Tag: magic trick

Four Dollar Routine…

This week I was on the road performing for a few days. Earlier in the week Barry Mitchell in his Facebook group posted a picture of some kids magic tricks that Target was selling for dollar each. At one point I was at a Target so I picked them up. Two of the tricks that … Continue reading “Four Dollar Routine…”

This week I was on the road performing for a few days. Earlier in the week Barry Mitchell in his Facebook group posted a picture of some kids magic tricks that Target was selling for dollar each. At one point I was at a Target so I picked them up.


Two of the tricks that Target sells are the Ball and Vase and the Burglar Box. The Burglar Box is a clear box that a ball penetrates the bottom of to end up inside. Unlike the Ball and Vase, the Burglar box isn’t the best first trick for a kid as it will take a fair amount of practice to do well.


My initial idea was to buy three of the Burglar Boxes and do some sort of shell game with them. I bought three of them and three Ball and Vases. Here’s the little routine I came up with:


It’s a decent little routine for $4, and a fun little exercise to try to make more out of a beginner’s trick.



Ripping Routine Part III

It’s time to write the foundation routine for the deck ripping trick. Yesterday’s post I talked about the main 4 different ways that I work on putting together a routine. Today I’m going to focus on method one from yesterday. 1. Write random jokes: “No one asks me to cut the cards anymore!” “This skill … Continue reading “Ripping Routine Part III”

It’s time to write the foundation routine for the deck ripping trick. Yesterday’s post I talked about the main 4 different ways that I work on putting together a routine. Today I’m going to focus on method one from yesterday.


1. Write random jokes:

“No one asks me to cut the cards anymore!”

“This skill come in handy almost…never.”

“The wrist strength to do this is common in every strongman and teenage boy.”

“I had to rip over a thousand decks of cards to learn to do this…that means I’m banned from just about every casino in the country.”

“If your cards match, that means you’re married in Uruguay.”

“Like two turtles, your cards match on the back.”

“If you card matches my prediction, I’ve just won the magic lottery”

“Like a half Hawaiian, half pepperoni pizza, this end perfectly!


When writing the above jokes, I didn’t really filter anything, I wrote down everything I thought of. Hopefully out of a dozen jokes you’ll get one or two that are any good. These are going to give us some things I can insert into the the script tomorrow when I write some more.




From an Idea to a Physical Trick in Under 18 Hours

Last week I was hanging out with some magicians and while we were jamming we stumbled upon an idea. What we were doing with this idea at the restaurant wasn’t very sophisticated, but we got the general idea down. The next morning I got up and made a quick 3D model of what we wanted … Continue reading “From an Idea to a Physical Trick in Under 18 Hours”

Last week I was hanging out with some magicians and while we were jamming we stumbled upon an idea. What we were doing with this idea at the restaurant wasn’t very sophisticated, but we got the general idea down.

The next morning I got up and made a quick 3D model of what we wanted the trick to look like. I printed it, and it wasn’t quite right. I banged out a Version 2 and it still needed a little bit of tweaking. Within 18 hours of having the idea, and me sleeping about half of that time, I had an ideal working model!

magic trick with keys

In their current form, they look like a Tenyo Magic product and the next step will be to have them made in metal.

Being able to produce these in a physical form tells me a lot about the idea and how it will actually work. Versus it basically dying in a notebook. Knowing how to use a 3D printer is a game changer for magicians!


Slow It Down…

Whenever I’m critiquing myself the most common note I have is to slow down. What on stage feels like 5 seconds is probably closer to two on three seconds. Time seems to drag on when you are in front of a room full of people that are staring at you. Over the summer I worked … Continue reading “Slow It Down…”

Whenever I’m critiquing myself the most common note I have is to slow down. What on stage feels like 5 seconds is probably closer to two on three seconds. Time seems to drag on when you are in front of a room full of people that are staring at you.

slow down




Over the summer I worked at a festival with another magician and each time he did a trick, he only displayed it for a second. Here’s an example, he did a Blendo type trick where multiple handkerchiefs turned into one. However once they became one he only showed it for about a second before he put it away.


The audience needs time to process what has just happened. By displaying for only a few seconds and then putting it away, they don’t get to appreciate what has just happened. You need to hold up the magic, and PAUSE, then put it way. That pause need to be long enough for someone to look at the final picture, then mentally compare it to the initial picture in their memory to understand the final result.


TLDR: Pause to show the effect

Coming Full Circle…

The first paid gig I ever did when I was a teenager was an event where I did close up magic lane to lane at a bowling alley. It was a rough gig, and even and a kid after doing it, I knew it sucked. It was a bad show because the event planner was … Continue reading “Coming Full Circle…”

The first paid gig I ever did when I was a teenager was an event where I did close up magic lane to lane at a bowling alley. It was a rough gig, and even and a kid after doing it, I knew it sucked. It was a bad show because the event planner was trying to put an activity into an an activity. No one wanted to watch the tricks, I did, they were busy bowling and I as interrupting them.


Over the years I’ve gotten requests to do gigs at bowling alleys and I’ve turned them down. However over 20 years later I finally accepted a roving magic gig at a bowling alley.


Why did I take this gig? I wanted to try it again, and see if I could conquer it. I’m happy to report that last night the show went wonderfully!


What did I do differently 20 years later?


A lot of things have changed. First of all there’s the “David Blaine Factor”, which is that his TV shows have made people aware of what close up magic is. When I was a kid, people didn’t know what close up magic was, and they thought it’d be lame tricks that your uncle Jimmy Does.


This time around I also had over twenty years of performing experience. My close up set was short tricks, nothing too long and drawn out. It gave me a chance to leave if I noticed they were more interested in bowling. Add that to being a much stronger performer than I was as a teenager.


My advice is if you’ve had a rough performing situation in the past that you swore you’d never do again…maybe try it again. I’m glad I did!

When a Magic Trick Stops Becoming a Magic Trick…

It always cracks me up when magicians complain about a magic trick becoming too mainstream. Certain magic tricks become “pitch” items for magic shops. They become pitch items for several reasons, the mains ones being that they are visual and easy to do. Most of the tricks pitched magic shops are things like Svengali Decks or Scotch … Continue reading “When a Magic Trick Stops Becoming a Magic Trick…”

It always cracks me up when magicians complain about a magic trick becoming too mainstream. Certain magic tricks become “pitch” items for magic shops. They become pitch items for several reasons, the mains ones being that they are visual and easy to do.


Most of the tricks pitched magic shops are things like Svengali Decks or Scotch and Soda, both easy tricks and fairly visual when done correctly. Then there are tricks that are just visual, but have a high profit margin, like the UFO Floating Card. This is not easy to do, but the profit margin is soo high, even if you get a few returns it’s no big deal.


Then there are tricks like D’lites, which are visual, and easy to do. They took off, and there were pitch carts in malls selling them. They’re a great trick…but not longer a great magic trick. They’ve become just another toy, here’s a version being sold for a few bucks:


Every kid has seen these, and guess what, so have parents. If you have a D’lite in your show and aren’t using it in some very unusual way, you are just showing your audience a toy. Essentially you are up there playing with a GI JOE.


This is not magic.


TLDR: Be better than every 8 year old in your audience and drop your D’lite routine.

Video Rehearsal…

Currently I’m working on something for a show and an article for a magazine for magicians. This is something that I’ll probably only do a couple of times. One of the tools that I’m using to get it show ready is video. I record the trick, takes notes while I watch the video and rehearse … Continue reading “Video Rehearsal…”

Currently I’m working on something for a show and an article for a magazine for magicians. This is something that I’ll probably only do a couple of times. One of the tools that I’m using to get it show ready is video. I record the trick, takes notes while I watch the video and rehearse some more. Then I repeat the whole thing.


One of the things that I’ve noticed in watching my video is that when I do a certain move that takes a little bit of brain power, I stop smiling and look like I’m doing something. This is just my face. If I cropped the video and you just saw my face and I asked you when I did the move, you’d be able to!


This is the value of video, you can see things that you can’t see in a mirror. When the move happens I need to visually see something, so I can’t see my face in the mirror. I wouldn’t have known my face was giving me away!


TLDR: Video is a helpful tool for rehearsal!

Ummm…

Yesterday in the car I was listening to CNN and one of the people being interviewed kept saying “ummm”.  I suspect the reason people say this is because they are thinking, and it’s a word to stall while your brain is figuring things out and sending them to your mouth. A while ago a buddy and … Continue reading “Ummm…”

Yesterday in the car I was listening to CNN and one of the people being interviewed kept saying “ummm”.  I suspect the reason people say this is because they are thinking, and it’s a word to stall while your brain is figuring things out and sending them to your mouth.


A while ago a buddy and I started doing a podcast called the Odd and Offbeat Podcast. When listening back to the episodes and editing them, I noticed how much I say, “ummm”.  It’s not just me, it’s my cohost and guests that do it. Being conscious of it really helps cut it down. I’ve now developed a couple of new stalling words. Ideally I’ll have none, however they are better than “ummm”.


There are techniques to help you stall while you think. Contestants in beauty pageants uses these all the time. A common one is restating the question, and that gives you time to think.


Using stalling words is less of a problem in a scripted routine. This is also why routines should be scripted, so you don’t have to stall to think, you know what’s coming next. If you watch an amateur show and a professional show, the main difference is the tightness. They profession know what’s coming next. It’s not just in speech, but prop management, etc.


TLDR: Learn what’s coming up next in your show.

Impromptu Tricks…

Last week I was having lunch with a couple of magician friends, and jamming magic tricks.  This is one of the best ways to create magic, it to just riff on ideas.  We came up some some interesting ideas and expanded on some existing ideas.   When I’m out somewhere I like to think of ideas … Continue reading “Impromptu Tricks…”

Last week I was having lunch with a couple of magician friends, and jamming magic tricks.  This is one of the best ways to create magic, it to just riff on ideas. 

We came up some some interesting ideas and expanded on some existing ideas.  

When I’m out somewhere I like to think of ideas for magic tricks using things around me.  This day we were at the LunchBox Lab in Seattle.  On their tables they have seven different flavors of salt.  So here’s a quick trick I did with the salt:

This trick is nothing ground breaking from a method standpoint, it’s essentially a card trick done with salt.  In this situation using their salt gave it a feeling of being unplanned, and I think that made it feel more amazing to the waitress.  

TLDR:  Think about doing magic tricks with things around you.