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Ginóskó by David Kuraya – Partial Review

Way back in early June when I was performing in San Francisco I visited Misdirections Magic Shop. Joe mentioned the book Ginóskó to me and said it was really good. I picked it up and finally started going through the book.

I’m only on the third trick in the book and so far I like all three!

The first trick is called Check Yo’ Self and is a production of a deck of card, which I think is fun, but I don’t really have the pocket space for it.

Blackjack For Brother John is the second trick is a packet trick that I’m having fun learning, but it’s not the style. I love learning packet tricks, but I don’t do them. The trick uses four cards, has a fun little blackjack theme and is pretty easy to do. If you’re into packet tricks, you’ll like this one.

The third trick is High Five and a Handshake is one that I really like and while it probably won’t make it into my main close up set, it’s something that I’ve been doing since I read it and it fits my style and gets great reactions! The effect is really simple, the two jokers are put in the middle of the deck and they jump to the top and bottom. It’s got a clear cut effect and David’s routine for it is fun!

Based on the first three tricks in the book, I would highly recommend this book! And at $25, if the rest of the book is junk, it’s still worth it!

-Louie

Playing BIGGER!

Last week I wrapped up a 12 day gig at the Ohio State Fair. One of the challenges for me was how big the stage was. It was very wide and deep, then the backwall was about 6 feet beyond the end of the stage. That makes a lot of magic hard to focus on. Especially for an act like me that uses handheld props.

Here’s what the stage looks like:

Over the two weeks I learned to play my show BIG using large gestures and working to get bigger reactions out of people onstage. Here’s the highlights of week one:

@louiefoxx Comedy Magic at the Ohio State Fair: Week 1 highlights #ohio #columbus #comedy #magic #statefair #louiefoxx #sizzlereel #familyfun ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

This stage was a fun challenge!

-Louie

AirDrop for Pics of Your Show

I had an idea to get pics of my show. I told the audience that I’d allow anyone to airdrop me “pictures of my show or their pets” after the show. Here’s what I got:

The first pic is of me that someone ran though a filter to make me old! Then I got a few show pics and two dogs! It was a fun experiment to see if people would send me stuff.

When I do close up I ask people to AirDrop me pictures or video and this is a great way to get those of you doing close up. From a stage context, I’m not sure if it’s as good, but I’ll keep playing with it.

-Louie

Variable 30 minute Magic Show

Recently I wrapped up a twelve day run at a fair. I was doing 30 minute stage magic shows. Here’s what my case and tabletop set up looks like:

The show set list is pretty simple:

ACAAN
Rope Trick
Cup Trick
Drawing Routine
Tape Measure Prediction
Marshmallow, blindfold, or whip and safety pin routines
Hoop and Cup

The second to the end position is a variable spot in the set let. It could be one of three routines based on time, how much of the audience are repeat, and general vibe I’m feeling. That variable is great when there are people who just saw the show, you can have a slightly different show for them!

-Louie

Coolest and Smartest Merch Display!

One day at the Ohio State Fair last week I performed with a bluegrass group and their fiddle player had the best merch display! When closed it’s like a small ATA case, then it quickly and easily pops open and it ready go to.

Here it is open:

The record slides into the case and that flips down and locks in at the merch in the lid. Everything in the base lays flat and he’s set up and packed up in about 90 seconds and it looks great!

Here’s some other views of it:

Did you notice the two arms on the back that slide out to the sides to display more stuff if needed?

It’s a really cool set up!

-Louie

Dealing With Echo

Right now I’m mid-run of performing twelve days at a state fair. The stage that I’m on is MASSIVE and I’m working my butt off to not get visually lost on the stage. When I arrived I immediately knew that I would have to cut the middle out of my object in ball in yarn routine as no one would be able to see the mismade bill. That’s not a big deal, but it’s very helpful to be aware of things like that.

The other thing I learned after my first show is that because the venue is very large, my voice echos and it’s hard to understand me unless I talk very slowly. I feel like I’m talking 50% slower than normal. Being aware of the echo by watching the act after me, it made me aware of the necessary adjustments.

This is why it’s important if you’re working with other acts, to watch at least part of their show to notice things like echo, or any sightline issues that you can correct that will make your show play better!

-Louie

Bag of Stuff I Can’t Do

I came up with a fun way to add in tricks that I’m playing with to my roving set at fairs. I have a ziploc bag full of stuff and I call it the “bag of stuff I can’t do“. I let someone pick something out of the bag and I do that magic trick. It’s a fun way to introduce props that don’t exactly fit my style.

Here’s a highlight video from the fair I performed at last week and you can see some of this stuff.

In that video you can see the first phase of the O-Korto Coin Box routine and Circulation or Round-the-square Cards by Pavel. This is a fun way to keep performing fun and fresh for me.

-Louie

Low to the Ground

During one of my street style sets at the fair yesterday I had a group of younger kids show up and I knocked my table down so that they could see the table top.

I was surprised that this instantly built a larger crowd. I’m not sure why more people wanted to watch. It does make the table top more visible to the front edge of the crowd and maybe it makes people huddle in and look like they’re watching something interesting. I’m not sure why it worked, and maybe that was a one off sorta thing, but I’m going to try it again today and see what happens.

-Louie

Magic Jam!

The Magic Jam that I put together in Seattle on Tuesday was a blast! We had a good turn out of people I knew and magicians I didn’t know!

For me one of the takeaways is that it reminded me that there are soo many different styles of magic out there and there’s not really one right or wrong way to do it! Peoples styles are heavily influenced by where they perform, whether that’s just for their family and friends, busking, corporate shows or whatever. The venue dictates a lot of the material you do.

Thanks to everyone that came out to hang out!

-Louie

Balls in Hat Routine!

The last couple of weeks I started working on a Balls In Hat routine that I learned from Jimmy Talksalot. It starts with two in the hand and one in the pocket and ends with a nine balls coming out of your hat! It’s a really solid routine!

You can see parts of it in this reel from the fair I was performing at:

@louiefoxx Magic at the @sanmateocountyfair! #magic #sanmateocountyfair #sanmateo #closeupmagic #magician #bayarea #countyfair #louiefoxx #magictricks #cardtrick ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

There’s a ton of great info and routines on Jimmy’s Substack. There’s free info as well as stuff for subscribers. It’s $8 a month to subscribe and totally worth it to read and watch all the content he has up there. The magic and essays are focused on street magic, but there’s a lot to be learned there if you don’t do street magic.

-Louie