magic show tips – Page 50

Wireless Mic Dropping Out…

Last week at the fair my good wireless mic system stopped working and I was using my back up wireless mic system. When I used it the first day it was intermittently cutting out, so I switched to the sound company’s wireless handheld and that was doing the same thing. That told me it wasn’t a hardware issue and I finished the day using their wired handheld mic.

Overnight the sound tech did some research and learned that vertical metal poles (especially aluminum poles) can affect how wireless mics work. At the stage the wireless receivers were on the other side of a stage wall that was made up of vertical poles!

We moved my wireless receiver to the stage side of the poles and everything worked perfectly! I’m glad that he did some extra research to figure out why it was doing that and now we both know how to solve the problem in the future!

-Louie

That’s Not An Introduction!

When I work as an MC, I ask for 1-3 bullet points that I can say about an act/show. That’s really all that you need in an introduction. The reason I ask for bullet points is that I can filter it through my voice.

Here’s an introduction that I was given recently:

That’s not an MC introduction, it’s the introduction that you group leader should be giving on mic, but not for the MC. Also it’s written in the first person from the band’s point of view, so I had to live update it as I read it. The other thing with LONG pre printed introductions is that I’m getting older an my eyes aren’t as good at they used to be. I can’t reasonably rewrite this in a larger size that’s easier for me to read. Where a simple paragraph would have been much easier and I could have rewritten it so that it was easier for me to read.

So for most MC’s that I know, we prefer bullet points, not a page of text. Figure out your three bullet points so that you’re ready the next time you need to give an introduction to an MC.

-Louie

New Wireless Mic System

Well, after spending some time researching and asking around about different wireless systems, I settled on the Sennheiser AVX system.

Unfortunately Amazon couldn’t deliver to an Amazon Locker, so I’ll have to have it sent hope and it will be there when I get home in a few days.

Hopefully this system will work out for me!
-Louie

Wireless Mics

Well, after about a decade my Sennheiser EW 100 G3 mic packs stopped working properly. Over the last 10 years I have sent them back to Sennheiser to be repaired and repaired them once myself.

With the help of Mark (the sound tech at my stage this week) I managed to diagnose the problem, it’s my 1/8 audio input that needs to be replaced. If I send it to Sennheiser to be repaired, it’ll cost about $250 or more. I’m thinking that money would be better put into a new wireless system, than into a 10 year old system.

While at the event I luckily had a back up wireless set with me!

These aren’t as nice as the Sennheiser ones, but they are helping me get through the gig. I don’t normally carry a back up wireless set, but for some reason I threw them in with my gear for this gig. I can use a handheld to do my show in an emergency, but prefer not to.

-Louie

Jerry Andrus’s Grave

One of the spots that I stop at when I drive down to California is Jerry Andrus’s grave. It’s in the Jefferson Cemetery in Oregon and it’s only a couple of minutes off of Interstage 5. It’s right about when I need to get out of the car and stretch my legs and walk around for a little bit.

I think it’s important to remember the magicians that came before us. Jerry was lightyears ahead of his time! He was a pioneer of cardistry 40 years before it was popular.

@louiefoxx Cemetery Tour! Looking for Jerry Andrus#jeffersoncounty #oregon #cemetery #graveyard #jerryandrus #louiefoxx #findagrave #townhistory #opticalillusion ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

I think it’s important to remember the magicians who came before us.

-Louie

Jeki Yoo’s Vanishing Birdcage!

Here’s a great version of the Vanishing Birdcage by Jeki Yoo.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 🎩 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 🎩 (@magichustle)

The cool thing about this is that he’s wearing what he normally wears for all of his videos. The downside is this method isn’t practical for a normal stage show presentation. In my opinion any different method for the cage is great, no matter how practical or impractical it is for different venues. The normal stage version of the Vanishing Birdcage is already a very impractical trick due to the set up when compared to pretty much any standard magic trick, so it’s hard to say any method isn’t “practical”.

-Louie

Always Ask Who They Know!

When I travel I try to pop into the local magic shop and support them. When I was in Astoria, OR recently I swung by The Magic Shop and More and hung out with the owner Seth.

While I was there a couple of people walked in and one guy mentions that when he was a kid his neighbor’s dad was a magician. If you perform for the public, you will frequently hear people tell you that they have relative or a connection to a magician. I always ask who the magician is, and many times they will respond with something like, “they’re from a small town, you’ve never heard of them…“. I would say a lot of the time I have heard of them and most of the time I know or have met that person.

When I asked the guy who the magician was, he said BRUCE CERVON! That was a fun surprise and we got to hear a couple stories about Bruce. You never know who you’ll meet and who they know!

Also while I was there, I picked up the Max Malini book. When you visit a magic shop, support them with a meaningful purchase, not just a deck of cards for three bucks.

-Louie

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Ben Nemzer

This episode the Moisture Festival Podcast catches up with magician Ben Nemzer!

We talk about getting started in magic, going to magic camp, running an afterschool program during the pandemic and soo much more! This is a fantastic peek behind the curtain of Ben Nemzer’s life!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Portland SAM Meeting

Last week I was in town for the Portland Society of American Magicians magic club meeting. It was a light turn out with only about 8 people there, but it was fun.

For me, I always love seeing the different styles of magic that people bring to a magic club. It’s not always their polished routines, but things that they are working on or things that they have and want to share. Personally, I’m more interested in things that you don’t do in your show, but interest you more than your A material. That’s the fun of magic clubs!

-Louie

Shell Shocked by Giovanni Livera

A bit ago someone mentioned Giovanni Livera’s three shell game routine. I wasn’t aware of this routine, so I tracked down a his book Confessions of an Italian Magician where his Shell Shocked routine is written up.

His routine has an ending that’s unusual, it ends with three production items. The first two are dice and the third is a plastic P. I have all of the props except the plastic P, but that’s where my 3d printer came in handy.

Within about 15 minutes I had made a plastic letter P and had it printed and can now learn the routine!

I’ll get started working on it later today!
-Louie