How crazy can the holiday rush of shows be?
I meant to post this 2 weeks ago, but forgot. That’s how crazy.

I read the posts of magic buddies running from one gig to the other during the holiday season, some doing three or four venues in a day. While I currently try to schedule my bookings to avoid that wonderful madness, I am not a stranger to it. Plus, with a home office, a wonderful wife, and 6 sons at home, my life is crazy to start with.

All that being said, here are a few reminders that will hopefully make the rest of your holiday season saner.

#1 Remember that it’s often amateur hour

No, you are not the amateur. The meeting planner is. That’s not a slam on them, as event planning is a specific skill and you can’t get mad at Mary from HR for not fulfilling your mic requirements as detailed in your show rider. Even with all the pre-event discussion due diligence beforehand, surprises come up. For many groups, the holiday party might be the only real event the plan all year.

Be pleasant. Be professional. Roll with it.

If they tell you things are running a little late (and they always tell us that), be kind, because you have already allowed for that in scheduling …you have already allowed for that, right?

The goal is to deliver a product they will want to buy again.

#2 Bring your paperwork

“OK, your stage show will begin at 8pm”

“Stage show? There must be a misunderstanding. I was booked for an hour of close-up magic during the cocktail party.”

“Oh, no. You were booked for the after dinner show.”

Being able to bring up the corroborating emails in seconds on your phone will go along way to keeping you looking like a pro. And then if you can follow up with, “I can perform my after dinner show for you. Let me email you an amended agreement,” you are golden.

#3 Pack for teddy bear

You’ll be performing at a banquet that you booked six months earlier. You were told repeatedly it’s “adults only.” Then you’ll show up and see a couple of eight year olds in the audience. Your show can be performed in front of kids, meaning no blue material, so you’re fine in regard. What you might NOT have is a routine to showcase the kids.

I wrote an entire post about packing for teddy bear, the term I use packing a props for the unexpected kid in the audience. Give it a read.

#4 Pack for the next show

When I do more than one show in a night there are things I double pack so they are ready and waiting for me for the next show. Examples (from my act and others): a cards/envelope rig, a torn and restored newspaper, a filled shot glass, egg with a sticker on it (in that case it’s a back up of a back up), a second stacked deck, gypsy thread set up.

I do not want the fuss, not matter how minor, of having to worry about these tasks.

#5 Be Bulletproof

You probably want to rethink anything that has sensitive angles and demanding light requirements.

#6 Snacks, mints, coffee, hair

A hungry magi can morph into hangry magic. Nobody wants that. Breath mints are good, too. Caffeine? Your call, but my blood is 73% Turkish coffee. A small can of hair spray kept in your case will keep the hair where it should be.

#7 Your check

Here’s a story told to me ten years ago after a corporate gig by an audience member. He said this happened in the eighties.

“It was our national dealers convention. Over a thousand dealers from across the nation were gathered in the theater. Our entertainment was Bob Hope. He was to be paid $250,000. I was backstage with him about two hours before show time. We gave him the check. He said it wouldn’t work because his contract specified a casher’s check, and this was not a cashier’s check. He would not perform without the cashier’s check in hand. I couldn’t believe it! Thankfully, one of the members of the board was also on the board of the bank in town and he was able to go to the bank — after hours — and get the cashier’s check. I lost all respect for Bob Hope at that point.”

And I gained new respect for Bob Hope at that point.

As the Holy Writ says, “the laborer is worthy of his reward.”
As Stan Kramien said, “No dough. No show.”

Don’t let client absentmindedness delay your check.

#8 Pack small, play big, and live large.

You knew I was going to say that, didn’t you? Details here:

#9 Have a spot for a handicapped child in your show.

Kids LOVE to help the magician. And that means kids of all abilities and challenges. Back when I was performing 250 school assembly programs a year, I knew what routines in my show were handicap accessible, and with different degrees of ability in mind. I didn’t even have to change the material. A little forethought, preplanning, and adapting on the fly is all it took.

The kid got to be the star. He gets to feel the other kids cheering him on and being envious of him. The entire audience feels the warmth of the child’s happiness.

By the way, what you just read is a paraphrase of an entry from my latest book. Details here:

#10 Have fun.

You’re doing magic tricks for money, for Pete’s sake. Love it.

Merry Christmas!

Doc Dixon

PS: While you’re here, check out the store, including my latest release, Psychic Cents.

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Tomorrow is the BIG DAY here in the U.S.!!!

Yep. Thanksgiving! Sure, you could celebrate the day without performing magic for your kith and kin, but what kind of weirdo does that??

TWO OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD SUGGESTIONS TO MAGICIFY
THANKSGIVING DAY!!

I realize most magic dealers are all screaming “BUY BUY BUY” this weekend. Not the Old Man here. Nope. Not ol’ Doc Dixon. I’m a giver.
Like Ann-Margret¹ traveling half away around the world to entertain the troops.
Like Bob Backlund jobbing the strap to Diesel.
Like a politician chumming for votes without the statist ickiness.
Yep. I’m a giver.

These write ups will not have detailed methods, as if you’re reading this page, you should already know a few ways to do each trick.

#1: Selected card in turkey’s butt.
(Dunninger² used to kill with this.)

Someone is forced to select a card. Then the card is lost in the deck. The cards are spread facedown. One card is face up in the deck. It is NOT the selection. (What sort of 2 faced treachery is this?? Hint. Hint.) The rest of the deck is searched. No selection there, either. Later in the meal, long after the magician is forced to leave the dinner for, well, you know, any number of awkward offenses, the meal begins. Upon reaching in the stuffing filled avian anal cavity, a card is found.

Is it the selection? Probably, but who cares? By this time Uncle Stan realizes he already lost five large on the Cowboys and is seeking solace in a bottle of Jack.

#2 Psychic Marshmallows & Sweet Potatoes
(Francis Carlyle was so impressed he stopped punching his twin brother.³)

1. Pick two random single digit numbers.
2. Add them together.
3. Multiple them by 9 to get a new number.
4. If the new number is one digit, go to next step. If it has more than one digit, add all those digits together to get a new number and go to next step.
5. Subtract five from that number.
6. That last number is your magic marshmallow and sweet potato number.

Bring out casserole. It looks like this:

Prepare yourself. Ladies swooning in three, two …

Wait. Don’t tell me you’re not having the sweet potato casserole with marshmallows?? I pray for your soul. Next thing you know, you won’t be having the green bean casserole with French’s^® Original Crispy Fried Onions! My grandfather didn’t fight the Ruskies at Little Big Horn and Iwo Jima so you could commit culinary heresy.

Oh well.

Happy Thanksgiving!
If you’re reading this, I’m thankful for you.⁴

Doc Dixon

PS: Check out the pre-release special on my latest book here & save 10 smackers.

¹ I once met Ann-Margret on a movie set. #Merica
² Could have been Kuda Bux. To be honest, it’s been a long day and I forgot what name I originally arbitrarily chose for the joke.
³Joke based on a true story.
⁴ Probably

I never thought that the desire to troupe a great show smartly and successfully would be controversial, but (sigh) …I read some stuff online …(I know. Stop. Stop. Stop.) …and here we are.

I confess, it hurts the Old Man’s feelings when he sees some performers misunderstand what “pack small & play big” means. Or to be more exacting, it hurts the Old Man’s feelings when he sees some performers misunderstand what “pack small & play big” means to …the Old Man. (That’s me.)

When I say, “pack small & play big” I’m not talking about some jabroni trying to do a lame packet trick that wouldn’t play for three people in front of three hundred people. Geesh. We all know that can be a suckfest of non-Fox-Lake proportions. It’s bad for the audience and it’s bad for the performer because he’s expressing himself in a selfish me-me-me-ME way! Ugh!!

The heart of play big is taking whatever limits the situation puts on you and delivering the best show you can.

The heart of pack small is acknowledging limits, whether those limits are a briefcase, carryon case, a carryon case and a checked bag, or the trunk of your Honda Pilot. And we all have limits.

Event planner: “So, I saw this act in Vegas and I want you to do the same thing. I want Johnny to lie down on a couch. You throw a sheet over him. He then floats up in the air. You pull away the sheet and he’s gone. Then he appears at the back of the room, jumping up and down, blowing a whistle. If that’s too much, please keep in mind, the whistle is negotiable.” 

Magician: “You’re going to need a way bigger budget and room.” 

Reality: Every gig has limitations. 

These limitations can vary with:
Venue (Theater? Living room? Meeting room? Outdoors? School?)
Reset (Four different schools in one day)
Time (Do I have five minutes or fifty to set up?)
Travel (The thin model sawing doesn’t even fit in my checked luggage.)
And of course, budget.

There are magicians bringing in four cases to a gig who might wonder why I bring only one. To them I ask, “Where’s your Asrah levitation?” 

The point is, we ALL set limitations. What varies is where the limitations are. To paraphrase a very old punchline …

“We’ve already established what you are. Now we’re just negotiating the price.” 

We are limited in one way or another. All. Of. Us. Are.

It’s only when we embrace those limits and the reality that accompanies them can we fully embrace what to do with our show and for our audiences to give the BEST best performance we can.

Want to learn how to pack small and play big, and live large
for adult audiences?
Want to learn how to pack small and play big, and live large
for family audiences?
These books will help you.

NEW!!
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Below is a excerpt from my new book, The Kids Know Best – Packing Small & Playing Big for Kids/Family Shows

I recently saw a pic of a school show magician’s stage set up. He had one of those big, branded show backdrops. And from what I could tell, the rest of the set up could (not including sound system) could fit in a carryon case. I looked at the pic and thought, “This guy gets it.” It reminded me of my set up when I was performing two hundred fifty school programs a year. 

The backdrop comes out of the wheeled bag. It sets up in two minutes. BOOM-done. It’s a big item, yes, but it’s also a SINGLE package. A lot of visual impact that can be unleashed in just 2 minutes, then resets right after the show. 

And the rest of the show fits in a case smaller than the backdrop. Two cases and done. 

Like I said. That guy gets it. 

Then I see other pics of kid show set ups. Here’s an example.
Two pop-up banners.
A third curtain backdrop.
A suitcase table.
Two to three magic boxes, like production boxes, rabbit wringers, or the ol’ MAK Magic dagger live stock vanish. A Botania.
A floating table.
A vent doll.
A Stratosphere tube with the accompany last ball vanisher. 
A spring raccoon.
A dove.
A rabbit.

And the show is thirty-five minutes. 

I want to say to that second magician: 

You are working hard. Too hard. You can work better and smarter. 

The show won’t be just as good with fewer props. 
It will be better. 

Yes, you can continue to bring all those props to a kid show. 

But you could also bring …
A better script.
Developed routines. 
Purposeful prop design. 
Audience participation.
A message. 
Proven show structure. 
Bonus: quicker set up and tear down time. 

But you can NOT do all those things
AND bring all those props. 
Why? 
Because the show would be three hours long. 

When you write good scripts, fully develop routines, use smart audience participation, have a good message, and a solid show structure, you will out of necessity get more and higher quality entertainment time from fewer props. 

A better show that’s easier to troupe can be yours to share with your audiences. 

This is not about working lazier and delivering less. I don’t buy into the “it’s just a kids show” mentality. 

It’s about working smarter, harder in the creation and planning of the show, and more streamlined in the trouping of the show to deliver a BETTER show. 

Tentative release date: Black Friday, November 24, 2023.

Until Next Time,

Doc Dixon

PS: If you’d like to learn many, many MORE ways to pack small and play HUGE to the back of the room, order my new book, The Show Is The Mother Of Invention. As of August 28, 2023, the second printing is almost sold out with only about 10 books left. Act now!

PS#2 If you’re looking for a great packs small plays huge SKILL routine, check out Reign Man, the KING of All Magic Square Routines!

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¹More formally, a manipulation routine, but I’ve always used and heard the term “manip” when talking with other magicians, so that’s what I’ll use here.

Magic isn’t the only thing I geek out on.

Here are a few topics I geek out on to one degree or another:
Universal monster movies, Robert Parker Spenser novels, chili, economics, Doctor Who, Norm MacDonald (is this starting to read like a very odd dating website profile?) and, the starting point for this post, multi-tools.

Proof: A tweet from 2018.

I like taking the multi-tool concept to parts of my act, meaning I like it when a single prop can serve more than one purpose within the show or case. Obviously not every prop should be expected to do this, but there are dividends when it happens with a few.

This idea can manifest itself theatrically with callbacks and running gags.
It can manifest itself functionally with better case packing.

FIVE BENEFITS:
#1 If a prop does two things, it’s one less prop to pack.
#2 It allows space for other props.
#3 It can give a thematic unity to a show
#4 It can provide an awesome callback to an earlier routine.
And perhaps the most rubber-meets-the-road benefit
#5 In case you need extra time in your show, you won’t panic. You’ll immediately realize, “I’m good. The XYZ prop can also do this.”

Here are two ideas for applying this to DixonMagic routines:

#1 The teddy bear appears at the climax of Corn Hole Zero. “What’s that tied around the bear’s neck? Is that a green ribbon? No! That’s the spectator’s $20 bill that vanished earlier in the show!”

So now CHZ delivers the climax of your borrowed bill routine, too!

#2 Perform Reign Man: King Of All Magic Square Routines with a book used later in the show for a book test.

There’s a nice topical synergy that happens with this when the book is especially meaningful to the performer.

Now, if you have Corn Hole Zero or Reign Man, you’re welcome LOL. You have a way to further integrate both of these routines in your show. If you do not have these routines, you have yet another reason to purchase them 😉

What can you do with this multi-tool approach in your show?

Obviously, only you can answer that question. The point of this post is this question is a good one to ask. Here are a few off the top of my head:
a miser’s dream bucket can catch the water from a hydrostatic glass
a cocktail shaker can be a miser’s dream bucket and a container for Shake, Shuffle, and Twist
a deck of cards can perform six card repeat, card across, and card in mouth
a tossed deck plus a faro shuffle from other cards becomes a Koran deck
a Himber wallet can contain a six bill repeat and Kaps’ Eleven Bill Trick.

Right now DixonMagic is in the midst of the Canada/Amazon sale, named in honor of a road trip I’m taking in a few weeks. There’s not better time to get a big bargain on great magic. Details below.

Until Next Time,

Doc

THE CANADA/AMAZON* SALE!

*Again, the Amazon RIVER, not the website

Corn Hole Zero   Normally $195 SALE $175

Maweege       Normally $65  SALE $52

Reign Man      Normally $125 SALE $100

MonkeyShines ebooks  Normally $35 SALE $27

The Show Is The 

Mother Of Invention  Normally $35 SALE $30

Emergency Show

Handbook      Normally-Free SALE EVEN FREER!

THE CANADA/AMAZON SALE IS LIVE!
Scroll to the bottom of page for the details!

I first shared some of my work and experience with Michael Zens’ Card Across here and here. Please go back and read those posts, as what follows builds on those posts.

OK. You’re back. Here are a few more performance hacks for the routine. Like the previous posts, I’ll assume you are familiar with the effect and method. If you’re not familiar with it, or if you’re not even a magician, this is going to feel like some Illuminati level lingo LOL.

Make your selection bank a mem deck slug.¹

How does this help? I easily know what cards should be in that bank. It makes reset easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.²

Additionally, if a spectator tells me she selected a card outside the mem deck slug, I immediately know things are going sideways and can adapt much earlier, easier, and better.

Confession: I’ve had a spectator tell me the wrong card maybe twice in over twenty years of performing this routine (my script is a big help), so you might think, why take out the insurance? Simple. Because this insurance is free. It costs me nothing to do this, plus, as you’ve read, the reset is much easier.

Make the face card of your add-on be a mate for the bottom card of your selection bank.

What does this accomplish? When the cards are added underneath the selection bank, the bottom card will change. It’s better to change from a four of diamonds to a four of hearts than a four of diamonds to, say, a king of spades. It’s one less thing for an eagle-eyed, anal-retentive spectator in the front row to notice.

Do I think this is a crushing problem inherent in the trick? No. But like the previous bit of insurance, it costs nothing.

The smaller non-selection bank that is present at the climax of the trick should consist of non-mates of the selection bank.

What does this accomplish? It avoids this scenario: A spectator chooses the two of hearts. Due to inattention, inebriation, or both, they say the chose the two of diamonds. If you have not followed this advice, when the spectator says, “two of diamonds” you’re sunk, as the two of diamonds is still there where it started.

If it’s not there, at least you have a little presentational wiggle room, in selling the fact the selection was actually the two of hearts.

Do I think this is a crushing problem inherent in the trick? No, not with a good script and spectator selection. But like the two previous bits of insurance, it costs nothing.

BUT WHAT IF I DON’T PERFORM CARDS ACROSS?
Is there a …transcendent message here??

Here are the most important takeaways from these three cards across posts.

It started with great magic. Thank you, Michael Zens (1877-1952)!

Like you read, it started, but it didn’t end with Zens’ work. DaVinci said, “Art is not finished. It’s only abandoned.” That’s true with a painting, as you have to eventually put down the brushes and hang up the painting. It is not true with live performance, as there is always the next show. You don’t have to abandon it. You can make the next show better, even if it’s only the smallest advancement.

These changes aren’t for the sake of being different. These changes are for the sake of better deception, better spectator interaction, more bulletproof magic, and easier trouping. And please don’t minimize the importance of making a routine easier to troupe and reset. Effort not spent packing can be spent elsewhere for better performance.

Confession: The changes I’ve made (and they are not the only ones) came from a nerd-like passion for this stuff. Simply, put I love this trick in a deep, nerdy way. Every little improvement in it presses the happy buttons in my skull. (Yep. That’s nerdy.)

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY?

Everything I’ve said about this cards across routine can apply to every magic routine you do.
Start with great magic.
Don’t abandon it — keep improving it.
Seek improvement in ALL the areas that count.
Tap into your passion — even the nerdy ones.

Until Next Time,

Doc

¹Haven’t learned a mem deck yet? You now have another reason to start.
²You can always rely on me to use the hip new phrases that the kids use at the soda fountain.

THE CANADA/AMAZON* SALE IS LIVE!

*The Amazon RIVER, not the website. Subscribe to my newsletter for explanations.

Corn Hole Zero    Normally $195  SALE $175

Maweege        Normally $65   SALE $52

Reign Man       Normally $125  SALE $10

MonkeyShines ebooks  Normally $35  SALE $27

The Show Is The Mother Of Invention  Normally $35.  SALE $30

Emergency Show Handbook      Normally-Free SALE  EVEN FREER!

The Canada/Amazon Sale is a FOUR DAY EVENT.

The sale ends Sunday, October 8, 11:59 pm Atlanta time.

Just got back from the gym. Good workout. I was on a ship the past 2 weeks and the workouts I did there paid off with a few more reps today. The Old Man here is fightin’ back the claws of death.

When I got home I ate a bowl of meaty & spicy chili as a post workout protein boost.
Hmmmmm …what to do next …what to do next …

I know. Let’s talk about card indexes!!

It’s alive!! IT’S ALIVE!!!

Thanks to the release of Dex, the Facebook magic pages are ALIVE with posts about card indexes.

DISCLAIMERS:

First, post workout chili is an extremely underrated post workout meal. I am fueled with POWER.

Second, I don’t have Dex or any other pocket index that’s on the market.

Third, I use an index in nearly every stand up show I do.

Fourth, I don’t want to talk about pocket indexes (indices?) per se.

I want to talk about psychology before and after the hand goes to the index.

BEFORE
A selection process that’s 5% equivoque and 95% freedom can reduce index size by fifty to seventy-five percent in three seconds. Card gaffs can be a help, too.

DURING
See my previous post about wide engineering tolerances. Mistakes happen. Does your index routine include a safety check to make your have the right card?

AFTER
Speaking of “after” how much after does your routine have? By “after” I mean how much time misdirection is built into your routine? While not always the case, often additional time between retrieval of the card and the reveal of the card, can make for more deceptive magic.

There’s more to using indexes. A lot more. But don’t want to get too deep in the weeds here. I only wanted to offer a pause for two groups: those who want to praise an index tool as the Holy Moly Grail of effortless miracles and those who want to condemn an index as crap sight unseen.

A card index is like most of the equipment I saw at the gym this morning.
Use it properly and make big changes.
Use it poorly and it sucks.

Until next time,

Doc Dixon

BREAKING NEWS NEXT SOON:
My New Book On Kids Magic

I’m not going to say much about it now, other than …
1. It’s coming out very soon.
2. It will be useful for you if you’ve done zero kid shows or 1,000
3. And, yes, it’s deeply rooted in my “pack small, play big, and live large” philosophy.

PS #1: While it doesn’t have an index, the table of contents of my new book is awesome. My new book, The Show Is The Mother Of Invention is currently SOLD OUT, so make sure you subscribe to my newsletter to get news of the next printing.

PS #2 You could drive a truck through the engineering tolerances of my routines. Three examples: Reign Man, the KING of All Magic Square Routines and MAWEEGE and Corn Hole Zero.

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Greetings from somewhere in the Atlantic ocean.

That’s me.

Engineering Tolerances

I want tricks, routines, shows, and to be honest, a life, with WIDE ENGINEERING TOLERANCES. I want to avoid having to metaphorically thread the needle. Why? Because sometimes needle threading has to happen when someone is bumping your elbow and you’ve left your reading glasses at home. Threading a needle has narrow engineering tolerances.

I’ll pass on the needle threading if I can. Instead, I want to throw a tennis ball down a wide hallway. I can do that blind folded and half asleep. Throwing a tennis ball down a hallway has a wide engineering tolerance.

I’ve insisted on wide engineering tolerances in my work for a very long time. Wide engineering tolerances in performance come from making the right choices in routines, methods, and scripts.

That insistence is the reason I created Reign Man for my show. Too many magicians flub the simple math of a magic square — because even that math can be a NARROW engineering tolerance. Reign Man makes the magic square bullet proof.

Performing with a wide engineering tolerances gives the show a built-in safety net.

Which brings me to the next tip about set lists …

A Better Set List

If you’re performing your show, while it’s perfectly fine to have a set list, you shouldn’t need a set list. One routine flows into another.

But sometime you’re not performing your show. You’re doing your new show. Or your semi-new show. Or, you’re splitting up your material into two separate shows, resulting in an order you have never done before. Then a set list is a helpful safety net to have just in case.

One downside of set lists: if you’re a variety artist, they’re best if they are not noticed by the audience. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel they can look a little tacky if obvious. If you have my FREE ebook, The Stage Magic Emergency Handbook, you already know of one way to conceal a set list. Here’s another.

For most of us, a set list ends up being a white notecard with black writing. While that’s fine, compare it to this.

It’s a black card written on with a white pen. Black card stock blends in better on a stage than white card stock. Most of the places might we might put a set list — on a case, on the floor, on a table — offer more camouflage to black card stock than white.¹

I admit, this isn’t a huge enormous game changer of a tip, but it has an economy to it that I really like. For the price of a white pen, black note cards, or cutting up a sheet of black card stock, you get a little increase the the efficiency of your show’s safety net.

Until Next Time,

Doc Dixon

¹ The idea of using black cards with white ink was shared by a cruise ship comic on a comedian FB group. He said he saw variety acts on ships doing it. I said, “I’m a variety act on ships. I’ve not seen this and I think it’s great!” So now it’s yours.

PS #1: There are few things that will widen the engineering tolerance of your show than having a show that packs in one case. My new book, The Show Is The Mother Of Invention is currently SOLD OUT, so make sure you subscribe to my newsletter to get news of the next printing.

PS #2 You could drive a truck through the engineering tolerances my routines. Three examples: Reign Man, the KING of All Magic Square Routines and MAWEEGE and Corn Hole Zero.

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On September 14, 2021 I was sitting on a couch in my home and checking Twitter on my laptop. I saw the name of Norm MacDonald come up on the right side of the home screen. I wondered why he’d be trending. Norm MacDonald had passed away. 

I confess that when most celebrities die it has little if any effect on me. But Norm? I felt like I was kicked in the chest. Felt numb for a few days. I know you and I probably don’t know each other, but trust me, that kind of response is not typical for me. I’m fairly stoic in these matters. But this? Norm? Yes. Numb is the word. It was more than the loss of a great artist. His personal humility came through his work. And there were moments when his humanity showed through, as when he was reduced to tears in his final performance on the Letterman show. 

Wait. That’s cliche and Norm deserves better. He wasn’t reduced. If anything, his tears elevated that moment. Expanded it. These weren’t the tears of someone who self-indulgently blabbers private matters every day on TV. These were the tears of a master craftsman who was expressing gratitude and honor to someone who had inspired him as a teenager. These were the tears of a man who, unknown to all but a few close to him, had acute leukemia for several years. He hadn’t shared it publicly, as he feared it would “affect the way he was perceived.”

Yes, leukemia. Imagine that. Keeping a private matter private. In an age where people puke the most inappropriate details of their lives on social media. All hail Norm. 

Contrast Norm MacDonald not revealing his health problems with magicians making up false sentimentality to tell with a snowstorm performance. One keeps private matters private. The other attempts to create a fake intimacy to share with an audience, many of whom know it’s fake intimacy. So it’s a layer of fake on a layer of fake looked at through fake glass lenses. 

Watch Norm’s two Netflix specials. They both begin with the jokes. There is no “let’s introduce the star” skit stuff at the beginning. They get right to the work at hand — the work of entertaining an audience, not the self-indulgence of pseudo-star crap many acts do. 

Magicians like to say “I made the trick my own.” OK. Sure. Good for them. Now look what Norm did to a shaggy dog story like the moth joke. He made it an all time comedy classic. Same with the doghouse joke, which I can remember hearing as a kid. Too many times magicians equate “making it their own” with “I’ve learned to competently do the lines that everyone else does.” 

Look at the leanness of this joke from a Letterman appearance:

 “Yeah, with Hitler, the more I learn about that guy the more I don’t care for him.”

Followed by a strong ten second laugh. I’ve often thought that Norm doing that line is the perfect joke. It’s all punchline with the delivery itself being the setup. 

Want some inspiration for how a quick magic trick could be transformed into a longer, tour de force magic routine? Watch Norm do his Janice routine on his first Netflix special. A TWELVE MINUTE chunk of laugh after laugh ending perfectly. It’s brilliant. 

Dave Chappelle joked about how being canceled wasn’t all that bad after the reaction to his Netflix special, The Closer. When I heard his response I thought, “Well, it is easier to forget about being canceled when your net worth is about $50 million.” I think his retirement fund will probably be OK. This is not a putdown of Chappelle, rather it’s an assessment of the risks taken or not taken. 

Now look at Norm. When he was told to stop doing OJ Simpson jokes on SNL he did more. And he was fired from SNL. And he wasn’t worth anywhere near $50 million. Don Ohlmeyer, an NBC suit, told him “he wasn’t funny.” The next season Norm was invited back to host the show and addressed his firing head-on in his opening monologue. It’s brilliant. It’s fearless.  It’s hilarious. 

I have posted a few times on Facebook the comment, “One just does not watch a single Norm MacDonald YouTube video. Nope. Watch one and prepare to block out a few hours of time.” Thousands have had the realization. He was a once in a lifetime talent. More important than that, from everything I’ve ever read about him (and, yeah, I’m a fan and have read much) he was a good and decent man. 

Requiescat in pace.

Woofle Dust is what I call posts with no unifying theme, other than it’s some stuff I’d think would be helpful for you to consider. For you youngsters out there, woofle dust was once a popular presentational conceit of dubious efficacy. Have something hidden in your right hand you want to ditch while your left hand holds the thingamajig? Then reach inside your right pocket, ditch the doohickey, and come out and mime sprinkling woofle dust on the thingamajig.

Yep. Parts of Tarbell (both the book and the author) didn’t age that well, either.

A Tale of Tardiness Terror!!

For a season at a festival I shared a stage with an act that consistently ran OVER time. It was nearly twenty years ago, but the memory remains.

My stage, as well as every stage at the festival, was on a thirty minute grid. Each stage had three acts who cycled throughout the festival day, doing four shows each.

Throughout the festival, slightly before the half hour marks, the lanes would fill with patrons looking for the next show to watch.

At the same time, performers on the stages would begin hawking their shows to the lanes, encouraging patrons to join them. That is, every performer except me, because I had the bad fortune to follow, well, names aren’t necessary. He would regularly end his show five minutes late. So when he ended the show and I got on stage, the traffic in the lanes had ceased, making my job of hawking like making bricks without straw.

I told him about this.
I warned him about this.
During the festival run he and many others came to my home for a party. At my home he asked to borrow a shirt because he had not brought one to change into after the festival day. So of course, I lent it to him.
The next day the Putz still wouldn’t end his act on time …while he had food from my home in his belly and the shirt off my back.

*Sigh*

To be clear, I still ended MY act on time. Why? I thought to myself, “The virus ends with me.”

It was twenty years ago and I’m still amazed at the lack of professionalism from this guy. In the weeks after that run I asked others in the festival market if they knew him, and all, without prompting, mentioned his lateness and performer disrespecting ways.

Oh, I saw his act. Surprise — cutting ten minutes would not have hurt.

No, I’m not bitter. Why do you ask?
This leads into the next helpful gizmo:

Good = Go Over.
Bad = Go Overtime

A small device that takes up a small amount space and helps a performer be more professional.

Finishing your show at the right time is so critical.
Too short? Your client can feel ripped off.
Too long? Oh, that can be even worse! You’ve delayed the awards ceremony, or the speech from the Big Kahuna. You’ve delayed the staff from getting home to their kids – or babysitter. Or you’ve taken time away from the headliner. Or (shutters) you’ve kept the audience from getting back to those slot machines!

Years ago you’d think I was bitten by a radioactive stopwatch. Like Peter Parker has a spidey-sense, I had a timey-sense. When I was doing my stand up act I could wrap it up on time within 60 seconds. Goal was forty-five minutes. Not forty-seven. Not forty-three. A minute variance either way.

One cause for the loss of timey-sense, I theorize, was the shutdown of 2020-2021. Another cause is my act has become increasingly conversational and interactive. As I discussed in the blog posts leading up to the release of MAWEEGE, magic that opens up interaction with the audience can be a comedy goldmine. To be honest, I like goldmines, and if I have an opportunity to go in one, I’m going in. If that means I have to adjust a little on the backend to stay within the time, I’ll do it nine times out of ten.

So now, my timey-sense is not as reliable. So I always have one of these in my case. An inexpensive timer, sold in pairs, because two is one and one is none.

The timer makes my mining for gold safe.

I can’t stand this meme.

Its roots are in a graphic design meme about colors. You can get the history lesson here. Thanks go to Ryan Pilling, friend, magician, and definitely not an axe murderer, for finding the history on this.

Yes, I get this meme is literally saying the differences between card magic plots *might* blur in laymen’s minds, and that’s a fine and fair enough statement to make, but that’s not how it’s used amongst our tribe.

It’s usually shared as a way to disrespect, disregard, or belittle card tricks or someone’s effort with card tricks. You know, someone posts a video of a card trick they’re working on, often a variation of a classic. Then someone¹ comments with this meme. I hate that. Here’s why:

Not all the great card tricks have been invented. Imagine it’s 1942. Your buddy, Paul Curry, shows you his new trick where the spectator separates the cards into reds and blacks. As Facebook hasn’t been invented yet, you’re forced to go to your car and take out an oil painting of the meme we’re discussing. Curry sees it. Curry gives up magic. Because of you, he goes from out of this world to out of this art form. Congrats, Captain Sarcasm, you’ve saved the art from the burden of progress! But, you got to make snark points, so it’s worth it.

I freakin’ love good card tricks. The first very real sleight of hand move I learned over forty years ago was the glimpse from page 24 of Henry Hay’s Amateur Magician’s Handbook. We go way back. The journey to good card magic has many failures along the way and those failures don’t benefit from snark.

I make a big chunk of my living from, you guessed it, card tricks. My stand up act of 45-50 minutes is six tricks. Three of them are card tricks. At the end of the day, I hate the way this meme is used because my own work has shown it to be BS.

Finally, wasn’t the rona shutdown rough enough on showbiz? We can stop being schmucks with each other. I’m not a fan of mindless, harsh online behavior, especially within the magic community. Is this meme the worst of it? Certainly not. I address it here because it’s all too frequent, all too dumb, and this is my website. Am I writing in a ticked off mood? Well, let’s go to our next story …

If you haven’t bought Matt’s book yet …

…now would be a good time. Matt Disero’s The Fog Machine Of War has become an instant classic of comedy magic road life. And at the risk of sounding presumptuous, it’s a great companion read to The Show Is The Mother Of Invention.

Keep in mind, I plug Matt’s book sincerely, as I don’t make a dime from it, and neither does Matt. The money goes to Academia Boliviana de Magia e Ilusionismo, a magic school for children in Bolivia. From Matt’s site: Check out their Facebook page; they do incredible work. It’s a really cool project started by Mago Byron and Maria Schwieter.

BREAKING NEWS NEXT SOON:
My New Book On Kids Magic

I’m not going to say much about it now, other than …
1. It’s coming out very soon.
2. It will be useful for you if you’ve done zero kid shows or 1,000
3. And, yes, it’s deeply rooted in my “pack small, play big, and live large” philosophy.

Until Next Time,

Doc Dixon

¹To be clear, this is not true of EVERY time this meme is posted …probably.

PS #1: If you’d like to learn to pack small and play HUGE to the back of the room, order my new book, The Show Is The Mother Of Invention. As of September 7, 2023, the first printing is almost sold out with only SEVEN books left. Act now!

PS #2 If you’re looking for a great packs small plays huge routines that uses cards and will crush in the same show , check out Reign Man, the KING of All Magic Square Routines and MAWEEGE. (For some reason, probably a Facebook post I’m not aware of, now both of these have been moving off the shelves much faster than normal.)

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