Into the Lucyverse with Abi from the Lucy Crewcy

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I have to tell you, I've seen a lot of shows. I've seen Broadway. I've seen musicals, plays, Cirque du Soleil, magic acts, every type of live entertainment you can imagine. And that Lucy Darling show is the best show I've ever seen, period. [00:00:16] Speaker B: I mean, it's real. I agree. I've also been raised around all different types of performance. I've obviously been in theaters with magic most of my life, so there's nothing like a Lucy Darling show. [00:00:29] Speaker A: Hey, I'm Dr. Todd, dentist by day, magician by night. And this podcast is where my two worlds collide. Welcome to the Magicians Workshop, the show where I get to sit down with the most brilliant minds in magic and variety arts to uncover their secrets, stories, and creative journeys. If you love magic as much as I do, make sure to, like, subscribe and hit the bell ding so you never miss a moment right here on YouTube or your favorite podcasting site. I'm thrilled to pull back the curtain and introduce you to someone whose work you may not see on stage, but you absolutely feel it's in every single performance. My guest is Abby, the stage manager. That's her. The stage manager for the wildly successful magician and character artist Carissa Hendricks, the brilliant performer behind Lucy Darling. While Lucy dazzles audiences around the world with wit, charm, and mind blowing magic, Abby is the one making sure every detail behind the scenes runs seamlessly. From calling cues to managing props to keeping the show flowing. Abby plays a crucial role in bringing Abby Darling to life. We're going to talk about what it takes to stage manage a magic show, the challenges and surprises that come with it, and why backstage magic is just as important as the spotlight. Abby, welcome. [00:01:34] Speaker B: Hey, I'm Abby. It's nice to be here. [00:01:37] Speaker A: Great to be here. So a little bit of background because I literally have told everybody that I could find. Last week was the DC Festival of Magic and Lucy Darling did a show there among other amazing performers. It was a lineup that I. I don't know if I'll ever see that lineup again. It was really something. And Carissa was there and the whole, the whole Lucy Crusi was there and the show was amazing. Again, best show I've ever seen. And I got to spend so much time with you guys and it was the absolute, the best, one of the best weekends because I, you know, finally hanging out with the people that I've been watching for so long. So thanks for coming and chatting with me. I really appreciate it. [00:02:18] Speaker B: Of course. This is exciting. My degree is in journalism, so I'm very used to giving interviews, but this is, I think, my first time actually doing anything like this. So I'm very excited. [00:02:27] Speaker A: This podcast is the gateway drug to magic. I'm taking them on a journey. As the one that doesn't know anything, treat me like I've never been behind a stage. [00:02:36] Speaker B: So you want to start with background? [00:02:37] Speaker A: Let's do your background. Tell me all about Abby. [00:02:40] Speaker B: All about Abby. Well, that's quite the story. I. I was born in New Jersey and my dad was a magician and my mom was a violin player and a mathematician and a communication degree under her belt. So I had quite the unique upbringing, I would say it was, but it was also like super duper normal. Like I had a very, very lucky childhood. I. I knew I was very, very loved. And I also had this really unique experience of getting to go to magic camp as a kid. So for anyone who doesn't know what that is, which I would assume would be most people because it is kind of a random thing, one of the magic companies that is super. Well, that is still prevalent right now is Tannins. Tannins Magic, which has its shop in Manhattan and Tannins for the past 50 some years has been doing a magic camp and that has a week long overnight camp right now. It's held every year in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. And for most of my life it has been it. I think 2007 was the first year at Bryn Mawr, so I was three when it began at Bryn Mawr. So I. But I have been going there for forever because my dad, when he was 12, started going to magic camp as a camper. And so it was very, very important to his development and he was super into magic and juggling and all the carny stuff. His first job was as a clown at Six Flags Grand Adventure in New Jersey. So he was definitely in the performance art world. And then he met my mom, they got married. And so actually I think my mom was at magic camp while she was pregnant with me. So I technically have been there since before I was born. I didn't go every year. Yeah, it was, it was, you know, it's. I'm camp's Nepo baby. I'm one of like two people who's like camp's Nepo baby. But I've. I was brought up there and I didn't visit every year, but I visited a lot and enough to the people who were counselors there definitely became like my built in family. So for example, my dad's best friend who he met Through Magic camp is this guy John Reed. And John Reed is now is a world record holding balloon artist. He's a children's entertainer. He's an all around good person. And he is my godfather because he met my dad through camp. So I've always called him John Reed, which is just his full name. That's just his name. You can't. It's not John Reed. John Reed. It's always John Reed. Only ever John Reed. I get, I get so freaked out when people just call him John. I'm like, where, who, who is that? I have never met a John. So I was very, very close with him through my childhood. And then when I. Right, right after I graduated high school, I started working for him as a, as his copywriter because he has a whole bunch of different companies and was trying to take on social media a little bit. And also important to note going back a little bit, that when I was 14, I started going to magic camp as a camper. So I was there with all these people who I knew and I was making the connections there. So I also do magic and I juggle and contributed to this because then when I started working for my godfather, I was doing copywriting, I was doing social media management. I became a booking manager for one of his companies. [00:05:39] Speaker A: Wow. [00:05:39] Speaker B: I was doing his on stage assisting when I was in town. And I was able to. Because a lot of the stuff I was doing was tied into journalism in some way or another. I was able to get a lot of credit of internship while doing my job. So I was able to graduate a full year early. The hours that I got while being in New York and doing this hands on stuff and working with media companies in New York, which is the place to do it if we're being real. So that was really, really awesome. And then John Reed's best friend is Carissa. So when Carissa blew up in December, like her first viral video skyrocketed and she started getting absolutely slammed with followers and messages and all of this other stuff. She was drowning. And she was like, I need help. And John Reed said, you need an Abby. [00:06:29] Speaker A: And we all need an Abby sometimes. [00:06:31] Speaker B: Harrison said, I need an Abby. Can I have Abby? And John Reed was like, well, let's call her. So they called me and I was like, you can't talk to me till I graduate. This was February and I graduated in May. So they were like, you. I said, I'm doing this huge project that is like my whole degree is resting on it. If I don't pass it, I Don't graduate. Like, this is high stakes and. And it's this huge project. I. I need to finish this and then you can talk to me. So. So I was like. I kept getting videos from Carissa. Karissa kept taking videos of her saying, there's an Abby shaped hole in our life. There's an Abby shaped hole in the company. She started telling Jack and Chris that there was an Abby shaped hole in the company and that. And they were all like, what is. What is she talking about? Because I. I mean, I don't know. Like, there's. I just. I just kind of get it. I mean, I get the business, but I'm also like, they didn't have anyone on the team who. Other than Carissa, who was a woman, and they didn't have anyone who was Gen Z. So there were definitely little things where it's like, oh, you know what would be so awesome right now is someone who knew what was going on, somebody. [00:07:33] Speaker A: Who understands what this tick tock is. [00:07:35] Speaker B: Yeah. And so then I graduated on May 9th. And then on May 10th. I think it was May 9th. Yeah, I graduated on May 9th. Wait, my graduation announcements, right? Yes. I graduated on May 9. And then on May 10th, Carissa sent me flowers and called me and she was like, hey, when can we chat? And then I got the sickest I have ever been. And I couldn't get on a call with her because I was literally like, could not get out of bed for more than a week. It was terrible. And I, like, I went, got tested. No one could know I was negative for everything that they test for. And they were like, eh, sucks to be you. I was like, ah. So I had to wait it out. And so eventually, I was literally just leaving her on red because I couldn't respond. And so she texted John Reed and she was like, I'm pretty sure Abby doesn't actually want this job. And she's just trying not to be mean. And John was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. She does. She's just so ill. And I was. And then I slowly got better and I was. And she was like, hey, do you want to chat? And I was like, yes, let's chat. So I think that I'm going into something where it's like, I'm going to tell you my skillset and you're going to tell me what you're looking for. And we're going to see if this can be something we can work on or something that will work for either of us or both of us. And so I'm just thinking, like, I'm chatting with this person who, by the way, I had only met twice in person, but I had known everything about because of John Reed. So it's like we both knew everything about each other because we were so close to John Reed, and we both knew, like, each other's life stories, and we're best friends every moment that we were together, but we were ne. Like, I literally met her twice. And so we're just on this zoom call, Chittin chatting and just kind of, you know, catching up. And it's like we're old friends. And I'm like, oh, my God. Yeah, I was in. I had an interview at the Broadmoor, and I was interviewing for these jobs at, like, Applebee's. And I'm trying it because I really love the food and beverage industry because I'm like, I want to be a server so bad. [00:09:19] Speaker A: Wow. [00:09:19] Speaker B: Like, huh. So I want it to be a server so, so bad. And then she and I kept talking, and then she was like, so anyways, this is what I'm looking for. It's a remote position. But then when we are traveling, you would be coming on the road with us and doing stage management. I'm like, okay, cool. What are those dates? And I wrote down the dates of the tour that we just finished. And I was like, okay, when do I need to know by? And she was like, well, I'd love for you to start tomorrow. And so I did. I. Cause I was like, you know, let me think about it. Let me talk to my mom. I hung up. I called John Reed and I was like, I. I don't think I can possibly say no to this. Like, I. It's just like, I graduated not knowing anything about what I wanted to do with my life. Like, I was just like, I'm just gonna literally go back and be a server. Cause I love the food and beverage industry and I know I don't want to be a reporter, so I'm just going to see where it goes. So I came back here and this literally just fell in my lap, and I'm like, this. I just graduated. I. This is the time to do all the traveling, go around the world and do this thing that I love being in the performance industry. And. And I also, like, it's not like performing, because that's also like, a whole thing. But so I was like, you like. [00:10:32] Speaker A: Performance, but you don't want to be the one performing anymore? [00:10:35] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. I mean, it's a. It's. It's Been a. It's been an interesting development, I think, because I'm super. I'm a very big public speaker and I love being on stage. But I also, like, I'm not as creative as you need to be in order to do that. So it's like I have. I very quickly get creatively burnt out. I'm very good at executing tasks like that are lined up for me, but I. And, and I can lead in those tasks and be great, but when it comes to creating things that don't exist, I have problems with that. So that's, that's why I was like, I'm okay behind the scenes and I still get to do all the great things. And I had loved meeting Chris and Jack on that call. And like, I was like, okay, this could, this could really work. We could really be a good team. And then I did. I started the next day and it was very obvious very quickly that it was a good team. And so we're called the core four. That's like our little subcategory. And now. And now I'm here. [00:11:30] Speaker A: Tell me about the core four. Who is in the core four? [00:11:33] Speaker B: So the core four is Carissa, Jack, Chris, and me. So that's, that's the four people where it's like the, the company is built on the shoulders of these four people. [00:11:43] Speaker A: Tell me about Jack, because I haven't met Jack yet. [00:11:46] Speaker B: So Jack is our camera wizard. He's the one who filmed all films, all the videos. He's the one who made the edit for the viral videos. And he also does our operations. And Chris our community manager. [00:11:59] Speaker A: And Chris is also one of the coolest people I've ever met. He was so cool. [00:12:04] Speaker B: He's so awesome. [00:12:05] Speaker A: He's so cool. [00:12:05] Speaker B: He's so much fun. And he's also definitely my kind of people. We both have degrees in language related things. His degree is in linguistics. And so we speak each other's language and we're very, very nitpicky about grammar and spelling. [00:12:17] Speaker A: Yes. [00:12:18] Speaker B: So we're definitely. [00:12:19] Speaker A: Yeah, we discussed equivocay and equivoke for a while. That was really fun. And then he. He read me his Mystify Magic Festival review. It one of the most thoughtful, thought provoking things that anyone's ever read to me. He's like, oh, yeah, let me read you this. And we're like walking. I was just like, okay. And I was just like, oh, my. My mind was blown. [00:12:39] Speaker B: So he just has. He's such a genius. And he's so quiet. You would Never know. [00:12:42] Speaker A: But other than the Core four, who else is in what you would call the Lucy Crusy? [00:12:49] Speaker B: So that's a very new name. I really like it, actually. It was a fan who it was. I don't know if you've probably seen their work. It's. Cortoons is always commenting on all of our videos and they made these incredible illustrations of everyone. And that came from. I think originally that came from them. Just a couple of weeks ago, when they gave us the folder that had all of the illustrations of us in them, it said, to Lucy and the Krussie and I need it. I'm taking that. We're stealing it forever. It's great because originally it was just like the world of Lucy Darling or Lucy Verse, which is still. We kind of use those interchangeably, but Lucy and the Crucie is. Is okay. So anyways, back to who it is. [00:13:24] Speaker A: Yeah, go ahead, Go ahead. Well, if I. If I may, a little bit of the Lucy. Lucy Crucie is a smaller part of the Lucy Verse, I would say. I would argue that we're all part of the Lucy Verse once that's the fandom's name that's owned by the fandom. But the Lucy Crucie is that smaller that. That smaller circle of the actual crew of the show. If I may, because I would like to be part of the Lucy verse. And when people find her for the first time, I comment. Welcome to the Lucy Verse. [00:13:56] Speaker B: That's so cute. Yeah, it's. That is. That is a more accurate representation. Especially now we're really, really trying to hone in on the sense of, like, we're all family. We're all, you know, it's the Lucy. The Lucy family. It's the Lucy Darling family, the Lucy Verse. And so those are definitely. Yeah, it's definitely the Lucy and the crew. [00:14:15] Speaker A: That sense of community is strong. But tell me about the other crew members. [00:14:18] Speaker B: Okay. The other crew members. So we have. I already said Core 4. So John Reed actually runs all the merch. [00:14:23] Speaker A: Yes. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Okay. He. So he has a warehouse. And so he's completely in charge of everything merch related, which is super, super great because he's very, very good at that. And then we have Mark, who is Mark Edinger, who is a piano. He's a musician and also a composer and also a juggler. He was. He's a member of the Flying Karamazov Brothers, very famous juggling troupe. [00:14:47] Speaker A: Whoa. I had no idea. [00:14:49] Speaker B: Yeah, he's the coolest ever. He's super, super cool. And so he is one of the accompanists that we work with in the duo shows. So most of the shows have at least have one accompanist. And Mark is the one who we're. We've used the most at this point, who is very, very much sewn into the family. And so that's Mark. And we also have on the. Let's start with. You know, we can start on the performer side, too. We are frequently joined by Sarah Hester Ross, who's an incredible vocalist and musician in general and just. Just such a powerhouse. And she's so incredible. And I was such a fan girl, oh, my gosh, such a fangirl. When I saw her start working with Carissa when they did the first Redhead review, I was like, oh, my God, Sarah Ester Ross. And then I got to meet her and work with her in Vegas and in Nashville, and it was just. She's just incredible. So she's also incredibly talented. And so when we do the Vegas show, it's with her, and she might be on our fall tour a little bit as well, but she's amazing. Just so incredible. So that's the performer inside. And then we have James, who is our photographer, who right now we're just subcontractor. So we bring him along for as many gigs as we can because he just takes these most incredible photos both during the show and behind the scenes. So a lot of the pictures that you'll see Carissa posting of, like, Jack and I having a chat while she and Marker talking, or like, all the behind the scenes of Mark rehearsing all. All these photos of us on floor time. That's a very important part of our life is floor time. [00:16:11] Speaker A: Okay. And got it. [00:16:13] Speaker B: All of that is James just such a good documentary. He's just telling such a beautiful story with his work. And then we also have Tyler, who is. Tyler came with us on the Pacific Northwest tour, but I would definitely consider him part of the crew. See, he was another videographer that was working really closely with Jack, and it would just. It would. Like. The tour would not have worked without Tyler being there. He was so, so helpful with literally everything. He was just always there when you needed him. He had everything. It was like a Mary Poppins bag. It was like, oh, you need. You need this size screwdriver. I have exactly that. It was just ridiculous stuff. Who. He was there for the first shows that I called, and he had the comm system that we use, and it's like, it would just. It would have been a complete mess. Without Tyler being there. And then. Let me see, who am I missing? Well, I would, I would also consider Andy a little bit part of the crew seat. Definitely. He has a hoodie and he would, he would be. [00:17:06] Speaker A: He's got the hoodie. [00:17:07] Speaker B: He's not. He would say he's not, but he has the hoodie, so it kind of counts. [00:17:11] Speaker A: A little background is that there's a. There's a Lucy Crucie hoodie that is. [00:17:15] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Do you want me to get it out? Hold on. [00:17:17] Speaker A: Yeah. If you could show the fans. Because it is. This is. Well, that's all right. This is probably the, the, the hottest ticket item. If you start selling these, you, you will run out. [00:17:26] Speaker B: I also designed these. Shameless plug. So this is. [00:17:29] Speaker A: They look awesome. [00:17:29] Speaker B: What do you do? And it's the crew. And then the sleeve says, do I not look busy? And then it has our logo on the back. [00:17:36] Speaker A: Love the logo on the back. [00:17:39] Speaker B: We don't sell those. And when we do sell them, they will be slightly different. [00:17:42] Speaker A: Right. [00:17:43] Speaker B: Way down the road. [00:17:45] Speaker A: But I think there are some people that are listening to this right now that want to put in orders. [00:17:49] Speaker B: We are so aware that it's like a big thing people want. We are working on it. It's just, It's a lot. It's more than you think. To try and do it in a sustainable way. Cause that's really a priority of ours. [00:17:58] Speaker A: And I, Yeah, I, I, I would. I want to talk about. So let me just do. On a tangent. When you say sustainable, what is, what's your goal? When you. What does that mean? [00:18:06] Speaker B: I'm, I'm honestly not the person to speak about this. It's more probably a John and Carissa question. [00:18:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:13] Speaker B: But I know that our, we balance this scale a lot. Just our whole company is built on balancing a scale of generosity and sustainability. We want to be as generous as we possibly can while staying sustainable. So sustainable in a, in an environmental sense and in a financial sense. Like, we want to be able to continue to do what we're doing, but we also want to really bolster the community aspect of things and make sure that we're being as generous with our time and resources as we can. That's the part I could speak to. [00:18:40] Speaker A: Cool. Very cool. [00:18:41] Speaker B: But we use mom and pop as much as we can. Like, that's kind of the thing is we have this amazing T shirt store that we're. That's just like a neighbor that we're really trying to be able to use them. [00:18:52] Speaker A: Awesome. [00:18:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:54] Speaker A: I want to get into a little bit of the stage manager stuff. Well, first of all, so if anyone hasn't seen or gotten a vibe from the Lucy Darling Internet videos, if you could describe a Lucy Darling show in one word, what would you do? What would you say? [00:19:16] Speaker B: One word. [00:19:17] Speaker A: Good luck. [00:19:18] Speaker B: That sucks. Okay. [00:19:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Use your journalist degree here. [00:19:22] Speaker B: Word. [00:19:23] Speaker A: I'll give you. You can have several words. [00:19:25] Speaker B: It's okay, I can have several. [00:19:26] Speaker A: You have several. You know what? It's. I think it's more important to get people an idea of what the show is like. [00:19:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I can definitely describe it. [00:19:33] Speaker A: Speak to that. [00:19:34] Speaker B: It's. Do you mean like the vibe of the show or like the vibe of walking in, like, from a technical side? [00:19:41] Speaker A: No. Okay, so if I said, hey, we're gonna go see this performer called Lucy Darling, then what's the next sentence? [00:19:49] Speaker B: Yeah, she's a comedy magician doing a variety show. And it's almost all improvised. And it's like, supposed to be like a old style, vintage cabaret kind of feel to the whole show. She's like, Lucy Darling character is like this 1940s socialite who also happens to have magical powers. Like, that's the. The whole vibe is she's this improv comedian who also happens to perform miracles. So it's really not a magic show. It's absolutely not a magic show. [00:20:20] Speaker A: No, it's not magic. [00:20:20] Speaker B: We're really trying to stray away from that. Is. It's. It's a variety show and it's. There's magic in it. Magic is one of the acts. [00:20:28] Speaker A: But with this, there's a story. She creates stories, and it's just. It's hard to describe, but that's probably the best way you could describe it. But it's so much better than you would ever imagine that kind of show to be. [00:20:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's the. The best thing about it is that the best thing about where we're at right now is that the fans who are coming to see the show usually have no idea that she does magic at all. Which is the best crowd to do a magic for. If you don't know that a miracle is about to happen, it's freaking incredible. Sane. Like, insanely fooling. Like, a lot of people don't know that she does magic until after the first trick, so. Because we. We intentionally don't advertise that. [00:21:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:10] Speaker B: For a lot of reasons. Because putting magic on the Internet these days is just a terrible idea. [00:21:15] Speaker A: It's not the best. [00:21:17] Speaker B: No. But being able to say, also the fans are coming knowing that they're going to be bullied. Like, it's, it's intentional. Please make fun of me. Especially if they're like, they spend more money to get front row seats so that they can be bullied. And so you run into far fewer people who get super offended. And it's like, even if you do, like, it's a very safe space. And she makes sure that it's always. You never feel like you're actually being attacked. It's always a playful teasing. [00:21:46] Speaker A: But she's a master. She's a master at that. She does such a great job of making you feel safe about it. But let's talk about what it's like to stage manage this show. What does your. Let's, let's walk. You walk me through a typical day from the time you wake up to the time the show ends and the meet and greet. What does, what does that look like? [00:22:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, so here's the problem is there really is no such thing as a typical day because there's always something new that's gonna go on, especially when we're doing these one off cities. So it's like a lot of the time what we'll do is we'll finish a show. We will then that night go to the drive to the next city, sleep for a couple hours, and then wake up in Tekken the next day. So basically, let's pretend that that's what's happening. I get up, I put on my theater blacks, which is so easy. I just like, look, I have one outfit that I wear every day. This is so great. And I love wearing black. So it's. It was super great. Hence the nails. I will only ever have black nails because I just love it. Put on my Lucy Darling hoodie and put my hair in a high bun. That's important. I found out. I didn't know it, but apparently it makes people uncomfortable when I'm stage managing without a bun. Not like for real, but they're like, I feel like you're not gonna kill it unless you have the hair in a bun. False. I have and will kill it without a hair in the bun. So I get up. Usually at that point, I'll meet up with Karissa, we might get some coffee, and we go over any changes that are gonna be happening in the show for that night. So if that's the great thing about the show is it's constantly evolving. So even the parts that are consistent from night to night, the parts that aren't improv, those are, those are changing a lot. So it's like, hey, instead of doing this cue, we're gonna start, switch these two acts. Or we're gonna. I want the lights to be a little more this color in this section or something like that. Or, hey, at this point, the piano was louder than the voices, and we need to balance it. So it's like just kind of an overall. Just like a notes. And I'll get notes from Mark or Sarah, if we're traveling with Sarah, and I'll get notes from Jack of like, what. What I can help to make his. What I can do to help make his job with the camera easier. If he needed more light here, if he needed less light here, if there was a technical thing that we missed. And so basically just kind of reviewing everything with that. And then we find out what time we're allowed to be in the theater to set up. We load all the show gear into the theater, which all of the gear fits in just a couple of suitcases, which is really, really important. So all of the props are custom built so that they fit in specific places at specific times. So we load the stuff in. Usually we get a tour from either our concert manager or the house manager or the technical director, something like that, Showing us where the green rooms are, where the stage is, Any important information for us to know. And then we take a look at the stage, and that's when my job gets fun. So it's important to also know that before this, I will have had to find a way to print out our cue sheets. So I wonder if I have them nearby. So we have. I think it's in this batch. It's not in that bag. I have no idea where my cue sheets are. Oh, yes, I do. They're packed up in my suitcase. But I have written out our cue sheet, which basically, for anyone who has never seen a cue sheet, which I hadn't when I started doing this, it was my first time looking at one. Is usually. I mean, I don't know if this is usually because again, I literally only use these. Ours are color coded. So there's light cues, sound cues, and video cues. So they're different colors. And they have kind of the run of the show. They have the characters introduced, and then they say, okay, here's the run of the show. First we have the opening. This is what lights happen before the show starts. So, like, for example, the house lights come down, the stage light goes up. At what point does the spotlight go on? Do we have a spotlight? At what point do their mics go on? Like, all that stuff Is like we fade out the pre show music. We have an intro video that we play. So we like those are all in the, like the opening and then it's like separated by section as okay. And then if there's specific times where the light changes abruptly or at the sound changes abruptly, there's a thing that says like the cue is line or the cue is this happens or stuff like that. So that's where we look and say, okay, that's the cue. Now we do what it says and change it to whatever light it is. So I have these printed out for everyone on the crew. I have one printed out for Mark and one printed out for Carissa. Every time I have one printed out for audio visual to audio video to share. So usually there's one in whatever room Jack is setting up in and they he can look through there too. And then we have one goes to whoever's doing our lights, one goes to whoever is doing our sound, one goes to whoever's doing our spots. And then one goes to. If there is any like a crew on the stage which we don't usually utilize, but if they're there, then great, they get one too. And then I have one. So then I bring everyone pencils because chances are something's going to change or we're going to need to add another number cue. And so it's super, super important to have pencils I learned so that you don't have to edit a document and then reprint it out and do it all before shell. I get everyone their cue sheets and then I primary focus as soon as we go into these is creating a Q to Q light design. So I find whoever's doing the lighting design and kind of figure out based on the board that they have what we're going to be able to do. And we can pretty much work with anything we can. I don't really know the. I don't really know how to use one. I don't know how to use lightboard. I don't know how to use a soundboard. But in the past several months I've learned how to say what I need so that they understand what they can give me. So in some cases we'll go in and there's no Q to Q system where it's like you can't, you can't record certain lighting scenes to then go back to and like click through next, next, next in some cases, wow. It's just a little board that has a whole bunch of like slidey things where those are called submasters and it has a whole bunch of those, and you're live changing the colors and the intensity. And in those cases, usually I'm just going to be doing it. Like, I'm just going to be changing the lights live. So that's what I was doing in New York. If you guys have seen the video where I shut the lights off on them, that's what I did. [00:27:33] Speaker A: That's the. That was one of the best bits. That is so good. No, it got. Yeah. And. And for people that are paying attention, that that's a little Easter egg that we instantaneously was like, aha. Yeah, that was. That was really good. [00:28:11] Speaker B: Anyway. [00:28:11] Speaker A: So good. [00:28:12] Speaker B: Sometimes we have the lighting board like that, where I'm just gonna be live changing the lights as the show goes. But if in these bigger venues, usually they have a full light board where we're creating a cue to cue. So that's when I have my lighting designer and I have my me. We both have cue sheets. And I'm saying, okay, this cue is gonna look like this. And then we look at the stage, and we together design those looks for every single step of the show and record them and make sure that we have the same thing. So, like, if I were to say standby, LX1, LX1 go, I know exactly what it's gonna look like. So we make sure that on their end, it's labeled in the same way as mine. That's why pencil can come in handy. Cause sometimes you're gonna be like, okay, this is actually gonna be 12.2. Scratch it out in 12.2. So we go through every step of those. So usually I'll step them through the beats of the show. Especially if it's, like, a quick change, I'll be like, so one of the cues is music in a spotlight or spotlight and some music. So that's the other thing is, since it's an improv show, sometimes it's a little bit different, but usually it's pretty consistent. So it's like she's gonna say, music in a spotlight, and that's a zero count cue into this lighting. Or she's gonna say. And that one word was bam. And, like, that's the rhythm of it. Giving that to them also trains them to be able to hear it, and they don't need to be stressed about whether or not I'm gonna be calling on the right spot. So that's what I do. We design the lights, and then usually I'll have Carissa come out into the house so that she can look at them. And so if we need to make any changes at that point, she can do that. That's going to become less and less frequent, too, as I get better and better at what I'm doing. But it was, you know, it was the first times we were doing it, it was important to have a seal of approval there. And then Mark. This is assuming that we're doing the show with Mark. Let's just say that we're assuming we're doing the show with Mark. Mark, we do soundcheck. And soundcheck for us has been a little tricky sometimes because a lot of the times these rooms are designed for symphonies or rock bands or not a comedian. So basically her coming on not even using a handheld mic because she uses a wig mic. That's usually. We've had some people not quite getting the sound right because their emphasis is on the music and not. And not the mic. So we've been working on that. It's absolutely not their fault. Like, we're learning as we're going. So we do a sound check where we check her mic first and make sure that we're not getting any ringing or echoing or any bad feedback when she walks around. Because she walks around a lot. She walks into the audience, she comes back on the stage, and we want to make sure that we're not getting any feedb at those points. And then we check in Mark. So we do Mark's mic, we do the piano, we do all of the different instrument packs that he has as the accompanist and make sure that everything is on the same level. And that's pretty much it for the tech in side of things. So at that point, maybe I'll go in and help Carissa set up the dressing room, or I'll go through a cue to cue again with the lighting designers and the sound people to make sure that we're all on the same page or see how the merch table setting up. Like, then I'm kind of a floater. So I'm like, after my side is unusually light takes a long time. So after all of that is done, if we still have some time before the doors open, I will make sure that the house manager has everything they need, that the ushers have everything they need. Like, if we have a guest list, making sure that the box office has our guest list, talking to John Reed at the merch table, making sure that he's all good to go, checking to see that we have all of our tech plugged in correctly. And then right as the doors open, Making sure that our pre show music is playing and. And the pre show look on the stage and in the house is correct. And then the show goes, the show happens. And so I sit back in the booth and I'm running the Q to Q and running the QLab, which is our video cues, and that's the show. So we do the show and then after the show, we say, thanks, everyone, for your work. We collect all of our equipment, the audio recording equipment, the video recording equipment, the mics, my cue sheets. If I can get them back, I will, because I can probably use them again tomorrow. And then my goal, my first step is to get all of the props off the stage so that Carissa can start packing it. Because when Carissa is in, Lucy, she cannot leave. She cannot go onto the stage while there are people in. [00:32:18] Speaker A: Of course not. [00:32:18] Speaker B: Yeah. It's just a character break. And we don't want to kind of insinuate that. So I bring the props off the stage and then we look at meet and greet, which is always so much fun. We've gotten very, very good at it. It's super, super fun. We haven't really nailed it in the big rooms yet because again, we're really literally learning as we're going. But we have a couple of minutes for the people who purchased meet and greet access to find wherever we're doing the meet and greet or be ushered there, escorted there. And then usually Lucy does a costume change and then we escort her to or the butler escorts her to the meet and greet. We have a list. And in the ideal world, James is there taking the photos professionally so that they can get really good performance professional photos. And in any cases where James isn't there, I go and I just take their pictures with their phone. So that's meet and greet. And then if I'm not doing the meet and greet pictures, so if James is there, I'm packing up the dressing room and then I'm packing up the show, and then I'm making sure that Mark has everything he needs and packing up with him and seeing if Jack needs any help getting equipment packed up or seeing what the butler's status is and like kind of floating in that way, but reversed. Because usually we have a hard out when we have to be out of the theater. And whether it's for union laws or for the travel that we're doing that night, we usually have a time where it's like we have to leave no later than this time. And there's really no telling how meet and greet can how long meet and greet takes, because, you know, if there's extenuating circumstances, if there's any delays, we need to make sure that we're accommodating for that. Because, again, we really want to make sure that the fans are getting the experience that they want and they came for. So they do the meet and greet, and then we pack up and we go to the next city. [00:33:57] Speaker A: Hmm. Are you noticing that people notice you, like, or. Because you're a character, which I'm assuming you probably didn't expect that you would become a character in the show. [00:34:07] Speaker B: I. So I didn't think that was going to happen, obviously, because it's like, the whole point is to be behind the scenes, and it's like the man behind the curtain, as it were. But I love it. I love it so much. Cause it's so. It's like I get just a little bit of a taste of fame, but without any of the responsibility. Cause it's fame by proxy. It's like I am famous by association. And just because of, like, I kind of like, we're building this role very, very slowly. It's the same kind of thing with the butler. We had no idea the butler was going to become such a big thing. And now it's absolutely vital as, like, we have very specific rules for the butler. The butler does not have a name. The butler's name is never, never given on any public thing. It's like, it's always a different name. It's Jeffrey or Reginald or Amanda. Like, it's just random names that we give to the butler. And that's something that we. We really want to keep the same forever. And then there's slowly being more of a little me part where it's like, it started out as I was a character in the Carissa world, and the butler was the character in the Lucy world. So onstage assistant is the butler. Offstage assistant is me. So that changed when I started doing the lights and, like, shutting the lights down and bringing them back or being like a more of an active role. And if we had pieces where we were making announcements during the show, I would be on the Voice of God Mike, and I would be kind of assisting from that end. And I love it. So I think we're actually going to be working in little more instances, at least like, one a show where I can do that. Because since I've been getting a little bit of a presence on her social media, people recognize me now. Like, even just walking through the venue when I was setting up tech in New York people were like, abby. And I was like, huh? And they're like, I'm sorry. Is it weird that everyone knows your name? And I'm like, actually, it isn't, because I, like. I kind of like it because it makes things easier for me. You know, it's like, let's skip all. You know who I am. I'm gonna know who you are in a second. I have had some people talk about me while I'm standing right there without knowing that I was standing right there and then notice me and freak out, which. That. That. That's. That's happened, I think, twice. And it's just so funny. And I actually was. I was recognized a couple times when we were in Vegas, but I'm literally, again, wearing her name on my back most of the time. But just. Just this past Tuesday, I was in a coffee shop and just kind of talking with the lady there, and she recognized me from the videos. That was crazy, because I'm like, now I'm. Now I'm in my hometown in Mississippi. That's super weird. [00:36:32] Speaker A: Yeah. I feel bad because you were walking by me in D.C. in the hotel, and I said, oh, Abby. And you just looked at me like, oh, do I know you? And then just, like, in. In a nice way, you're just like. I was like, I'm super excited for the show. And then you walked on, and I was just like, oh, my God. [00:36:46] Speaker B: That was you? [00:36:47] Speaker A: That was me. I was like, oh, is that weird? I feel like that was weird. I felt weird about that. [00:36:51] Speaker B: I was just. I was definitely caught off guard because that was you. Because you were like, Abby. And I was like, huh? Hi. And you were like, I love your work. Can't wait for the show. And I was like, thanks. What just happened? [00:37:05] Speaker A: I was just like, does that. I guess that doesn't happen a lot. I don't know. I was just like. And I felt terrible because I usually like to leave, like, celebrities alone because they know they have work to do. [00:37:14] Speaker B: I don't. [00:37:14] Speaker A: I mean, I know, but it's. It's. It's one of those things, like. Because it's funny, because if you see Karissa out, like, just. She was just walking around, and I don't think people realized who that was. And it was wild. [00:37:27] Speaker B: That's the glory of having an unrecognizable character. Like, the fact that Carissa and Lucy look very different in almost every way is super, super helpful in that regard. [00:37:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:37] Speaker B: Because she. [00:37:38] Speaker A: Wild. [00:37:39] Speaker B: The exception to that is at magic conventions. Okay. [00:37:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:44] Speaker B: With D.C. it was smaller scale, but when we were at Magic Live, it was definitely. Everyone was so excited to see Carissa. And it actually became a thing where it was like she knew so many people there that she wanted to say hi to everyone. And it took her like an hour to walk through the casino. And I'm like, hey, we have places to be. So I had to be the bad guy. And honestly, I'm growing into my role as the bad guy, but I had to be like, hey, grab my hand. We're leaving. And she was like, oh, but my friends, I'm like, I'm so sorry. We have places to be. [00:38:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:12] Speaker B: So that's become another part of my job too. Is being the professional bad guy. [00:38:15] Speaker A: Awesome. Let's do some fan questions. What should a potential audience member know before going to a Lucy Darling show? Anything they should be prepared for? [00:38:24] Speaker B: I would say it's. It's. It's for fun. It's like, it's. I would encourage you to go into it with an open mind and just prepared to have a good time and leave your worries at the door, because it is not gonna matter for the next two hours. Like, for the next two hours, just enjoy what you're seeing. It's the fact that her character is so old fashioned is it transports you to a different time and a different vibe where nothing is wrong and everything is wonderful and everyone is welcome. And so leave. Leave the negativity of the real world at the door and just play pretend nice. [00:39:00] Speaker A: What could an amateur magician like me learn from watching Carissa work? [00:39:05] Speaker B: Where do we begin? [00:39:06] Speaker A: Too many. Too many things. [00:39:07] Speaker B: There's so many. She's such a pro. She's such a pro at performing, at making it feel like, okay, so a lot of the time I find that. I'm sure this isn't something unique. I'm sure you've heard this before. A lot of the times I find that magic is almost exclusively based on the idea or is most commonly based on the idea that I have these super cool powers and I can make you believe things that you wouldn't believe. And for example, with card tricks, where it's like, I'm going to find your card. You pick a card, I'm going to lose your card. I'm going to find your card very, very consistently. Almost all card tricks are just that over and over again. Carissa kind of turns that on its head and it's like, it's not just, I have magic powers, it's I have magic powers, and it's super boring. Actually, because really, what's fun about it is you. So you are here to entertain Lucy, and Lucy is thoroughly entertained by everything. And the magic is something that you can take credit for because you are a part of this, and it's something that we are creating together. So I think that most you can get as an amateur magician from watching Lucy is more than just not. Not related to magic at all. It's related to performance. It's like, how do you want your audience to feel when you're there watching your show? How do you want your audience to walk away from the show? What is. What is the remembered show, as she would say? And what. What. What is the most important part of your routine that you really want them to leave with? And it shouldn't be, oh, my gosh, that guy's a God. Like, it shouldn't. I mean, maybe it can be. I really. I just don't think it should be, like, I feel like it's more like a. You want to leave your audience, or at least I do, with a sense of wonder, not a sense of, I've been hoodwinked. So that's very good. And also, you can learn a lot from her in learning how to deal with. Not deal with, learning how to interact with audiences. And the improv stuff, the crowd work that she does, it's just. It makes every. Again, like we were saying earlier, it makes everyone feel safe and welcome, and they can let go and have the fan. [00:41:06] Speaker A: The new fan site that's come up called the Darling Fans, they asked, what's your favorite part of traveling with the crew? [00:41:13] Speaker B: What's my favorite part? I. This is so hard and very sad because now I'm like, I miss it all so bad. [00:41:19] Speaker A: You'll be back in a few weeks. [00:41:20] Speaker B: I know, and I want it now. What do I like the most about being on the road? Honestly, it's building connections with these people. And I'm doing things I've never done every single day. And I'm. You know, I've. I've done my fair share of traveling, but I've never traveled like this. I've never gotten to see the country like this. And hopefully, you know, we'll be able to bring this international very soon and getting to see even more parts of the world and learning how things are the same and different, and it's just. It's very freeing to feel completely safe doing this travel because, you know, I. I'm a Definitely a worrier. I definitely have crazy anxiety, and it's like going to these places. I'VE never been to doing something I've never done before. Like, that's a nightmare. But it's not because I'm here with, you know, the people that we just talked about. The crusi is so much a family, so so much that I just. I feel absolutely, completely safe when I'm around them and hanging out with them and working with them and traveling with them. It's like, I know that here's eight people who got my back, and I have their back, and I'm counting them like they're ducks that I have to have in a row all the time. Like, because that's kind of another part of my job is the part that I also do remotely is the road manager. So I'm also making sure everyone made it to the bus, making sure everyone knows what we're doing tomorrow, Making sure that everyone knows what's sitting. We're in today. Like, that's also my job. So I will get on the bus and I'll do my count, like, making sure all my ducks are a row. Are in a row. And then when we start kind of going home for the. For the after tour, it's like my ducks are going astray. It's very sad. But, no, I. I love it. I love being able to create connections with the crew and see more of the country in a way that I feel loved and safe and also completely badass, because the stuff. Stuff I'm doing is, like, little me would have never even dreamed that I could be running a show like this. And it's just so much fun. [00:43:11] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:43:12] Speaker B: I like this one because I can give you a very real answer to is what. What happens to the questions submitted on your website? So for anyone who doesn't know, we have some. At some shows, we do a digital version of Ask Lucy, which is where we have a QR code that you can scan that you ask questions that then get printed off, and Lucy reads them for the first time on stage. But we don't have time to answer every question that is printed off. We don't have time to print off every answer, every question that is asked. So what we do is the butler prints off the questions, and he puts them in the glass where Lucy answers the questions. And those are absolutely 100% improv. She's never seen the questions before. And then whatever we don't get to, we save. We have these big, giant bags full of them, and we either have them in the archives, or what I've started doing is when we're on flights or we're in the van, we'll be. We can read through them. And it's. It does a couple things. It's, like, first of all, incredibly entertaining because it's like a personal live show with Carissa answering them. It's a great exercise for her because she's getting these practices of, like, what's the funniest thing I could say to this question? And so it's a little bit of an exercise in that way. And it's also just funny. It's so, so much fun because people come up with the craziest questions, and that's a lot of fun. So that's one of the questions. What would you be doing now if this role with Carissa didn't exist? I would be a server at an Applebee's. [00:44:36] Speaker A: I love their tequila lime chicken. [00:44:39] Speaker B: I. You know what? I haven't been doing Applebee's in probably over a decade, but I had an interview scheduled at Applebee's to be a server the day after I got the job with Carissa, and I canceled it. I canceled it when I got the job. But I was literally. I was going, I would definitely be a server. [00:44:58] Speaker A: I was so funny. [00:45:00] Speaker B: It's bizarre. Like, who would have thought. Who would have thought that I would be here? Now? Let's see what else. Some of your favorite parts of your job. We kind of already answered that. [00:45:10] Speaker A: I have one from Meadow. [00:45:12] Speaker B: Meadow? [00:45:13] Speaker A: Yeah, Meadow Perry asks, what are your most important tasks that you have taken on and how do they amplify the show to allow Karissa to focus on her performance? [00:45:25] Speaker B: So I feel like I have a good answer to that one. Like we said, a lot of the show is improv. So that makes it really hard sometimes for a person who would have been doing my job before me, pretty hard, rather someone reading the cue sheet and determining where to change the lights or the sound or cue things. And so she had specific lines that she would always hit where it's like, here's the cue that brings you to the next section. Since I've now seen the show several times, that is becoming less necessary. And I'm able to. I'm able to read. I can follow her wherever she's going. So if she's going to sit a little longer in this bit before moving on to the one that has the lights change, I can sit there and read when things are actually supposed to change and call it accordingly. So I'm letting. I'm creating this environment where she can go crazy. Can she can harp more on the bits that are hilarious and. And almost hit the line. And that will cue me like, okay. That's her way of saying this one. So I think that's been the most important part of my job is because it's making it so much more interactive for the audience because they're able to really get, like, the most comedic improv experience, and I'm able to still make the show look the way it's supposed to look. [00:46:42] Speaker A: That's the best answer ever. That's perfect. [00:46:46] Speaker B: That was fun. [00:46:46] Speaker A: I only have one more question. [00:46:48] Speaker B: What? [00:46:49] Speaker A: A little bit of a curveball for you. Can you explain to me what is baby mode? [00:47:00] Speaker B: Yes, sure thing. So, okay, you. That rocks. Oh, man, I'm so glad that you already spent four days with us. So that's not something that would. That would exist if you had not, like, spent so much time with us. Also, at the end of a huge tour, we were just exhausted. So baby mode is kind of like. It's kind of like a game. It's kind of like a code that we kind of created. I should throw. I shouldn't. I'm gonna throw them under the bus. So here's how I think. I think how it started. It may have happened before this. This is my first experience with it, is I. We were doing a photo shoot in Seattle right before we flew out. Like, the day we flew out, it was a couple hours before we were supposed to be at the airport. So we were there. And my little flight anxiety is like, we gotta go, we gotta go, we gotta go, we gotta go. So we're finally packing up, and we're getting ready to get in the car. And Mark can't find his phone anywhere. So he's searching through his bags, he's searching through his pockets. He's searching through the outfit he was wearing before. He's searching through the dressing room, he's searching through the studio. Cannot find his phone. We try calling it. Nothing. We try calling it again. Nothing. We try to do find my phone. Turns out it's not Nabel's. Like, it's like. It's like everything is, like, piling up and piling up and piling up and piling up. And I'm getting so frustrated, and he's getting frustrated, and Carissa's like, finally we find his phone. I think it was, like. I think it was either his partner or his father was able to say. Was able to, like, have it ring when it wasn't, like, on or something. Like, something was able to happen with that. I don't know I don't understand Apple. But then that was. We found it, and we were great. And I'm like. And I'm like, okay, this is never going to happen again. You're going to give me your phone. I'm going to put Life360 on it, and we're going to add Charissa to your Find My Phone. And we're always going to know where your phone is. And we're getting you chipped. Like, now you are chipped. This is how it is going to be. And Carissa was like, you are now in baby mode. Because she was trying to make it into a game where it's like, okay, now you get to be a baby, and everyone gets to take care of you. And here, give us your passport. We're going to make sure you get through security. Here, give us your id. We're going to check your bags for you. Like, we're literally holding on to all of his stuff. And we're like, you get to not because you are tired, and we don't want anything to happen. So it becomes this really cute thing where he's just, like, super leaning into it was like, I can't carry my own bags. I'm a baby. And so we're rolling his bags around, and then he's just getting super leaning into it. And then eventually he's like, I. You know, I don't usually get to be in baby mode, so it's really nice of me to get in baby mode. And we're like, oh, that's so cute. And then a couple days later, Karissa was exhausted and was just like, her brain was decided it was done doing critical thought. So she was like, oh, I'm in baby mode. And we're like, okay, now we all take care of Carissa and make sure Carissa gets to bed. And, like, so everyone gets to be in baby mode sometimes. So, like, once we had this. We had this issue where we extended Chris's hotel. And so his key stopped working to let him into the elevator after a certain point. So it was like one in the morning. We had been out all night. We had to go to the front desk and get him a new key. And he was really frustrated. He was like, okay, well, what if they. What if they took all my stuff? Like, what if they went to clean the room and took my stuff somewhere else? And it's. What. Like, what if my. My security has it and we have to handle my stuff? And I was like, okay, you are in baby mode. I'm putting you in Baby mode. I'm going to take care of this. You are now in baby mode. So I took him and I. We led him to the desk, and I was like, hey, best friend in the whole world. This is our deal. Can you please fix it? She goes, oh, yep, no problem. Here's new key. And then he was like. So he was just like, yeah, you don't have to think about anything. And so I've been in baby mode a couple of times. Not. Not as much as other people are able to. Because, honestly, I love being the organizational one and the people who is taking care of others. But it's so nice being in baby mode. It's so good because you're just like, everyone's going to make sure that I'm okay. And so, for example, when we. When we landed in Vegas, Carissa knows the Vegas airport, like, hits her own flesh and blood, like, and it was like one in the morning. So Mark and I were really tired and we were like. And Chris was like, I'm putting you both in baby mode. You just follow me like a mama duck and I will get you to where we need to go. And so that's. That's. What, does that explain it, what baby mode is? [00:51:03] Speaker A: So, yeah, okay. It's for the fans. The fans we had. This is. This is important information. This is so good. [00:51:10] Speaker B: So much fun. [00:51:11] Speaker A: It's so good. All right, so, Abby, how do we find the next thing? [00:51:18] Speaker B: This is great. This is great. So we are teasing our fall tour right now. If you look at the little end cards on our Tiktoks, our Instagram reels, everything like that, that has the list of cities that we're coming to. So if you see your city there and it says tba, and that just means we're not announcing the date or the venue, but we are coming to that city and we're coming there soon. In order to make sure that you know what's coming next, there's a couple things you could do. Number one, if you go to any of the Carissahendricks.com sites. So if you go to Karissahendricks.com anything at the bottom of that page, there will be a sign up for the mailing list and that will get you notified when we add all of our tour dates. But if you have a specific city that you want us to come to or that you saw that we are coming to and you want to be notified as soon as tickets become available, you can also do that. You can go to our voting page, which is carissahendricks.comvote and you can vote for your city or the city that you want to be notified for and that will add to the numbers that our tour manager sees. So when you so if it's not a city we already have, we will say, okay, we have demand in this city or in this area and we will try and route our next tour around that area. And then if it is a city that we are coming to, as soon as tickets become available, you will get an email before we announce it to the general public that says, hey, you can buy tickets now. So if you want to be notified, you can vote on that. Don't vote for more than one place because it'll just take whichever one you voted for the most recently. But because I we've had a lot of people get disappointed in that, where it's like, just vote for the city that you want the most and then you'll be notified. [00:52:51] Speaker A: Wow. Abby, thank you so much for joining us and telling us a little bit of pulling back the curtain for us. Really appreciate it. [00:52:58] Speaker B: Of course. [00:52:59] Speaker A: And if you liked this content, please like and subscribe. I'm my, my plan is to someday get the entire Lucy Crusi on here and just like pick their brains. Hopefully they won't be in baby mode. But again, thank you so much, Abby and we will see you guys next time.