magic – Page 12 – MagicShow.Tips

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!

Keep Learning…

Right now I’m learning a fair amount of things that are pretty much new to me. By new, I mean they are things that I don’t really have a solid base skill in. Learning is fun, however there are taking some work.

The first thing I’m learning to do is a “zombie” style floating effect. I’ve played with this principle when I was in highschool, so while it’s not 100% new to me, I really don’t have much experience in it. I’m learning a lot, and Tommy Wonder writing on it and Al Schneider’s books are a lot of help. This is a trick I’ve always wanted to do, and I recently came up with my angle on the trick which makes it semi unique to me.

The next thing I’m working on is a fancy cut (cardistry). I was around when the whole cardistry thing started to boom, but only learned one cut. I’ve wanted to learn some cool cuts for a while, but never really knew where to start. Now that I’ve watched a tutorial, I think it’s fairly easy to be taught. For the most part they have a few base moves that your cut is built off of. If you know the base for your cut already, it’s easy to learn. I need to practice my base!

The final thing I’m working on is learning to rip a deck of cards in half. This being purely a strength thing, is something that will probably take me a year or more to be able to do. I was hanging out with a buddy that’s a “strongman” and he gave me some pointers. Right now I’m able to rip 17 cards and every sunday I add a card to what I’m trying to rip! I anticipate there will be some weeks where I’ll add a card and will stall out for a week or two, so the goal is to be able to rip a deck in 2020.

What are you learning?

Learning new things, whether the go into the show or not will keep you from becoming a dinosaur!

Sit or Stand?

Last night I went to my local magic club and during the part where people perform tricks I noticed that some people sat and other people stood. This is a small thing, but an important thing when it comes to actually doing the trick.

If you are sitting when you do the trick, but practice standing, you’ll have a hard time as the range of movements in your arms is limited by the table top. If you practice sitting and perform standing, you upper body will now slouch.

Going from sitting to standing I think it an easier transition to do. However I recommend practicing to perform standing. Here’s why, you are more visible standing, and it’s more versatile. When you aren’t bound by a spot to sit, you can choose where you are going to do your magic trick.

I guess the main advantage sitting gives you is lapping, where if you are going to do that then YES sit. However if you do a more formal show, you should consider a more formal approach and do it standing. A great example of this is Shin Lim’s act:

Everything that would have been done sitting 20 years he’s doing standing and it really plays a lot better.

TLDR: Perform standing, unless you have a very good reason why to do it sitting.

Learning Cardistry…

Many older magicians look down their noses at cardistry because it’s “not a trick”. It’s not really a trick, it’s a type of object manipulation, like contact juggling. Honestly there’s nothing wrong with being able to do a fancy cut or two. In the early days of cardistry I learned to do some fancy cuts, … Continue reading “Learning Cardistry…”

Many older magicians look down their noses at cardistry because it’s “not a trick”. It’s not really a trick, it’s a type of object manipulation, like contact juggling. Honestly there’s nothing wrong with being able to do a fancy cut or two. In the early days of cardistry I learned to do some fancy cuts, but haven’t learned to do any new cuts in 15+ years.

I don’t want to become a dinosaur with my skills, so I’m learning a couple of cuts. Here’s the tutorial for the cuts I’m working on:

Why do I think it’s important to know a couple of fancy cuts? Simple, when I talk to young magicians after shows, they all do them. I want to show them that I do have “modern” skill. The next generation of magicians will all know how to do these.

I think as a magician you need to keep up with the kids and don’t let your skills atrophy.

Hot New Tricks…

As I get older and more experience as a magician and performer, I’ve realized that 99% of advice given by magician to other magicians with crap. I’ve written about this before, and some advice I saw given out on an internet group recently got me thinking about it.

Someone was asking about where they could buy a trick they saw someone do on TV. Someone chimed in and said something like, “why would you want to do that, someone’s already done it...” I think this is good advice, however it comes from one of the people that preach, “stick with the classics, they are classics for a reason…“, which is horrible advice.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing the new, hot trick. That’s how classics, they have to start out as a new trick. There are many cases where someone has created a method for a trick way better than what you’ve come up with, or had the gimmick manufactured better.

At the end of the day, the person giving the advice is usually someone that in 10 years will be in the same place as a magician as they are now. Looking back at the local magicians that gave me advice when I was a younger magician, I think only a few are people whose advice I’d still consider.

TLDR: Don’t listen to bad advice.

T-Minus 3…

We’re coming into a new year and it’s a time that many people look back on their lives. It’s not just a time of looking into the past, but also making goals for the future. You can do this for your show, reflect on the old, and make plans for improvement.

Here’s how to do it. Watch a video of a recent show of yours and takes notes. What you are looking for are three bits in the show to cut from it. Look for things that no longer fit you, your performing style or society.

When I’m out seeing shows, I frequently see shows where the performer does an outdated line. They’ve probably never examined their show for outdated material, so the joke or bit is never noticed. Sometimes it will be a reference to a product, or TV show. Other times it will be a word that’s no longer socially acceptable. Maybe it’s a youthful reference that the performer told when they were a kid and they’re middle aged now. It could also be a joke or trick that for whatever reason no longer gets the reaction it used to.

Once you’ve found three bits, cut them from your show. Just stop doing them. Now you create new bits to fill any gaps that cutting the bits may have created. Pretty simple. You’ve now “freshened up” your show!

The $200 in 30 Minutes Pan Handler…

The other day I was having coffee at one of my favorite coffee shops in between shows. While I was drinking my coffee, I notice a lady sitting on a bench outside. She was chatting with everyone that walked by for a few minutes each. At the end of the conversation everyone gave her money. It took a few groups of people for me to realize she was a “pan handler“.

I wouldn’t call what she was doing “pan handling” as it was a higher level than simply putting out a cup and asking for money. The majority of people gave twenty dollars each, and I saw her get a fifty dollar bill!

So why was she making so much when the guy at the corner with the cardboard sign was making virtually nothing? Simple, she had a story and she pitched that story and didn’t ask for money until you were invested in her life. The guy at the corner with the cardboard sign doesn’t have a story and you aren’t invested in his life before he’s asking for money.

What does this have to do with being a better magician? In your show you can tell your story and get people invested in you, or you can do tricks. Both work, however one gets singles, and the other gets double sawbucks!

Ideas Become Reality…

I’ve been keeping notebooks for idea for magic since I was a teenager. Most of the ideas from the early ones are horrible, but every now and then I’ll flip through them and find something interesting. About 10 years ago I had an idea for a trick, but it was missing something that would make it functional.

I was running at the gym and notice something triggered an “ah-ha moment” that made the idea work. When I got home, I created the two parts on my 3D printer and printed them up. Here’s one of them in the CAD Program:

And here’s the other one that’s printed out:

Now that I have these two pieces, I’ve assembled the trick and am happy to report that the trick works!

The sad news is that in the 10 years since I had the idea my performing style has changed a lot and this really doesn’t fit how I perform. However it’s been in my head for so long, I’m going to keep developing it at home and try to figure out a way to make it work.

TLDR: Always keep an eye out for solutions to a problem

Your Own Versions…

Many years ago I read that Steve Fearson wanted to create his version of classic magic illusions. A quick Google Search and I managed to find the quote: “About 10 years ago I took it upon myself to reinvent 3 of magic’s greatest stage illusions, adapting them so that they could be performed in a … Continue reading “Your Own Versions…”

Many years ago I read that Steve Fearson wanted to create his version of classic magic illusions. A quick Google Search and I managed to find the quote:

“About 10 years ago I took it upon myself to reinvent 3 of magic’s greatest stage illusions, adapting them so that they could be performed in a close up situation. The three illusions were the levitation of a person, the sawing in half illusion and the vanish.”
– Steve Fearson

That’s a quote that stuck with me for some reason. I’ve worked to create my version of tricks that I like. By my version, it’s a reworking of the trick, not simply a different sequence of events. I’ve marketed several of these tricks and am working on a patent for one of them.

I’m writing up my version of the “floating dollar trick”. My main issue with the classic version of the trick, is that if the gimmick breaks, you are toast, the trick doesn’t work…and the gimmick is super fragile. My version has multiple redundant gimmicks. Here’s a demo of it:

I think me not being happy with things how they are, has led me to some interesting solutions to fixing what I don’t like about many magic tricks. In fact some days that’s my creative exercise, taking tricks I don’t like and trying to make a version of them that I do like.

The moral of this post is to customize your magic to fit you and what you need from your gimmicks!

Unusual Challenges…

If you are a professional performer, you will run it to all sorts of unanticipated challenge in your career. For 10 days this month I’m performing at the airport in Seattle. One of the unusual challenges is getting my props past security, and since I’m there to 10 days, being able to do any repairs … Continue reading “Unusual Challenges…”

If you are a professional performer, you will run it to all sorts of unanticipated challenge in your career. For 10 days this month I’m performing at the airport in Seattle.

One of the unusual challenges is getting my props past security, and since I’m there to 10 days, being able to do any repairs on the spot. The big challenge is that I can’t really bring tools or anything sharp past the security check points…and all of my props needed to be approved and cleared by security.

Once my gear goes past security, it lives there for the whole run. That means I can’t use any of the props for shows outside of the airport. That was an important consideration when pitching what material I was going to do. If my main show was stuck at the airport, I’d need a back up set of props to use. I do have a back up set of my main show (mostly), and it has come in handy many times.

Be ready and most importantly, be flexible with the challenges that come with performing in different venues!