Linking Pins on Stage

In my close up set I do the linking safety pins and I love the trick. I’ve even gimmicked a larger set of about 5 inch pins to do the trick with. The 5 inch pins are good for about 30 people, there’s too small for a real stage show.

I found these giant safety pins and I think they’d be great for using on stage!

giant linking pins

The challenge now is figuring out context to do them and getting more than a couple of minutes out of them. In my close up routine I use someone from the audience. Since I’m bringing someone onstage I really need to get at least 4-5 minutes out of the routine to make it worth the time it takes to get someone onstage.

In my writing this morning I had the idea of combining the linking pins with the thumb tie. The idea is the beginning phases will be my normal linking pin routine, then I’ll have my thumbs tied to “eliminate sleight of hand” and then the pins will end up going on and off my arms. That’s the idea, we’ll see how it plays when I get a chance to try it out!

-Louie

Podium Struggles

Holiday parties are a wild west of show set ups. Many times you have some who isn’t an event planner running things and it’s their first time running an event. I did an event last week where I came in and got set up on the stage.

corporate magic show

My first challenge was to get the ballroom staff to move the podium off the stage. As you can see from the picture above, I was unsuccessful. I asked if they requested the podium and was told “no, but everyone wants one“. I told them I can’t do the the with the podium in the middle of the stage. They said they could move it. I told them, “great, so you’ll have staff ready to move it when I’m introduced?” They told me that they didn’t have someone to do that, so I then explained that I can’t start until it’s moved, and the show has a firm end time, so any time hunting down staff cuts into the show and the value the client gets.
That led to the compromise of putting it on the corner of the stage.

In case you’re wondering, no one used the podium.

Why didn’t I move it?

Simple, it’s not mine. I don’t want people moving my gear, and I extend that same courtesy to equipment that’s not mine. Also there is someone on staff whose job it is to move the podium and sometimes there are union issues where I’m 100% not supposed to move it.

This is a case where I can see a potential headache for my show and speedbump for the event. Sure, moving a podium isn’t a huge deal…if there’s someone to move it. When I presented why simply finding staff to move it which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but actually is potentially a big deal.

I guess the moral of the story is explaining why after the initial NO answer can help them see the problem.

-Louie

What an Entertainment Showcase Looks Like

Yesterday I mentioned that I liked booking shows through showcases. Here’s some of the other acts that I recently showcased with:

There were a couple of jugglers, a few magicians, some animal acts and some bands. It’s rough to stand out when you’re doing these and you need to bring your A game and have your showcase set TIGHT!

When I watch these showcases, I can always tell who took it seriously and showed up to get work. Their shows are tight and they have zero wasted moments.

-Louie

Doing Media

Frequently I have to perform for news or morning shows to promote my shows at public gigs. They can be challenging. The last fair I was at they had me do two morning news shows at the same time! I didn’t know about the second one until I got on site at 6am!

One of the things that makes these challenging is that you don’t know how much material you’re doing until you’re there. I ended up doing 3 three minute bits and 4 one minute bits. While that doesn’t sound like a lot of material, it all had to be different and something that I could wrap up at any point due to time.

The thing with doing media that’s not is a studio is that you don’t know how you’re doing timewise. A bit could run long…or a producer could cut your bit short and you don’t know until you’re cut short in the middle of the routine!

When I do media, I like to do the routine for the host off camera so they know what’s going to happen. That way they know whether they need to cue me to wrap up, or if I’m already close to the end. That little bit of pre-planning makes a huge difference!

-Louie

Pop Up Banner to the Rescue!

This week I’m sharing a stage with a show that has a large structure for puppets.

This structure can’t move between shows, so I have to perform in front of it. I don’t like having other acts stuff behind me while I perform and normally I will make the other act move their stuff to the side during my show. However that’s not an option this week. Luckily I had my pop up banner with me that I use at library shows.

This was a decent solution to covering up their puppet structure. The bonus is that it also has my name onstage behind me while I’m performing.

-Louie

ReLearning a Magic Show

Last week I did a run of school assemblies that were sponsored by a library system to promote their summer reading programs. The show I was doing my my Incredible Idioms school assembly show, which I wrote for a 6 week school assembly tour in January/February of this year.

school assembly magic show

The challenge remembering the show as the last time I did the show was mid February, so about 3 months ago. What works for me to relearn a show is to listen to audio recordings of the show. This is also why it’s important to record your shows. It’s not hard to do, simply use the voice recorder on your phone.

The week before I had these shows I listened to the audio of the show while I drove in the car or on headphones as I worked around the house. For me passively listening really helps my brain bring back the “mental muscle memory” of the show. This is something that also helps for learning a new show or routine. I record myself doing the script and listen to it over and over while doing other things.

Hope you remember this tip when you need to relearn a show!

-Louie

Street Performer in New Orleans

In the French Quarter in New Orleans I ran into a street performer. He was doing standard stuff in a pretty standard way. It wasn’t bad, but for me it was just “meh”.

street performing magician

He closed with the cups and balls. If you look at the picture above, you can see the table top. The above picture was taken with the camera held above my head.

I also took a picture of with the camera at my eye level:

Magician street performing

I was in the 3rd row and couldn’t see a thing. The busker had trouble building past the second row, and that’s because you couldn’t see what he was doing.

I know I write about this a lot on this blog, but most magicians would learn a lot about what’s visible if they saw a picture of their show from the audience’s eyeline.

Have a friend take a picture of your show and check out your audience’s sight lines, it’s eye opening!

-Louie

Go To Industry Events!

I got home late last night from spending a week in New Orleans at the Sideshow Hootenanny. It was four days of watching incredible acts doing some crazy things! For me the value of these festivals is to run into old friends and make new ones within the industry. These are people I’ll work with in the future or hang out with when I’m in their town, or their in mine.

A great way to do this is with shared housing (aka Air BnB). By putting you all in the same spot, there’s coffees in the morning, or whatever and you get a chance to really bond with a group.

These people you meet understand what it’s like to be a performer and are a great support system and great people!

I highly recommend making friends with people in your industry, and not looking at your peers as “competition”, it will make you a happier person and will open a lot more doors for you!

-Louie

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Paul Draper

The Moisture Festival is proud to introduce Paul Draper to the Moisture Festival family! This will be Paul’s first year with us and we’re excited to have him!

In this episode we learn what a house magician is, the ins and outs of hosting a séance and even touch on Paul hanging out with cannibals! This is an enlightening and fun episode!

Duane Duvall

A couple of weeks ago Duane Duvall passed. Duane was a huge part of the Portland, OR magic scene. I didn’t know Duane super well, but had plenty of conversations with him over the years. His magic business card collection was amazing!

Here’s bit of Duane:

Thanks Duane for all you’ve done for Northwest magicians!
-Louie