Today is the beginning of the last week of this school assembly tour. It’s crazy how doing 2-3 shows a day for 3 weeks (so far) will tighten up a show. That is if you actively try to make the show better, and not just go out and do it.
These shows are supposed to be 40 minutes long. For the first week or so, I was constantly cutting out bits or routines, and the show seemed to consistently run long. That was because what I was cutting wasn’t working; however, at the same time, I was making what was working better!
To me, the real value of taking a tour like this is taking a show from OK to great in a short amount of time! It is a lot of work to do this; you have to objectively look at the show, and every day, try to find something to improve or cut.
-Louie
PS: You can learn about my system for working on my show by clicking here:
https://www.magicshow.tips/how-to-work-on-your-show-the-6-rs/
Tag: school assembly show
I Let My Guard Down
Normally, I keep a good eye on my props when I’m packing up. However, at yesterday’s morning assembly, a class asked to take a picture with me, and of course, I said yes. While we were doing that, I noticed a teacher had lined up their class to leave the gym right next to my table. It was a really strange place to line up the kids, as my table is in the middle of the gym floor.
While I was getting my picture taken with the class that asked, I could see hands reaching for things. I quickly ran over and moved the kids away. A quick look, and I didn’t notice anything missing or broken. Then, while I was setting up my next show, I noticed one of the “knots” for my BEKOS (smiley face version) was missing!
I’m in the middle of nowhere and in a different hotel almost every day, I really can’t have another one shipped to me. I plan on making a makeshift knot, probably two so that they match, but that’s a project for tonight.
What I did for the next two shows yesterday was do the trick with the first knot, visually sliding off. Then the second knot, I tied a false knot in the silk, and mimed sliding it off. That didn’t play well. For the third (last) show of the day, I tied a false knot and blew on it to make it disappear, and that played much better. That’s the plan on how I’ll do it today.
This is an instance where having a deep background in all sorts of magic really helps! I didn’t need to learn anything. I noticed the knot was missing right before the show, and immediately had a backup plan that I could use 40 minutes later!
I call all of that stuff in my brain that I don’t actively use in my show, but I can do my “magic toolbox of techniques”. When I need to fix something on the spot, it’s much easier than having to figure out something brand new and put it onstage with no practice time.
-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!
Creating With Rules
I’m out on the road for all of April doing a new school assembly show. This show is called Amazing Americans and is about Americans who have done cool things.
When I create, I like to have rules. Without rules, I find it hard to create. When you can do anything, I can’t create anything. Starting with basic rules helps, like since it’s a school assembly, that means:
1: Geared toward kids ages 5-12
2: Be presented in a gym
3: Big enough for 200-500 kids to see
These are really logistical things, but things that will limit what can be done. I can’t do a card trick where the cards lie flat on the table, or even card tricks with standard-size cards, if the card needs to be correctly identified from the back of the room.
Next, I’ll look at the show’s theme: Amazing Americans
Here are my rules for that:
1: No flags: I want to highlight the people, not the country.
2: Must have female and minority representation: I don’t point out these, but they are represented.
Finally, some other rules:
1: No brands: That means I can’t do a trick about Coke.
2: No counting that involves the numbers 6 and 7: This really limits a lot of things, like cards across.
3: No action happens on the table top, everything is handheld
4: Show follows the format of alternating routines that are me solo onstage, followed by a volunteer, solo, volunteer…
With those rules in place, it’s much easier to select material (subject and trick). I instantly know whether a trick will fit into the show. Sure, I can break the rules; it’s a very conscious decision to do that if I do.
-Louie
They Eyes Have it!
A few years ago I had a giant production fish in my show. Shortly after I got the fish, I was recording an episode of the Odd and Offbeat Podcast which I cohost with Matt Baker. We did a story about a fish market that put googly eyes on their fish to make them look fresher (you can listen to it here) and that gave me the idea to put googly eyes on the production fish. It made it look a thousand times better.
Right now I’m working on my show for a school assembly tour and I have a smaller production fish in the show. Here’s what the fish looks like when you order it from the magic shop:
And here’s what the fish looks like after adding the googly eyes:
The eye adds a lot to making the fish look real. It also adds a bit of dimension to the fish. Sometimes its small things that make a huge difference!
-Louie
Vanishing Alarm Clock
A little while ago I agreed to do a school assembly tour next year. I’ll be doing 2-4 shows a day for about 8 weeks. For me doing these tours is about generating new material. Doing 15-20 shows a week, you really can take something and polish it, or know it’s not for you.
I was trying to think of a something to tie a bunch of unrelated ideas together. It hit me the other day, use idioms as the thing that links everything. An idiom is a saying, like “a broken clock is right twice a day” or “keep me in the loop“.
Those are two examples of things I’m working on right now for the show.
A while ago I ended up with a lot of vintage magic props. One of them is the stand for an old vanishing alarm clock. I went out and ordered an alarm clock with bells that ring and rigged it to work with a remote control. The idea is that alarm clock will come out of a box. It will be covered up with a handkerchief and hang on the stand. It will ring, then vanish. Then there will be ringing from the box it originally came out of and it will be back inside the box!
I’m excited to be able to have a use for a prop like this in my show, as this style of prop doesn’t normally have a spot in what I do.
-Louie