stage magic – Page 37 – MagicShow.Tips

Putting the Fun in Functional

I was at a gig and another act forgot their stand for their cellphone. They needed a way to prop up their phone so they could see their timer. This was the solution that I came up with for them

Sure I probably could have used a coffee cup or something like that, but this was way more fun! This actually helped the act stay in “in the moment” because it made them laugh whenever they looked at it. It made them have fun within their show.

It’s important to have fun on stage and sometimes little things will help put you in the moment.
-Louie

Getting More Out of What You Already Have

One way to build a show is to get more time out of the props you already have. There is a limit to the payoff the the trick, like a 15 minute Professor’s Nightmare routine might be a bit much (but maybe not). It’s up to you to figure out what the maximum of any routine you do is.

I have a trick rope routine that I do in the show. By trick rope, it’s a lasso demonstration, not a rope trick. The whole thing runs about 3 minutes and is fairly basic, but has some laughs and a big applause ending. I’m working on adding a few more things to it to hopefully build it out a minute.

I’m working on adding some vertical loop tricks to the routine…but first I need to work on doing butterflies which is the basic skill for vertical loops.

The challenge with something like lasso tricks is that they are a high practice, low payout skill. People think that it’s easy based pretty much on cartoons and think you can do tricks with the rope that are basically impossible due to how gravity works. That said, people still like it.

The nice thing is that most magicians aren’t going to put in the time to learn to do lasso tricks, so it gives me something semi unique right off the bat! The side bonus with lasso is that it’s easy to travel with, and has no set up. I can grab it and do it!

-Louie

Kidshow Magic Kompendium

While I’m stuck in the office for a few days while I have my COVID isolation, I decided to read a book that I haven’t read yet. The book I grabbed was David Ginn’s Kidshow Magic Kompendium and a little ambitious of a read at over 500 pages!

This book is does a great job of laying out what makes a good kid show trick! You get complete routines with most of the tricks as well. There aren’t necessarily complete descriptions to how the things work or how to build them as there are many dealer items and things that the average person couldn’t make at home. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but just something to be aware of.

If you want a solid foundation of kid show performing and props, this book is great! I’m about 200ish pages into the book and it’s a fun read. David gives you advice and stories from the past.

It looks like this book is $35 on GinnMagicShop.com and for that price it’s a steal if you’re getting into or want to learn more about kids magic!

-Louie

Christmas Themed Shows?

One thing that I don’t really do anymore are themed shows. However there’s one exception, and next week I’m doing a show with some Christmas/winter themed magic. It’s for a client that’s used me for close to two decades, so I’m willing to do things for them that I normally wouldn’t do.

This is a family show, but geared to kids as I’m the opening act for Santa. I agreed to do 30% of the show themed for them. I ordered a few things for this event that I’ll be doing two back to back shows at. All of the tricks are similar to things that I’ve done in the past, so I’m familiar with them.

These trick are easy to plug into my show. This show will be what I consider “commercial art”. This show isn’t what’s in my heart (well 30% isn’t), but it helps keep me funded to do my art!

-Louie

Who Books That??

In stand up comedy circles there’s an inside joke that when someone does something cool, people say, “Who books that?” Typically newer comics or comics that are plateauing are asking comics moving up how they got a cool gig. Or really what they’re asking is how they can get a gig without putting in the work to get the gig.

In reality, it’s really easy to find out who books a gig, you simply call the gig and ask!

Recently I did a casino, which was a tribal casino in the middle of nowhere:

I posted that picture of my picture on their sign on social media and had four magicians contact me asking for the bookers information. These were magicians that I know, but I’m not really close with. If they were a close friend or someone I frequently trade referrals with, it’s not a big deal. But when it’s someone that I chat with twice a decade, the request feels gross.

Don’t be the person taking the lazy way out, do the work!

-Louie

Packing The Right Size…

Here’s what loading in my 60 minute stage show looks like!

That’s actually not quite right, the doctor bag on top isn’t part of the stage show, and neither is the brown tabletop on the left side of the luggage cart. I just didn’t want to leave them in the car. So the actual props I’m moving is slightly smaller.

I’m not a believer in the “briefcase show” where you have 60 mins in a briefcase. There are a handful of people that can pull it off, however most look like every trick was selected because it’s flat and the show has no visual texture.

So my advice is to pack as small as your artistic vision allows!

-Louie

Adding Effects to Sizzle Reel

I’m playing with adding some visual effects to sizzle reels, or social media videos. Here’s two versions of a sizzle reel, one without effects and one with some visual effects.

Here’s the one without:

And here’s the one with:

The goal is to not use the visual effects simply because I can, but to hopefully use them to enhance what you’re watching. I don’t want to be like soo many of the videos in the early days of consumer level video editing where every transition was a a huge deal, with star wipes or whatever.

Let me know which you think is better!

-Louie

Justin Willman’s Show

A few days ago a few of us Seattle magicians went out to see Justin Willman‘s show at the Moore Theatre. Justin does an amazing show that’s super smart how it’s done. From his opening effect that’s a “sucker” effect, but not really done like a traditional sucker effect. It really gets everyone in the audience on his side.

Justin’s show is a great example of how you don’t need a lot of props to fill a theater. Sure he does use video projection, however it doesn’t feel like he’s using the projection to make small things play big. His use of the projector enhances what he’s already doing. There were no close up tricks that needed the projector AND he only used it few times for close ups and they felt fun when he used it.

He did have the show on the projector behind him, and his is kinda the standard thing now. Micheal Carbonaro also does it that way as well. It just makes the show play better in the back.

One of the tricks that Justin does is a “roulette” with a borrowed cellphone and a hammer. The beauty of this trick is how it connects with the audience. Our lives are in our phones. At it’s core, the trick is a Key R Rect or 7 Keys to Baldplate, but after seeing this, why would anyone do it with keys. There’s literally no attachment with keys.

That’s where Justin shines, he’s great at finding relatable hooks for everything in the show. He’s also great at creating places for real interactions with people and then finding the comedy in those places.

If he’s playing in your area, this show is a great example of how to play a theater with a parlor size act!

-Louie

Building Applause Please 2’s

Yesterday I started work on the current batch of Applause Please 2. This is the prop used for my “object in lightbulb” routines. The base and outer shell of the applause sign are made by Brian over at Magic Crafter and look amazing!

Yesterday I added the switch and lightbulb holder to the bases.

Applause please 2: the encore by Louie Foxx

I also made all of the electronic parts and added the remote controls.

Today I’ll be adding the electronics to the boxes and packing everything up. Hopefully I can get all of my preorders out in the mail tomorrow!

I only have one left if you want to order the Applause Please 2 from me, however four of these are going to Hocus-Pocus.com, so they’ll have them in a few days.

How I Like To Book Gigs

One of my preferred ways of booking gigs is through showcases. A showcase is where you do a sample of your show in front of people that book entertainment. These exist for pretty much every market that uses entertainment regularly.

What I like about this is that I get to let my show do the selling. If my show is good, I get booked. My calendar has nothing to do with how good I write ad copy or can layout a brochure.

There are downsides to booking gigs through showcases. Normally I have to travel to them, so there’s plane, car and hotel costs. Then there’s usually a fee associated with showcasing (not always) and that’s not cheap! Also the caliber of entertainment is usually fairly high, so you need to be able to deliver a good, short version of your show. Another challenge is that you could have a bad show, and it’s no fault of yours. Like the audio or lights could be bad, or someone in the audience has a heart attack right before you start or you could just be off that night.

This isn’t a good way for beginners to get work, there’s no do overs, you have to crush it every time!

-Louie