magic trick – Page 11 – MagicShow.Tips

Well, That Worked…

One of the great things about performing at fairs is that you have a lot chances to work on new material. A couple of days ago I mentioned an idea for quickly getting a borrowed dollar bill (you can read it here). I tried it at two of my three shows yesterday and it played a lot better than I thought it would.

Basically a kid draws a picture and it turns into a dollar bill, and I will borrow that dollar bill in the next trick of the show. Later the picture reappears in an impossible location.

Here’s what I learned yesterday. The first show I asked a kid to draw a picture and the girl drew a heart. As far as giving me material to work with, the heart didn’t give me much. The second show the kid drew a picture of me and this gave me a lot to work with! Today when doing the trick I’m going to ask the kid to draw a picture of me and I’ll make jokes about it.

With a drawing of ME it’s easier for me to make fun of the drawing without it feeling like I’m crapping on the kid, because I’ll be making fun of me. This is a huge distinction in how the audience could possibly form impressions of me.

Slow It Down…

One of the things that I’ve been trying to do lately is slow down a lot more. This is something that I’ve struggled with my whole life, however in the last few years I’ve gotten a lot better at slowing down. This is something that makes my show better and I know it, but still struggle with it.

This summer letting things marinade, or waiting for the laugh to start dying off before I keep talking is making noticable differences in my show. It make what I’m doing or saying feel much more real, and in the moment when it’s scripted stuff. Rushing to get to the next punchline makes it feel more scripted.

I’m a big fan of letting the show breathe, and it’s something that physical comedians do all of the time. They let the audience get caught up with them, instead of constantly being ahead of the audience. Once you get too far ahead of them, it’s hard for them to catch up.

Working It…

This week I’m at another fair and doing three stage shows a day. This is a good chance to work on new stuff. I’m going to be putting some more time into my silk and coat hanger routine this week. I’ve been working on the technical end of the trick, now it’s time to work … Continue reading “Working It…”

Since that video was recorded, it’s changed a little bit. I’ve added a phase to the routine, and a couple of jokes. My goal is for this to end up being about 3 minutes.

I’ve got a choice, do I do jokes in between every magic phase, or front load it with jokes and then have the back half be magic. I think it needs jokes between each phase. I’ll play with it both ways this week…

Finding the Right Gaff…

In my hotel room last night I made a ton of color changing card gaffs. I made them with latex and with elastic. I made them flip vertically and horizontally. Here’s what I learned, I prefer using the ones with the seam the goes across the length of the card. I also prefer them to … Continue reading “Finding the Right Gaff…”

How to make gimmicked cards for magic tricks

I think trying a lot of different ways to make the gimmick will let you know for sure which is right for you. Sometimes what’s available to buy isn’t quite right for what you are doing. For example my hands prefer the gimmick to be latex and with the flap’s seam going across the short sideof the card. However how the gimmick is used an elastic thread gimmick with the seam running the long way visually looks better.

It’s important to know why you use a gimmick over another one or variation of it. If I stuck to what feels good in my hand, what actually looks better to the audience would be lost. In theory, it’s all for the audience!

Gypsy Thread…

I posted a while ago about the Gypsy Thread trick and trying to figure out how to make it work in my library shows. The problem I was having was kids had two ridiculous explanations of how the trick worked. Either magnets or trick string that just goes back together. I heard both enough that it’s something I need to address.

Here’s my solution, I bring a kid on stage to help with the trick. This is good and makes the trick play bigger. The kid tries to put half of the pieces of string together and they can’t on the first try. This effectively cancels out the theory of magnets or trick string. Then the kid ends up holding all of the string and it restores while they hold it. After making this little change, it’s playing a lot better.

However there is a change I want to make to the trick. I just need to find time to work out the handling. I want the kid to hold all of the strings at the first failed restoration attempt. There are two ways to accomplish this. The first way is that I could add in the length of string with the ball of string on it after they’ve handled the string the first time. This wouldn’t be hard to do. The second method would be much bolder and have them hold all of the strings including the one with the ball of string. I’d just shove it into their fist and have them hold it.

Either way I think would make the trick stronger from someone trying to back track it. I know it’s a trick I’m doing in a kid show, but what makes art is going a step further.

P.S. I think Nick Lewin sells the best thread for the Gypsy Thread trick…at least for how I do the trick.

Selling a Trick Onstage…

One of the tricks that I’m working on is the Silk and Coat Hanger. This is basically a silk and ring routine, if you dig around this blog you can find more about it. Basically the silk goes through the coat hanger in different ways. It’s a fun trick for me to do as a perform, and so far the audience seems to enjoy it as well.

Here’s the problem with it, I’m having trouble selling it on stage. Most people who do it, do it to music, not talking. I think I need some jokes upfront and then do the trick to music. Music is nice because it fills the gap while I wait for the audience’s brains to catch up with the effect. As a talking act, you stand there for what feels like an eternity while the audience processes the trick.

I really like the trick, and it’s semi unique to me. I’m going to keep plugging away with it and hopefully I’ll figure out how to make it work better on stage!

Instagram Magic

A year or so ago I was chatting with Jonathan Friedman and he said something like, “Instragram is now a perfectly valid performing venue…”. He’s 100% correct. Social media magic has really launched the career, or kept them going for many magicians.

Shin Lim is a good example of this. His fanbase is HUGE outside of magicians. He’s using magic trick to keep people who follow him engaged and promote upcoming shows. A lot of the stuff he’s doing is social media only content. It’s stuff that he’s really not going to do in a show, it’s just to reach or connect with fans.

On a smaller scale than Shin Lim, I do this. The main reason is to give me an outlet for ideas. Things that I know I’ll never really do in a show. Here’s a good example:

Having a reason to work out little ideas and a place to share them is great. I’ve had a couple of ideas I’ve posted videos of get big responses, and I’ve figured out ways to work them into the show.

The moral of the story is to not be upset with social media magic tricks, they have place and a purpose. You need to grow with the times and stop being a dinosaur!

Never Restore It!

One of the “impromptu” tricks that I do is the mismade bill. It’s an amazing trick, and I’ve got a great routine for it. The flow of the trick is that I borrow a dollar, rip it up and it ends up mismade. I leave the dollar bill with them and don’t restore it. When … Continue reading “Never Restore It!”

Mismade dollar bill magic trick — image from www.mismadebill.com

When I do the trick I normally don’t turn it back, I offer to buy the dollar bill back. It’s a much stronger trick to leave it messed up and give them the option to keep the bill. If they want a dollar back, I simply give them a fresh dollar out of my wallet.

Here’s why I never turn it back. People at that point try to bust you. They’ll remember the condition of the bill, or serial number and call you out on the switch. You are in a much better position buying back the bill with a separate dollar or ideally letting them keep it.

Audience Test…

When I have a new trick, I typically do my audience testing before shows. I do it as “preshow” warm up for people that get there super early. I’m also very clear that they are tricks I’m working on, and not part of the show. Yesterday I performed at a school assembly and had a … Continue reading “Audience Test…”

I was worried about people not understanding the trick when the silk went through the body of the hanger and ended up on the hook. My solution to this was to simply tell them why what they were about to see made it impossible.

The test run of the silk thru coat hanger seemed to go over well, and I think I’ll be working it in more this summer and hopefully have a solid routine in a few months!

More Silk and Coat Hanger

The main reason I’m playing with the silk and coat hanger trick is that I had an idea for a move. I think this is an interesting move, but it’s also fairly subtle. Here’s just a quick video of me running some moves with the props: The first move where the silk goes from the … Continue reading “More Silk and Coat Hanger”

The first move where the silk goes from the body of the hanger to the hook is what interests me. However I think selling the idea of the penetration to an audience may be hard. The concept of going from a locked place to a place that’s not locked in will muddy the effect. I’m worried audience will thing the trick is that the silk go onto the open hook, and not that it got off of the closed body of the hanger.

It’s more about where it started, not where it ends for the first phase. That’s a very subtle difference in effect, but I think that will make a world of difference to the audience.