Tag: magic show tips

How to be a Good TV Guest

When I visit a television show, I try to be a good guest. Last week, I visited Everyday Northwest in the Portland, OR area to promote National Magic Week. Before the interview, they give out a sheet with the show’s timing and some of the questions that they’ll ask you.

Once I got the sheet and saw the questions, I started writing my answers in my notebook. The act of writing them down puts them in my head, and I fumble a little bit less when saying them. It’s like a mini rehearsal for me.

Also, when I see the questions, I try to write some jokes. In the interview, I’m asked “how magicians celebrate National Magic Week” and I have an answer with a joke. That’s part of the effort I put into these media spots: I try to be prepared and offer them more than just flat answers.

If you do a TV spot, make it a unique experience; don’t just rehash what you’ve done a million times.

-Louie

The Fortune Teller on TV (again)

On a TV appearance last week I did The Fortune Teller trick from my 2025 lecture notes. You can watch the appearance here:

What I like about this trick is that the moment you bring out the prop, the audience gets a hit of nostalgia. That makes it a trick that instantly connects with the audience.

Then my card routine with it has a three-reveal punch. The card routine I did in this TV spot is different from my stage routine, which wouldn’t work with this setup, with the host standing next to me.

-Louie
PS, if you like the routine, you can learn more about it at:
https://www.magicshow.tips/lecture-notes-2025/

Five Minute Magic Show

Last week, I was at a booking conference and they had a “pitch and perform” event. In this event, each person had 5 minutes to introduce themself, tell what they did, and give a short sample of what they do.

Here’s what I took with me:

Magic show props

There are two routines, one I intended to do is my Stand Up Chop Cup (it’s in my 2025 lecture notes) and the back up routine is a rope routine. Both magic routines would run about three minutes and the other two minutes would be the pitch part. What’s important about these two routines is that there is no set up and no clean up and they have a lot of magic!

I always try to have a back up routine for things like this. It’s only five minutes, but sometimes I’ll see the room and decide my main trick isn’t right, or there will be another magician who may do something similar to what I had planned. That’s why the two tricks I brought were very different visually and in effect.

A little bit of planning can help a lot!

-Louie

Magician Dick Barry!

Recently I was doing a gig at a retirement community and one of the people that lived there was magician Dick Barry!

Dick is retired now; however, he has created many magic tricks that were sold. He was also a performer at the Magic Castle. I had a great time chatting with Dick before the show. This is one of the great things about performing at a retirement community, you never know who you’ll run into!

If you want to learn more about performing at retirement communities, check out my book How to Perform for Seniors.

-Louie

Outdoor Magic Show in the Rain

This month I’m doing a few dates at a Halloween festival that runs 5 weekends. One of the days that I was performing, it was raining, and this was an outdoor festival. The stage was covered, but the audience seating was not covered.

The act before me performed for a few people with umbrellas that were standing behind the wet seats. What I did was move a bunch of seats onto the stage and dry them off.

magic show in the rain

I managed to fill up the stage seating and had great shows!

When you arrive at a show and the scenario isn’t ideal, consider how to improve it. I’ll usually run the idea by my contact at the gig to ensure there’s no reason why I shouldn’t do that.

-Louie

Street Fair Magic Show

Over the summer I was hired to do a show for a street fair. I’ve done many of these in the past, but this one was a little bit different. When I arrived I was directed to my “stage” which was the middle of the street.

magic show

Doing a show in the middle of the street with no defined performing area is not a problem, I’ve done that before. For me the bigger challenge was trying to find a situation where the audience could be in the shade for the 45 min show.

There really wasn’t any shade that wasn’t blocking a business. I didn’t want to tell people to stand under a business’s awning, but I also knew that people would choose the shady spot to watch the show.

Once I started to talk up my show, people immediately filled the shady area directly in front of a business!

magic show

As my friend Skip Banks says, if you make the audience area comfortable, they’ll show up. They were a great crowd, and it was a fun show!

-Louie

New Sound System for my Magic Show

After probably more than a decade I finally upgraded my sound system. I used to use the Roland Street Cube EX, which is great and after about 10 years it still works great! What I liked about this system is that is has all the inputs that I need, so I don’t need to add a mixer to it. It also runs on AA batteries, so if there is a low battery issue, I just throw new ones into it.

Magic show audio
Magic show audio


I’m switching to the Bose S1 Pro. The main reason I’m switching to it is for a tour I’m doing in the spring of 2026, and the Bose speaker is much smaller than the Roland Street Cube EX. The Bose S1 Pro also has better sound, but both speakers have enough sound for what I need.

I also bought a carrying case for the Bose speaker.

bose s1 pro case


This case has plenty of pockets and holds all my audio gear, eliminating the need for another case.

I’ve done a few shows with the Bose S1 Pro so far, and it works great!

-Louie

Pay vs Pain Ratio

The Pay vs Pain (in the butt) ratio is a factor in determining if a gig is worth doing. A while ago I was asked to perform in a variety show at a huge event. The pay was basically non existent, what it would cost for me to do the gig in travel expenses exceeded the pay. Why would I take the gig…well I like the people in the show, so it’s an excuse to hang out. That’s a -1 in the pay index. Also I’m not getting paid the day of the show, so that’s another -1 in the pay index.

Now that the pay isn’t the reason to take the gig, the reason to not take the gig is the pain in the butt factor. When I accepted the gig I was told we would get parking passes. Well, that changed and as a 15 person variety show, they only gave us 3 passes. That adds a +1 in the pain in the butt index.

When they scheduled me, asked me to sign up on their website so that they had my details. I went to create an account, which was a pain because it’s primarily a music event and none of the check boxes applied to me, and none had an “other” option. That’s a +1 in the pain in the butt index. What I ended up doing was just checking whatever box, but then the site needed to verify my email by sending me an email to continue to add my personal info. I never got that email, and was never able to complete their registration. That’s another +1 in the pain in the butt index. I had to reach out and argue with them to let me give them my info over the phone because their website didn’t work. that’s another +1 in the pain in the butt index.

Next they said we’d have to check in across the event grounds which are huge and it will be crowded. Why we can’t just have one person check us in as a group instead of everyone individually checking in, I don’t know. That adds another +1 to the pain in the butt index.

The morning of the event one of the producers of the show asked if I could bring my own audio. I said no, that’s not what I agreed to, and that this is a large event who I submitted my tech to weeks ago. If they were unable to accommodate a handheld microphone, they shouldn’t have booked me. That’s another +1 in the pain in the butt index.

So let’s look at the Pay vs Pain results.
Pay -2
Pain +6
That’s not a good ratio.

Shows that are low on pay should be very low on the pain in the butt. Ideally the pay should be at a 0 and the pain should be at a 0 if it’s a gig you’re not doing for the money.

-Louie

Magic Show Tax?

In Washington State where I live they just passed a tax on “live presentations”. The way the new tax is described it’s unclear as to whether I’m supposed to start charging sales tax. Previously, service businesses didn’t have to charge sales tax.

Here’s what the rule looks like on their state’s website:

magic show tax

The state has an email address that you can use to get an official ruling as to what you’re supposed to do. I sent them a question asking them if I have to start charging sales tax and here’s what the state had to say:

magic show tax

That’s great news, as the new rule took effect on 10/1/25, and I had shows scheduled with “all inclusive” pricing long before this new tax was announced. Those shows I’d lose 10% on, so I’m glad that magic shows are exempt (for now) from this new tax!

If you’re in Washington State and do magic shows, you should email the Department of Revenue and get an official, binding ruling for your business.

-Louie