magic trick – MagicShow.Tips

The Nest of Envelopes Trick

For the Nest of Envelopes, I need to figure out what is going to end up inside the envelopes. I’m thinking that a choice will be made as each envelope is opened. And those choices will narrow it down to a single thing. Then that single thing or representation (i.e., picture of it) will be in the innermost envelope.

While I hate for this to end up being a card trick, it looks like it will be. A deck of cards lends itself to being a group of items that can be grouped in a lot of different ways that are easily remembered. You can give people choices like: color, suit, letter or number, odd or even, male or female, exact value (i.e., four). A performer friend and I sat down and tried to brainstorm different things that could be grouped in different ways, hopefully four or five groups. We didn’t come up with anything that was good or easy for a person to understand.

If the trick is going to end up being a playing card prediction, then the obvious choice is an invisible deck. I travel with Rough Stick, so I quickly made an invisible deck:

I don’t know if this will be the final method, but it’s nice because it’s self-contained. The deck can go into the smallest envelope, and I don’t need to add or alter anything. Just open the envelopes, and when we get to the invisible deck, spread it to reveal the selection.

-Louie

Magic Show Running Gag

The School Assembly Tour that I did in April had a running gag in it. It was a bit with Jeff McBride’s BEKOS (smiley face version), and you can see me do it in my School Assembly Set. I really liked how it played, and I’m thinking of adding a running gag to my show.

In the past, I’ve done a thing with the Nest of Boxes, I wrote an article about it over a decade ago called Call Back: My Take on the Nest of Boxes. Basically, I was using the nest of boxes as a running gag throughout the show. I really would like to use them again; however, the reality of how my show travels prohibits me from using a traditional nest of boxes.

The Nest of Envelopes!

The idea is a Nest of Envelopes. The idea is that something is inside a nesting set of 4 or 5 envelopes. The thing inside doesn’t have to be an object that has vanished; it could be a prediction or even some sort of punchline. This opens up a lot more possibilities.

The nice thing about envelopes over a set of boxes is that they pack flat and are much lighter! Also, something that, in an emergency, could be sourced in any city with an office supply store.

-Louie

Magic Show Consumables

Last week, my magic show did 12 shows at a fair in California. When I was packing to go there, I took a picture of all the consumable stuff in my magic show. This is stuff that isn’t reusable and I have to replace each show or every few shows:

Here’s what’s in that picture:

Pad of paper
Dollar bills
decks of cards
Gift bags
wet naps
confetti
garbage bags
paper plates
throw coils
produce bags
evidence bags

It feels like a lot of stuff, and it kinda is when you’re seeing 12 shows worth of stuff, plus a couple of back ups. For a single show, it’s not a lot. The nice thing about having stuff that gets used up in the show is that my case going home is a little bit lighter!

-Louie
PS: I have written tons of posts about traveling with a magic show on this blog!

Tape Measure Magic Trick

A couple nights ago I was hanging out at the First Tuesday Magic Jam at the All American Magic Shop in Portland, OR. One of the magicians had a a tape measure on their keychain and it got me thinking of things that could be done with a tape measure.

I do a tape measure magic trick in my stage show, and didn’t want to reinvent that. I did have an idea for a stage trick: Walking Thru a Tape Measure

The effect would be: there are two posts onstage about 3 feet apart, one has a notch to hold the tape measure, and the other has a hole in it. The tape measure is secured in the notch on one side and it’s extended to the other pole and thru the hole. You stand behind it and a cloth that’s maybe 2 feet tall covers your middle where the tape measure is. You make a sawing motion with the tape of the tape measure and then the cloth is dropped and you’re on the other side of the tape measure.

The method isn’t anything crazy. The tape is cut about 4 or 5 feet into the tape, and then tabs are cut out.

The tabs go through the tab of the other end, so they are joined together. This joint is then rolled back into the tape measure.

During the effect, then you are doing the sawing action, you’re extending the tape measure, undoing the joint, moving the tape behind you and then rejoining it. All that’s left is to let that part retract into the tape measure to hide it.

I have no idea if that will actually work, if you try it, let me know if it does!

-Louie

The Magic Guys Podcast!

Recently, I listened to an episode of The Magic Guys Podcast, and in the random episode I listened to, they talked about one of my tricks! It always blows my mind when magicians talk about my stuff…of when I meet magicians and they’ve heard of me!

In this episode, they talk about my Remote Control Chattering Teeth and brainstorm a bunch of routines to do with them. A lot of what they initially come up with is basically Terry Seabrook’s Chattering Teeth routine. But then keep brainstorming and come up with some really cool ideas!

One of the things that I think I heard Mel Brooks say in an interview, is that you need to exhaust your vocabulary of things you know to get to the new idea. It’s work, you have to push past what you know, or what’s known to get to the fresh idea! It was cool to listen to it happen in real time!

-Louie

The Show I’ve Been Dreading!

Yesterday my itinerary had me doing my show that was written for an audience that’s kindergarten to 6th grade for an group of seventh to eight grade kids. No younger kids, just the middle school kids. When I noticed this show on my schedule, I was dreading it.

I’ve done shows for middle and high school kids on this tour, but they were mixed in with elementary school aged kids. You can read about that here.

The show went great!

What I did was start by mentioning that this show was written for younger kids, but if they stuck with me, they’d like the show. The show was rocking! I mostly did the show as written; I did cut a few things that I knew wouldn’t hit for this older group.

This is a good example of why I disagree with people who say, “it’s the journey, not the trick”. The trick needs to be good, and so does the journey. Just because one is great, doesn’t mean the other can’t also be great! Sure, it takes a bit more work, but it’s worth it!

-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!

The Not Fun Part of Being on the Road

Traveling around the country doing a magic show is a ton of fun! However, it’s not all fun. Two days ago, I got a flat tire. My rental car didn’t have a spare; many new cars come with an inflator and a can of tire sealant. Which is way inferior to a spare tire! This is only good for a small leak; if you get a big blowout, you’re stuck.

Two days ago, I hit something in the road, and my tire got a small hole in it. No big deal, I was able to take care of it with the tire sealant and make it to my next gig on time. After that show, I went to a tire shop in a small town. I told them what happened and that I used tire sealant to get back on the road.

They examined the tire and told me that they had sprayed it and couldn’t find anything wrong with it. I was shocked at this! I saw where the hole in the tire was making bubbles from the tire sealant on the side of the road. It was really a strange interaction. I know you’re not supposed to drive with just the sealant plugging the hole in a tire for very long. When I got to the next city, I went to a Big O Tires, which is a national chain, not a small shop as I had been to previously. They found the hole and plugged it.

While chatting with the guys at the Big O Tires, they were amazed that the people at the other tire shop didn’t clean out the sealant before looking for the hole. I agreed! Now I’m back on the road and feel way safer about my car!

The moral of this story is that I need my car to get me to the gigs. If I had listened to the first small town tire shop, which I knew was wrong, I probably would have had another flat tire! Keep your car in working order.

-Louie

Ice Cream Cup Magic Trick

A while ago I created an ice cream cup that holds a throw coil packet. It’s really nothing crazy, just a cup with a little hole and tab to hold a streamer securely. It turns out it was something that a lot of people needed and many magicians are using it!

Here’s a video that was sent to me by Rich Stein:

I’m always honored when any magician uses props I’ve created in their shows!!

-Louie
PS: you can get the ice cream cup here: https://www.magicshow.tips/ice-cream-cup/

Cutting A Joke

In the school assembly, I have a joke, well, more of a line that I say to a kid. Normally, I do this with a 5th or 6th grade kid; however, yesterday, it was with a kid who was probably in 2nd grade. When I told the joke, I noticed a teacher “pull back”.

What I mean by Pull Back is that they kinda physically recoiled when I said the line. I’ve never had this happen with an older kid; however, the situation was that the group I was given was kindergarten to third grade. The reaction was 100% my fault for not thinking about how the line would play and just letting it pop out of my mouth.

I’ve cut the line out of the show, simply because I don’t want to have it come out again with a younger group. I don’t want the muscle memory of the show to override my brain.

Honestly, I’m making a bigger deal out of it than it is. Being aware of stuff like this and thinking about it hopefully makes me a more overall empathetic performer.

-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!

A Sample of the School Assembly Show

The other night I cut up some video to make a highlight reel of what the show I’m doing looks like. Here’s a peek at the show:

You’ll notice that on my prop box I have a TV screen. I use this when they don’t have a TV/projector that I can use. Nothing shown on it is 100% necessary for the show, but it does enhance it. It’s really there for me to get more comfortable using the production software and the ankle switch remote control.

I’m having a blast doing this show!!!

-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!