It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm finally ready to spill the beans on something that's been in the works for a while now. As I said in my previous post, there's been hints in everything I've posted this calendar year. If you would like to figure out the news on your own, quit reading now.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
Last month my wife and I welcomed our first child, a wonderful baby boy. He's sleeping in his swing as I write this and just looks absolutely adorable. I know I don't update this blog very often, and having a kid has really made it harder to find the effort to do anything. The first few weeks were really rough and I just wanted to do nothing but sleep. It's starting to get a little better so I hope I can get back into the swing of things soon. I do have a lot that I want to talk about.
As I said above, I've been dropping hints about it all year long. As you can imagine I've been really excited about it and have been dying to talk but my wife and I kept it pretty low-key. I think the blog was really the first place I announced it in public, albeit extremely cryptically.
I've always been a fan of the "everything's been in front of you the whole time if you only knew where to look" plot device. So naturally, I had to drop come clues in the blog. I went about it in probably the lamest way possible, but it was easy enough for me to stick to. If you look at the first letter of all the post titles in January, (in chronological order, not the order they are in on the page) you'll see that they spell out 'I'M A DAD'. Also, in the first post of the year I added at the end "I'll post next in August, alluding to the due date.
The couple posts I made in February and March had nothing to do with anything, but things picked back up with my only post in April. Sticking with the first letter theme, the first letter of each paragraph in that post spells out 'HINT TITLES' trying to point people towards reading the post titles. The weakest part of this whole thing in my opinion is the paragraph for the letter E. Although that's a genuine question I have, I shoehorned it in there like nobody's business. I needed something for the letter E and I couldn't come up with anything so I did that. I think it worked out in a way because (at least to me) it seems so out of place that it might hint that there's something more to be seen there.
The titles of the rest of the posts up until now, including the one in April, spell out 'IT'S A BOY' because I found out I was having a son and wanted to share that too. Then I quit writing because I got super busy and then the baby came and everything got even busier.
I'm going to try to get back into posting again. I've got a couple new magic products I would like to talk about. I also have no plans to hide messages in my blog posts again, at least not in the near future so feel free to take things at face value. I can't promise I won't do something cryptic again sometime but it'll have to be something big because, honestly, this whole thing was kind of a pain in the ass to set up.
- Dadster
Friday, September 30, 2016
Monday, August 15, 2016
Yeah, it's a Clip Show Post
I feel like these posts where I just brain dump a bunch of random stuff I've been meaning to say but aren't worth a whole post are the blogging equivalent of a clip show. Although since clip shows are made up of things that happened in previous episodes, maybe the analogy doesn't quite fit. Maybe this is more like the clip show episode Community did where they referenced things that never actually happened and showed clips they made specially for that episode. Yeah, let's go with that one.
A while back I made a post about how I wished there could be more transparency in magic ads. Recently, Jeff Copeland released a trailer for Blackbird that did pretty much what I was hoping for. This is a perfect example of what I was talking about it my post, so I'm going to take full credit for giving him the idea. I've seen people giving him a lot of grief for doing that, saying exposing the gimmick to lay people is a mistake. I disagree. I think very few laymen will care enough to see and remember the video, but the benefit for magicians to see exactly what they're getting and how it works is high. I look forward to seeing more ads like this in the future.
I've been reading a lot of comics on Reddit lately, and this one really spoke to me. Just replace the word "draw" with "blog" or "perform" or "work on my act" or really, any phrase about being creative in a magical capacity. It's not always being tired, but it does always seem that I get creative and motivated when I'm busy with something else.
I also like this comic, both as a funny magic gag and a visualization of my existential dread.
About a year ago I wrote about a presentation I saw on Reddit that I really liked, The Envelope Concept. I've been thinking about it again the past couple days, and I really think that combining that with this trick from Andy at The Jerx would be an awesome way to go. You lose a bit with the card not being signed, but you gain it back somewhat with the torn corner. I think they're both very strong ideas on their own and combining them doesn't necessarily make it the best idea, but I think it becomes it's own cool thing. I'm going to work on this a bit and see how it works.
I'm about ready to make an announcement soon. It's not very magic related, but it's pretty neat. I think, anyway. I know nobody's reading this thing so I could probably just say it now and it wouldn't spoil the surprise before it's due, but I'm not gonna risk something so time sensitive that I've been working on for a year. You know what though? I have been dropping hints. There are major clues in the posts that I've put up this calendar year. Find them and you'll know exactly what I've been referencing. There's no clues in this post, though. Just take what I said at face value.
Until next time.
- Andster
A while back I made a post about how I wished there could be more transparency in magic ads. Recently, Jeff Copeland released a trailer for Blackbird that did pretty much what I was hoping for. This is a perfect example of what I was talking about it my post, so I'm going to take full credit for giving him the idea. I've seen people giving him a lot of grief for doing that, saying exposing the gimmick to lay people is a mistake. I disagree. I think very few laymen will care enough to see and remember the video, but the benefit for magicians to see exactly what they're getting and how it works is high. I look forward to seeing more ads like this in the future.
I've been reading a lot of comics on Reddit lately, and this one really spoke to me. Just replace the word "draw" with "blog" or "perform" or "work on my act" or really, any phrase about being creative in a magical capacity. It's not always being tired, but it does always seem that I get creative and motivated when I'm busy with something else.
I also like this comic, both as a funny magic gag and a visualization of my existential dread.
About a year ago I wrote about a presentation I saw on Reddit that I really liked, The Envelope Concept. I've been thinking about it again the past couple days, and I really think that combining that with this trick from Andy at The Jerx would be an awesome way to go. You lose a bit with the card not being signed, but you gain it back somewhat with the torn corner. I think they're both very strong ideas on their own and combining them doesn't necessarily make it the best idea, but I think it becomes it's own cool thing. I'm going to work on this a bit and see how it works.
I'm about ready to make an announcement soon. It's not very magic related, but it's pretty neat. I think, anyway. I know nobody's reading this thing so I could probably just say it now and it wouldn't spoil the surprise before it's due, but I'm not gonna risk something so time sensitive that I've been working on for a year. You know what though? I have been dropping hints. There are major clues in the posts that I've put up this calendar year. Find them and you'll know exactly what I've been referencing. There's no clues in this post, though. Just take what I said at face value.
Until next time.
- Andster
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Okay, it's Tinfoil Hat Time
I've been watching this season of America's Got Talent, per usual, just not writing about it because last season I didn't have much to say besides "That was neat." I think it's no secret that I'm pretty biased towards the magic acts, though I do still love pretty much any act that's not a singer. So far I've been pretty happy with the acts that have been going through.
The other night, sideshow duo Ryan Stock and AmberLynn had a bit of a mishap during their live performance. The official AGT video cuts off the worst looking part, but this video on NBC's site shows the whole thing (skip ahead to about 1:45). Definitely some scary stuff and I'm very glad nobody was seriously hurt.
However.
What if they did that on purpose? Hear me out. I know it's infinitely more likely that they suffered mechanical issues and had an accident, especially considering how (rightfully) terrified Ryan looked when he got hit. But I think a case could be made that this is all just a well-crafted publicity stunt.
Even though I like their act, I think the smart bet is that they would never win the whole show. I think it's too shocking, gross, scary, whatever word you want to pick for mainstream America to vote for. I think it's amazing that they made it as far as they did, because in my limited memory of the show, acts like that usually get eliminated pretty early on. I think they might have realized that too and then made a decision.
Realizing that, in all likelihood, you're going home after this performance you can do one of two things. You can do your best, ramp it up, and hope that somehow you get the votes. Or you can accept the fact that you're going home and give the people something to talk about to keep your name in the news and really get a push in the press.
So maybe you swallow a couple swords and then get shot in the neck with a blunt arrow from a low-powered bow. Personally, I am more surprised that the legitimate stunt went wrong and just happened to not kill him than I would be to find out the guy who sticks drills and chainsaws in his face took one for the team.
So, again, it's much more likely that this is all just a legitimate accident that fortunately didn't leave anyone seriously hurt. But if somewhere down the line it turns out that they did it all on purpose, I would not be surprised in the least.
- Andster
The other night, sideshow duo Ryan Stock and AmberLynn had a bit of a mishap during their live performance. The official AGT video cuts off the worst looking part, but this video on NBC's site shows the whole thing (skip ahead to about 1:45). Definitely some scary stuff and I'm very glad nobody was seriously hurt.
However.
What if they did that on purpose? Hear me out. I know it's infinitely more likely that they suffered mechanical issues and had an accident, especially considering how (rightfully) terrified Ryan looked when he got hit. But I think a case could be made that this is all just a well-crafted publicity stunt.
Even though I like their act, I think the smart bet is that they would never win the whole show. I think it's too shocking, gross, scary, whatever word you want to pick for mainstream America to vote for. I think it's amazing that they made it as far as they did, because in my limited memory of the show, acts like that usually get eliminated pretty early on. I think they might have realized that too and then made a decision.
Realizing that, in all likelihood, you're going home after this performance you can do one of two things. You can do your best, ramp it up, and hope that somehow you get the votes. Or you can accept the fact that you're going home and give the people something to talk about to keep your name in the news and really get a push in the press.
So maybe you swallow a couple swords and then get shot in the neck with a blunt arrow from a low-powered bow. Personally, I am more surprised that the legitimate stunt went wrong and just happened to not kill him than I would be to find out the guy who sticks drills and chainsaws in his face took one for the team.
So, again, it's much more likely that this is all just a legitimate accident that fortunately didn't leave anyone seriously hurt. But if somewhere down the line it turns out that they did it all on purpose, I would not be surprised in the least.
- Andster
Monday, July 18, 2016
Breaking the Magician's Code, Bo Burnham, and Bob Ross
What are three things that are all on Netflix beginning with the letter B that I love?
Look, I know a magician saying they like Breaking the Magician's Code is a pretty unpopular opinion and I hope I don't get crucified for this. I remember back when they were first airing everyone was up in arms about the whole thing and saying it was the worst thing to ever happen for magic. That first special aired almost 20 years ago and, as far as I can tell, magic's still around. I think my experience with it might be different because most of the close up stuff I do was never revealed on the show. A stage magician might have a different take on the whole thing.
I love watching magic, and I also love learning magic and seeing how it's done. I can appreciate a beautiful method the same way I appreciate a beautiful trick. Granted, most of the things revealed on the show fall very short of "beautiful method" but still, every now and then I get a moment of "Huh, that's pretty clever." I feel like a lot of things shown were made up just for the show. One thing that immediately comes to mind is being chained to a ladder and raised above flaming spikes, only to appear later in an adjacent building. You know, that old classic of magic.
I'm not saying revealing those tricks was the greatest thing to happen to the world of magic, but I also don't think it was the worst thing ether. If anything, it got people talking about magic again. No such thing as bad press and all that, right? I remember when Mindfreak was a thing and people would ask me about his stuff. Instead of calling bullshit on it, I could go "I know, that was cool right? But how about this?" and show them something of my own. Like I said, I know it's a divisive topic but personally, I like being able to put them on in the background and watch some magic. Maybe one day Netflix will get the World's Greatest Magic specials, or some David Copperfield or David Blaine. Until then, I'm going to watch these. I remember watching when it originally aired and, for some reason, watching this doofus slide down a trap door while looking at the camera made me laugh my ass off.
Bo Burnham is one of the best comedians I've seen. I used to think he was just a funny song guy, which I'm not really a fan of. I never gave him a chance before and I regret that. His is very witty and I love the wordplay he uses. He also really makes you think about things. The two specials of his that are currently on Netflix, what. and Make Happy are both incredible. They both kind of push the line between stand-up comedy and performance art and both of them have left me at the end kind of sitting in silence going "Damn." The ending of Make Happy where he talks about us all being performers really hit home with me. They're both fantastic specials and well worth a watch or several. I do want to link the ending of what. right now because it's fantastic but you should watch the whole thing. Dude is a rockstar and he's fucking killing it. I hope he's happy.
Look, I know a magician saying they like Breaking the Magician's Code is a pretty unpopular opinion and I hope I don't get crucified for this. I remember back when they were first airing everyone was up in arms about the whole thing and saying it was the worst thing to ever happen for magic. That first special aired almost 20 years ago and, as far as I can tell, magic's still around. I think my experience with it might be different because most of the close up stuff I do was never revealed on the show. A stage magician might have a different take on the whole thing.
I love watching magic, and I also love learning magic and seeing how it's done. I can appreciate a beautiful method the same way I appreciate a beautiful trick. Granted, most of the things revealed on the show fall very short of "beautiful method" but still, every now and then I get a moment of "Huh, that's pretty clever." I feel like a lot of things shown were made up just for the show. One thing that immediately comes to mind is being chained to a ladder and raised above flaming spikes, only to appear later in an adjacent building. You know, that old classic of magic.
I'm not saying revealing those tricks was the greatest thing to happen to the world of magic, but I also don't think it was the worst thing ether. If anything, it got people talking about magic again. No such thing as bad press and all that, right? I remember when Mindfreak was a thing and people would ask me about his stuff. Instead of calling bullshit on it, I could go "I know, that was cool right? But how about this?" and show them something of my own. Like I said, I know it's a divisive topic but personally, I like being able to put them on in the background and watch some magic. Maybe one day Netflix will get the World's Greatest Magic specials, or some David Copperfield or David Blaine. Until then, I'm going to watch these. I remember watching when it originally aired and, for some reason, watching this doofus slide down a trap door while looking at the camera made me laugh my ass off.
Bo Burnham is one of the best comedians I've seen. I used to think he was just a funny song guy, which I'm not really a fan of. I never gave him a chance before and I regret that. His is very witty and I love the wordplay he uses. He also really makes you think about things. The two specials of his that are currently on Netflix, what. and Make Happy are both incredible. They both kind of push the line between stand-up comedy and performance art and both of them have left me at the end kind of sitting in silence going "Damn." The ending of Make Happy where he talks about us all being performers really hit home with me. They're both fantastic specials and well worth a watch or several. I do want to link the ending of what. right now because it's fantastic but you should watch the whole thing. Dude is a rockstar and he's fucking killing it. I hope he's happy.
The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross is on Netflix now too, and I could not be happier. One thing I wish I had in this life is artistic talent and Bob Ross makes me feel like I could paint like him. Maybe one day I'll get a paint sent and give it a shot. For now, I'm content with just watching and relaxing while he creates these beautiful scenes. It's amazing to me to see how he starts with nothing and these amazing landscapes just appear effortlessly. Even hearing him describe what he's doing as a twist of the wrist turns a blob of paint into waves or mountains blows my mind.
Bob Ross is the best magician I've ever seen.
- Andster
Friday, July 15, 2016
A Few Pictures
Back in the old days of this blog, I used to post pictures from time to time. I'd like to get back to that a little bit, so I'm going to show just a couple things from my performance at the festival a couple weeks back. As in the past, I've edited the pictures a bit to remove my face and other things that might identify me. I'm still trying to hold on to anonymity (probably stupidly and fruitlessly) for the time being. Enjoy!
Finishing off this set with the rope escape. You can kind of see that the crowd dwindled a bit by this point, which was a problem I had all day. Thinking of this now, maybe I should do the rope escape first and close with the jacket. This was actually a decent tie, done by a former Scoutmaster. The last tie of the day was done by a couple kids and it was...not good.
The second day, about mid-day with my turning tricks sign. This pitch was a lot cooler, at least in the morning. My setup was a bit more streamlined this time since I was working primarily out of the briefcase. The jacket and rope were still in the backpack under the whiteboard, just in case.
 |
| Pitch from the first day. |
This is my pitch from the first day, taken at the end of the day when I had given up on the escape show and started doing the straitjacket and rope escape. You can see my donation sign on the chalkboard with the money bag clipped on the back.
 |
| Straitjacket escape. |
Mid-escape sometime in the middle of the day. Decent crowd. By this point I had bent the chair in the background, which is why I'm standing on the ground.
 |
| Another angle. |
Another angle of the straitjacket escape. I honestly couldn't tell you what number this one was, but I can safely say I was feeling the heat and the exertion by this point.
 |
| Rope escape. |
 |
| Funny sign. |
The second day, about mid-day with my turning tricks sign. This pitch was a lot cooler, at least in the morning. My setup was a bit more streamlined this time since I was working primarily out of the briefcase. The jacket and rope were still in the backpack under the whiteboard, just in case.
Well, there you have it! Hopefully these help illustrate the story of the festival a bit better. If I missed something identifying, please don't track me down. Not that anyone's actually reading this at this point anyway.
- Andster
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Straitjacket Advice
A while back, I wrote about escapes and the problem I have with how they're being presented. I've come up with a way that I think makes escapes more interesting, and part of that is getting rid of anything that screams "magic trick" about them. I always hate when you see someone trying to escape from a car, a box, a building, a whatever, that suddenly goes wrong and lo and behold they're safe. That's a magic trick, not an escape.
Part of the presentation I'm working on is bringing the escapes out from behind a curtain and into full view. I think it becomes more interesting as a demonstration of skill than as something mystical. Now, that doesn't mean you actually need to have those skills in order to present it that way. Go ahead and use a gimmicked lock that you pretend to pick. I would rather do that in full view than just pull open the lock behind cover.
All that brings me around to the straitjacket I recently purchased. I've wanted one for years, literally over a decade. I could never bring myself to pull the trigger on one though. I finally ordered one because I decided to do an escape themed show for a festival and wanted to use the jacket as a closer. I always read that escaping from a regulation straitjacket isn't as hard as the audience thinks and I decided that, in the interest of realism, I would get the real jacket and do it the "right" way.
I'm an idiot.
While a regulation jacket isn't as hard as a lay audience believes, it certainly isn't easy, either. At least not for me. I'm a big guy, not necessarily "big" meaning "morbidly obese" but big and broad-shouldered. I get a lot of people asking what football position I played when they first meet me. I used to describe myself as more Penn than Teller, but then Penn lost a ton of weight and I can't use that anymore. I can't buy sport coats off the rack at most stores because putting my arms to the side will cause me to fat guy in a little coat. You get the idea.
I got the biggest Humane Restraint jacket I could get. It fits fine, but I have to be very careful about how tight the straps get pulled. Otherwise, I have a hell of a time pulling an arm out of the sleeve. I have gotten stuck before, several times, though thankfully none in actual performance (so far). I can get the arms over my head easily enough, it's just getting one arm out to undo the buckles that really kills me.
I also have an issue with the crotch strap. This is 100% on me for not researching further, but it has become an issue. When I picture a straitjacket, I picture a leather strap attached at the front with a buckle on the back, just like all the other straps on the jacket. What I got is a nylon strap that can be removed from the jacket entirely, threads from the back to the front and back under and clips in a friction buckle. In my experience, this is very difficult for a lay audience to understand. Even when I demonstrate how it clips before I'm put in the jacket, I still get people struggling to figure it out. It's kind of hard to point when your hands are bound and they're messing around by your ass.
Most importantly, nobody knows what a jacket is supposed to look like. I pattered about the canvas and the straps and how some people used fake jackets but this was 100% real and everyone took my word for it. I realized very quickly that nobody cares and they will believe what you say. I absolutely believe I could sell a gimmicked jacket as regulation and not get called on it.
All of this leads me to saying, I regret purchasing a real straitjacket. Given the opportunity to do it again, I would buy the gimmicked jacket in a heartbeat. From my research after the fact, I've found that some gimmicked jackets have larger arm holes to help facilitate slipping an arm out, they're made with softer canvas so you can manipulate the buckles through them, they include a way to get slack with the arms (not that I've had a problem with that, but I'd use the help if I had it), and they have a crotch strap more in line with what I had in mind. All of this would make it a lot easier when you do ten escapes in a day. It would also make me more confident in adding something to the escape, whether it's a time limit or chains or something to make it bigger. Right now, I honestly don't know that I can get out time after time so I make it more of a demonstration than a spectacular escape. It's not what it could be, and I know that.
I think it's a good think to know how to get out of a regulation jacket, but I also think doing it repeatedly is unnecessary work. After working it for one long day at the festival, my shoulder hurt and my thumb was rubbed raw from pulling my arm out. It's a lot of work for a couple minutes of applause. If I had to do it again, I would buy a gimmicked straitjacket. In fact, I may end up buying one in the future anyway.
If you are interested in getting a real straitjacket, I bought mine from Handcuff Warehouse. Their price was reasonable, their shipping was fast, and I have no complaints. I would order from them again in the future.
- Andster
Part of the presentation I'm working on is bringing the escapes out from behind a curtain and into full view. I think it becomes more interesting as a demonstration of skill than as something mystical. Now, that doesn't mean you actually need to have those skills in order to present it that way. Go ahead and use a gimmicked lock that you pretend to pick. I would rather do that in full view than just pull open the lock behind cover.
All that brings me around to the straitjacket I recently purchased. I've wanted one for years, literally over a decade. I could never bring myself to pull the trigger on one though. I finally ordered one because I decided to do an escape themed show for a festival and wanted to use the jacket as a closer. I always read that escaping from a regulation straitjacket isn't as hard as the audience thinks and I decided that, in the interest of realism, I would get the real jacket and do it the "right" way.
I'm an idiot.
While a regulation jacket isn't as hard as a lay audience believes, it certainly isn't easy, either. At least not for me. I'm a big guy, not necessarily "big" meaning "morbidly obese" but big and broad-shouldered. I get a lot of people asking what football position I played when they first meet me. I used to describe myself as more Penn than Teller, but then Penn lost a ton of weight and I can't use that anymore. I can't buy sport coats off the rack at most stores because putting my arms to the side will cause me to fat guy in a little coat. You get the idea.
I got the biggest Humane Restraint jacket I could get. It fits fine, but I have to be very careful about how tight the straps get pulled. Otherwise, I have a hell of a time pulling an arm out of the sleeve. I have gotten stuck before, several times, though thankfully none in actual performance (so far). I can get the arms over my head easily enough, it's just getting one arm out to undo the buckles that really kills me.
I also have an issue with the crotch strap. This is 100% on me for not researching further, but it has become an issue. When I picture a straitjacket, I picture a leather strap attached at the front with a buckle on the back, just like all the other straps on the jacket. What I got is a nylon strap that can be removed from the jacket entirely, threads from the back to the front and back under and clips in a friction buckle. In my experience, this is very difficult for a lay audience to understand. Even when I demonstrate how it clips before I'm put in the jacket, I still get people struggling to figure it out. It's kind of hard to point when your hands are bound and they're messing around by your ass.
Most importantly, nobody knows what a jacket is supposed to look like. I pattered about the canvas and the straps and how some people used fake jackets but this was 100% real and everyone took my word for it. I realized very quickly that nobody cares and they will believe what you say. I absolutely believe I could sell a gimmicked jacket as regulation and not get called on it.
All of this leads me to saying, I regret purchasing a real straitjacket. Given the opportunity to do it again, I would buy the gimmicked jacket in a heartbeat. From my research after the fact, I've found that some gimmicked jackets have larger arm holes to help facilitate slipping an arm out, they're made with softer canvas so you can manipulate the buckles through them, they include a way to get slack with the arms (not that I've had a problem with that, but I'd use the help if I had it), and they have a crotch strap more in line with what I had in mind. All of this would make it a lot easier when you do ten escapes in a day. It would also make me more confident in adding something to the escape, whether it's a time limit or chains or something to make it bigger. Right now, I honestly don't know that I can get out time after time so I make it more of a demonstration than a spectacular escape. It's not what it could be, and I know that.
I think it's a good think to know how to get out of a regulation jacket, but I also think doing it repeatedly is unnecessary work. After working it for one long day at the festival, my shoulder hurt and my thumb was rubbed raw from pulling my arm out. It's a lot of work for a couple minutes of applause. If I had to do it again, I would buy a gimmicked straitjacket. In fact, I may end up buying one in the future anyway.
If you are interested in getting a real straitjacket, I bought mine from Handcuff Warehouse. Their price was reasonable, their shipping was fast, and I have no complaints. I would order from them again in the future.
- Andster
Thursday, July 7, 2016
The Festival, Year Two
This past weekend, I did magic at a festival for the second year in a row. I went in with a grand idea and, like usual, called an audible and changed things up a lot until what I did was nowhere near what I planned to do. I had a lot of fun though, and I'm going to try to recap what went on.
Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, wear sunscreen. I forgot all about it on Saturday and unfortunately, my spot was directly in the sun for the first half of the day. As the sun moved I got in to the shade of the building I was set up next to, but it was too late. I've got a nice burn on my arms and face which left me with a weird tanline from my Fitbit and now my face and arms are peeling. I put sunscreen on for Sunday and I don't know if it helped much or not. By that point it just hurt to stand in the sun.
Last year when I worked this festival, all I had was a TV tray with a briefcase on top, usually with a deck of cards sitting on top of that. Nobody had any idea what the hell I was doing. For this year, I bought an easel from Ikea for like $15 that has a dry erase board on one side and a chalkboard on the other side, with a little shelf that folds up. The plan was to do shows throughout the day (more on this later) using the dry erase side to say "MAGIC SHOW! NEXT SHOW XX:XX" as an attention grabber. On the other side, I clipped a canvas bank bag to the shelf and wrote "Thank you for your donation!" After the final hat line, I would turn the whole easel around and collect the money in the bag.
Last year I more or less did the Invisible Deck all day long and had a tip jar out. The plan this year was to do a full show, gathering a crowd and doing it more traditional busking style. I wanted to do escapes, and even bought a straitjacket. I based my routine on Dan Harlan's Pack Small Play Big Escape Act (I bought the whole series last year and have been meaning to write about them. One day.) picking a few highlights and trying to trim the time down but still have it look good.
Yeah, that went to shit after about the second time through. I quickly found out that the sign was getting people's attention, but I wasn't getting people to either wait or come back for the showtimes. At least they knew what I was doing. I went through the whole show, I think, twice. The first time I had a crowd of maybe five people. The second time I had six or seven, but three of them were back from the first show. I found out, unsurprisingly, the straitjacket drew a huge crowd but it came at the end of the show and they all trickled away and didn't tip. I also learned quickly that my hat lines which (I think) are funny when delivered to a crowd sound kinda harsh when delivered one on one.
I changed my sign to read 'STRAITJACKET ESCAPE! NEXT ESCAPE XX:XX" and draped the jacket over the top of my case. I was just going to ditch the rest of the act and to the straitjacket and 100 ft rope escape, which I take just about everywhere just in case. That worked a little better in getting crowds, but I still had a problem getting money from people. I did the jacket escape a few times while standing on a metal folding chair I brought, which is a nice visual and gets more people to stop. Unfortunately, it was a shitty chair and bent when I stepped off it one time so that was the end of that.
I think I ended up doing the jacket about ten times that day. I use an ungimmicked jacket, and let me tell you ten escape in the hot sun all day long is a bitch. By the end of the day, my shoulder hurt, my thumb was rubbed raw from scraping on the canvas of the sleeve, and I was just tired. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do the escape all the next day. What really clinched it for me was when, as I was packing up, I started talking with a couple of teenage girls who were working in a booth next to me. I made a joke about how they could probably escape from a jacket after hearing me all day and I hope it wasn't too boring for them. They said they liked watching and they liked magic and asked if I did other tricks. I grabbed my cards and did a really quick card to mouth trick for them.
They freaked the fuck out. I had been killing myself all day long doing straitjacket escapes and I got the best reaction of the day from a dumb card trick. I needed to think things over.
The next day I scrapped the escapes and brought back my Invisible Deck. I had some other things with me, but for the most part I just did the ID all day long. I set up in my original spot but standing in the direct sun was really hurting so I hunted around for a place to move to. I found an open spot right beside the DJ booth. The MC was a guy I've met a few times here and there and have a good time with. It was nice to set up beside him because he would talk about me throughout the day and I would goof around with him. One time he started a song and then out of nowhere announced, "Andy said he'd dance for the duration of this song. It's nine and a half minutes long. Cheer him on!" I did it. It wasn't pretty, but I did it. Even managed to show someone a trick while shuffling my feet so I didn't quit dancing.
I brought my easel with me again, but instead of doing showtimes I just tried to get something eye-catching to get people to stop. I started the day with "I CAN READ YOUR MIND!" I would see people read it and then kind of do a double take, and then I would say something like, "It's true! Come check this out!" It worked pretty well. I planned ahead and had a business card in each pocket, one with "You're the mindreader..." written on the back and the other with "You tell me!" I figured someone would be smart when I asked their name. Surprisingly, I didn't have to use them at all. After about half the day, I changed my sign to "WILL TURN TRICKS FOR FOOD" which got a lot of laughs and attention. The last hour or so I changed it to "THE BEST MAGIC YOU'LL SEE! ...here..." I really like the funny sign idea, and I would like to keep thinking of more to use for future events.
As I said before, I mostly did the Invisible Deck all day long. I did the Card to Mouth for several people throughout the day, and I used a thumbtip to vanish a silk a few times. I had a lot of fun with that, getting the attention of people in stopped cars or walking on the other side of the street and doing the vanish. That's another thing I would like to explore: long distance magic. Things visual enough to be seen and understood by people far away.
I think that's pretty much the rundown of the day. I had a lot of fun once again, made a pretty good chunk of cash. I think I learned a lot, and am really looking forward to getting back out and doing more festivals. I have a blast doing them and I think I'd like to work on finding more to perform at. We'll see how it goes.
- Andster
Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, wear sunscreen. I forgot all about it on Saturday and unfortunately, my spot was directly in the sun for the first half of the day. As the sun moved I got in to the shade of the building I was set up next to, but it was too late. I've got a nice burn on my arms and face which left me with a weird tanline from my Fitbit and now my face and arms are peeling. I put sunscreen on for Sunday and I don't know if it helped much or not. By that point it just hurt to stand in the sun.
Last year when I worked this festival, all I had was a TV tray with a briefcase on top, usually with a deck of cards sitting on top of that. Nobody had any idea what the hell I was doing. For this year, I bought an easel from Ikea for like $15 that has a dry erase board on one side and a chalkboard on the other side, with a little shelf that folds up. The plan was to do shows throughout the day (more on this later) using the dry erase side to say "MAGIC SHOW! NEXT SHOW XX:XX" as an attention grabber. On the other side, I clipped a canvas bank bag to the shelf and wrote "Thank you for your donation!" After the final hat line, I would turn the whole easel around and collect the money in the bag.
Last year I more or less did the Invisible Deck all day long and had a tip jar out. The plan this year was to do a full show, gathering a crowd and doing it more traditional busking style. I wanted to do escapes, and even bought a straitjacket. I based my routine on Dan Harlan's Pack Small Play Big Escape Act (I bought the whole series last year and have been meaning to write about them. One day.) picking a few highlights and trying to trim the time down but still have it look good.
Yeah, that went to shit after about the second time through. I quickly found out that the sign was getting people's attention, but I wasn't getting people to either wait or come back for the showtimes. At least they knew what I was doing. I went through the whole show, I think, twice. The first time I had a crowd of maybe five people. The second time I had six or seven, but three of them were back from the first show. I found out, unsurprisingly, the straitjacket drew a huge crowd but it came at the end of the show and they all trickled away and didn't tip. I also learned quickly that my hat lines which (I think) are funny when delivered to a crowd sound kinda harsh when delivered one on one.
I changed my sign to read 'STRAITJACKET ESCAPE! NEXT ESCAPE XX:XX" and draped the jacket over the top of my case. I was just going to ditch the rest of the act and to the straitjacket and 100 ft rope escape, which I take just about everywhere just in case. That worked a little better in getting crowds, but I still had a problem getting money from people. I did the jacket escape a few times while standing on a metal folding chair I brought, which is a nice visual and gets more people to stop. Unfortunately, it was a shitty chair and bent when I stepped off it one time so that was the end of that.
I think I ended up doing the jacket about ten times that day. I use an ungimmicked jacket, and let me tell you ten escape in the hot sun all day long is a bitch. By the end of the day, my shoulder hurt, my thumb was rubbed raw from scraping on the canvas of the sleeve, and I was just tired. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do the escape all the next day. What really clinched it for me was when, as I was packing up, I started talking with a couple of teenage girls who were working in a booth next to me. I made a joke about how they could probably escape from a jacket after hearing me all day and I hope it wasn't too boring for them. They said they liked watching and they liked magic and asked if I did other tricks. I grabbed my cards and did a really quick card to mouth trick for them.
They freaked the fuck out. I had been killing myself all day long doing straitjacket escapes and I got the best reaction of the day from a dumb card trick. I needed to think things over.
The next day I scrapped the escapes and brought back my Invisible Deck. I had some other things with me, but for the most part I just did the ID all day long. I set up in my original spot but standing in the direct sun was really hurting so I hunted around for a place to move to. I found an open spot right beside the DJ booth. The MC was a guy I've met a few times here and there and have a good time with. It was nice to set up beside him because he would talk about me throughout the day and I would goof around with him. One time he started a song and then out of nowhere announced, "Andy said he'd dance for the duration of this song. It's nine and a half minutes long. Cheer him on!" I did it. It wasn't pretty, but I did it. Even managed to show someone a trick while shuffling my feet so I didn't quit dancing.
I brought my easel with me again, but instead of doing showtimes I just tried to get something eye-catching to get people to stop. I started the day with "I CAN READ YOUR MIND!" I would see people read it and then kind of do a double take, and then I would say something like, "It's true! Come check this out!" It worked pretty well. I planned ahead and had a business card in each pocket, one with "You're the mindreader..." written on the back and the other with "You tell me!" I figured someone would be smart when I asked their name. Surprisingly, I didn't have to use them at all. After about half the day, I changed my sign to "WILL TURN TRICKS FOR FOOD" which got a lot of laughs and attention. The last hour or so I changed it to "THE BEST MAGIC YOU'LL SEE! ...here..." I really like the funny sign idea, and I would like to keep thinking of more to use for future events.
As I said before, I mostly did the Invisible Deck all day long. I did the Card to Mouth for several people throughout the day, and I used a thumbtip to vanish a silk a few times. I had a lot of fun with that, getting the attention of people in stopped cars or walking on the other side of the street and doing the vanish. That's another thing I would like to explore: long distance magic. Things visual enough to be seen and understood by people far away.
I think that's pretty much the rundown of the day. I had a lot of fun once again, made a pretty good chunk of cash. I think I learned a lot, and am really looking forward to getting back out and doing more festivals. I have a blast doing them and I think I'd like to work on finding more to perform at. We'll see how it goes.
- Andster
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