One of the things that always makes me nervous is when I see a review of one of my products pop up. Recently Magic Orthodoxy did a review of my Take Out Box, you can watch it below:
I’m glad he like it!
You can get on here: http://www.magicshow.tips/take-out-box/
-Louioe
One thing I love it how other magicians have their props onstage. Not what the audience sees, but the magician’s view. A couple of weeks ago when I was doing my Incredible Idiom show, this is what the inside of my prop case looks like.
All of my props are easily grabbed and put away. There’s no fumbling, I’ve cut out all the dead time of bringing props into view.
I’m still amazed at how many magic shows I see where the performer ducks out of view behind their case looking for a prop. This is usually done by magicians who don’t have a firm set list, and simply chose the next trick on the fly and their show’s flow is different every time.
Having a set list will make your show better! You can see mine on the inside of the case!
-Louie
Something that always surprises me is that part of marketing a magic trick for most magicians isn’t registering a copyright for their pics, art, trailer and ad copy. Especially for the larger magic companies, where when you search for major releases on sites like AliExpress there are soo many knock offs or pirated copies.
For me part of the process once I get the final version of the art, instructions and ad copy is to register the copyright. This cost $65, so it’s inexpensive, and you don’t need an attorney to do it. Once you get that copyright registration number, it gives you a tool to stop pirated or knock off versions from being sold.
I just got my certificate for my Take Out Box trick in the mail the other day.
You can read about how I enforce my copyrights and trademark here:
http://www.magicshow.tips/evaporation/an-intellectual-property-case-study/
If you’re thinking about releasing a magic trick, make this part of your process.
-Louie
Woo hoo! The first batch of my Take Out Box has sold out at Hocus-Pocus and I’ve got a new batch of them on the way! Thanks to everyone who has ordered one!
If you don’t know what the Take Out Box is, here’s the video:
What I really like about this prop is that it’s like a classic production box that would have been put out by Abbott’s or Davenport’s, but it looks like something that actually exists in the current world…unlike those older boxes metal boxes, or the ones that have funky Chinese characters on them. However, if you’re into the Chinese characters, you could draw one on it and it would totally make sense on this prop!
-Louie
Frequently in magic groups on Facebook someone will say they want to sell a trick and want advice. There’s a lot of bad advice (in my opinion) that is then given. One of the things is to go straight to Penguin Magic with the idea, however they usually won’t produce your idea, you’ll need to make it and send it to them. Last time I looked into it, their terms weren’t the most friendly to the creator. You were making product, sending it to them and they would pay you as sold.
A better approach would be to go to Murphy’s Magic and pitch the idea. If they like it and want some of it, they’ll be a couple of options, like you could sell them the idea, they could help you with manufacturing, or you could just sell them the finished product.
Of course by that point you should have done your homework and know how much it costs you per unit to make, and how long it takes you to make them in quantity. Also if you’re self producing, you’ll need to be able to fund making the first batch of your trick as most accounts are on NET 30, so you won’t get paid for a month.
Then you need all of your collateral, so ad copy, art, instructions, etc. Usually you’ll have some of this done before you pitch the idea, but not always. For example my Take Out Box was something that was in my show for a while, so I had tons of video of it that I could pitch it with. Once I had interest, then I went out and started getting all of the other stuff in line.
Personally I’ve made a choice to not mass market thru big magic distributers for most of my products. My reasoning is that going direct thru magic shops I’m able to make more per unit and since I hand make almost everything I sell, it makes more sense to sell a few less units, but make more per unit!
Louie
I’m getting ready to offer my Take Out Box to magicians. This is a Chinese style take out box that you can use to produce, vanish or change items. There’s a lot that goes into making thing for sale, and one of them is shipping. I made a batch in a slightly larger size but decided to go with the smaller size for the main marketed version. This was mostly due to packing/shipping concerns.
Here’s the Take Out Box in action:
I had 3d printed about a dozen gimmicks in the slightly larger size and instead of throwing them away, I’m offering them at a discount.
With the Take Out Box you’ll get a fully assembled box with 3d printed gimmick installed, a template to use when moving the gimmick to a new box, video instructions and two ungimmicked take out boxes.
These will be available through Hocus-Pocus.com and and here on my daily magic blog at www.magicshow.tips in a few weeks and will be $40.
Save $10 and get FREE USA SHIPPING!
I was playing around with making them in a slightly larger size, but decided to keep the size that I use. This choice was based on packaging them for retail sale. I made about a dozen of the larger size and if you want one of the larger ones you can get them for $30 with free shipping in the USA!
International shipping is a flat rate of just $10!
Click Here to Order the Take Out Box!
These are ready to ship out and there are a very limited quantity of the larger Take Out Box available and once they’re gone there won’t be anymore at this size available, so order now and save!
