Magic Causes A Magicians Pants to Explode

Professional Magician Michael Gee was so shocked when his magicians pants exploded in the middle of a trick..

Ok, nobody laugh! So I’m at my afternoon’s event today. I lean over whilst offering a card… “pick a card, any card”. I then hear the loudest noise coming from my back region. Not realising what what it was, I put my hand around only to find this huge tear in the material from top to bottom! Nightmare!!

Nobody knew what had happened apart from me. I immediately sat down on the nearest chair and said “I need to sit down to finish the trick from here, it’s part of the trick!”. I then had to somehow tell my client what had happened so that I could fix the problem.

Luckily my client found this hilarious and said “of course you can sort it out”. I always carry an emergency sewing kit with me at all times but have never had to use it. Certainly came in good use today. I stitched up the trousers and continued with the show after all, the show must go on!!! Has this happened to anybody else or just me?!!

It’s not the first time, and it’s not going to be the last.. It’s another warning for magicians to expect the unexpected at every gig! How would you have handled this situation?

Michael is a professional magician, and a member of the Magic Circle with a lot of experience, so he had the good sense to have a sewing kit in his close up magic bag, but imagine if he didn’t… What would he do… His trousers (or his ‘magicians pants’ if you’re across the pond) couldn’t take it any more…

You can pick up a basic sewing kit for pennies at most thrift stores or simply remember to throw one in your wash bag the next time you are in a hotel room that has free grooming packs in the bathroom. I know a few magicians that simply keep a roll of duct tape in their magic bag for the same reason ( as well as a hundred other uses).

This brings us nicely onto the topic of the best things that professional magicians keep in their close up magic bag.

Here’s a post we made all about:

Your Close Up Magic Case – 8 Essential Items all Magicians Need to Carry

You may also find this post useful. Magician Paul Knight goes through his personal magic case and tips you in on the most useful items he takes to every magic gig:

What You Really Need In Your Close Up Magic Case

Have you ever had a disaster happen when you were performing? Have your magicians pants exploded too? How did you get through it? Let us know in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

What next?

You might be interested in our suggestions for creating a plan to move your magic from being a hobby to providing an income: The Plan – First Steps To Becoming a Professional Magician

Why A Monthly Magic Subscription Box For Beginners Is A Bad Idea

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

Chris asks: Is there a monthly magic subscription box for beginners?

If you have not come across them before, the concept is simple. You pay a monthly subscription, and each month or quarter you receive a box full of cool tricks, and tutorials to learn that month. Sometimes this is followed up with a members forum to share ideas and opinions about what’s in the box.

For the subscriber it’s exciting, often cheaper than the cost of buying the items individually and (in theory) you get a curated collection of great magic tricks to learn each month together with a community of fellow subscribers to socialise with.

For the magic dealers it’s a great way to sell a bulk batch of each item.. It’s a steady constant income stream that can grow rapidly as your subscriber list increases. Your subscribers stay loyal and profitable over a long period.

I’ve never liked the idea of a magic subscription box.

From the point of view of a magic teacher I think they are a very bad way to look after magicians that trust you to teach them. From a business point of view a magic subscription box may be profitable.. and from a distance they appear to be helpful, but they usually fail to deliver any real results. MoM is about pushing magicians to develop their magic into performance, and that isn’t helped in any way by the restrictions a subscription box puts on a beginner.

The importance of being actively selective

The sooner beginners are pushed to be ‘actively selective’ about the material they spend their valuable practice time on the better. Beginners waste enough time on disjointed random effects and purposeless moves without application already…

The key to building an effective magic training program for your magic is to be very selective about the material that you spend your time working on. You should aim to slowly build up mastery of the core moves in card and coin work, together with the basics of misdirection. Each trick you learn should be picked because it fit’s into building you an act of material to perform… Not because a dealer managed to get a large wholesale deal on a particular beginners item to throw into this months magic subscription box. You deserve better than that.

Netflix for magicians

Another option that gets suggested a lot is a subscription service for download tuition. Again, some customers will see value in it for the short term, but ask yourself this:

Are you buying magic tricks to entertain yourself, or to teach yourself? A buffet of content is fun, but you don’t need that much material in your training program. Too much choice is the enemy of structured practice… It leads to simply jumping from one trick to the next, never stoping long enough to master anything. The pull for the ‘new’ distracts you from working on something long enough to be anything more than average at it’s performance. Slowly, choice turns to boredom, and that is the most common cause of people drifting away from magic over time.

Pick just a few items that you REALLY want to master.

I’d always recommend a good slow paced individually focused magic course. A structures way to drill of core moves, and then routines that reinforce those moves. So much better than a lucky dip of random easy tricks each month..

If you contact the support team at the magic shop, they will discuss what you already perform, what you’re struggling with… and then get a good suggestion of the next material to work on to push you forward. Any good magic shop will give you the time to do that for you.

Best wishes and good luck with your magic

Dominic Reyes

Which Magic Tricks Should Professional Magicians Use?

by Dominic Reyes 2 Comments

Andrew writes:

Hi guys, do you have any articles on which magic tricks professional magicians should use?

Hi Andrew,

I’ve written quite a few articles over the years that talk about which magic tricks I use myself, or that are recommended by other working magicians… But I’ve not made a specific list of material for professionals. After reading your question, I thought about why I hadn’t published anything on the subject.. I think it’s because of one main reason:

Almost ANY magic trick can be great material for a working magician. It depends on the performer, venues, audience, and the style of the act/set. To decide if a trick is suitable, we have to consider lots of factors about the performer and the situation.

Is the magician a children’s entertainer?
Does he or she perform is restaurants or busy bars and clubs?
Is it material for a stag or hen night group?
Will it be stage or parlor?

A magician might perform for any of these audiences and the magic tricks presented will be different in each case. It might be the case that you perform in several different environments and for a range of different clients. If so, then you will need to build together collections of effects into sets for each set of demands.

The close-up magician

Lets assume that the magician does close-up, performing in venues like bars, restaurants, and parties. Now that’s been narrowed down… It’s easier to examine some of the core features of magic tricks that make them good for professional use.

Before I start to point out ways to narrow down your selection of material, I need to point out that any trick can be a winner for professional performance.. IF it’s been worked on so that weak or impractical parts are ironed out and the magician can perform it in an entertaining way. It’s more about the showmanship and entertainment value from the performer, than the trick itself.

Is the trick Interesting to people that don’t care about magic?

I know… It’s very strange, but most people in the world really don’t get excited about the idea of learning magic tricks.. They’re interested in being entertained and might want to find out the secret out of mild curiosity, but that’s about it. The fact that magic ‘reveal’ TV shows tend to get low ratings is proof of this. People want to be entertained by magic, rather than educated about it. Remember this when choosing which tricks to add to your set.

YOU ARE NOT THE SAME AS YOUR AUDIENCE. You might like a trick because of the method as much as the entertainment value of the effect. Its vital to pick tricks for their entertainment value above all else. When looking at new tricks try to put yourself into the mind of a none magician… Show a performance to a few none magicians and watch their reaction. If it’s entertaining and you think you could perform it well… it’s probably a great magic trick for professional use.

However.. Most tricks need some specific design aspects to make them easy and practical for working conditions:

The demands on material in close up conditions

So.. I put forward that ANY trick is a good choice for a professional IF it can be presented well. But there are some tricks that are much easier to perform professionally than others. These tend to be called ‘Workers’. There are a few features to look for when deciding if a new trick can be a worker. Most of these will already be designed into a trick before it comes to market, but a few will require some thought and effort from you to adapt your material to meet these needs. The most useful features include:

Visual with lots going on.
Repeatable so you can move around the venue and perform the effect several times to different groups.
Quick reset times between performances. You need to get it set up again fast as you move between groups.
Good angles for performing in closed up crowded conditions.
Easy to follow plot so it can be understood by people that have been drinking and are in a busy environment.
Easy to adapt/stop/start as your audience are interrupted or distracted.
Easy on the pocket space. You are likely to be carrying a lot of stuff, so pocket management is essential.
As little risk as possible for maximum reward. The technique should be the bare minimum to give you the perfect effect. Every move that is not needed should be removed to reduce the likelihood of failure and the maximum focus on delivery over mechanics.

The most popular ‘workers’ for magicians

That’s why it’s hard to list which magic tricks are best for professional magicians. There are so many, and they depend a great deal on the individual performer and how they present the magic.

I could just list a few items that almost every working magician uses:

You can download a free tutorial for the Anniversary Waltz here

But… do you REALLY want to be a clone of everyone else? Pick a few unusual effects that you enjoy watching being performed. Make them workers with your presentation and some effort to perform them. You only stand out by working away from the crowd…

The first steps to becoming a professional magician

The 3 Best Openers for magicians