magic trick – Page 10 – MagicShow.Tips

Make It Last!

In the current version of my show I use a things that are printed on paper for gags in the show. The problem with paper is that it doesn’t travel well. You can keep in in an envelope, or folder, but it will show wear and tear very quickly. In no time it will start … Continue reading “Make It Last!”

Tyvek paper is paper that doesn’t tear, and is bit thicker than standard printer paper. I think Tyvek is a plastic, so it also holds up to moisture. If you use anything in your show that’s normally on paper, look into using Tyvek!

Good vs Not Good

I love meeting magicians. When I travel, I make it a point to visit the local magic club, or try to meet up with magicians. Yesterday there was a magician that I hadn’t met yet at conference I was at. He clearly crashed the conference as he didn’t have a badge. I don’t judge too harsh, as I’ve crashed conventions before.

I met him during a slow time for me and asked him to show me a trick. He then proceeded to explain how he normally does the trick as he was doing the trick. “I normally have the person take a card…” Someone who knows what they are doing will just do the trick as they normally do it.

The other thing that surprised me was how sloppy his sleight of hand was. He was trying something fairly technical, but flashed every part of it. I wonder if no one had ever told him he flashed a lot, and big time. This was someone trying to get some professional work and the level he was performing at was at a fairly poor level and nowhere near what it should have been.

It was probably good for him to see the level of the performers in the industry he was trying to get into, however I don’t think he was aware that he had a long way to go. The biggest tip to growing as a performer is to be realistic about your ability.

Give it Context….

A friend of mine created a really interested trick where you bite the head off of a cinnamon bear and restore it. It’s a good trick, but one that really doesn’t have a place in a show…unless you can figure out how to give a cinnamon bear context in your show. I found a way … Continue reading “Give it Context….”

A friend of mine created a really interested trick where you bite the head off of a cinnamon bear and restore it. It’s a good trick, but one that really doesn’t have a place in a show…unless you can figure out how to give a cinnamon bear context in your show.

I found a way to use the trick in a social media video and with a little bit of context, so it’s not just a “here’s a magic trick” sort of video.

For me that’s the challenge is to get away from doing tricks as demos and framing them a little bit. With social media, you don’t have much time to frame them, but putting a little bit on it helps.

Tech or Trick?

I really hate it when people post links to products on magic groups and say things like, “this has to have magic applications“, but then don’t give any of their ideas. They are lazy, and want people to post their ideas. It’s an uncreative person’s way of feeling creative. Right now there are several hologram … Continue reading “Tech or Trick?”

I really hate it when people post links to products on magic groups and say things like, “this has to have magic applications“, but then don’t give any of their ideas. They are lazy, and want people to post their ideas. It’s an uncreative person’s way of feeling creative.

Right now there are several hologram things being posted. These involve a stick with lights in it that spin around and make images. Essentially this is Pixel Poi, which jugglers use. Here’s the thing, the tech is cooler than the trick. I’ve never seen a Pixel Poi routine where the manipulation was what people left talking about, it’s the images. Same with these holograms.

Sure there’s gotta be a way to make the tech cooler than the trick, but I’m not sure it’s worth it. That and the way tech comes and goes, the current holograms aren’t something that’s going to last very long and will feel dated very quickly!

Playing Bigger…

Making the tricks that I currently do play bigger is something I’m always working on. There are a lot of ways to do this, however one challenge has always been card tricks. I don’t do a lot of them in the show, but those that I do are generally limited to poker sized cards.

One trick that I do uses cards in a holder on a pole. This is one of the rare instances where I can use jumbo cards, but haven’t. Last night I 3D printed out a new holder for the trick that will take jumbo cards.

My concern is that the pole won’t be able to hold the larger cards. When the cards on the end, the weight will make the pole bend. I do have a shorter pole than I normally use, and that would help with the bending a little bit.

Larger cards will help solve the problem of cards being visible from a distance.

Three Step Process…

In the last 10 days I’ve been at two booking conferences and I’ve seen a ton of acts! Some I’ve seen more than once, but for the most part I got to see a huge variety of what’s out there. One thing I’ve noticed with newer performers is that they don’t know how to sell a trick or stunt.

It’s a simple three step process. First you tell them what you are going to do. Next you do what you just told them you were going to do. Finally you tell them what you just did.

I know one of the classic rules of magic is that you aren’t supposed to tell people what you are going to do before you do it, so that they can’t “catch you”. This is totally BS, it’s good advice is the trick is bad, but not for doing the trick.

A great example is when David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear.

When he did this, we all knew what was going to happen. That allowed the trick to have much greater impact than if he just raised the curtain without context and dropped it and the statue was gone.

Just remember the three step formula and you’re good to go!

Gozinsta-Shot!

I’m finally back home and I have some video of me doing the trick with the Gozinta Boxes that I had been playing with. The effect is a production of two cups and then liquid to fill the two cups. The beauty of the Gozinta Boxes is the misdirection, you can load anything into them. … Continue reading “Gozinsta-Shot!”

I’m finally back home and I have some video of me doing the trick with the Gozinta Boxes that I had been playing with. The effect is a production of two cups and then liquid to fill the two cups.

The beauty of the Gozinta Boxes is the misdirection, you can load anything into them. The first load, is easy as there’s not heat on it. The second one is still pretty easy to do and the misdirection is still very strong as people are reacting to the production.

Results of the Tax…

This one new thing a day for the show is a lot of work. Yesterday’s bit where after I give the kid a dollar bill and then give them a tax form to fill out played great and is a keeper. It also makes the trick more magically sound. It gives me a reason to reach into my case, where before I was just fiddling in my case.

Today’s bit is a joke. I have a kid draw a picture of me. A joke from the other day was that I show a picture of the last one that was drawn, and it’s a stick figure wearing a dress. That gets a laugh. Today’s addition to that bit is a verbal joke. I’m going to say, “this is like in that movie titanic. Jack, I want you to draw me like one of your french girls”. I’m thinking that will get a laugh.

All in all the routine is making progress, and I’m happy with how it’s grown in 6 days. It’s amazing when you put in the work how much a show can grow, and how quickly it can happen. It just takes a little bit of focus…and a lot shows!

Probably more ideas pop for magic tricks into my head while driving than anywhere else. One thing that fascinates me is magic that uses liquid. The main reason is that liquid has a set of rules it has to play by, and the audience understands that. Those rules also make it a challenge, which is why there aren’t a ton of tricks put out that use liquid.

The idea that popped into my head was to have a small set of Gozinta Boxes. These are a nested set of boxes where the outer box will fit inside the inner box. The trick is that boxes are opened and there’s a shot glass inside. You reassemble the boxes in the opposite order (inner box on the outside), then open the boxes again and there’s another shot glass. Both shot glasses fill up the interior of the boxes. You reassemble the boxes with the original outer box on the outside and for the finale, you open the boxes and it’s filled with whiskey, that you pour into the two shot glasses filling them!

As far as method goes, there’s a natural off beat after the second shot glass production that would be perfect for adding the liquid. I was thinking about several ways to seal a load to add into the box, however I think the best and most reliable way would be to simply switch one of the boxes. In theory all of the attention will be on the second shot glass, the production of the liquid is the topper to the trick.

I just ordered a few of the small Gozinta Boxes and will try it out soon!

Easy Way To Be Creative…

One of the hardest things to do is to sit down and try to come up with ideas. Your options are too broad, you need to narrow it down and give yourself some rules. Some examples would be doing trick with a dollar bill, or an animation that doesn’t use invisible thread.

When I travel I make videos of magic tricks using things that I find in my hotel room. Limiting the main prop of the trick to things in the room narrows your focus.

Another way to narrow your focus is to find one of the calendars online that lists all of the national days. For example today is National Coffee Day. You then create a magic trick for whatever today is.

Here’s an example of three tricks that use a coffee cup that I did for the tricks in a hotel video series: