Recently I did my clock prediction at a virtual magic open mic. I stumbled on a couple of jokes and probably could have “listened” more, but I think it went well.
One thing I that wasn’t really possible due to me being in a hotel room was that I couldn’t have the clock displayed the whole time. I kinda had it balanced on a chair, but it kept falling off. The routine still has a bit to go, but I like it!
-Louie
When I’m out performing at fairs in the summer, I can have a lot of down time in between shows. I try to be productive during those times. Last week I bought a ton of clocks and spent some time between shows gimmicking them!
I ended up being a photo opp for all the other performers as it looked like I had a little sweat shop going!
Using that bonus time I have during the day frees me up later in the day to do other things!
-Louie
Over the past few months I’ve written about working on my Pitata Magic Time Hacker routine. One thing I noticed in a picture of it was that the gray hands on the white background don’t really pop visually onstage.
I took a black marker and colored in the hands on one of my clocks:
It really makes the hands easier to see and the clock play a few rows further back in the audience. The bigger issue that I think this trick is fighting visibility wise is glare off of the plastic clock face. I don’t think there’s really a reasonable solution, unless there’s an easily applied anti-reflective coating, but even then I don’t know how much that would actually help.
-Louie
The last time I flew, I had some of my audio equipment damaged that was in my checked luggage. What I think happed was when TSA screened my show case, they did a horrible job of repacking my stuff, which led to some stuff being damaged.
I’ve decided that I’m going to carry on my audio gear from now on…or until I get lazy. I went out to harbor freight and bought a Pelican Style hard sided case that has foam inside.
I’ve used the “pick n’ pluck” style foam before and it has never really lasted for me. For this audio box, I cut cardboard to reenforce the foam walls, and hopefully this will add some durability to the foam.
I’ve just finished my first round trip flight with this case and it seems to be holding up…
-Louie
It’s always interesting to look into other magicians prop cases. Last week I did my first fair of the year and here’s what my set up look like.
First the bin that sits on my table:
And here’s the prop case that sits on the floor to my left:
That’s a 45 minute stage show and it all can pack down into the prop case. The fully loaded case is just under 50 pounds, so I can check it on the plane as luggage for no additional fees!
-Louie
The clock routine I’m working on uses the Pitata Magic Time Hacker. It’s no secret how it works and they give it all away on their website, however I have made a modification to the gimmick.
A while ago I accidently broke the pin that engages the clock. When I went to order a replacement, they didn’t have them, just the new gear style attachment that engages the clock. Personally I don’t like the gear as it requires double stick tape which I felt was unreliable after practicing with it.
My solution was to glue the gear with pin from the clock to the gear attachment and it works like a dream!
The nice thing is that it’s easier to detach from the clock than the original pin attachment that came with the Time Hacker trick. This arrangement is easy to change if it gets worn down. I’m glad I stumbled onto this solution!
Also in my routine the clock is “broken” so it doesn’t matter that the the clock is non functional at the end of the routine.
-Louie
Last week I learned a lot about using the Pitata Magic Time Hacker/UTP. For example mine’s range was only reliable within about 10 feet of the unit when using the remote control. This isn’t a deal breaker, but something that is good to know and be aware of!
The bag that I have the clock in has the top edge rolled down, so I can peek inside and see if the hands have moved, this is a bit of security so that I know at least it’s gotten some sort of signal and moved before I take it out. I do still need to figure out some sort of “out” for when it doesn’t work.
I’ve also started a habit of hitting the clear button before I key in the time. The feedback from the clear lets me know I’m in range…or at least gives me the sense of security that I’m in range!
In my opinion, push button electronic tricks are some of the hardest tricks to do! There’s soo much that can go wrong with them, and it’s not like sleight of hand, where you can sleight of hand your way out of a problem! If you just blindly take out the clock and it misses the signal, you’re screwed!
I’ll keep working on this as I really like the routine I’m working on, and hopefully it’s something that sticks in my show!
-Louie
In working on the trick with pictures of my cat, that is really just a clock prediction using UTP/Time Hacker this week, I feel like I’m learning a lot.
First of all, I was going to have the cat pictures like a list joke, where there are three pictures and I end up the final one of my cat. It think I only need one picture and that’s of my cat. Initially I was hoping to get 5 mins from the routine, but it’s looking like it’ll be more of a 3 min routine and that’s fine if that’s where the trick naturally wants to land. There no reason to make a trick longer than it needs to be.
The second thing I learned was if you ask someone to give you a random time, they give things like six o’clock, which is fine, but not very interesting. The reveal is better if they are thinking of 6:17 as it feels more impossible.
The final thing I’m coming up with is that this trick needs an out. The first day I did it, it worked great…but the second day it failed both times. I think the fails were user error, so I’ll try to figure it out…
-Louie
One of the symptoms of getting older is that my vision is going. One of the tricks I’m working on this week is Time Hacker by Pitata Magic. The device has switches and the functions are molded into the plastic. Unfortunately I can’t easily read this stuff anymore, so I had to add labels the unit and a cheat sheet to the board that the remote is mounted on.
It’s little things like this that make setting up the show much easier and will reduce the chance of mistakes. For example the remote has two modes and two switches, and it’d be easy to forget which is which. Now I really have no excuse to flip the wrong switch.
Look at your show and try to find spots where you can dummy proof or at least reduce the odds you’ll make a dumb mistake.
-Louie
This morning I’m heading out to AZ for my first fair gig of the year. When I do fairs, I try to work on new material. I’ll be doing something like 15 stage shows, plus I can do as much close up as I want in between shows.
One of the new tricks that I’m bringing down with me is Time Hacker. This is Pitata Magic’s version of Ceseral Magic’s Ultimate Time Prediction. The basic effect is someone thinks of a time and that’s the time showing on a clock.
The presentation is based on a old myth that was popular during the WWII era myth that Asians can tell time by looking at a cats eyes. I had some posters made of my cat and someone is going to try to guess the time and that’s the time on the clock.
I’m hoping the idea of having a cat and talking about my cat will suck people into the trick. I’m not sure how it’ll play, but I have five full days of shows to try to figure it out!!
-Louie
