stage magic – Page 12 – MagicShow.Tips

Using Anverdi Color Match

Yesterday I tried out the Anverdi Color Match in the show. I was super nervous trying it out and didn’t do it my first two shows, but did it in my third show. It worked as it was supposed to, there were no surprises. The thing with electronic tricks, is that you really only learn how and why they work when they fail.

One of the things I don’t like about the Anverdi set is that with the receiver, I can’t keep it in my sock. However I did learn that if it’s in my pocket, I can touch it with the roll of duct tape that’s in my left hand and get the signals very clearly through the roll of tape.

That really helps me out with my routine, in case I need to use the reset button.

I’ll keep doing using it and hopefully I’ll have a failure so I can learn a little bit about why it doesn’t work when it doesn’t work.

-louie

Giving Anverdi Color Match Another Try

About 9 or 10 months ago I tried out the Anverdi color Match that was put out by Murphy’s Magic. I had some thoughts about it, and you can read them here

This week I’m kinda in a pinch, I normally use the Promystic Color Match set, however they were doing something funky and don’t want to use them for my current gig. My set is super old and I think it’s probably time to just buy a new set.

With me not being able to use the promystic set, I can drop the trick from the show, OR I can give the Anverdi set another try. I’m at a two week gig and have plenty of time to give it more time to figure out how to make the Anverdi Color Match work for me.

The biggest challenge is where to put the pens before and during the routine I think I’m going to have to go with having the pens upside down in the cup on my easel before the trick. Then at the beginning of the trick, I’ll set them down on my table. In the time since I initially tried the Anverdi set the first time, I have more table space available to set the pens on.

Hopefully they’ll work out…

-Louie

New Banner Art!

I’ve wanted to get a circusy style banner made for my show. I finally had time to chat with the artist and I have a new banner in the works.

This is the initial sketch, so not the final product:

This is going to be printed on a roll up banner, so a little less traditional in that aspect. As a pop up banner it will be a lot more portable and have more uses than one that I have to figure out how to hang on a stage.

I’m looking forward to getting the final art done!

-Louie

Shot Glass Production

Over the years I’ve always like the idea of the shot glass production. In the past I’ve produced a full shot glass from an egg bag, shoe, and just my pocket. Producing a full shot glass has an nice “wow” factor and is a nice ending when you toast your audience.

About a month ago I had an idea for a shot glass production. I finally was able to figure out how to make the gimmick. Here’s a very rough version of it:

This is nowhere near the final routine, it’s a proof of concept to make sure the gimmick works. However I do like the flipping of the handkerchief during the lime production, I think it adds to the shot glass production.

Now I need to go out and do it hundreds of times to figure out all of the ways it can go wrong!

-Louie

Nothing is Ever Finished!

One thing is that my show and everything in it are always a work in progress. While I do have A material, I still am looking for ways to improve them.

The other day I was thinking about my Straight Suit routine which is a comedy escape. You can watch it below:

I had an idea to simplify the wiring which would eliminate about 4 feet of cords inside of the suit! While this isn’t a huge thing, it definitely is an small improvement. Usually the simpler solution the better!

I just made a new straight suit with the new wiring and am going to take it out on the road to see if it works!

-Louie

Trimming Cards

I really want to be out working on my routine for The (W)hole Thing and with the miscut cards I got from the printer, the set I ordered won’t work. To make them workable, I trimmed 1/4 inch off of the three cards that weren’t miscut and now I have a workable set.

This set works, but I’m not a fan of the card with the red rectangle being off center. However this is giving me a set to work with until the printer sends me cards that aren’t miscut.

-Louie

Making Cards Opaque

The custom set of cards I had made for The (W)hole thing were a bit too thin as well. If I’m backlit, you can see through them. I anticipated this problem and had thought of a plan.

How most playing cards are made is that they have two layers and in between those two layers there’s a layer of black glue. This glue makes it so that you can’t see through the card when it’s backlit.

I’m taking two of my custom printed cards and gluing a layer of black construction paper between them. This makes it impossible for the back image to be visible when I’m back lit AND the three layers makes the cards nice and rigid.

-Louie

Almost The (W)hole Thing…

The custom cards I had printed for my The (W)hole Thing showed up and they miscut one on the cards!

It’s not off center, the card is the wrong size. It should be 8.5 x 5.5 inches, but it’s 8.25 x 5.25. The rest of the cards are the correct size, so this one card is physically smaller than the rest and doesn’t look right.

I just contacted the printed and hopefully they can send me a replacement fast as I’m hitting the road for over a month and I would like to be using them while I’m out!

-Louie

Hiding the Flic Button

A bit ago I started using a Flic Button to control the audio for one of the shows that I do. It’s working great!

The Flic Button gives me simple play/pause, play next and play previous options. For this show that I’m using it in, that’s really all that I need it for.

I’m playing with doing a lot of other things using the Flic Button and was trying to figure out a way to hide it. I ended up building one into a Sanada Gimmick!

I took the electronics out of the plastic shell it comes in and this greatly reduced the profile of the button allowing it to comfortably fit on the back of the Sanada Gimmick.

This will help me for applications where I need the button in my hand, but don’t want it “visible”.

-Louie

The (W)hole Thing for Kids

The routine I’m working on for The (W)hole Thing by Emerson and West is intended for for family/adult audiences. The other day I threw it in my case when I went out to do some summer camp shows:

I thought the concept of the whole/hole wouldn’t hit with kids. Much to my surprise the kids liked the trick and got the idea of the verbal concept behind the routine. For the trick to work, the kids need to be able to read, so I probably wouldn’t do it for kids much younger than second grade.

Now I’m just waiting for my custom cards to arrive from the printer, so that I have a fancier set that what I made for myself.

-Louie