magic show – MagicShow.Tips

Coin Balm by Rocco and Roy Kueppers

Over six years ago, I published a trick called Lip Bomb in this blog and in Vanish Magazine. Here’s what the trick looks like:

Then recently, I saw an ad for a trick that Rocco and Roy Kueppers called Coin Balm. It looks like this was initially released in 2004, here’s what it looks like:

It looks very similar to my trick…doesn’t it?

I do like the lifting of the coin up out of the tube that Rocco does, that makes the trick play bigger than the dumping of the coin downwards that I do in my trick. However I really like the spectator producing the coin from the chapstick tube that I do more than the reveal that Rocco does where he pulls it out himself.

I haven’t bought this product, so I don’t know if my trick is credited in it, or if Michal l P Lair’s Rich Smoke trick is credited.

-Louie

Final Day of Presale: How to Perform for Seniors – 3rd edition

Today is the final day for the $5 off presale of the 3rd edition of my book How To Perform For Seniors. When I got the two boxes of books from the printer, I had a fun surprise when I opened one of them!

The presale on the book ends at the end of the day today. Get your order in now, and it’ll ship tomorrow!

-Louie
Get the book at: https://www.magicshow.tips/product/16716/

A Close Up Magic Routine

There’s a new sequence I’m playing with for my stage show. This is close up magic with projection. This whole sequence is done solo, with just me onstage. Here’s what’s going on:

1: Stand Up Chop Cup: This is the chop cup routine from my 2025 PCAM Lecture Notes. This routine doesn’t use a table and is done solo onstage with no projection. It ends with the production of a tennis ball.

2: Shuffle Routine: I move to the table, with the close up camera on it. A deck of cards is introduced and shown in new deck order. It’s shuffled a few times and is spread out to show it’s back in new deck order. This is repeated a second time.

3: That Way More: This is a modified version of my horizontal Ambitious Card routine. I’ve published parts of this routine in Vanish Magazine.

4: Card in Tennis Ball: The ending of the sequence is the selected and marked card comes out of the tennis ball that as produced at the beginning of the sequence!

What I like about the sequence is that it ends with a callback to the tennis ball that was produced at the beginning of the sequence.

-Louie

How to Perform For Seniors 3rd edition – presale info

drawing of magician performing for seniors

There’s only a couple more days left for the presale of the 3rd Edition of How To Perform for Seniors book. The third edition updates all the info in the previous two editions and includes new information, like using video projection in your show.

This book is normally $35, however if you order before October 12th, 2026 you’ll save $5!

You can place your order here:
https://www.magicshow.tips/product/16716/

The estimated ship date is October 13th.

-Louie

Demo of An Easy Elmsley Count Trick

Yesterday I posted an simple color changing back routine that is Elmsley Count based. You can learn the sequence here. While I waiting in my car for an appointment, I grabbed some cards and made a quick trick using that sequence:

I think more people should use the Elmsley Count with the cards held vertically. You have to shift your thinking a bit, as it’s backward. Your finger will do the thumb’s action, and your thumb will do your finger’s action.

Doing the Elmsley Count vertically puts your face into the frame, which in theory is good.

-Louie

The Easiest Way To Improve Your Magic Show

In my opinion one of the easiest ways to work on your magic show is to have other people help you. Last week I was sharing an AirBnB with three other performers, and we had a workshop night.

These are pretty simple; we all did or talked about something we were working on, and then everyone brainstormed ideas.

The trick I was working on was my Juggling Monte idea. We came up with a couple of jokes for it, which is great! Still having a challenge with coming up with the presentation’s hook, however any steps forward are good!

This is just part of the work, there’s still all of the refining needed to really get the routine good! You can learn more about my process here.

-Louie

The Prayer Vase Magic Trick!

When I see a magician perform an old trick and really wow an audience, it really makes me happy. By old trick, I don’t mean an overdone trick, but a trick everyone has had, but no one actually does. Recently, I worked with Michael Mesmer and in his early show he does the Prayer Vase magic trick.

This is a trick most magicians had when they were kids and haven’t thought about since. Michael has a great routine with it, and it really connects with an audience!

Sometimes the easiest way to create something that feels new is to look to the past!

-Louie

A Hard Hitting Card Trick Sequence

I think magicians try to overcomplicate things with the card magic they do. You can get amazing reactions with a couple of very simple things. Here’s a quick three beat trick that gets great reactions:

There’s not much to it: two forces, a top change, and then a double lift. I don’t do a double turnover. The reason for that is that most people who have had a passing interest in magic tricks learn a double turnover in the context of either an ambitious card or simply changing the card. When I do this sequence, it looks nothing like what they’d learned in a YouTube tutorial. While I’m using techniques that they may know, they don’t look like what they’d learned.

This is a good lesson: if you keep getting busted doing something like a double turnover, either find a way to eliminate it or make it look different.

-Louie
PS: If you want to learn about my thoughts on the classic force, it’s in my 2025 PCAM lecture notes.

Snake Wand Surprise – V2

A little over a decade ago, I released my Snake Wand Surprise. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a comedy magic wand that has a big surprise ending! Here’s what the routine looks like:

After over a dozen years of using it in my shows, there’s really not much about it that I didn’t like. The main thing I didn’t like was how bulky it was. I try to be a one trip from the car to load in and one trip to load out. The larger wand didn’t fit into a case, and it was awkward to move around.

Here’s a comparison between the original and the new one:

The smaller size takes up less space and will fit in more varieties of cases, but still oversized enough to get a reaction when you bring it out! The other thing that the smaller diameter wand does is reduce jams, there’s less room inside for the snakes to get stuck!

You can get the Snake Wand Surprise V2 at:
https://www.magicshow.tips/product/snake-wand-surprise/

-Louie

Outdoor Magic Show Challenges

Last week, at the fair where I was performing, it rained one morning. The sun came out right before my show, so my show was going to happen. The only problem was that all of my seating was wet. No one will sit on a seat that’s wet and has a pool of water. So I tracked down a rag and wiped down the chairs!

magician wiping water off of folding chair

Wiping down chairs isn’t my job, but it’s something that needed to happen for my show to happen. Sometimes doing something like wiping down chairs makes the difference between no audience and getting a big audience (which is what I had that show!).

There are times to not be helpful, sometimes there are union rules or the task could get your costume or hands stained. Wiping water off a chair wasn’t a big deal, so I did it.

-Louie