porter case – MagicShow.Tips

Travelling with a Magic Show

Yesterday was a long travel day, but I made it to the hotel in Cozumel, Mexico. Luckily, the hotel is a block from the port where I’ll board the ship this afternoon.

I’m really loving travelling with my Porter Case. That’s a carry-on-size case that becomes a dolly for carrying other things. You can read my blog post about the Porter Case HERE. In the picture below, which is below the white suitcase. The suitcase has my clothes and personal things, and my backpack has all of the electronics for the show (camera, iPad, etc.)

Another thing that really helps when traveling is speaking another language. I speak a little Spanish, but it really helped me navigate customs when entering Mexico. I’ve done several audio courses in the past without much success, but the daily DuoLingo I’ve been doing for a few years has really paid off. I’m not conversational, but I can communicate, and that’s super helpful!

-Louie

Travelling Magician

I’m writing this post from the DFW airport in Texas. Last night I left Portland at 11:59 pm and arrived here at 5:17 am. With the time change, that was only 3 hours of quality sleep on the plane. Now I’ve got a five hour layover at DFW before my next flight to Mexico for a gig.

I’m not writing to complain; I signed up for this when I took the gig. This is the non-glamorous side of being a travelling entertainer, but it’s part of the job. I’m going to spend today running on fumes, get a solid night of sleep, and then get on a cruise ship tomorrow and rock two shows that evening!

Many years ago I was at Bob Fitch‘s first retreat for performers. Bob was old then (he still is!), and someone asked him how he kept up his energy with all of us during the long days, and he said, “acting”! He’s right, you can act like you got a full night of sleep and aren’t exhausted. Sure, you do eventually need rest, but you can push through a show or two. I’m glad I get a chance to get some sleep before the “work” day.

-Louie

Test Travelling With a Show

I’m heading out to travel internationally to do some shows in a few days. The show I’m travelling with is packed differently than I normally travel. Normally I check my show and not carry it on. However, for this trip I will need to travel with some of it carried on.

My past travel experience has told me I’d have no issues flying with what’s in the carry on. To be safe, I was doing a domestic trip recently and I packed the show like the international one to see if I had any issues with TSA.

The show breezed through TSA, and there were no issues! It was nice to take a little bit of stress out of the upcoming trip!

-Louie

Porter Case and 45 Min Show

A while ago, I posted about getting and finally using a Porter Case. I ordered a second one as a backup, and when it arrived, I learned there were two sizes. My second one was a larger size, but still airplane carryon size.

At the end of October I did some senior shows for National Magic Week and to knock the dust off of my second 45 min show that I do on cruise ships. It’s been a while since I’ve done it, so the senior shows were a great chance to perform it as a full show.

I took it as a challenge to see if I could fit the full show into the larger porter case, and it fit! This was a great revelation, as now I have a full show that I can carry onto the plane, and in a way that makes traveling way easier!

Here’s the Porter Case with the show and my sound system (Bose s1 pro) on top of it.

My drop cloth, which is sitting on top of everything, will fit into the case. I didn’t put it in the case because it’s a prop used in two different shows, so when I get home, it’s going into a different case.

I’m really loving the Porter Cases, I wish they still made them.

-Louie
PS: If you want to learn more about doing shows for retirement communities, check out my book How To Perform For Seniors.

The Porter Case!

Last spring I picked up a Porter Case. This is carry on luggage that converts to a luggage dolly. I haven’t needed to use it, until my recent trip to Canada to get on a cruise ship.

Here’s the case in its three positions:

After using it to get from home to the airport, the airport to the hotel, and the hotel to the cruise ship, I’ve decided I like it! Since they haven’t made these in a long time, the challenge will be to find another one as a backup.

-Louie