A while ago I created an ice cream cup that holds a throw coil packet. It’s really nothing crazy, just a cup with a little hole and tab to hold a streamer securely. It turns out it was something that a lot of people needed and many magicians are using it!
Here’s a video that was sent to me by Rich Stein:
I’m always honored when any magician uses props I’ve created in their shows!!
-Louie
PS: you can get the ice cream cup here: https://www.magicshow.tips/ice-cream-cup/
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!
Today marks the start of the second half of this school assembly tour. The show has gotten much tighter than the first show, and I’ve removed a lot of material from it. One chunk that was three tricks has been eliminated, as well as some lines/jokes/bits that weren’t playing. More importantly, I found the strengths of the show and accentuated those.
The show’s strength is that while the tricks are good, the strength of the show is how I interact with the kids. I let them shine in the show, and the meat of the show, which is my Monopoly Routine, feels more like a hypnosis show with the kids doing sort of act outs than it does an historically themed magic show…but it is still a historically themed magic show!
It is interesting that one of the tricks that was going to be filler in case the show ran too short became the closer. This trick is Jeff McBride’s BEKOS (smiley face version) and it’s really the only routine in the show that I didn’t create. The other one would be the Flying Spoons by Jemin, which is used as part of a larger routine.
That’s the cool thing about a tour like this, where I’m doing 2-3 shows a day, the show gets good fast!
-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!
In the school assembly, I have a joke, well, more of a line that I say to a kid. Normally, I do this with a 5th or 6th grade kid; however, yesterday, it was with a kid who was probably in 2nd grade. When I told the joke, I noticed a teacher “pull back”.
What I mean by Pull Back is that they kinda physically recoiled when I said the line. I’ve never had this happen with an older kid; however, the situation was that the group I was given was kindergarten to third grade. The reaction was 100% my fault for not thinking about how the line would play and just letting it pop out of my mouth.
I’ve cut the line out of the show, simply because I don’t want to have it come out again with a younger group. I don’t want the muscle memory of the show to override my brain.
Honestly, I’m making a bigger deal out of it than it is. Being aware of stuff like this and thinking about it hopefully makes me a more overall empathetic performer.
-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!
The other night I cut up some video to make a highlight reel of what the show I’m doing looks like. Here’s a peek at the show:
You’ll notice that on my prop box I have a TV screen. I use this when they don’t have a TV/projector that I can use. Nothing shown on it is 100% necessary for the show, but it does enhance it. It’s really there for me to get more comfortable using the production software and the ankle switch remote control.
I’m having a blast doing this show!!!
-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!
It was bound to happen on this tour, yesterday I got my first K-12 school. These are really challenging because you essentially have two audiences, and the way they seat them, you really have two different sections you’re playing to. If they were mixed up, the energy from one group can carry over to the other, but now when the kindergarten to 6th grade is on the left and the 7th to 12th grade is on the right.
This is a situation where my thinking that no matter what, the trick has to be good is important. If you do a trick where the routine is a lot of fun, but the actual trick is just “meh”, the routine will ultimately fall flat. If the magic effect is strong, the routine will ultimately play better.
One thing that I do when I have shows like this where they are giving me groups that are over the age that the show was written for is that I give a little talk to the older kids. What I do is that I say, “This show was written for kindergarten to 6th grade. Stick with me, there will be some stuff you’ll like.” This addresses the elephant in the room. I also include the older kids in the tricks, which gets them invested early.
Hopefully, I won’t have many more groups like this.
-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!
In the school assembly show that I’m doing, I have a few things that need batteries. The two Promystic Fux units, the media star remote, and the flic button. That’s in addition to two 5V battery packs, a wireless handheld mic with receiver, and the Bose S1Pro, but those get recharged daily. My show takes a lot of energy!
At the end of every week, I have a scheduled task to change the replaceable batteries of the Fluxes, media star remote, and flic button. It’s overkill; they should last the full month long run. However, changing the weekly only costs about $5 and gives me some peace of mind that they’ll always work.
The nice thing is that they are all redundant systems. The two Flux units back up each other and if the media star’s battery fails, I have the flic button and vice versa.
-Louie
Right now, the only trick left in the school assembly that I didn’t really create is Jeff McBride’s BEKOS (Smiley Face Version). It’s the closing trick for the show, and it hasn’t been hitting all week, and I was going to cut it.
I rewrote the routine and took it from a different direction from the previous script, and it worked really well yesterday! The routine before was stuck with the theme and a loose “goodbye,” and I rewrote it as a heartfelt message. It isn’t a BS message that’s written to get a reaction; it’s something I truly believe in.
In one of the first shows that I did, the kids were seated in bleachers, and at the end of the trick, about 25 kids spontaneously stood up and cheered! It got an unprompted standing ovation from elementary school-aged kids!
I’m a fan of BEKOS (smiley face version)!
-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!
Yesterday was the second day of doing my school assembly show. I’ve done some reworking of the show. The bit I was doing with the egg bag wasn’t really hitting how I wanted it to, so I cut it out of my last show yesterday. The show felt like it had a better flow without it.
The last show of the day also ran long, even with one less routine in it. I think this was because I had a sign language interpreter at this show. Whenever I have one, I try to slow down a lot so their job is easier.
After two days of shows, I’ve streamlined a lot of what I’m doing. Prop management and packing are something you can practice at home, but you really figure it out doing shows. You realized why a particular spot isn’t the best for a particular prop, or that if you turn a prop 90 degrees, it makes picking it up much easier.
I’ve recorded most of my shows over the last two days, but haven’t really had a chance to review any video. That’ll be something that I do this weekend, and I’ll probably make some changes based on what I see!
Yesterday was my first show of the school assembly tour. Most of the stuff I thought would play well did. One of the things, which is an egg bag, I felt fell flat. When watching back the video, it was just OK, not great, just OK. I’ve got to make the hard choice between cutting it and rewriting it.
The show ran a smidge long, and I skipped a routine today, so I’m not worried about time if I cut the routine. I do have an idea to fix it and give the ending a bit of a emphasis. I’ll try that at tomorrows shows.
That’s the great thing about tours like these, you do a lot of shows in a short amount of time. This gives you many chances to change things!
-Louie
Click here for more information about how you can learn this School Assembly Show check out the School Assembly Set!
