I'd say the three biggest mistakes of a begginner are:

- Just practicing the trick, not the performance.
- Saying what you do, "I will just shuffle the cards", "I'll flip over this card".
- Not practicing enough. It should allways look natural.

If a trick uses a gimmick, your presentation should be such that your gimmick could catch on fire and your audience wouldn't notice.

And your skill should be such that you could complete some sort of entertaining routine without your now-burnt-up gimmick, and still get some applause.

One of the most important things to remember IMO beyond the technical presentation:

You are creating an experience for your audience whethere it is 1 or 50. Make the experience memorable in a positive way.

don't rush, connect with the audience, slow down at the big moment, maybe even whisper, know the handling sooo well that you can concentrate on presentation, make it a positive experience that they will remember.
And finally keep in mind that you can't win them all

Just my thoughts

Hi there,

I know this has all probably been said before, but the most important things to remember as a beginner are:

First, learn the trick until it comes naturally to you. i.e. you could do it if I woke you up in the middle of the night and handed you the apparatus.

Secondly, learn the routine. The words you say and the body language you use are all very important. Practice these with the trick.

Finally, perform to your hearts content!

I had to learn these points the hard way, and I don't want you to have to do the same!

I wish you all the best with your magic!

Many thanks

Magical Mark Watson
(mark1991)

Hmm, mistakes I made (and some I'm still making) -- call me stubborn.

-- Jumping in too far too fast.
-- Trying to learn everything and getting frustrated by not learning anything WELL.
-- Buying "cheap" I fully understand the need for economy, but if you buy "cheap" vice economic, you will end up paying double the price in "upgrades and replacements" compared to what you would have paid if you just saved your pennies a while and got the good stuff first. I don't mean collectors edition and through the roof prices, but "you get what you pay for" applies to many things.
-- Driving the family, friends, co-workers nuts buy using them as test audiences, or expecting them to watch the new magic DVD you just got in the mail.

I'm sure there are many more.

Best,
Jim

Brian,

You should teach a class

:)

What a great idea! Let me run it by the guys here on the Café and see what everyone thinks.

[quote]On 2007-02-06 15:27, BrianMillerMagic wrote:
These are extraordinarily broad questions, but I can do my best.

Most difficult techniques to learn

-DL with cards; it is the most basic and yet most difficult sleight to master, and 95% of card magic relies on this move as a solid foundation
I couldn't agree more...I've seen some poor DL's from some very skilled magicians...this is something you should NEVER be taken for granted.

Slappy, anyone that quotes Pete Townshend is a friend of mine. Glad you agree about the DLs - but more importantly is that you've quoted one of the geniuses of rock n roll in your signature

To make it short, the #1 mistake is not enough practice.

Dear Brian and Slappy my version is 'hope I get old before I die'. Not very rock n roll!!!

Habu,

Thank you for the confidence. However, I’m afraid you’ll see that a lot of this degenerates into just plain ole work.

I do agree that “being there” gives a real meaning to setting priorities. It has to save some panics later in performing magic. But don’t give up. There is no shortage of opportunities to panic.

Unfortunately, I’m the wrong guy to watch for birthday party experience. I rarely do one anymore unless it is connected to an existing client. They are fun.

You do make a very good point. Going down the road with a working magician is very different from reading about it. Maybe it will also give a chance to feel why it becomes an addiction. Being a magician is a blessed occupation.

Thanks again for your confidence.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

For me, one of the biggest mistakes when I started is random learning. My aimless learning did not serve me well to have a good foundation. Partly is the newbie syndrom to want to learn as quickly as possible, but it also makes learning quite chatio for me.

Evolve629, your advice is excellent. I guess everyone missed the reply by The Magician that he was trying to learn everything.

My advice would be similar to yours. Slow down and concentrate on only a few tricks. Get good at them and try them out on a few friends and family members. Using those few tricks as your basis, work on presenting them in an entertaining way, using patter or a storyline of your own making if you feel comfortable writing your own stuff.

Also, don't buy every trick, DVD and book in sight. It will only cost you money and end up confusing you even more.

Great points made . . . my add to all those great inputs would be to manage your own expectations. Keep the learning curve in mind. There will be times of quick progress and times of slow progress. Remember that it is all part of the process to become an excellent magician.

Evolve made a great point regarding planning your learing process. I would suggest to create a simple routine of 5 or 6 tricks and work hard on them to perfect your presentation. Ideally, those tricks should contain a number of "basic" sleights - lifts, counts, shifts etc. Stick to the program and resist the temptation of buying more stuff and tricks.
At the end, you have a solid, fireproof routine that you can present whereever and whenever you choose to. And you have mastered the sleights as well.

In the next stage, you can start to add or replace tricks to your routine. You can also expand certain tricks, add flourishes, replace sleights etc. The choice is all yours . . .

Hope that helped

Andy

Evolve29,

Great understanding of the problem! We get so excited until we ride off in all directions at once and, as a result, only know a few isolated tricks that don't blend together as a magic show.

We get too interested in "How" and often totally miss "Why". Then we have to start over. It can be discouraging.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

I'd love to live a long life, don't get me (us) wrong! Ageing is a beautiful thing. I just never want to get "old" ;o)
Slappy