variety show – MagicShow.Tips

Puddles Pity Party

Last week while I was in Ohio, I saw Weird Al’s show and the opener was Puddles Pity Party. I’ll write about Weird Al tomorrow, this post is going to be about Puddles. I’m going to start by saying, he was amazing, and if you get a chance to see him, do it!

His show is what a variety act (magician/juggler/etc) should look like for an arena show (about 10,000 people). He did a show that was all singing; he didn’t speak. In the show, there were gags and audience volunteers. His structure was great: a song or two, then a song that, at the end, went right into him bringing someone up from the audience who did something during a song. Then that patter repeated.

It was interesting that after his song, he had a graphic and recorded tune when he went into the audience. The audience didn’t applaud at the end of the song as he went into the audience. I really liked that approach; it kept the energy up. It wasn’t like a thing ended, but it was an extension of the previous thing. That’s kinda like my current Nest of Envelopes routine.

The use of projection was great in this venue, there was a screen at the back of the stage and two on the sides. The two sides had video projection of him, and the one at the back had graphics/recorded video that played. The graphics or recorded video did a great job of enhancing the mood of the song he was singing.

I highly recommend this show to see what a club style magic show might look like in an arena!

-Louie

Not Doing Material

When I host a variety show, I try to do as little of my formal material as possible. I do have a lot of material ready to be used, however I try to make the show not about my act…unless I have a scheduled spot in the show.

Here’s my MC props from a gig a couple weeks ago:

Of those props, I only did my routine with the Evaporation gimmick and there were 13 acts in the show, so I was on stage a lot! Luckily, the transitions were pretty tight, and there were a lot of announcements that needed to be done, so that gave me things to fill transitions.

I also did things like interview someone from the audience:

…and fed a guy licorice out of my mouth!

Both of these things were spontaneous and really created fun energy for the show. I always try to find things that take me out of my box and to create a show that’s unique to the people who are in the audience at that specific show that they know they’ll never see again!

That’s why people go see live entertainment, to be a part of a unique experience!

-Louie

Hosting a Variety Show

A few weeks ago, I was the host for a couple of shows at the Moisture Festival in Seattle. This is a fast-paced variety show with a live band! This is a very challenging show to be an MC at because there are about a dozen acts each show, and most of the transitions are really tight. Here are my MC notes from the two shows:

One thing you’ll notice is that I handwrite the introductions. This helps put the intros into my head. I also do my intros that are more bullet point-based, then paragraph-based, unless an act insists that I read the intro exactly as they’ve written.

Hosting a show is a lot more work than being an act in a show!

-Louie

Opening Night at the Moisture Festival!

Last week was the opening of this year’s Moisture Festival! I was part of the cast of the opening night show, then I’m back on March 28th and 29th. The Moisture Festival is a fast paced variety show. Each act does about 5 minutes.

Everyone in the opening night show was super cool, and were also amazing acts!

Doing variety shows that have other magicians in the cast is where my style of doing non-standard magic in non-standard ways really helps me. I don’t really have to change what I do because there’s another magician in the show. Last week at the festival, I did my marshmallow act. For the 28th and 29th, I think I’m MC for two of the shows, and the last one, I’ll probably do my bullwhip act.

Hosting the shows at the Moisture Festival is a lot of work, but the host is really the glue that holds the whole thing together onstage! You need to be able to fill time for the stage crew to set/strike props, which can sometimes be fairly involved!

One of the things that the Moisture Festival does really well is create a family backstage! Everyone is super friendly, and it’s just fun to be there!

-Louie

Five Minute Magic Spot

While I was on the cruise ship I was asked to do a 5-7 minute spot in the farewell shows. I don’t do short spots as often as I used to do them a couple decades ago. They stress me out because you don’t really have time to establish a character or vibe and you don’t have time to win back the audience if you lose them.

Here’s my props for the 5-7 min spot:

Here’s what I did: My stand up chop cup routine (see my lecture notes) which ends with the production of a tennis ball. Then I did a card to pocket routine with a signed card. The routine ends with the signed card coming out of the tennis ball.

One thing to note is that aside from these props, where everything happens in my hands, the only other thing I used (but not necessary) is a stool to set the tennis ball on after it’s produced, so that it’s visible the whole set. The stool was already on stage from the act before me and the one after me, so there was zero moving of props for my spot.

Oh, the black string thing is one of Nick Lewin’s Ultimate Microphone Holders. That allows me to use a handheld mic, so I don’t need to get mic’d up with a head set.

It’s an action packed 5ish mins, with a nice little surprise at the end.

-Louie

Part of the Team!

One of my favorite types of show are shows were there are a lot of other performers. It ultimately feels like more of a team effort and you’re not out there working alone. Sure, my time on stage I’m alone, but before show and after show it feels like a group effort!

That said, you can check me out on 3/16/24 at the Hermosa Community Theater in California. This should be a fun show as I don’t know any of the magicians that I’m on the bill with, so I’ll get to meet some new people and see some new acts!

-Louie

MC Technique…

Last week I was at an event an MC’d one of their shows. When I’m an MC, my goal is to keep the show moving and not do time myself…but to be memorable. This is different from the advice I frequently be hear which is, “an MC should be invisible.” I think the MC should be the host at the party, and you should know the host if you’re attending the party!

When I MC, I have an opening warm up bit, a few bits for emergencies, and notes, lots of notes. I have the introduction for the act and ideas for jokes based on watching video or my past experience with their act. Then during their act I will write jokes based on what I see.

As I use up a note or joke, I crumble it up and leave it on the table.

The reason I leave them on the table is sometimes I need to reference something I’ve written before. By leaving a messy table, it gives me access to everything I’ve written.

At the end of the show, I have a table of crumpled up papers. I really enjoy working as an MC, however it’s a lot of work compared to just being an act in the show.

I think the key is to not make the show about you, but at the same time it’s your show!

-Louie

Free Snax!

A few days ago I performed in a variety show hosted by Snax. Snax is a rabbit who does stand up, here’s a video of them on The Gong Show:

Snax makes a good host, and it had a great mix of acts:

The only ones not picture are me and the burlesque act.

One of the things I love about performing in variety shows is all the different art forms and what every brings to the stage. I think seeing and working with all sorts of different acts helps make you more well rounded as a performer.

For example the two stand ups worked very slowly, where I attack the stage. I think that’s something I need to play with more, being a little more gentle. I’m getting older and attacking the stage may be something I’m aging out of.

-Louie

Final Weekend of the Moisture Festival 2022

Tomorrow I start my final weekend performing at The Moisture Festival in Seattle. I was in the show last weekend and it was a ton of fun. This weekend there were be a bunch of magicians, Mike Caveney, Tina Lenert and Just Felice

I’ll be doing hand shadow act and probably my bullwhip act during the shows this weekend. One of the things that the festival likes about what I do is that it doesn’t really conflict with things that other magicians do.

One huge thing that’s really helped me with my career is having a “novelty” act that I can do. It really helps out when you are in variety shows, or even in just plain ol’ magic shows with other magicians. It makes you a lot more versatile as an act.
-Louie

P.S. If you’re interesting in learning to do hand shadows, you can learn more about them here

Early Bird Gets the Sound Check

One of the biggest tips that I’ve learned about performing is being early to the gig. This is even more important when you are working with other acts in a stage show. Your “tech rehearsal” is soo much easier when you’re not the last person.

When you’re the first one to do their tech, you get the crew’s full attention and your full time slot. As more performers show up, the tech rehearsal always ends up running long and if you’re the last person to do tech, you will probably get an incomplete or rushed tech run through.

The tech needs for my show is pretty simple and when I’m on variety shows the producers like to have me tech last because my needs are simple. I suggest to have me first, to get me out of the way, and since I probably won’t use my full time slot, they’ll get ahead early on, instead of being behind schedule right out of the gate.

Even in situations where I have a later scheduled tech time, I try to show up first and try to be ready to do the tech rehearsal first. That allows me to slip in if an act isn’t ready to go at the start of their time.

Here’s a good example, recently I was in a show and the other act I was sharing the stage with was a band. The event had both of our tech times at the same time. I was there an hour before the shared tech time. I loaded in, got my show set up ran my tech and was done before the shared tech time. The band showed up at the beginning of the tech time. Oh, I should mention the tech time was an hour before showtime, so with doors 15 mins before showtime, the shared tech time was really only 45 mins. By the time the band had loaded in and set up their gear, it was 10 mins to showtime, meaning they were already 5 mins behind schedule. They ended up getting no sound check, and their show suffered.

I realize it’s not always possible to show up early, or get your tech done earlier than your scheduled time and that’s just how life is. For me, getting there early ensures that my show gets what it needs or at least it gives me a good reason for them to hold the doors while I finish my tech!

-Louie