Tag: props

Making Progress…

The trick that I’m working on is an object to impossible location. That spot is inside a ball of yarn. I had the idea for the trick a few days ago, and it’s making progress. The trick isn’t 100% new to me, it’s parts of tricks that I’ve tried to get to work for years, … Continue reading “Making Progress…”

The trick that I’m working on is an object to impossible location. That spot is inside a ball of yarn. I had the idea for the trick a few days ago, and it’s making progress. The trick isn’t 100% new to me, it’s parts of tricks that I’ve tried to get to work for years, and it just never did. Finally the routine is coming together.


For the ball of yarn, one thing I never liked is the awkward handling of cup. Someone has to hold the cup, and it’s much strong if that person isn’t me. That means I need to get another person onto the stage to hold it. That’s just not efficient. The other day I had an idea for a cup holder that’d attach to a mic stand (read the blog post about it here).


The cup holder was 3D printed and ready to go yesterday, here it is:

Magic trick, ball of yarn

I used it in three shows yesterday and it worked great! It’s going to need a redesign as the part that holds the foot of the wine glass can be about half as tall as it currently it. A lower profile on the cup hold will make it look a lot less clunky.


It’s still a new routine, but it’s coming along nicely. I’m really glad I took my 3D printer on the road with me this week. There are a few other props I made for the show in my hotel. The next thing I need to make, but won’t have time to do before I head back home is a stand to hold the props for the dollar / drawing routine in my case.

Show Flow…

Frequently on internet magic groups people talk about set lists.  I’m always amazed at how many people just make up the show order as they go.  They justify this as selecting their show to what the audience will like in the moment.  In theory this is a good idea, but your show will lack tightness, … Continue reading “Show Flow…”

Frequently on internet magic groups people talk about set lists.  I’m always amazed at how many people just make up the show order as they go.  They justify this as selecting their show to what the audience will like in the moment.  In theory this is a good idea, but your show will lack tightness, and if you read this blog, you my remember me writing about tightness as one of the things that makes a show professional. 

Having a set list and following it allows you to work on your show as a show, your segues get better, your prop management is better.  You will have less wasted motion, than if you are randomly grabbing a prop.  This gives the audience a sense that you know what you’re doing. 

I really feel like my show started to grow as a show, not as a collection of acts when I started doing it according to a set list.  This doesn’t mean you can’t vary the list occasionally, but you strive for a consistent, preplanned show order.  This has helped me enormously as my career has grown and from when I’ve started working in venues that want me to submit a set list for the theater crew. 


Put your show down on paper and learn it like a show!