This was originally written in 2005, then updated with a second edition in 2011. When the first two editions came out, hardly any of the activity directors had work emails, and the fax machine was still commonly used!
This third edition of the How To Perform for Seniors has updated information. There’s more about contacting these facilities by email, as well as things like using video projection in your show!
The estimated ship date is October 13th, 2026. If you want to preorder the book, it’s on sale for $30 now until October 12th, or whenever the books arrive from the printer, whichever is first!
A couple of weeks ago, I picked up an old card fountain. This one was non-working without the remote control.
I opened it up and it had some older guts, I’m guessing from the stamp on the base of it, it’s from 2004.
My original plan was to just replace the electronics with a more modern remote control unit. Once I got it apart, I started thinking that maybe I should build it into a more complex unit, like integrating it into a snake basket or something like that.
Someone who was performing with a circus posted a picture of them performing, and I noticed this banner in the background:
Let me start by saying that they were performing in a location that should be paying the circus a decent fee. There are many other circuses and sideshows working in similar spots that are paid a great contract price. My question is: why is this circus soliciting tips? Did they take a gig for less so that they could try to make up the difference in tips? Or is this just a money grab?
If you need bonus money, make some stickers and sell those. Virtually the same profit margin as a tip; however, then you’re not contributing to the “starving artist” stereotype. If you have a banner like this in your show (unless you’re a true street busking act), you can’t be upset when people ask you what your other job is because your banner makes them think your wage is tips.
About a month ago, I had an idea for a routine that’s a three shell game sort of routine, but with juggling. You can read about it here. The premise is that a prize is put into a slit in a tennis ball. That ball is then juggled with two other tennis balls that also have something less valuable in them. The person from the audience needs to track the one with the prize, but can’t and end up winning the two lesser value prizes.
I had an idea, what if instead of prizes, I had predictions. Inside the first tennis ball was a piece of paper that said, “You Will Pick This One First” and the second that says, “You Will Pick This One Second” or something like that. That gives a magic (mentalism) payoff for each selection.
To my surprise, when I actually tried this, it fell totally flat. I’m guessing because the trick took the surprise turn, and the bonus effect wasn’t expected…and probably not that good.
Testing ideas in front of the audience is part of the creative process for me. Sometimes it hits, and sometimes is misses!
It’s been a while since I had hale bale seating for my audience.
Yes, I know these are straw bales, but no one calls them that, so I’m going to refer to them as hay bales. There are a lot of challenges that come with the audience sitting on hay bales. First, they’re pokey, so not fun to sit on if you’re wearing shorts. Next, they give kids stuff to fidget with, which is a distraction. Finally, kids and parents look at them as a jungle gym, and they let their kids play on them and generally destroy them.
Parents will let kids run around, jump from bale to bale, and that’s not conducive to building a crowd. People don’t want to make the kids stop playing, so they sit in the bleachers in the back, which isn’t the best scenario for engagement of the show.
When I noticed this, I tried something. When I got on mic, I said, “Just a heads up, now that I’m on the mic, my insurance doesn’t allow me to have you all play on the hay bales. I’m sorry, but once I start talking on the mic, it’s now my show, and if anyone falls off, it’s on my insurance. Once the show is over, it’s the fairs insurance, and you can jump all you want; it’s not my problem, but unfortunately, my insurance requires me to have you stop now or we can’t start the show.” Once I said that, all the parents got their kids and made them stop. That’s compared to simply asking them to stop because the show is starting. In the past, when I’ve done that, I think people think that since the show hasn’t started, I’ll just let them continue to play until the show starts and the rate of people stopping their kids from playing was virtually none.
This is the classic thing where if you give people a good reason why to do or not do something, you’ll get much higher compliance.
One of the most requested products I get from magicians is for me to make a USB-chargeable set of Remote Control Chattering Teeth. There’s a reason that I haven’t made them before, and that’s because I sell what I use. Personally, I prefer using disposable batteries. If I forget to charge them, it’s not a big deal; I just swap them out.
Well, in my show, I’m having more and more things that use batteries that need to be charged. From things like the phone that I use to run the production of my show to mic pack batteries. Charging things is now a bigger part of the end of my performing day than it was a few years ago.
I’m learning to install the battery and charger, and I have my first working set of USB-chargeable Remote Control Chattering Teeth.
The next step is for me to use them so I can gain some confidence with my design. I already noticed one thing to change. I have an on/off button and not a switch. With it as a button, you don’t know if it’s on or off. Going forward, future sets will have a switch!
A couple of days ago Doug Conn posted about the book Card Finesse by Jon Racherbaumer:
His post about the book, made me remember an cool card move that’s in that book. Well, I’m 99% sure it’s in that book, it might be in Card Finesse II.
I had to slightly adjust the camera move. When done as written, there’s a slight flash that the normal human eye watching won’t see, but it won’t withstand repeated viewing on the internet.
In my daily writing, I’ve been trying to come up with something to do with a couple of sponge donuts that I picked up in a box of vintage magic about a month ago. They’ve been sitting on my desk, or in the box of magic tricks that I travel with.
It hit me that they’d be great for some sort of ring on a string sort of magic routine. I played with a couple of things and quickly realized it needed something else, so I added a real bagel, and here’s what I came up with:
It really surprised me how much people liked it! I thought it’d get a “that’s neat, what else do you have…” sort of reaction. I need to try to figure out some sort of ending for this, right now it’s got a good opening line, the trick, but I feel like it needs something else.
In a box of old magic tricks that I came across, there was David Regal’s Off With His Head. This is a packet trick that is essentially B’wave, but with different beats and effects. B’wave is a prediction, with multiple things that prove you committed to the prediction. Off With His Head is a magic trick, where several different effects happen.
In Off With His Head, the effects are: 1: The back of the selected card changes color 2: The faces on the selected king disappear (cut out of the card)
I used this trick as my “trick of the day” at the fair I was performing at.
I wish this trick had a third beat to it, like B’wave does. I guess I could have the card appear face up, or have all the other cards blank. It would give a third beat; however, I’m not sure either would add to the trick.
I’m liking this packet trick and I’ll probably keep doing it until I wear out the cards.
When I first started on the road as an opener for comedians, I was told by one of the headliners (Brad Brake – RIP), “We don’t get paid for the gig; we get paid to get to the gig.” I quickly learned that that’s a common saying with acts that travel.
Yesterday my flight from Sacramento was to phoenix had a layover in San Diego. Shortly after landing in San Diego my flight to Phoenix was cancelled and I was rebooked onto the last flight of the day to Phoenix six hours later!
Then about 45 mins after the first flight was cancelled, the last flight was showing a delay of an hour. I had a feeling that I was going to be stuck in San Diego after waiting 7 hours at the airport, so I rented car and drove 5 1/2 hours to Phoenix.
I periodically checked the status of that the last flight during my drive and it was delay a second hour, then ultimately was cancelled!
Screenshot
Had I not trusted my spidey sense, I would have waited 8+ hours at the airport to ultimately be stuck there for the night.
If the drive was much longer, I probably would have just stayed at the airport to see how it played out, but when the drive is shorter than I’d be waiting at the airport for the flight if it left on time, it was a no brainer.
When you’re faced with significant delays, it’s always good to look at other options. I made a good choice bail on the flight!
