What Inspired The Time Machine Trick?

One new addition to this year’s show is the Time Machine that Rick Wilcox has. It isn’t a Delorian and doesn’t need to achieve a certain speed to travel. With magic, it whisks people away to a magical place that gives them special abilities. 

The illusion is an excellent addition to the show, and now that you have some background on what it does, I think it’s noteworthy to discuss how these things come about. There are moments in time that inspire songwriters, directors and creatives in general. While people usually don’t consider it, magicians are in many ways more creative than most other performing or disciplined artists.

They take life experiences and moments and weave them into tales about how one’s niece enjoyed blowing bubbles or an illusion that a long lost loved one would have loved. Magicians like Rick answer questions for kids like, “What does snow look like?’ The time machine is no different and this week’s video shows us how Rick and Susan came up with the idea.

What trick would you like to see performed and what inspires you to want to see it? Leave your comments below, we are reading and enjoying them.

On Stage Major Mishap

Greetings friends! Have you ever had your moment of glory on stage and dropped the ball? For some of us a couple of drinks at a karaoke bar is pretty much all we need to accomplish that. For others it can be a speech or a play and they forget the lines. You see where this is going right?

How many opportunities are there for things to go wrong in a magic act? Do your birds fly away? Does the curtain come up exposing the workings of something that the audience shouldn’t see? I am sure that there are multiple things a magician could point out as going wrong that most of us just never consider.

We would love to know what public moments you’ve had where things could have gone much better. Please leave your comments below and watch this week’s video where Rick shares a disastrous moment with us.

Talk to you soon,

Chris T.

The "Gotcha!" Door 😏

If you have never been to the Rick Wilcox Theater, you should stop what you’re doing right now and go there. If it’s locked just wait there will be another show soon. You could just visit the website to see when we will actually be open at www.rickwilcox.com

That’s not the point of this post though! The point of this post is the special door that one can’t enter through. It is a door to nowhere, a door with no remorse, a door whose very foundation is forged in the same inspiration that mused Jack Napier to put on the pancake make up and terrorize the city of gotham with chattering teeth and a squirting carnation. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, it is………. the GOTCHA DOOR!

Check this video out as we have a bit of fun with some of our guests! Muh huh huh huh ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa.

Chris T.

Performing While Sick 😷

History has a few examples of people who performed while under the weather. One great example of that was the Michael Jordan Flu Game. For those of you who don’t know the story, MJ was sick for game 5 of the NBA finals which the bulls won by 3 points but it was a big to do because he was on IV’s and collapsed right after the game. Jordan played most of the game, and he needed to for the win, but didn’t have to because he had a back-up player on the bench.

Let me tell you folks, sports is one of the few places on the planet where one has a backup. I imagine broadway perhaps might have a stand in who knows most of the lines to a performance, but in a magic show? Forget about it (as they say in the film Donnie Brasco).

A magician’s show props and assistant are his or hers alone. There isn’t a stunt double or a person who you can call and say, “hey Pete I have the flu, can you come do the show for me?” Nope, you can’t do that.

You also have to be careful about your activities outside of the show. A car accident or a slip and fall can put a serious ding in the act. It is a tenuous line to walk that not many people really consider. Who covers for you when you get sick? I would love to know what your options are. Leave your responses below!

In this week’s video, Rick and Susan discuss how they cope with being under the weather.

I will be looking for your responses!

Chris T.

The Case of The Missing Socks

Greetings dear friends. We hope that this summer is treating you well and you are enjoying sunshine, good food and good times. This time of year where families all over the world are traveling and more importantly forgetting things. People forget small things like toothbrushes or maybe deodorant.

What happens if a magician forgets something when she or he travels? Does a rabbit not pop out of the hat? Do the flowers not appear from the magic wand? Or, do the ankles just distract the audience when a performer forgets their socks?

You see there was this one time when Rick forgot his socks, that’s right socks. Being the McGuyver kind of guy that he is, he McGuyvered a solution. It was a painful solution but it got him through the night none the less. We would love it if you shared some things you have left behind with us. Leave your comments below.

I’ll be looking forward to them,

Chris T.

Fireplace Discussions

At this show (see video) there was a guy from London, England who had delayed his return trip so that he could take his son to the show. As a performer, you don’t get to hear that if you split right after the show is over. This is just one of the many discussions that you can hear at the fireplace in the Rick Wilcox Theater. . .

I think that there are two different people who attend the Rick Wilcox show. There are those who beat it for the door trying to get out of the theater with haste so as to avoid the traffic, this is typically me at any event :). Then there’s the person who knows that the show isn’t over. It’s kind of like going to a Marvel movie. You wait for those credits to be over because there is something there for you at the end.

I have done my fair share of concerts and shows to know that when the curtain drops the performer who has given us as much energy as he or she can muster is usually in need of re-hydration and relaxation. There are a few select performers though who have a reserve tank left in them and they use this reserve for the “Meet and Greet”.

If you have never had a Meet and Greet with a performer, you are missing an experience that goes along with the show. Well let me back up a minute, most performers charge for their meet and greet and autograph sessions as a VIP package for their bottom line. There are also those that want to meet their fans, they want to shake their hands and commune with them. This is the category that Rick and Susan both fall in.

When their show is over, they let the people get into the lobby and then poof, they appear in the magic fireplace. It is here that they shake hands, take pictures and sign autographs.

Watch this week’s video to hear some of them and I’ll reach out to you next week with another Inside Story. 

Chris Taylor