protect your ideas, for example my school assembly show is called Incredible Idioms®. I really like the title and would be bummed if someone took the title, so awhile ago I filed the trademark for it. Last week that trademark was approved!
Filing a trademark is super easy to do and not that expensive. It’s around $250 to do it and you can do it yourself, the USPTO.gov website has tons of tutorials as to what you can and can’t trademark as well as how to do it.
Way back in January of 2020 I made a 3D design for a replacement clip for my Audio Ape remote control and posted a picture of it on Facebook.
Recently this post has had a second life with people asking me if they can get the .stl file. I’ve offered it for a few bucks and what’s funny is everyone expects it for free.
Why would I give them my work for free?
It’s literally a piece of my life that I spent to create this. There’s a cost associated with it AND there’s a reason why they don’t just make their own. It’s either they’re too lazy to do it, or they don’t know how and are too lazy to learn how to use 3d modelling software. Either way, their being lazy doesn’t entitle them to my time with no benefit to me. Also, I should mention that these are the same people who complain about being asked to do free shows!
I did just print out a few of them for a friend of mine who I was working with an noticed he had broken his original Audio Ape belt clip and his replacement was duct tape and cardboard.
One of the styles of acts/shows that you don’t really see at a fair (aside from grandstand shows) are comedians. I think there are several reasons for this, but the main one is that comedy doesn’t really work before about 6pm and it needs a lot more attention than a juggler or magician.
Last week there was a comedian at the fair that I was at!
The comedian was Dan McGowan, and I was usable to catch his shows his first day, but ran into him at the grocery store that night!
I recognized him because he was wearing the same shirt he’s wearing in the video on his website! We chatted for a bit and he’s super friendly! I came in early to the fair the next day to catch a little bit of his show.
Dan is a solid comic and blended material with going off script and doing crowd work with the audience. Performing a show at 12:30pm is not for beginners, I think this is also another reason that you don’t see a lot of stand up comedians at fair is that the experience level you need to be at, there aren’t a lot of people that can do it.
A huge challenge for Dan was the gap between the stage and the audience. There was gap was huge, so it’s extremely hard to make a connection over that “moat”.
Dan had a lot of obstacles and he overcame them!
Many fairs that I perform at have a gap between the stage and the audience and it’s a HUGE challenge to overcome. Usually what I will do when I encounter this is do in my in the grass in front of where the audience is sitting. Sure, I’m in the sun, but the way I see it, I’m being paid to be there, so I can stand in the sun.
If you’re thinking of performing at fairs, you need to figure out the best way to handle a gap between you and the audience for your show or style of performing
