magic show tips – Page 52

Getting More Out of What You Already Have

One way to build a show is to get more time out of the props you already have. There is a limit to the payoff the the trick, like a 15 minute Professor’s Nightmare routine might be a bit much (but maybe not). It’s up to you to figure out what the maximum of any routine you do is.

I have a trick rope routine that I do in the show. By trick rope, it’s a lasso demonstration, not a rope trick. The whole thing runs about 3 minutes and is fairly basic, but has some laughs and a big applause ending. I’m working on adding a few more things to it to hopefully build it out a minute.

I’m working on adding some vertical loop tricks to the routine…but first I need to work on doing butterflies which is the basic skill for vertical loops.

The challenge with something like lasso tricks is that they are a high practice, low payout skill. People think that it’s easy based pretty much on cartoons and think you can do tricks with the rope that are basically impossible due to how gravity works. That said, people still like it.

The nice thing is that most magicians aren’t going to put in the time to learn to do lasso tricks, so it gives me something semi unique right off the bat! The side bonus with lasso is that it’s easy to travel with, and has no set up. I can grab it and do it!

-Louie

Damn Good Advice

Way back in October my buddy Mickey O’Connor recommended the book Damn Good Advice. I ordered it on Amazon and read it on the a flight recently.

This book is written by a graphic designer and the advice is really tailored to that industry, however a lot applies to being a performer. This book is an easy read and is broken down into 120 suggestions.

One of the take aways for me is to be willing to walk away from things that aren’t a good fit. For example, I don’t perform in costume for events. It’s not a hard rule and if it’s something simple like it’s a “red” themed event and I have something that fits no problem. However if it’s something like a superhero event and they want me to wear a cape, it’s a hard no…unless they’re will to pay a crap ton of money for me to wear it. My character doesn’t work in most costumes and I know that. By performing in a costume I’m doing a disservice to the client and myself. It’s a no win.

When someone brings in headline entertainment for their event, and asks them to change how they do things, it will effect the quality of the product. Sure you can practice and rehearse with the changes, but there’s no guarantee it will make the product as good as what is before the changes. Also it add a lot more time to practice and rehears, which adds cost and 99% of the time the buyer doesn’t want to pay more for a lesser product.

When you’re starting out as a performer it’s important to say YES to everything to gain experience. However as you become more experienced it’s OK to say NO.

-Louie

Travelling with my Magic Show

When flying to gigs, I used to check my audio gear inside of my suitcase. Then one time TSA damages some stuff repacking it and I now always carry on my audio box. The box is kinda a pain to lug around, not just the airport, but hotel, or around the venue.

About a year ago I had an idea to put a strap on my audio case, so it can attach to the handle of my Pelican Air case. I finally got around putting a strap on it and it’s fantastic! I wish I would have done this a long time ago.

I simply riveted a piece of elastic onto it. Well, there’s a little bit more engineering than that. I put a rectangle piece of plastic under the roll of the elastic to even out force of the elastic being stretched. Without the plastic, the elastic would probably tear at the rivets.

It works great!

I’m glad I finally did this!

-Louie

Air Tag Magic Trick!

A few weeks ago I was hanging out with some magicians before the Justin Willman show in Seattle. One of the props we were jamming with was an Apple Air Tag. Here’s one of the more visually interesting things:

@louiefoxx AirTag Hack! #airtag #appleairtag ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

It’s an obvious trick to do with an AirTag, but the name lends itself to the trick. This is a trick I’ve wanted to do with an AirTag, but I stopped doing the muscle pass in 2020 and can’t do it anymore. Sure I could probably play with it for a week and relearn it, but I don’t really have a need for it anymore.

If you can muscle pass, this is a great and easy trick with a borrowed AirTag!

-Louie

How to apply to a festival

In the past I’ve written about how to submit your act to a festival. I’m reviewing videos of acts submitted to one of the two variety arts festivals that I’m on the booking team of. Here are some of the most common mistakes, or things that annoy me as someone who reviews acts:

Have a video that’s at high definition. It doesn’t need to be 4k, but needs to be clear and easy to watch. Someone submitted a video that was 144p! It was unwatchable at such a low level of definition.

Your video is more that just what can be seen. Have good audio as well. The audio your camera pulls is usually bad, use an actual audio recorder to capture the audio. Also if your act uses music, I want to hear what you’ll use, don’t mute the video and play a different song that’s not used in the act. It just doesn’t look right.

Make your video publicly available so I don’t have to request it access to it. I have limited time to watch these and deadlines to when I have to submit my opinions on the acts. That day delay while I try to get access can lead to a NO from me just because I can’t watch your video. Also your video should be streaming, so not something that I have to download. I frequently watch these when I’m out of town performing and may not have the best internet, and downloading your video may not be possible.

For content of your video I want to see your act. I don’t want to see a 50 second introduction. It’s just a waste of my limited time. Have your video start with host saying your name and you starting…or better yet, just you starting. You don’t need to edit your existing video, you can simply send me a youtube link that starts at the 0:50 mark or whatever.

These things aren’t really hard to do, you just need to know to do them.

-Louie

Kidshow Magic Kompendium

While I’m stuck in the office for a few days while I have my COVID isolation, I decided to read a book that I haven’t read yet. The book I grabbed was David Ginn’s Kidshow Magic Kompendium and a little ambitious of a read at over 500 pages!

This book is does a great job of laying out what makes a good kid show trick! You get complete routines with most of the tricks as well. There aren’t necessarily complete descriptions to how the things work or how to build them as there are many dealer items and things that the average person couldn’t make at home. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but just something to be aware of.

If you want a solid foundation of kid show performing and props, this book is great! I’m about 200ish pages into the book and it’s a fun read. David gives you advice and stories from the past.

It looks like this book is $35 on GinnMagicShop.com and for that price it’s a steal if you’re getting into or want to learn more about kids magic!

-Louie

The Show Doesn’t Have to Go On…

I got home a couple of days ago from a large booking conference. On my way home I got a text from a text from someone that I hung out with that they tested positive for COVID. I got home and had a negative test…but the next day I tested positive.

That means that I had some choices to make. I tested positive on a Thursday and had a holiday event on Saturday. According to the CDC guidelines, I would still be in isolation. My symptoms are pretty mild, so do I just bang out the show and do a no contact show?

My answer was to cancel the show…well have a friend of mine fill in for me. I could have done the show and gotten the cash, but it’s really not a good look doing a show when you’re sick.

People always praise Michael Jordan for playing in the “flu game” where he had a 103 temperature. Many years ago I’ve done the show very sick or physically hurt. One time I did a show right after I was in a car accident! I think times have changed and booker will look down on you if you do the show while visibly sick, especially if there are other options.

The show doesn’t have to go on.

For me the doing the right thing was more important than the cash.

-Louie
PS: Having to cancel this gig was a blow to my plan of only working 3 Saturdays in December…but about an hour after I cancelled it I got an email from a gig that I had contacted me a while ago wanting to book for next Friday!

Senior Shows Zoom Training Session

A while ago I had an idea to host a zoom session about performing for seniors. It’s been a while since I’ve done any meaningful performing on zoom, so it was a little bit stressful. I did need to redownload and relearn the basics of using OBS (production program).

With all of the technical stress, the nice thing about giving presentations on Zoom is that I can tape my notes to the wall behind my computer! Also with this not being a show, I didn’t feel the need to dig out the backdrop or set up all of the lights.

My goal with the zoom session was to solve problems, not really as a lecture. There were a lot of questions and a topic that came up a couple times was the best way to contact senior communities. For me the best way to do that is with postcards or letters. While it may or may not be the method with the highest closing percentage, for me it’s the most efficient. I can spend less than an hour total and have a couple hundred postcards in the mail, where using phone or email will take a lot longer than that. With email, unless you already have a complete and up to date list, this can be fairly time consuming!

Another topic that came up a couple times is what to bring into a senior show and what type of material to do. My show fits in a briefcase and the audio has it’s own case. The other thing I travel with is a folding step stool.

When I do seniors shows, since they aren’t the best paying gigs, I need to be able to set up and pack quickly. This show can set up in about 15 mins and pack up in about 10 mins!

There will probably be another Senior Show Zoom at some point, if you want to be updated about it, contact me and ask to be on the mailing list!

-Louie
PS If you are interested in performing in senior communities and don’t have my book How to Perform for Seniors, you can get it here:
https://www.magicshow.tips/how-to-perform-for-seniors-book/

Always be Practicing!

While I was at the airport recently, I looked out the window and say one of the aircraft marshaller’s juggling the marshalling batons:

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A post shared by Louie Foxx | Comedy Magician (@louiefoxx)

This guy is using his downtime at work to practice and get good at a skill!
Practicing in your downtime with other tasks in a great way to pick up new skills! I learned to do rubik’s cube and a lot yo yo tricks in the time between when I finish setting up my show and my show’s start time. Sometimes it’s just 15 mins, or whatever. That’s time I could be scrolling through Instagram, or learning something new!

-Louie

Christmas Themed Shows?

One thing that I don’t really do anymore are themed shows. However there’s one exception, and next week I’m doing a show with some Christmas/winter themed magic. It’s for a client that’s used me for close to two decades, so I’m willing to do things for them that I normally wouldn’t do.

This is a family show, but geared to kids as I’m the opening act for Santa. I agreed to do 30% of the show themed for them. I ordered a few things for this event that I’ll be doing two back to back shows at. All of the tricks are similar to things that I’ve done in the past, so I’m familiar with them.

These trick are easy to plug into my show. This show will be what I consider “commercial art”. This show isn’t what’s in my heart (well 30% isn’t), but it helps keep me funded to do my art!

-Louie